Update- I'm still here

Sending out a quick update about what's going on, and hopefully keep my small audience from forgetting about me.

I've had a ridiculously relaxing time off the trail. I've been taking it pretty easy, physically. I've mostly been hanging out on various couches and similar furniture, finally reading The Song Of The Dodo (which has been really interesting in light of the different "mountain islands" I've walked through so far with their different Chickadee songs and plant communities), eating lots of fruits and veggies that still have all their original water, and hanging out with my girls.

Had a picnic at Limantour Beach.

I've also run the gamut of medical advice for my little problem. I saw a regular doctor, who predictably advised rest, ibuprofen, and ice. I also saw a Rolfer (here's Wikipedia if you need it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolfing), who watched me walk and put my legs through some range of motion tests to find out where I had tension, then did some deep massage to get rid of it. Then I saw a physical therapist and got some suggestions about stretches and exercises to help heal the current and prevent additional problems. Finally, and I understand if you need to snicker at this one, I went to a place called the Reikes institute where I got a "body mechanics evaluation" and relearned how to walk, with an emphasis on making my stride more efficient so that I don't put too much strain on any one part of my legs. I also spent a few hours at REI walking around in a bunch of different shoes, and ended up deciding on the Brooks Cascadias. This is one of the more popular shoes on the trail, but when I tried them before the hike they felt too tight. Now that tightness just feels like the support I wasn't getting from the Altras, and now I'll fit in with the crown much better.

Classic Bay Area scene.

The consensus among all these folks was that I might be able to get away with just one week of rest, but two weeks would be best to really break the cycle of inflammation and irritation. So that's what I've decided to do. On Wed the 27th I'll take a plane-local transit-Grteyhound-taxi-regional transit combo trip to get back to Wrightwood. From there I'll pick up my stove which I mailed to myself since you can't bring those on a plane, then hike out of town to rejoin the PCT somewhere in the neighborhood of mile 362. I'll be missing about 7-8 trail miles, but I don't think its very likely that I can get a ride back exactly where I got off the trail, and I'd rather not backtrack or redo miles I've already done. Yes, this is another cut to the "continuous footpath" ideal that I had hoped for. I'll spare you all the details, but I've spent a lot of time thinking about this (couch time, remember), and I've come to terms with missing these miles.

So there we have it. 2 weeks off trail. Its felt so very long and so very short all at once. The great days with Libby and Abbey have passed so quickly, but when I think of how far up the trail I would have been if I were able to keep hiking, it seems like I've been off trail forever. The people I was hiking with are probably near Kennedy Meadows and the gateway to the Sierra about now. There have also been some exciting times out on the trail that I've missed out on. This most recent storm dumped a fair bit of snow in some areas I was just about to walk through, and I'm sorry to have missed that experience and challenge. But, this time off has allowed me to rest and recover, to make a few gear modifications that I've thought of so far, and importantly to reconnect with family and friends.

Being back with the convenience of a real computer also allows me to more-easily share with you a couple things you might be interested in. First, you may recall someone I was hiking with back between Idyllwild and Ziggy and The Bear's, named Zack. I mentioned before that he is a Navy vet, but I didn't mention that he is starting up a webpage to help foster a community of vets who can share inspirational stories and provide support for each other. It is just in the initial stages, and Zack's hike is sort of the kiskstart for the project, but if you know any vets out there you might consider passing the web address along: vetconnect.us.

Second, when I was at the kickoff event, there was a screening of a really great movie that a couple of hikers form the Class of 2014 made about their hike last year. Maybe you've seen Wild, but this film might give you a slightly different perspective about the variety of people out there hiking the trail, and the range of experiences they have. It was also filmed and edited really well, and what's more, the guys who made it just put it up on the internet for free! It's more or less a full length movie, so grab some popcorn and enjoy: http://domorewithlessfilm.com/

I'll also put links to these 2 things over there on the right somewhere.

So I'll be back out on the trail in just a few more days, thinking of more bad jokes to share with you.

May 13. Day 25.

Cajon Pass to about PCT mile 356

Miles hiked: ~14.

Well.

Shit.

My leg is not better despite the 2 full days rest I gave it.

