Toulumne to Sonora Pass

Toulumne:
Toulumne is a small stop with a general store, grill and PO attached in one building in Yosemite National Park.  We stayed with 10 other hikers in the hiker/biker camp. This included the Buffalo 6 pack. They got in earlier and had found a ride down Yosemite Valley to see Half Dome. They said there were so many people down there that it was like Disneyland, they where overwhelmed. While they were touring the park Tiffany and I enjoyed a hot dog in a tortilla dinner with Kip and Backup. That night we had a fire, drank wine, and shared more stories and brain teasers.

The next morning we packed up early enough to be at the Toulumne post office as soon as it opened. We picked up our food package and found we also had two additional packages. Thank you to Beth and Shannon for the birthday food and the XL glasses. Also thank you to Linda and the Metro gang for sending a care package too. It was so fun to hear from you.

We organized and re-packed our food so that most of it would fit in our bear vaults and into our packs. We had another 8 day stretch ahead of us which means a lot of food. This was also our last stretch with the damn bear vaults. They are required in both national parks.

Yosemite and beyond:
Despite what little most others see, there is a lot more to Yosemite than half dome. The hike out of Toulumne Meadows is so beautiful. Some of the trail is a few cairns placed over one massive rock.

On the third day out of Toulumne the rock began to change. Instead of the huge white rock slabs we started to see dark brown and red rock that looked like one big conglomerate of all sorts of other rock. I call it the trash rock, but I would guess it is some kind of sedimentary formation. The rock is very erosive and this makes for some pretty cool looking shapes.

The fourth day out marked two major milestones; Tiffany's birthday and passing Mile 1000. I wish we could say we celebrated mile 1000 with at least a photo, but we sailed right past it without even knowing it. We got to a trail junction we knew was mile 1002 and both looked back wondering were under the snow on Dorthy Pass had mile 1000 been.

Tiffany's birthday was supposed to be more exciting too. In Toulumne I had coordinated secretly with the Buffalo 6 pack and Texas Grit to meet at Sonora Pass to camp together and celebrate. The location changed to 1012 the first day out when Double-It said they wanted to take it slower on the first half of the stretch. 

On her birthday T and I didn't break camp until 9am and I tried to go slow in order to ensure that we would be behind someone in the 6 pack. Although throughout the day I didn't see anybody's footprints. After a long rest, drawn out by me to stall, it was time to climb to the crest and up to mile 1012. Tiffany couldn't understand why I didn't just dump the extra 3 liters we filtered. She didn't know I was hauling it to spend the night up high. I was slow on the climb, in part due to the water weight and part to stall. When we got to the spot I stopped for a break. Tiffany looked at me exasperated, "here!". It had been a very windy ridge walk and the wind was not better here. I could tell just sitting around was not going to work. It was already 6pm, as far as I could tell no other Buffaloes were anywhere near us and Tiffany wanted to keep moving. So I had to tell Tiffany about the whole plan. "Is that why you were so slow, and always looking back, and carried way too much water?" She said that was nice, but there was no way she was spending the night on this windy ridge. As disappointed as I was I cannot say I was too keen on spending the night up there either. So we left a note and carried on.

We made our way to a nice camp spot on Sardine Creek just before Sonora pass. The trail down was a bit more tricky than I was expecting. We crossed several large snow fields that were beginning to ice over for the night.  By the time we got to camp we had just enough light to set up the tent and throw back a swig of the Crown whiskey I had brought for the party.

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics
Mile: 1,018
Days: 64
Showers: 11

VVR to Tuolumne

This time I will try to do a better job of editing as I feel that the last two posts were a little rushed and maybe not as easy to read.

Vermilion Valley Resort (VVR):
To get to VVR you take the ferry or a four mile walk around the reservoir. Tiffany and I chose to take the ferry. This year the water is so low the ferry is a small fishing boat. At the other end you get a one mile ride in a truck to the resort, driving over bare land that would normally be covered in water.

I'm not sure that I would describe VVR as a resort. I would consider it a camp or half Lodge & RV Resort. The main building has a store and restaurant with covered seating outside. Hikers camp for free in the wooded area adjacent to the store. One of the outbuildings has shower rooms and a few washer and dryers at the end. We took advantage of both. It was fun to take a zero day here. It seems to be a bottleneck for hikers and again you realize how many fun people you're hiking with.

