Mineral King Loop #2

For the second year in a row, we've done a 2 1/2 day backpacking trip in Mineral King over the 4th of July weekend. This area of Sequoia National Park is accessible by a narrow, windy, dead-end road that takes you to what we refer to as "Backpacker's Paradise."



Last year, we did the southern 30 mile loop of Franklin Pass, Soda Creek, Lost Canyon and returning over Sawtooth Pass (trip report and photos). This year, we hiked the northern loop including Timber Gap, Black Rock Pass, Little Five Lakes, and repeating the section with Lost Canyon and Sawtooth Pass.



As usual, it's intoxicating to get away and reflect, cut loose from all responsibility and soak in the magnificence of the Sierra. Our photos, of course, do no justice.





But our trip wasn't without challenge as well. This year, our loop was similar in mileage, although a bit more rugged, with significantly more elevation gain and loss. Lauren's new insulin also took some getting used to, which slowed our progress down when her blood sugars were too low to hike. Hiking can take a lot of effort, but we love it, and love experiencing these spectacular wild places.



We met a few interesting folks, one of them being Sean, while on our way into the Little Five Lakes Basin. When we passed, I said "Nice pack," and we stopped to chat about sewing gear. He's showing off the Ray-Way pack that he sewed with additional zipper and ice axe loops of his own design.



Our lightweight packs and gear that we sewed for the A.T. are still going strong. Even though we carry a shelter, the weather was mild so we didn't use it either night — but we don't regret carrying it since it's only one pound. This time we also carried an ice axe, which wasn't entirely necessary, but it was nice to have for a couple of the snowfields.



Although our weekend was exciting, it might not compare to our friends Matt & Kim who stayed here in town to deliver their healthy baby, Noah. Congratulations guys! Can't wait to meet him.

ADZPCTKO 2009

This weekend we headed to Lake Morena for our second Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kick Off. The sendoff event for the current class of PCT hikers is basically a great excuse to get together with friends and enjoy some crisp mountain air and walk a few miles of the trail. As always, it was great to catch up with Comet & Nicole and Clearwater.



Our highlight was when our A.T. trail angels Walt and Pat (Waynesboro, VA) appeared on the trail during a morning stroll, having kept it a secret from us that they drove across the country in the PCT XPRS to attend the kickoff.



Besides catching up with friends, we enjoyed the home made gear contest, Squatch's fourth movie Walked, Shooter's rough cut of Tell it on the Mountain and a few trail seminars. I also managed to grab a pretty good sunburn under the clear dessert sky.

Good luck, class of 2009.

2009 is Matt's Year

Just got a call from Matt a.k.a Hiking Matt, who is finally making his dream of an Appalachian Trail thru-hike a reality in 2009.



He's at Neels Gap in Georgia, after having set out from Springer Mountain Georgia on April 1st. Matt said that hiking this year might not be the most 'responsible' thing, due to his fledgling seasonings business, but he couldn't live with putting it off another year. Said something about life being too short to make excuses or worry about finances.

Amen, Matt. And safe journey to you!

Sleddog Sightings

Today I received a call from a friend who currently lives in Bellingham, WA, who asked to remain anonymous. All I can say is that we met him on the A.T. and his name rhymes with "Nearwater."

My friend could not believe his eyes, but was calling to report that he has now twice seen Sleddog, the trail legend of 2007, on the streets in Bellingham.

Since Sleddog has the ability to attach himself and take advantage of anyone who directs attention his way, my friend has not yet spoken to him. From distant observation, Sleddog appears to be in a transient situation, living on meals from the mission and relying on Bellingham's programs to help homeless.

It would be fascinating to hear what he's been up to.

Mexico Trip

From December 26-30, Lauren and I spent time helping out in a small Mexican village. Our group of eighteen traveled about four hours south of the border on the Baja peninsula, to the town of Vicente Guerrero to spend time at the Welcome Home preschool.



Without the preschool, parents work in the field and a young child either sits nearby all day, or an older sibling has to stay home from their schooling to take care of their younger sibling.