The morning started out pretty well. Had one last hotel breakfast, packed up, and got back on the trail by 7. It was so nice to be walking away from that freeway intersection that had been my home for the last few days, with all its fast cars and trucks, fast "food", and the constant rumble of internal combustion. The trail passed under the interstate via a big tunnel that a creek can flow through when it happens to be flowing. Kale, who I first met at kickoff and who I've been leapfrogging with since Ziggy and the Bear's was sleeping under there, having done a big 34 mile day yesterday to get to McDonalds. I guess it really draws some people...

Here'r the new shoes. Merrell Grassbrow Air. They, at least, worked pretty well today.

Another 6 or 10 hikers had all left the hotel at the same time, and the trail felt a little congested for a few miles as the faster hikers passed the slower ones and everyone settled in to the day of hiking. This was by far the most people I've seen in one little stretch of trail so far. We crossed the busy tracks and got to watch a few long trains go rumbling by. Then we climbed up through more dry scrub hillsides and passed some wonderful eroded sandstone formations. I kept my pace slow and conservative, intending to take all day to get through about 18 or 20 miles of this next 28 me waterless stretch. Knowing I might still have about half a day of hiking to do tomorrow, I was carrying 7 liters of water, which along with the 4.5 days of food I had was about maxing out the comfort level of my pack. It's such a Catch 22 in these dry areas that if you want to slow down to give your body a rest, you end up having to carry so much more water.

Hikers exiting the tunnel under I-15.

About 5 miles from Cajon Pass the trail dipped down into a little valley which is apparently the rift zone of the San Andreas Fault. Having seen the preview for the new movie by the same name several times over the last few days, I didn't linger there long but instead began the long gradual climb up onto the ridge that would take us past Wrightwood. 

Cool rocks and cool hiking temps.

This climb felt really good, my legs had warmed up nicely and I had settled in to a nice easy, sustainable pace up the hill. However, wanting to be sure to take it slow and be careful with the leg, I sat down at around 8 miles out of Cajon Pass to have a snack, rest, and do some stretching. The next mile or so after that felt really good too. But then my leg started to stiffen up ever so slightly right in the same place. I immediately slowed my pace way down, shortening my stride and relying on my trekking poles much more to keep moving forward. The tightness grew a bit more into some slight pain so I sat down again for another rest and more stretching. But this didn't seem to help, and soon I was just barely shuffling along, focused only on where and how I stepped, not paying much attention at all to the area I was walking through (though at one little break I happened to see a chipping sparrow carry food to what must have been its nest in a dense conifer branch). The one that I did have to pay attention to was the Poodle Dog Bush. Now that you've had a moment to chuckle and wonder at this name, I can tell you that this is a plant that grows up thickly soon after wildfires, and can cause a rash similar to or worse than poison oak. There is actually a section of trail 40 or 50 miles ahead where the trail had to be rerouted around a number of miles that were really overgrown with PDB. The section I walked through today was only about a half mile long and not too overgrown, but there were a couple places where I had to drop down below he trail to get around some branches, and even this little down hill I could barely negotiate without really hurting my leg. 

At this point it was only about 6-7 miles back down to a road where I might be able to catch a ride. But it was all down hill, which based on he previous days hiking with this injury I knew would be slow, painful, and probably cause additional aggravation. In stead I decided to keep moving forward. Even though it was a greater distance to the next road (15ish miles), it was all gradual uphill, which was the easiest walking under my condition.

All sorts of thoughts were going through my head as I shuffled along. Clearly I needed to give this thing more time to heal up. This wasn't the sort of achy pain I'm willing to walk through; a tendon in my foot has been right, sore and uncomfortable the whole hike, but it hasn't gotten worse and hasn't impacted the trip. But this new problem feels like I'm doing more and more damage with each step. It was distracting me from what I felt were the most important aspects of this trip: observing changes in the landscape and keeping a keen eye and ear out for interesting critters along the way. But how long should I take to rest? A week? 2? I need to take enough time "hit restart", but this has been a hard injury to judge because it feels so good for 8 or 10 or 12 miles and then it gets so bad so quickly. Then after all these thoughts went through my head I would think about how lucky I am just to be out doing this thing that I love so much, and self pity all this self pity would make me feel even more rediculous. 

The trail climbed a little rise and there on a dirt road was a car, with a driver who was handing out drinks and snacks to hikers.

