Sunday, July 8, 2012
MP 1083 28 miles today. I have been feeling very strong and energetic. Camped at the headwaters of the Truckee River with Shutterbug, Goose, Momma Bear and Monkey. I am not sure if I have mentioned Momma Bear and Monkey before. They are a mother and her 8 year old daughter. If successful, the girl will probably be the youngest person ever to complete the PCT. I was a little bit skeptical at first but having seen them walk over 1,000 miles now, I have to think their chances are pretty good.
I stopped today to watch two bald eagles soaring above me and performing what looked to be daredevilish aerobatic stunts. They put on quite a show.
I stopped today to watch two bald eagles soaring above me and performing what looked to be daredevilish aerobatic stunts. They put on quite a show.
MP 1055 The herd of thru-hikers continues to thin out. The only other person I have seen is Shutterbug with whom I camped this evening. I think a significant number of hikers have quit the trail. It is hard to know for sure about this, however. No one announces that they are quitting the trail. They just disappear.
I feel far more at home in the wilderness now. There is no feeling of loneliness or of uneasiness or disquiet. I feel that I belong here. I am acutely aware of the environment and nature's cycles. The full moon is like a beacon now. I wake at sunrise and retire at sunset. One might expect that after several months one would begin to take the natural beauty for granted, but that has not happened to me. My aesthetic appreciation of it has, if anything, become more acute. As the reader has surely noticed, I am no longer aware of the days of the week or the date, but orient myself instead only according to the number of miles traveled. My pack feels like it is part of me. I rarely take if off, even when I stop for a break.
Shutterbug:
I feel far more at home in the wilderness now. There is no feeling of loneliness or of uneasiness or disquiet. I feel that I belong here. I am acutely aware of the environment and nature's cycles. The full moon is like a beacon now. I wake at sunrise and retire at sunset. One might expect that after several months one would begin to take the natural beauty for granted, but that has not happened to me. My aesthetic appreciation of it has, if anything, become more acute. As the reader has surely noticed, I am no longer aware of the days of the week or the date, but orient myself instead only according to the number of miles traveled. My pack feels like it is part of me. I rarely take if off, even when I stop for a break.
Shutterbug:
MP 1030 Sonora Pass
The climb up to Sonora Pass and beyond was astonishingly, impossibly beautiful. Unexpected. Made 23 miles. Trail Magic at the pass courtesy of Sleeping Bare. Wildflowers and butterflies are in abundance with a profusion of color.
From Sonora Pass the elevation begins to drop as I walk towards Lake Tahoe. In a few days I will be out of the Sierra Nevadas. The landscape is changing from granitic to volcanic. I have now walked through seven mountain ranges: Laguna, San Jacinto, San Bernardino, San Gabriel, Liebre, Tehachapi and Sierra Nevada. There remains the Klamath Range in California and the Cascade Range in California, Oregon and Washington.
Instead of desert lizards scuttling down the trail in front of me, there are now ground squirrels.
Looking back from Sonora Pass:
Over Sonora Pass:
Snow Field on Sonora Pass:
Shutterbug on the left, Sleeping Bare on the right:
On the way down from Sonora Pass:
The climb up to Sonora Pass and beyond was astonishingly, impossibly beautiful. Unexpected. Made 23 miles. Trail Magic at the pass courtesy of Sleeping Bare. Wildflowers and butterflies are in abundance with a profusion of color.
From Sonora Pass the elevation begins to drop as I walk towards Lake Tahoe. In a few days I will be out of the Sierra Nevadas. The landscape is changing from granitic to volcanic. I have now walked through seven mountain ranges: Laguna, San Jacinto, San Bernardino, San Gabriel, Liebre, Tehachapi and Sierra Nevada. There remains the Klamath Range in California and the Cascade Range in California, Oregon and Washington.
Instead of desert lizards scuttling down the trail in front of me, there are now ground squirrels.
