Mile 170ish: mountains, mommy!

Jeepers, I smell absolutely terrible. In Idyllwild, I ditched my deodorant in an effort to save some weight and thinking that it obviously wasn't working anyway. Nope, it was doing me marginal good, and it isn't anymore.

Today we climbed. Up and up and up and we'd get a fantastic view, then we'd descend a little bit along the ridgeline, enough to make us feel upset at all our hard work going to waste, and up we'd go some more. It was absolutely gorgeous.

((Carmen's talking in her sleep, this happens every night and it always confuses then amuses me. Tonight: Carmen's mom has flow-busters for us))

The thing is, as the day wore on, the terrain got steeper and steeper and steeper. This is an equestrian trail, mind you, but apparently horses can go along narrow, slanted switchbacks with sheer walls on either side. Why is the risk-averse, clumsy, wary-of-heights girl with bad balance attempting to hike from Mexico to Canada through mountains the entire way? Will I still be only able to look at the trail while hiking and the view while stopping, all while taking deep, calming breaths in the Goat Rocks Wilderness?




At Apache Peak, we got water from the sulfur-y spring, and took a nice, long lunch/siesta. I attempted to run to the top of the peak while Carmen took a nap, although I think the other side of the little saddle was the actual peak. I knew from reports that the back of Apache was supposed to be sketchy, and that the saddle over bypassed the snow, but Carmen thought the snow may have all melted in the last couple of days. What can I say, we went over, but not until after getting a staged photo of Carmen tackling the snow.

Later, we had no choice but to cross the snowy chutes. Carmen went ahead with her boots and poles while I busted out my ice axe and took more of those calming breaths. Although the axewasn't necessary, I washappy to get some practice using it to self-belay, and it definitely feltbetter to have one anchor in the snow and one pole propping me up. We wantto practice self-arresting on a clear open, flattish area FIRST, rather than dying from making a mistake the first time.

Okay, can't hardly type straight anymore.

Ps: my rain gear weighs at least a pound and a half, if not more. I'm going to ditch the pants until Kennedy Meadows if I don't use them tomorrow, but the jacket rather is a necessity. Can somebody please keep an eye out on Steep and Cheap or wherever else for a no frills, LIGHT WEIGHT rain jacket? Liner mesh, drawstrings, pockets, pit zips etc are all unnecessary. I don't know what size I am anymore, according to the scale at Nomad Adventures I've lost about seven pounds, according to the skirt falling to around my knees, it's all been from my ass. So an M or L, L to be safe.

- Typoed on my iPhone

Mile 158: night hiking

5/6/2010

Today felt so good to finally relax! We slept in, Carmen did computer stuff (we'll have stuff up on picasa when we can figure out how to upload photos without the program installed) while I lightened my first aid kit, we hung out with a really fun, injured hiker and ate delicious, healthy food (smoked salmon, avocado, cucumber, bell peppers, and kale) which later gave us in?digestion.

A trail angel by the name of Dave picked us up from the campground and drove us back down to HWY 74 in exchange for the promise that we would pay the favor forward. We hiked for a few miles, feeling absolutely refreshed and definitely happy to be back on the trail, with each other.

We stopped for dinner as the sun set, some miso soup, and freeze-dried beef stew and pasta primavera that Carmen's parents had sent us, which gave us worse gas than our usual constant streamif toots.

We donned our headlamps and set back out on the trail: our first experiment in night hiking. The views of the mountains silhouetted against the sunset were gorgeous, but I spent most of my energy looking out for snakes. Once it was more dark than light, we started getting really scared, namely of snakes, creepy men, or cougars. We rearranged our side pockets to ensure truly immediate bear spray access, and hiked within pole's reach of each other. It was all quite ridiculous, and we laughed about it while looking around nervously.

All in all, we hiked about twenty minutes before deciding it was time to pitch the tent. Finding a spot, of course, was damn near impossible in the dark, so we're now at a wide spot where an old jeep road met up with the PCT, and I'm jumping every time I hear a plane in the distance or the wind plays with the rainfly. I think early morning hiking leads to less paranoia and better sleep than night hiking, although the temperatures were very pleasant.

- Typoed on my iPhone

Mile 151: zero days are exhausting

We took showers, talked to our mothers, did laundry, went grocery shopping, took food inventory, checked for packages at the post office, got some stuff at the local outfitter, checked out the detour around sketchy Fuller Ridge, ate smoked salmon, $1.25 tostadas, and margaritas with some other hikers, and it was more exhausting than hiking 20 miles. I can see how people have a hard time adjusting back to normal life, we sure are barely a week into hiking!

Sleep awaitsme!


- Typoed on my iPhone

Location:Banning-Idyllwild Panoramic Hwy,Idyllwild,United States

Idyllwild resupply

Sorry, I stopped blogging, obviously. Let's see.... To summarize, we stopped and resupplied in Warner Springs with some delicious help from my mom, relaxed, and split a hotel room 5 ways.

It's getting hotter, and it sucks the very will to live out of Carmen and I. We just start earlier and earlier every morning.

I finally joined the blister club with everyone else, and I have a huge one between my pinky toe and the next one on my left foot. It didn't hurt at all when I got it, but now it feels awful. I'm glad to be doing not so many miles while in Idylwild. My left knee is also starting to hurt. I wonder if I'm favoring my left foot and it's making me walk funny. I am very seriously considering from running shoes/flip flops to hiking boots/Chacos. Ankle support, I dream of you! Let's face it, we're not ultralight hikers and I am earning a reputation from my water source paranoia, I carry a lot. I should support myself appropriately.

Okay, time to sleep. There are a lot of detours in this section, so if you see our SPOT track way off the trail and along fire access roads, DON'T PANIC!