Back on the trail:
Leaving VVR Tiffany and I split up between the first ferry and the second ferry because they were trying to maximize the number of people in each ride out. It always feels good to be back on the trail again after a zero day. Although back on the trail the winds were picking up and the skies were turning grey. As we climbed towards Silver Pass the weather got worse and thunder rolled in. Near treeline we decided to hide under a group of trees. Shortly Brownie joined us to watch the weather. As the thunder came closer we all agreed that staying put was a good decision. It didn't seem long before the three of us were huddled under our ground cloth to avoid getting soaked and pounded by hail.

Luckily the storm was just a short afternoon bout. Our group of 3 joined the 2 Australians and we made our way over Silver Pass. The pass didn't have much snow and it was a short walk down to camp that night. We made a fire which seemed to draw more hikers in and ended up with another 2 joining our camp.

Reds Meadow Detour:
The second day out of VVR was more of the same beautiful country. In the lower elevations the meadows seem to be longer, wider, and more green. We had a 20 mile day into Reds Meadow. Here I made a decision I was not originally going to write about, but just in case anyone else has a similar situation I thought I would share.

In the previous 5 and more often in the last 3 days in and out of VVR I had been having trouble breathing. At times it felt like someone was sitting on my chest. This was not a normal working hard going up hill difficulty. I was really reluctant to get off trail. Even more reluctant to see someone in the case they might tell me to get off trail for the year. But I also thought getting checked out here would be better than being air lifted out later if something was seriously wrong.

So we got a ride out to Mammoth Lakes and found a cheap hotel. There was no urgent care in Mammoth Lakes, only an emergency room. So the next day we took a shuttle down to Bishop where I was able to get an appointment at a clinic. I saw a PA and got a few tests. Everything came back normal and they found I had good blood pressure, a low heart rate, and to be in great physical condition. The PA handed me a prescription and told me to take one of these the next time I felt the pressure and see if it helped. As I left the clinic to walk back to the hotel I looked at the prescription; Xanex. Great, so he thinks the problem is all upstairs. Well, there was only one way to see if this was a fluke, or maybe it was altitude, maybe the unplanned 2 days off would be the rest my body needed, or maybe drugging myself up would settle the crazy in me.

Back at Reds Meadow:
Reds Meadow is kind of in the middle of nowhere, so getting back took a while. In the morning we took a shuttle back up to Mammoth Lakes, then got a hitch up to Mammoth ski resort, then got another hitch up over the ridge and into the meadow.

Little did we know what a surprise we were going to get back at Reds Meadow. As I was talking to the people who gave us a ride I heard screams of glee and delight coming from the front of the small restaurant. As it turned out our detour put us right back with Gumby, Double-It, Samba, and Tallywa. Hugging and lots of chatter you would think we were old friends who hadn't seen each other for a year. The Buffalo 6 Pack was back together again! Tiffany and I decided to split a second breakfast (brunch by this time) with the group so we could all hike out together.

Back on the trail:
Armed with my crazy pills and some natural recommendations from my sister I was set to continue on.

The first night out of Reds Meadow is a National Monument, Devils Post Pile. It is an amazing look at a wall of basalt columns. Then we headed back UP!

As fun as it was to hike together again with friends Tiffany and I stopped an hour or two short of everyone else. Considering recent events we were taking 3 days to get to Toulumne vs 2 like everyone else. Our first camp back on the trail was a rewarding rock outcropping overlooking a valley and a view across to the John Muir Trail and the magnificent mountains framing it.

The second and third day into Tuolumne Meadows included Thousand Island Pass and Donahue Pass. Neither had significant snow and provided us with rewarding views of the broad valleys below. Because of our relaxed schedule we had long 2 hour breaks by lakes and late starts. I could get used to this! Although, I might not finish the trail until next year...

We had a beautiful walk into Tuolumne. You can always tell when we are getting close to a road or town by the number of people you run into. You can smell their clean clothes before you see them!

Walking into Tuolumne we found some fellow Hiker Trash hanging out at the picnic tables in front of the small store/post office/deli. We found out we made it just in time to get some hot dogs for the night and a swirl ice cream cone.

Trail Statistics
Mile: 942.5
Days: 60
Bars: 45
Bags of Chips: 11
Doctors Visits: 1

Kennedy Meadows to VVR part 2

Pinchot Pass
Pinchot seemed to take forever! We had to climb 4,000 ft to get there. We got to the top about noon. At the top of the pass I gave a big hoot and holler because the other side was relatively snow free and an easy grade down the other side. We still managed to lose the trail crossing a snow patch, but not to worry it was easy to find again. That afternoon we found a large flat rock area to eat lunch by a stream. It was a great place to do some laundry and a little splash bath.