Before meeting the children, our team tackled a bunch of projects: Replacing 5 toilets, fixing a sink, replacing 5 termite infested window frames, sanitizing crates of small toys and children's furniture, cutting a hole in a wall so we could hang a door and close off another, replacing linoleum tiles, organizing the donation pantry, building bunk beds, painting a sign, fixing drywall ceiling and collecting donations.



By far, the best part of the trip was spending time with the kids. We were able to ride along with them on the bus to see where they lived, eat with them in the dining room and play with them on the playground.



The children and school staff were grateful for our help and encouragement. On the last morning, we were treated to a small concert (below):



More photos from the trip can be seen at our flickr site.

Tumblewagon

I just exchanged emails with Nathan from the Tumlewagon family. Their web site explains:

Welcome to the website of our life on the road. We’re a family of three, living in an RV and making our way around the country for a year or so.

It looks like their taking a grand tour of the country, all while taking on freelance web development projects. Love it!

Musical Road

On Saturday we took a quick road trip to Lancaster, CA to drive on the only musical road in North America. Just in time, too. It wont last more than another week, since the neighbors are getting riled up about the noise and traffic.

Adrian's Tour Divide

My friend Adrian just finished the Tour Divide race, a bike ride along the Continental Divide from Canada to Mexico. That's a long time in the saddle. Congrats Adrian!



Adrian writes:

[These photos were] taken along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, from Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico (border of Mexico) from June 13 to July 7. This is the longest mountain bike route in the world at 2711 miles with 200,000 ft of climbing. But don't worry, half of it was downhill :-) My odometer clocked it at 2830 miles with the one detour I had in Grand Teton National Park to go to a bike shop for repairs, and the many times I made a wrong turn along the way. 15 riders lined up in Banff to race the route, 14 guys and one girl. 6 guys dropped out, 6 guys finished so far, and 3 riders are still riding in the monsoonal rains of July in New Mexico.

Sunshine Expedition

I got an email this week from our friend Redwood.

Joined by his girlfriend Jodi, they will paddle 1500 miles from the Florida Panhandle to the keys, and then walk the 1300 Florida Trail back to where they started. They'll be keeping a web journal called the Sunshine Expedition. Sounds fun.

They don't have much content up yet, but it looks like they're sewing lightweight gear like we use, to lighten up on this adventure.

Them Damn Kids

We just found out that one of our friends from the trail, "Lifesaver" has released an album with his band "Them Damn Kids," under Chestnut Tree Records. They have a fragile, melodic sound, that Lifesaver shared with us at various points along the trail on an acoustic guitar.

They will be touring the west coast next month, actually playing down the street from us in Hollywood on December 2, 2007. See you then, Lifesaver!

- - - -

UPDATE: Nice job at the show, Lifesaver. It was good to see you and catch up. Sorry we couldn't stay until the end. We're enjoying your CD.

One Week and Counting!!!!!!!

(Phone Message Transcribed by Bethany)

Good morning! Today is Thursday, September 20, 2007. We’re calling from the Monson General Store at a pay phone outside. We’re moments away from getting a hitch back to the trail. We’ve got probably seven or eight days of food as we are carrying all the food that we need to reach Katahdin and summit, as well as the night afterwards. We plan to climb Katahdin and Baxter Peak, one week from today, September 27, 2007. We’ve got one extra buffer day thrown in there in case of weather or anything else.



Lauren has a wrap on her ankle. A friend gave her some extra pain killers in case that she needs them (they would normally be behind lock and key, haha!) Our friends Josh and Sarah (aka He-Man and She-Ra) surprised us by catching up with us yesterday. We all stayed at the same lodging in town called Shaws.

Anyway, our packs are pretty much maxed out as far as capacity and weight. They have no frame in them so they feel quite heavy on our shoulders. I’m probably carrying about 35 pounds and Lauren is probably carrying 25 pounds. We’re hoping for a really great stretch here to finish out the trip strong! That’s the news from town, and we will probably not be in contact with anyone for the next week. Thanks to everyone for keeping up with us and for all the encouragement!!!