"Can I talk you in to a Gatorade?"

"No thank you."

"How about some chips or cookies?"

"No, that's OK."

"Well what do you need?"

I could hardly bring myself to say it, "I think I'm going to need a ride to town." Such a loaded statement. Is this really the right decision? Is this really what I want to do? Am I giving in to this pain to quickly? Should I push on to the paved road crossing so it will be easier to get back on the trail once I heal? I knew that if I got a ride from this little out-of-the-way forest service road, I probably wouldn't be able to catch a ride back here to start back up where I left off. By catching a ride from here I knew I was committing to either skipping at least 13 or so miles, starting over near Cajon Pass to redo what I had just done before continuing, or backtracking from the next road crossing to cover these miles.

I called Libby for some physical, emotional, and logistical consultation. It was good just to hear her voice and talk through what my options were. It was quite a low point, all full of disappointment and anxiety. I didn't like it, but I ended up getting a ride back to Wrightwood after this very nice man had handed out drinks and snacks to the 10 or so hikers who arrived behind me. I hung out in front of the little grocery store there investigating my options with my spy phone. I also called Tracey again to see if I might be able to stay with them for the night while I figured things out. They took me in again, feeding me dinner again and letting me take a shower and giving me a big air mattress to sleep on and even offering to give me a ride tomorrow if I needed to get somewhere. To really top it off, Tracey is a massage therapist and after dinner she did a bit of work on my legs and feet. So incredible to have these people take in a total stranger and give so much!! 

By the end of the evening I had a plan in place. I feel like I need to give this at least a week, and I really didn't want to go back to the hotel for that much time. I also knew I couldn't stay with Dan and Tracey for that long, just plopping myself down right in the middle of their lives. No, if I was going to be just sitting around for a whole week, I might as well try to get home so I could be with my girls and recover in a more comfortable place. So, in the morning Tracey will drive me to the closest Amtrak station, and I will catch a bus to Bakersfield then transfer to a train to get me the rest of the way to the Bay Area.

I am temporarily down, but I am far from out! I'll be back out on the trail somehow eventually. I just need to heal so I can get back to having fun while hiking.

Anyone have any book recommendations?

Sad to be riding a train, but at least I get to look at more trains.

Birds:

Rock Wren 

House Finch 

Bewick's Wren 

Western Scrub-jay 

Warbling Vireo

Wilson's Warbler 

Bushtit 

Ash-throated Flycatcher 

Spotted Towhee 

California Towhee 

Lesser Goldfinch 

Wrentit 

Black-headed Grosbeak 

Black-chinned Sparrow 

Brown-headed Cowbird 

Northern Flicker 

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 

Western Wood-pewee 

Chipping Sparrow- food carry

May 11 & 12. Days 23 & 24.

Loitering in Cajon Pass.

Miles hiked: 0.

Don't have much to show for the last two days. Hung out at the hotel, focused mainly on letting my leg muscle and feet heal up and recover a bit, and also waiting for the new shoes I ordered to arrive. I also undertook a careful study of the trajectory of TV commercials through the day, from Humane Society and life insurance before noon, to alcohol and condoms after dark. Cars and car insurance have equal air time throughout the day. The other thing I did a lot was watch food shows then go eat some more fast food. One bright point of the food situation at this highway intersection was the fruit vendors on the corners, who would chop up watermelon, cantaloupe, mango, jicama, coconut and cucumber, then sprinkle it with salt and lime juice.

All the shoes arrived on Tue the 12th, so figuring out which pair was the right one gave me something to do for an hour or so. Once that was taken care of I had to figure out how to get the reject shoes back to their previous owners. For some reason I'd thought they would come with pre-paid return shipping labels. 

They didn't.

So I was in a bit of a pickle, needing some way to pay postage, but being about 20 miles from the nearest post office. I decided it was time to call in a favor I wasn't owed at all. My friend Annie has some family in the nearby town of Wrightwood, and she had given me their contact info before the hike.

Calling them ended up being a great decision. Not only did they come pick me up and take me to the Wrightwood P.O., they also had me over for a great dinner of prime rib, roasted potatoes, cucumber and tomato salad, and fruit. I even got to hang out with their dog. Thanks so much Tracey, Dan and family for having me into your house!!

Back on the trail tomorrow!