Mather Pass
Mather was another easy climb on the way up. A lot of switchbacks and only a couple small patches of snow. The other side had some steep snow that was still iced over from being so early in the morning. We opted to work our way around the first patch of steep hard snow, then down some hard snow that didn't seem as steep. Eventually we were down and on our way to another beautiful lunch spot.

Muir Pass
Muir is a long flat pass and is the most picturesque with all it's lakes leading up to and from the top. We hit Muir pass early as we got word that there was snow for 2 miles on either side. This information was correct. The most concerning part of the pass was a short low segment of snow where I could hear water running underneath. I wondered, if I fell, how far down I might go. I was glad to be crossing over on solid cold snow. At the top of Muir pass there is a shelter built for winter hikers who get caught in storms. The North side of Muir held more snow and and we felt like we barely made it to the end of the snow in time. We were punching through patches of snow we crossed toward the end. By the time we got over the pass and over the snow we realized we had been hiking for 6 hours without a stop. We found Juice and Peanut Butter resting on a lakeside rock. We stopped and took a long break with them before moving on.

Selden Pass
Selden pass is the lowest pass in this stretch. It had little snow. Our greatest concerns regarding this pass were the river fords on either side. In the guide books both Evolution Creek and Bear creek had warnings regarding the dangers of crossing. The first crossing we chose to take the high water crossing. At the high water crossing the water level was about knew deep and wasn't nearly as scary as we were anticipating. Bear creek was a bit more intimidating because the water was flowing quite a bit faster. There is no alternate option for this one, but we do think we found an easier crossing about a quarter mile North of the trail crossing. Here the water again was knee deep. Yeah we made it through both!

Being able to cross the creek in the afternoon left us with a short day out to the ferry landing to get into our next resupply at Vermilion Valley Resort.

Overall our trip through the high Sierras was wonderful and the beauty was breathtaking. I think we are very lucky to be hiking this year with such a low snow pack. It is hard to imagine what the passes would be like with lots of snow and how much higher the river crossings would be.

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics Mile: 887
Days: 52
Bars: 36
Bags of Chips: 8
Jars of Peanut Butter: 7 (Shared) Showers: 10

Kennedy Meadows to VVR part 1

Our night at Kennedy Meadows was spent at Tom's place. Tom is a trail angel with land just a mile off the PCT. He set up about 20 old camping trailers on his property that hikers can spend the night in and take a day off from setting up a tent. One of the trailers is the internet cafe I wrote my last blog in. His place is just across the street from the general store where we picked up our resupply and other mail.

For breakfast we had quite the Kennedy Meadow experience eating at Irlan's. We jammed 15 hikers into Tom's open top SUV and drove a few miles down the road.  Irlan's is not quite a restaurant and not quite your grandmas house. We all took seats in our booths in the living room and soon enough a short old lady walked out from the back. After we are settled she looks at the first hungry hiker and says "go". There is no menu and everything is $8. Ordering felt a little like when I was in India. I knew what I ordered, but I wasn't sure what I was going to get. Sure as nothing met health codes, my stack of pancakes with sausage and a side of hash browns showed up as ordered.

Instead of heading out of Kennedy Meadows at mid afternoon Tiffany and I waited until the evening as we heard there were additional packages that might be arriving. I was sorry to find out that I missed a package of Mom's brownies and some cookies from Aunt Jeannie.

That night Tiffany and i made it a couple of miles out and had a wonderful sandy spot by a creek with Juice and Spoons. For our evening entertainment we had the splash of beaver tails which must have lived in a den just across the creek.

Our stretch from Kennedy Meadows to VVR was primarily defined by the peaks and passes that we had to plan our days around. The first three days of hiking were primarily climbing into the Sierras. Every day we could see the peaks on the horizon getting closer. Our fourth night out we camped at Upper Crabtree Meadows setting ourselves up for Mt. Whitney.