Looking back from Sonora Pass:
Over Sonora Pass:
Snow Field on Sonora Pass:
Shutterbug on the left, Sleeping Bare on the right:
On the way down from Sonora Pass:
MP 997 Dorothy Lake
Mosquitoes are driving me mad. Tried to make dinner under my tarp last night & melted a hole in the mosquito netting. Disaster. Camped at about 992 and promised myself that I would wake up early to make up the miles. Let myself down and didn't get on the trail until about 8 am. I find that it is more difficult to wake early when the tarp is up. Have been having trouble getting up the energy to get in my miles. Mood has been dark. Have only done about 15 miles a day the last several days and find myself falling behind. Took a quick dip in Dorothy Lake which helped. A beautiful, large black and white striped butterfly flitted down and landed on me. I took it as a sign. And finally I hit the 1,000 mile mark and all of a sudden my mood changed and the trail became beautiful again.
Dorothy Lake:
1,000 Mile Mark:
Tree growing out of a rock:
Mosquitoes are driving me mad. Tried to make dinner under my tarp last night & melted a hole in the mosquito netting. Disaster. Camped at about 992 and promised myself that I would wake up early to make up the miles. Let myself down and didn't get on the trail until about 8 am. I find that it is more difficult to wake early when the tarp is up. Have been having trouble getting up the energy to get in my miles. Mood has been dark. Have only done about 15 miles a day the last several days and find myself falling behind. Took a quick dip in Dorothy Lake which helped. A beautiful, large black and white striped butterfly flitted down and landed on me. I took it as a sign. And finally I hit the 1,000 mile mark and all of a sudden my mood changed and the trail became beautiful again.
Dorothy Lake:
1,000 Mile Mark:
Tree growing out of a rock:
MP 973 Benson Lake. The fish, trout, each about a foot long,
are jumping all around this isolated lake. Had to go off trail to get
here. Wish I had a fishing rod. In fact, I wish I had my fishing
rod for the entire John Muir trail.
This place, Benson Lake, has broad, long, windswept sandy beaches. Almost tropical in appearance. It was very windy last night but I set up the tarp as I am tired of waking up cold because I am covered with dew. By this morning the wind had died down and I found myself in a cloud of mosquitoes.
All of my socks are in shreds. Have gone through five pair. I find myself experimenting, mixing and matching to find combinations that don't allow holes all the way through. My shoes, second pair, are splitting at the seams. Looking ahead, it may be another 2 or 3 hundred miles before I can buy another pair.
I see that I haven't made an entry since MP 904. Will try to fill the gap. I hiked out from Mammoth Lakes to Red's Meadow. Initially I had planned to hike with Gnu and/or Bobcat but the plans were scuttled when Gnu said he was having problems with his girlfriend in Japan & had to stay in Mammoth Lakes so he could talk to her on the phone. I did hike briefly with Bobcat with whom also shared a room in Mammoth Lakes. Can't seem to get into the rhythm of hiking with a partner, though, and I continue hiking alone.
From Red's Meadow I hiked North past the Devils' Postpile National Monument towards Yosemite & Tuolumne Meadows. Camped on a gorgeous outlook with Hi, a Korean fellow who speaks little English.
Resupplied at the Tuolumne Meadows General Store and spent several hours lounging outside with fellow hikers. The news of the day is that the US Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act. This is just about the only significant news item since I started the hike. I certainly don't feel that I have missed anything.
From Tuolomne Meadows I begin gradually descending from Yosemite National Park down through the Glen Aulin in this land of steep granitic cliffs and domes. Camped next to a small creek at about MP 955. Started a fire to keep the mosquitoes at bay, something I don't usually do. Scout showed up and camped with me and was good company.
The hiking has been more difficult than anticipated in this stretch descending from Yosemite. This is not only because of the steep gains and losses of elevation but also because of the broken, rocky surface of the trail. It is probably the hardest hiking I have ever done. I had to pack 8 days of food from Tuolumne Meadows which makes for a heavy pack. Have to be sure to get my miles in so as not to run out of food before Echo Lake which is about 150 miles distant.