Over and Out.

Pinkham Notch

(Phone Message Transcribed by Bethany)



Today is September 1, 2007. It's 10:30 in the morning and Figgy and I just pulled into the Pinkham Notch visitor center which is an absolute zoo. I guess the Labor Day weekend day hikers are out in full force. I can’t remember exactly, but I believe we’ve covered about 1,850 miles now. We’ve had awesome weather through the Presidentials. We saw another 2 moose this morning on our hike into the visitor’s center!

We are headed over some very challenging terrain as we go over Wild Cat peaks A, B, C, D, and E. It looks like we’ll be headed into Gorham NH by tomorrow night. That’s where we plan to take a couple of days off to do some trail work with our friends Sally and Tom from the ATC. We are doing well. We’re just having a blast and are so thankful to be over the extreme peaks and the harsh weather of the high Presidentials. That’s about it for now. By tomorrow evening we will be so close to Maine it’s not even funny!

Over and Out.

Stormy Weather

(Phone Message Transcribed by Bethany)

Today is Thursday August 30, 2007.



I am calling from above 5,000 feet on the flanks of Mount Washington in the presidential range of the White Mountains. Today was an extremely exciting day for us! We got off to a great start and we saw our first moose of the trip near Ethan Pond. After that we hiked several miles and met up with our friends Josh and Sarah (aka He-man and She-ra). That was completely unplanned. We knew they were ahead of us, but it was great to see them again!



Together we climbed up the steep climb into the Presidentials and made it Mitzpah Hut. We made it there by lunch time and we knew that there were afternoon storms approaching but we decided to push on to Lakes of the Clouds Hut so that we could have an early start over Mount Washington tomorrow morning.

We made it most of the way to the hut before we were pelted by the brunt of the storm… including hail. We were pinned down for several minutes with no shelter in site, while we were being beaten by hail probably ½ inch to ¾ inch in diameter. We did make it to the lake of the clouds hut about 20 minutes later where we are staying now. We’re cozy warm, drinking coffee and out of the stormy weather now.



We are going to be doing a work for stay this evening and in the morning we will summit Mount Washington, which is well above tree line. It should be a gorgeous day tomorrow and we hope to be through the rest of the Whites in the next couple of days. Anyway it’s been a fantastic day and we’re having a great time out here.

That’s it for now. Over and out.

Approaching the Whites

The miles out of Hanover have been interesting walking through pioneer homesteads, old sugaring farms and the great summits of Smarts Mountain and Mt. Cube. Heat and humidity are back up, but we don't care - we're having a great time!



Last night we met up with Tom W., a trail maintainer with the DOC (Dartmouth Outing Club) and the ATC. Tom will be also be working on the trail boundary project in the Mahoosucs that we are volunteering for once we hit Gorham next week. Tom brought us back to his home near the trail where he prepared dinner for us, told us a bunch of fascinating tales and showed us a film about hiking in Scotland (wow!).

We begin the Whites today with our climb up Mt. Mousilauke, our first above treeline walk of the trip.

It is said that when you reach New Hampshire, you've done 80% of the A.T.'s miles, but only 20% of the work. We're approaching the section where there are 3,500 foot drops and then gains at each "notch" and 360 degree views for miles at a time.

It feels good to be dropping our miles so we can soak it all in.

Update - Manchester Center, VT (Mile1636.2)

We've crossed 1600 miles this week and the 75% mark! Vermont is treating us well with spectacular views, lush green trail and some fantastic weather. We think the bugs are behind us and the best part of the trail is still in store.



We continue to see amazing beaver dams - one 100 yards long and 5 feet high. They are truly impressive engineering spectacles. This week we've also seen our first signs of moose - droppings and tracks - and can't wait to see them in person.



Lauren has been having some emotional ups and downs on the trail, but her friend She-Ra (Sara) has been a great support lately. Lauren's parents are visiting with us in Hanover, NH when we arrive there next week.