Mt Whitney
Mt. Whitney is the tallest peak in the lower 48 states. We left camp at 5:30am to make sure we would get to the top without worry of afternoon weather. We were coming back to the same camp and it felt great to be hiking with light packs only carrying enough water and food for one day. It is amazing how the trail has been built. It is almost 2 feet wide all the way to the top. Looking up from the valley below I would never have guessed how we were going to get to the top. There were not too many people climbing the peak from our side, but there were a lot of tourists making their way up the side of the mountain from the Whitney East Portal. We found, like many of the other thru hikers, that we had much less trouble with the climb and altitude. Although I will admit that in the final push I had a small amount of dizziness. The view from the top was amazing. We could see the high Sierras and our path North stretched out before us. Lucky for me our day climbing Whitney was also the same day as my birthday. How lucky can one get!

Forester Pass
Forester Pass is the highest point on the PCT route at 13,200ft. We had hiked a few additional miles after climbing Whitney in order to set ourselves up to hit the pass at the right time of the day. Approaching the pass it is hard to tell where the hell you are going to go over. As you get closer you approach a wall with a small notch to the left side. Hmmm. Soon you are climbing that wall! Near the top of the pass there was a chute that was still holding some hard snow. I was very thankful there were some good steps already made. While the south side was relatively snow free the North side still held quite a bit of snow. To get down I did a little bit of glissading, some route finding between the snow, and some good old post holing. Overall it wasn't nearly as scary as I was building it up to be in my head.

Glenn Pass
Hiking toward Glenn the weather was coming in. We couldn't really tell what it was going to do so we planned to hike just below tree line, then make another assessment of the weather. If it looked to be getting worse we would sit put, if it looked like it was improving we would continue on. At tree line we took a break with Brownie and assessed. We decided to push on. I thought Glenn had the most fascinating approach, the mountain walls seemed so steep and close as you climbed up. The trail had a lot of tight switchbacks winding the trail to the top. We were lucky to have judged the weather correctly, a blue sky evening was clearing overhead. However, what we didn't expect to see on the other side was a steep and snow covered slope. When someone told us it was snow free they must have only been referring to the approach side. This was the only time on the trail that I wish I had my ice axe. The snow crossing was not so bad, but the run out didn't look like such a happy ending should I fall and not be able to stop myself. Cautiously I made my first steps into the steep snow following footsteps made earlier. Tiffany followed shortly behind. As I went forward I reported the snow conditions "this one is soft and deep" or "this is a bit of a hard patch, keep your footing". I also included a few "good job, you're doing great" for encouragement and for some self talk to reassure myself. Once past the steepest snow we were able to rejoin the path where the snow had melted. A few switchbacks later and we found ourselves looking at a steep patch of snow and no foot prints. Below us was a short 4 foot down climb to a less steep snow patch that led to the trail. I took my bag off, climbed down and then had Tiffany hand the backpacks down. She then followed and we made our way to the trail again. We were finally over the pass! We still had some snow and rock hopping, but the sketchy, rearend puckering part was over. When we rolled into camp that night we nearly fell into our bags. We were physically exhausted from climbing over Forester and Glenn Pass in one day and mentally exhausted from all the concentration.

Continues on part 2

Mojave to Kennedy Meadows

It turns out Mojave is not much of a town, but it was what we needed. A cheap bed, a shower and a good grocery store to resupply for the next 8 day stretch. While there we also found a Radio Shack where we purchased a cheap AM/FM radio. Some trail friends had one and it was nice to catch up on news, listen to the weather, and find a radio station for some of the difficult climbs!

We took a nero day in Mojave. We hung around all day completing our resupply, laundry, and other chores before getting a ride back to the trail around 4pm. We hiked the most boring 10 mile section we have yet to see. It is windy, dry dusty, and mostly a field of windmills.

The second day out of Mojave we climbed from Tehachapi Pass. As it turns out this is supposed to be one of the most windy places in the world. I questioned this, but I question no more. We nearly got blown off the side of the mountain. From our estimates and the forecast we believe the sustained winds were about 30mph with gusts between 50 and 60mph. In areas around the main ridge it was very difficult to stand and you could only cross some sections by walking sideways, facing the wind, and planting your trekking poles behind you to make sure you didn't go backwards. On the windiest section Tiffany almost lost the maps and got blown down the mountain (literally). Exhausted from fighting the wind we only hiked 15 miles that day.

Then we saw a bear! Out of camp mid morning we were hiking across a green treed stretch in the middle of a burn area. I was leading and heard a large animal breaking through the bushes. I thought it was a cow, I stopped and waited to see where it was and which way it was headed. A few seconds later I saw a large furry animal appear on the left side of the trail. It took a half a moment to realize what it actually was as we watched it continue to run across the trail and on down the hill. It passed only 50ft in front of us. We stood there shell shocked with knocking knees. Here we used our radio for the first time, we needed a little noise and something to calm the nerves and let the adrenaline subside.