The shin splint situation is finally getting better. Hiked without the aid of vicodin for the past two days. I think I have a better understanding now of what causes the problem; walking too fast and hard on downhill, rocky, broken surfaces. Hopefully I will be able to avoid a recurrence. The last 250 miles have been very painful. I no longer believe that walking long miles, in itself, is a significant factor.
Stumbled on a grouse hen with half a dozen chicks. She is funny because she thinks she is hidden from me, but she is not.
This is a picture of Hi. That is my bedroll in the background. Like most of the thru-hikers, Hi prefers to cowboy camp. There are a few that don't even carry tents or tarps in case of emergency. Bobcat simply carries a sheet of tyvek that can be used as a cover if it starts to rain.
Hikers outside the Tuolumne Meadows General Store. That's Gnu on the left:
Glen Aulin falls:
In some areas where the soil is soft the hikers have gouged huge ruts into the trail:
This doe didn't seem particularly startled when I walked up behind her.
The beach at Benson Lake:
This place, Benson Lake, has broad, long, windswept sandy beaches. Almost tropical in appearance. It was very windy last night but I set up the tarp as I am tired of waking up cold because I am covered with dew. By this morning the wind had died down and I found myself in a cloud of mosquitoes.
All of my socks are in shreds. Have gone through five pair. I find myself experimenting, mixing and matching to find combinations that don't allow holes all the way through. My shoes, second pair, are splitting at the seams. Looking ahead, it may be another 2 or 3 hundred miles before I can buy another pair.
I see that I haven't made an entry since MP 904. Will try to fill the gap. I hiked out from Mammoth Lakes to Red's Meadow. Initially I had planned to hike with Gnu and/or Bobcat but the plans were scuttled when Gnu said he was having problems with his girlfriend in Japan & had to stay in Mammoth Lakes so he could talk to her on the phone. I did hike briefly with Bobcat with whom also shared a room in Mammoth Lakes. Can't seem to get into the rhythm of hiking with a partner, though, and I continue hiking alone.
From Red's Meadow I hiked North past the Devils' Postpile National Monument towards Yosemite & Tuolumne Meadows. Camped on a gorgeous outlook with Hi, a Korean fellow who speaks little English.
Resupplied at the Tuolumne Meadows General Store and spent several hours lounging outside with fellow hikers. The news of the day is that the US Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act. This is just about the only significant news item since I started the hike. I certainly don't feel that I have missed anything.
From Tuolomne Meadows I begin gradually descending from Yosemite National Park down through the Glen Aulin in this land of steep granitic cliffs and domes. Camped next to a small creek at about MP 955. Started a fire to keep the mosquitoes at bay, something I don't usually do. Scout showed up and camped with me and was good company.
The hiking has been more difficult than anticipated in this stretch descending from Yosemite. This is not only because of the steep gains and losses of elevation but also because of the broken, rocky surface of the trail. It is probably the hardest hiking I have ever done. I had to pack 8 days of food from Tuolumne Meadows which makes for a heavy pack. Have to be sure to get my miles in so as not to run out of food before Echo Lake which is about 150 miles distant.
The shin splint situation is finally getting better. Hiked without the aid of vicodin for the past two days. I think I have a better understanding now of what causes the problem; walking too fast and hard on downhill, rocky, broken surfaces. Hopefully I will be able to avoid a recurrence. The last 250 miles have been very painful. I no longer believe that walking long miles, in itself, is a significant factor.
Stumbled on a grouse hen with half a dozen chicks. She is funny because she thinks she is hidden from me, but she is not.
This is a picture of Hi. That is my bedroll in the background. Like most of the thru-hikers, Hi prefers to cowboy camp. There are a few that don't even carry tents or tarps in case of emergency. Bobcat simply carries a sheet of tyvek that can be used as a cover if it starts to rain.
Hikers outside the Tuolumne Meadows General Store. That's Gnu on the left:
Glen Aulin falls:
In some areas where the soil is soft the hikers have gouged huge ruts into the trail:
This doe didn't seem particularly startled when I walked up behind her.
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