I may have a trail name: it started as "Princess Polkadot" when I was whining, then when I found some free crocs today that fit, it became "Polkarella Cinderdots" but it's a huge mouthful and hard to remember, so I shorfenes it to "Polkadot." we decided on a team name too: Mexico or Bust. We can feign confusion every time we run into people who know which way is south.

- Typoed on my iPhone

Mile 91: Jimmy buffeted

I have been told that these are way too long and verbose to read. Sorry. It is ridiculous to summarize once for an internet audience, and go into detail all over again for my own journal.

I therefor adapting an Olsson-style summary format, and taking on anything else at the end.

Best part of the day: sleeping in a real bed.
Worst part of the day: not knowing what to do when I oissed Carmen off.
Sensory experience:
-strong winds trying to blow me off the narrow, rocky trail on the sides of very steep mountains
-smell of crushed sage
-new hill has new plants: barrel cacti made it look pimply, tall green thing got "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid stuck in my head
Fun of the day: hiking with hot hiker boy!

- Typoed on my iPhone

Mile 77: free pie!

4/28/2010
9 miles in 3.25 hours of actual hiking
Fun of the day: pie!

This morning started off terribly. Carmen and I already can't sleep because our Z-shite foam pads only allow us to sleep on our backs: the snoring position. It was super windy last night, so Carmen hardly got an hour of sleep, I got a little more thanks to my handy earplugs. When my alarm went off at 5:30, we were both already awake, but had no desire to get out of our sleeping bags. We stalled, see illustration number 1: Bear safety- eating in the tent.

When we finally got out of the tent, it immediately flew away. Carmen was already up atthe main camp, filling water bottles. I let out a strangled gurgle of an animal scream, and went tearing through the spiky brush after it. The tent and seven of the eight stakes were recovered, thanks to Carmen's patience and perseverence, but the adrenaline rush left me exhausted and out of it for the rest of the day.

We hiked downhill all day, the knees were not happy. We learned that Mom's Pie Shop in Julian gave free (whole) pies to thru-hikers with PCT permits, so I begged, pleaded, and pouted until Carmen agreed to try the hard hitch there. Right at the previously agreed "give up" time, a little red car with a little old man and two hiker buds inside pulled over. We had our packs in our laps and no view of the very curvy road, but we got to the pie-obsessed town of Julian and gorged ourselves on delicious apple-boysenberry and strawberry-rhubarb pie. It took more debate, searching, armtwisting, and haggling, but we found a hotel that hooked us up well: four beds for under $20/person, AND free laundry AND space to examine and mend the tent. So we sat around in towels as we waited for laundry, and everyone but me went to bed at the unreasonably late hour of 8:45. I was suergluing, sewing, and supergluing some more until 1 am.

- Typoed on my iPhone

Mile 53: Slackpackers!

4/2?/2010 (Monday)
Woke up early, bad condensation in the tent. Hiked two miles to get water, nerves wore thin over the water filter. I realize now that it may be bad that all our communal gear other than the pot are mine: tent, filter, and stove. Carmen's good with gear, but the difference in how I do things as they are mine is different from how somebody else may do them as if they were their own. But we chillax and move on.

We finally got into different biomes today! As we headed into the bigger mountains, the drainages were pine forests with Ponderosa pines. It was so exciting every time we left the chaparral for the shaded forest with such soft, springy ground and amazing, relaxing scent. We even came across patches of snow today: most were about one square foot, but I found one big enough to make a snowangel today. It was then and there that I decided no matter how mileage obsessed we become once we magically morph into trail goddesses, we should make sure to do some thing fun every single day.

As my leg hair grows longer and I smell worse and worse, I become more and more convinced that I am manly and don't want to be. Carmen pointed out something reassuringly non-masculine about me when I asked a local-looking man walking his dog at a trail junction about the best way to get to Mt Laguna: I have no fear, and waste no time in asking for directions. If the opportunity to do so presents itself, I figure it's most efficient to do so.

We waited on the porch of Mt Laguna post office and general store for two hours waiting for the noon opening. At least twenty, maybe thirty packs were lined up at 11:50. It was fun hanging out and lounging around with the other hikers with no sense of urgency to get up and move out. Chance told me about two things I want to Google for myself: a Featherlight XL stove, the iPhone app Peaks, and a spreadsheet of PCT places and cell providers to figure out what mountaintops have service. If anybody else feels like doing tha themselves on their big computer screens with fast connections, I would really like the link.

When Carmen retrieved our resupply package (completely unnecessary, the general store had great options), the postmistress congratulated us on our good eye candy and odds. "Sometimes the men just take off their shirts; and they are just so good looking!" Yes ma'am, I am enjoying more than one view. We sent at least half of our granola and trail mix ahead to Idyllwild. It was depressing, the waste of money, and how our packs were once again much heavier.

As we got ready to head out, we ran into Paladin and Anika, who were getting a ride from Hippie Longstockings. She offered to slack-pack our packs to our day's destination, so we threw our packs into the back of her truck, and took two of her daypacks with water and sunscreen for a faster, lighter trip. It was awesome! I hope we got some muscle memory of fast-hiking for when our muscles can handle it. We felt really guilty passing other bikers carrying their packs, and even more embarassed when they passed us. When Hippie picked us up, she took us back to their campsite at Mount Laguna. We ate our own food in order to get rid of the weight, but she fed Paladin and Anika, gave us some turkey to enrich our vegetarian-chheesy-sloppy-Joe-orzo, and just generally took really good care of us. It was fun to hang out, and I look forward to seeing her again when she passes us on her way north.

- Typoed on my iPhone