Robin Bird springs is one of the few water stops on this stretch. People tend to gather near water, and we ended up with 9 people camping in the same spot. The spring is also in the middle of open range lands where cows regularly come to get water. As it turns out Tiffany does not like sharing her watering spots with the cows. The cows drank downstream of the spring then made the mistake of wandering up to the camp spot where Tiffany was. As the two large guys stayed in there tents, Tiffany stood guard of the camp sites waving her trekking pole, shooing the cows away. Tiffany finally got her trail name: Cowgirl! Hopefully someone has already guessed the correct name on her blog so that I have not ruined the trivia.

The night before we headed into Kennedy Meadows we had trouble finding a great spot to camp and ended up sleeping in the gravely bottom of a drainage. We almost should have stayed in a less comfortable spot as all I could think about was that if it rained (which the forecast called for a "slight chance") we might wake up floating on our pads. And of all the people that would be camping in the bottom of a drainage on such a night it would be the engineer who used to work on drainage design!

Luckily, there was no rain that night. Not on us or further upstream in the drainage area. We woke up early and headed out to make our way to what I consider our first big milestone, Kennedy Meadows. I must say for all that I heard about Kennedy Meadows, it is not what I as expecting at all.

The best thing about Kennedy Meadows has been the care packages from friends. We received a care package from friends in Colorado, one from friends in Portland, and one from my Grandparents. We got fudge and cookies, beer, the largest Snickers bar in the world, and fun trail flair. Other hikers watched and we got comments such as, "how do yo make friends like that?", and "I need to find some friends when I am done hiking." We felt so loved! Thank you to our trail angels from afar!

I will try not to hog all the computer time at the cafe here so this email may not be edited that great, but hopefully you will still get a taste for what trail life has been like over this last eight day stretch.

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics Mile: 702
Days: 42
Body: Desert Boot Camp Candy Bars: 25
Bags of Chips: 6
Jars of Peanut Butter: 4 (Shared) Showers: 10

Past Mile 500!

Mile 498 to Mojave

Our night at mile 498 proved to be very windy. We were actually fairly well sheltered from the gusts, but the sound of the wind in the trees made it really hard to go to sleep. The biggest problem was the amount of dust that blew into the tent. During the night I pulled my sleeping liner over my head to avoid getting the dust in my hair and breathing it in.

As it would turn out we were not the only ones who had a rough night with the wind. We found Samba and Talywa, and later Hikeawhile, napping in the shade by the trail.

From our camp we headed down to Hiker Town. Tiffany describes hiker town well in her blog. Weird little place, but a hot shower and a place out of the wind were nice amenities.

Out of Hiker Town we hiked 24 miles to cross the desert floor. The trail follows the Los Angeles and California aqueducts for the majority of the hike. Keep in mind these are piped underground. So while millions of gallons of water flow beneath our feet we walk on dry dusty earth with no shade. We also walk past hundreds of windmills in this stretch. They give testament to just how windy it is here.

Our only shade in this stretch was 17 miles in, under a bridge and one oak tree next to the bridge.  We rested at the bridge for 4 hours during the heat of the day. Many other hikers were there as well enjoying the lone shady spot.

About 4:30 we headed out to finish the rest of our day and climb off the desert floor. The combination of exposure and wind seem to really take it out of me. In our last mile or so I felt pretty weak and tired. Our camp by a small stream was very welcoming.

Our hike into Mojave was hot, but not nearly as exposed and despite the huge wind farms, didn't seem as windy. Our usual group of 6, now referred to as the Buffalo 6-pack finished the last stretch to Willow Springs Road together.

We decided once again to try a 6 person hitch into Mojave. We must have some good mojo flow between us because it was not even 10 minutes and we got another 6 person ride!

We are now checked into the Motel 6 and looking forward to a hot shower, laundry, and some food!

Over all we are both feeling good. We feel like some of our desert days are pretty hard, but are offset by great days at the hiker heavens and great times with the new friends we are meeting on the trail. There,is no doubt in my mind that the fun out weighs any of the difficult or taxing pieces of trail.

We only have a few more days of desert before we begin climbing into the Sierras!

Many happy tails.