We're feeling great and feel so fortunate we've made the decision to be out here this summer. Thanks to everyone for the emails and comments:

Big Jim Hays, Tim, Kimiko, Erin D, Amy & Ray, G, Cousin Carrie, Staaaats, Adrian, Rob, Matt, Dan & Tracy, Fatherof2, PassionPhish, Clearwater, Koza...

We read all of them, but can't get back to everyone personally right yet.

The Bird Cage in Dalton, Massachusetts

(Phone Message Transcribed by Bethany)

Hello. Today is Thursday, August 9, 2007.



It’s about 8:30 in the evening here as Lauren and I are calling from mile 1,554.4, Dalton Massachusetts, We entered Massachusetts a few days ago after leaving Salisbury. We’ve been taken aback by some beautiful sights the past couple of days.



We were first greeted by Sage’s Ravine, which is a clear brook that cuts through some deep canyons. We’ve hiked past some amazing beaver dams and beaver lodges, and have endured some of the buggiest conditions of the trip. Two days ago we scampered as quickly as we could through the mosquito valley near Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

That same night we camped at an old Shaker settlement, another example of how the human history has been quite an integral experience to our trip! Yesterday we made a short day to Upper Goose Pond Cabin and after a ten mile walk we were overjoyed to have swimming and canoeing available to us.



We canoed into the evening. This particular cabin is run by the Appalachian Mountain Club of Massachusetts. There were a total of 15 other hikers there, half of which were south bound. In the morning the tradition is to have a big pancake breakfast which I partook of. The south bounders were kind enough to bring along some blueberries for our pancakes.

Today we stopped by the cookie lady’s house. Her house is 1/10 of a mile from the trail and she brings out 3 freshly baked cookies to any hiker who stops by.

Tonight we’re staying in the town of Dalton with Rob Bird and his house known as “The Bird cage”. He’s a manager at the Shell station in town and extends an invitation to any hiker who stops by the station. Rob will be here shortly to pick us up and we will proceed from here. It looks like we will be closing out Massachusetts in the next few days and will hit the Vermont state line shortly.

That’s it for now. Over and Out.

The OFFICIAL Halfway Point

(Phone Message Transcribed by Bethany)



We’ve made it halfway! Today is Tuesday July 10, 2007 and I’m calling from mile 1,087.9 Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Pennsylvania. Today Figgy and I crossed the official halfway point. We are now closer to Katahdin, Maine than we are to where we started back on Springer Mountain, Georgia.



We’ve had a little drama on the trail since I made the call yesterday. It turns out that Pennsylvania state legislature is having a budget crisis which put a freeze on all state park spending. What that meant for us, was that Pine Grove Furnace State Park, as far as we knew was closed today, they were certainly closed yesterday on the 9^th, but when we showed up today the budget had been approved and they were open! That made it possible for me to participate in the half gallon challenge which is a writ of passage for any northbound AT thru hiker. I sat down with a half gallon of Neapolitan ice cream and I finished it in 26 minutes and 52 seconds. (Impressive!?!) We were joined by our friends Google and Sunshine who also joined in the fun.

In other news, we woke up this morning and noticed that our shoes are nearing the end of their life because our knees are feeling a bit stiff and our feet sore. It looks like we are just in time to receive our new shoes which will be coming to us at the end of the week. We will use a total 4 pairs each for the trip, which is right on track for what we expected. Rather than 1 pair of heavy, blister creating, leather boots, for about the same price, we have been using light weight running shoes which have been working amazing for us. We have only had one blister between the two of us for the whole trip so far!



We expect to reach Boiling Springs Pennsylvania tomorrow afternoon and we will enjoy a ‘zero’ day the following. I am feeling invigorated and refreshed after our swim here at Fuller Lake in the park, and we are going to enjoy a leisurely stroll as we put on a few more miles before we camp tonight.

That’s the news for now. Over and Out.

Mile 1,049.9

(Phone Message Transcribed By Bethany)

Update from Penn-Mar State Park, mile 1,049.9! Today is Sunday July 8, 2007. Lauren and I have made it close to the Pennsylvania border which is where we will be staying tonight.