Trail Statistics
Mile: 562
Days: 33
Body: Hot feet
Candy Bars: 23
Bags of Chips: 5
Jars of Peanut Butter: 2 (Shared)
Showers: 8

Agua Dulce to mile 498

Zero Day! Our zero day in Agua Dulce was great. We slept in until 6:30, then rode the bikes down to the store to finish our resupply and get some more food. We only had 9,000 calories each left to purchase. A few boxes of Cheezitz, some candy bars, and tortillas to go with Nutela and we were good to go. We also treated ourselves to some fresh produce for the zero day. Something made fresh tasted so good.

As we were eating our fresh breakfast Waterboy came in looking for people signed up on the ride board. Tiffany got a ride into a Target this morning, which means I got some new underwear! Simple, but wonderful to get new ones!

While Tiffany was out shopping I organized the food and took some time to write in my journal and enjoy the cool shade under a large tree at the Saufley's. As I wrote in my journal and lounged around the patio I saw 20 or so hikers come and go here at Hiker Heaven. Again, so fun to meet all the different people doing this trail.

Later we made a second trip down to the center of Agua Dulce to get postcards, but found a very limited selection. We got a couple, but found an alternate postcard media. Some of you should be receiving our make shift postcards in the coming week.

For dinner 9 of us went in on a 28-inch pizza from a local pizza joint. We should have timed how long it took us to eat it. We took a picture around the huge pizza box and then decended on the meal.

We left the Saufley's at 5:30 am to get the road walk over with early. This segment of trail includes a little over two miles of road.

Our original plan was to walk from the Saufley's to the Oasis cache, but plans would change.

We walked16 miles to the Oasis cashe. Tiffany and I were the first to arrive and found ice cold beer! The Oasis cache is sponsored by the Anderson's, yet another trail angel on this stretch of trail. The Oasis has beer, soda, camp chairs, and blow up decorations appropriate for an oasis theme.

During our visit at the Oasis we were joined by Double-It, Gumby, Talywa, and Samba. We all enjoyed our frosty beverages and a long rest. The six of us were having such a good time together we decided to continue on to the Anderson's in our group. From the Oasis it is 8 miles to the road to hitch into the Anderson's.

When we got to the road we were wondering how to hitch in with such a large group. So we decided just to all line up on the road with our thumbs out. Assuming we would eventually all get different rides in. To our great surprise and delight it wasn't 5 minutes before a truck pulled over and gave us ALL a ride into the Anderson's.

The Anderson's is referred to as Hippie Daycare. You get all your chores done at the well organized Saufley's and then just hang out at the Anderson's. Upon arrival you receive a hug from Terry Anderson, then are told to find a camp spot in the large back yard, and come back with your head lamp.

Once we returned with our headlamps, some guy rolls up in his car with a case of beer and a stack of pizzas for all hungry and thirsty hikers. Savior hiked the PCT in 2009 and said he was just trying to give back some of the trail magic he received when he hiked.  I cannot wait to do this in the future.

We all enjoyed the pizza and beer. This was the appetizer to the nightly taco salad served at the Anderson's. When you stay you get taco salad at night and pancakes for breakfast.

After a plate full of cinnamon pancakes the next morning our group of six headed out together again. We actually walked out with a group of 10, but 2 of them took a different route to the main road and the other 2 didn't want to stop at the convenient store. So when we got back on the road to hitch back up to the trail head it was the Oasis 6 pack. Again we figured we would all have to get separate rides to the trail, but as luck would have it, we got another ride for all 6 at once.

On a bit of a high from our great luck we formed a line and started to make our way over the next ridge. We played the make a story game with everyone contributing to the story one sentence at a time. In short it was about Jack rabbits, Poodle Dog bush, a political plot to end the bush and something about the pine beatles. It had a Romeo and Juliet ending. Would probably have to hike for several weeks in the woods before one found it as entertaining as we did.

Throughout the day our group spread out and rejoined several times. Tiffany and I stopped for a while at a water tank where the other 4 were spending the night. We contemplated staying too, but the camping was limited.  So we pressed on for two miles and found a vary nice flat spot to put up the tent.

Still enjoying the trail as it only seems to get better. In a day or so we should hit a flat valley floor which extends several miles. I think this will feel like the true desert.

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics
Mile: 498
Days: 30
Candy Bars: 21
Bags of Chips: 5
Jars of Peanut Butter: 1 (Shared)
Showers:7 (6with soap)