On Friday, we enjoyed a great evening with my parents and my little sister Hannah as we took in the sights and had a great dinner at Harpers Ferry. The next morning they escorted us to the Maryland side of the bridge at Harper’s Ferry where we said farewell and Lauren and I continued on our way.





That day was a bit challenging for us because it is often hard to switch gears from town mode to trail mode, and after such a wonderful time with my family it was difficult to get back into the trail mindset. Despite the difficulty, we hiked 23.5 miles today and finished very strong.



Not only that, but we were quite surprised and rewarded to see some old friends Amanda and Leah, who ran cross country with Lauren back at Virginia Tech. Our continual trail magician, Matt, who is the same great guy who drove us to Trail Days, through a number of events helped Amanda and Leah track us down today. So, we ended up spending a celebratory dinner here at Penn-Mar State Park spread out on the picnic tables where we enjoyed watermelon, cold drinks and a bunch of snacks that they brought for us. We are at mile 1,049.9 which is two tenths of a mile away from the Pennsylvania state line, also known as the Mason Dixon line.

For our purposes it is extremely important because it is the division between where the trail is known as the “Appa-LATCH-in” Trail to where it becomes the “Appa-LAY-shun” Trail.

We reached the psychological halfway point a few days ago in Harper’s Ferry but on Tuesday we will reach the actual halfway point when we arrive at Pine Grove Furnace State Park and attempt the half gallon challenge. I hope to post more later but I just wanted to say thanks again: to my family for meeting us at Harpers, and to Amanda and Leah and Matt who all drove several hours just to come find us at Penn-Mar Park. That’s it for now.

Over and Out.

"What A Girl Wants, ..."

Supposedly, an approximately equal number of men and women hike the AT each year, but I beg to differ. As a female thru-hiker, I definitely feel outnumbered on the trail by my male counter-parts. It's nice getting the respect from them like I'm a hard-core chick able to withstand all the physical and mental challenges that the trail requires. But this is no substitute for my need for girlfriends.

I have emotional needs, and I'm learning how to deal with them in the woods. I want a listening ear, an understanding nod, and sympathetic hug when my tank of feelings gets full and I need to unload. So as my constant companion, Ben has been there for me and is learning what i need, and is helping me through these times. Several times this past month, I've just needed to share what's bothering me, and he just stops on the trail, turns around, tells me how sorry he is and gives me the hugest hug while telling me how proud he is of me. Wow!

It's refreshing when I do meet women who do understand, and they've shown up at just the right times when I've needed the presence of a woman most. Raindrop during the Smokies, Ping while in Hot Springs, Sunny from Elmer's Sunnybank Inn, Toodles in Kimberling Creek and Pat from Waynesboro are the names of some women out here who were there when I needed them most. And it's the feeling of connection and kinship I shared with them that I take with me up the trail.

A Perfect Zero

Today Figgy and I were planning to get started again on the trail, but the day turned out differently than we had expected.

If we could point to one unexpected difficulty of our hike, it would be the committments we've been trying to keep along the way that influence our pace and timetable. Meeting with friends and family has been great, but we're realizing that lately we've been feeling like racehorses trying to stay on track.

That's okay for a while, but begins to be a burden when it interferes with how we might want to spend our day... that might mean not lingering at a beautiful spot, taking on bigger miles than the terrain would allow, or passing up a side trail to something worth seeing... In short, we felt how rigidly adhering to an itinerary (that we made up on the road to Georgia) defeats our ability to "Hike our own hike."

So today we mixed it up. We made fast friends with our hosts Walt and Pat and they welcomed us to stay another full day with them. And we said "Yes!"

Last night the bed felt so good, the food was plentiful and tasty, bathing 3 times was bliss, being with caring and knowledgable hosts was welcomed, zoning out with a few movies was a treat and staying off our feet was just plain refreshing.

Today it felt good to stock up with some extra emotional and physical reserves. Hooray for a perfect zero day.