Birds: 

Good grief. I guess there were some fulmars and gulls on The Deadliest Catch.

May 10. Day 22.

Cajon Pass to Cajon Pass

Miles hiked: 17.9, plus 0.5 off trail.

This morning I watched some more bad TV then took advantage of the complementary breakfast. My leg was feeling real good, and I thought I might be able to slack pack the remaining miles to Cajon Pass without re-aggravating it more. What is slack packing? Well humor me this:

Warm layer? Check. Headlamp? Check. 12" Subway sandwich? Check? Tall boy Coors Light? Check. Basically just a day hike, in which you come up with some way to transport or otherwise deliver all your overnight gear about a day's hike up the trail, and cover those miles with a very light pack.

I called the taxi guy again, and the ride was no different than yesterday's. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the cab driver is in school to be a policeman.

I started hiking around 10, starting slow over the first few miles to warm up the legs and get a s new for how the weird muscle pull thin was doing. Things felt good. I was soon walking along the shore of Silverwood Lake, with sandy beaches backed by step scrubby hills, a few fast motor boats doing small laps, and a shoreline somewhat foamy and smelling like warm fish guts. I had my sandwich and beer at a picnic area, got some more water, then set out on the remaining 12 miles to Cajon Pass. First off was a couple-mile climb. I saw a few aspiring PCT hikers out for the day, with their packs all loaded up. It was fun to be in the presence of their enthusiasm. Not that I've gotten jaded or anything about this hike yet, but we're all far enough in that we've started to get our routines figured out. We've started to get a bit used to this lifestyle. It's good to be reminded how unique an opportunity this is.

Silverwood Lake.

I felt better and better as I continued the climb, walking a bit faster at the top. Then began a long gradual descent. I slowed back down now, knowing that downhills are when this muscle problem acts up. The walk went well for the next 8 or so miles. I was side hilling down into a broad valley, along a steep scrubby slope (again). I passed a small stream with some shade and decided the best thin to do would be take a nap.

About 3 miles from Cajon Pass, the trail started a steeper descent, switchbacking down through fantastically eroded sedimentary hills, with White-throated Swifts apparently flying to cavities along the cliffs. But now things took a slight turn for the worse with my leg. I went as slowly as I had the patience for, but still aggravated my quad muscle. I took an hour and a half or so to do the last 2 miles, and ended up limping in to the McDonalds at Cajon Pass, which is a sort of famous PCT stop. Got some dinner, limped back to the hotel, had a shower and did some stomp laundry (term and technique I learned back in Warner Springs; clothes on floor of shower, stomping, you get the idea).

I think White-throated Swifts are nesting here.

I ended up not seeing any other thru hikers today. I think I was sort of in a little gap, between people who made it out of Big Bear before the snow, and those who waited for it to melt. The hotel was also really empty of hikers tonight.

Birds: 

California Thrasher 

House Wren 

Spotted Towhee 

California Quail 

Bushtit 

House Finch 

Common Raven 

Ash-throated Flycatcher 

Great Blue Heron

Black-chinned Sparrow 

Western Wood-pewee 

Swainson's Thrush

Lesser Goldfinch

Black-headed Grosbeak 

Northern Flicker 

Yellow Warbler 

Wilson's Warbler 

Lazuli Bunting 

Wrentit 

Cliff Swallow 

Black Pheobe

Downy Woodpecker 

Western Tanager 

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 

Lark Sparrow 

White-throated Swift

Mourning Dove

May 9. Day 21.

Mile 318 to Cajon Pass.

Miles hiked: 6 (exited PCT at me 224)

There is a clean, sharp line on the horizon to the east. Below it, in various shades of black, are distant hills and mountains layered one after the other, just becoming discernible in the growing light. Above it, radiating out from the point where the sun will rise in 10 or 20 minutes, is a subtle band of soft oranges and pinks, fading upwards into the cool steel of the dawn sky. This simple scene has perhaps been my favorite part of these early desert mornings. No clouds to busy up the sky. No forested ridges to soften the horizon line. Just that clean, distinct line between earth and sky.

Fresh snow up toward Wrightwood.

I had packed up and started walking early, knowing I wanted to go slow to avoid aggravating my quad muscle. I was the first one out hiking, and as I slowly walked along enjoying the morning over the next few hours, the people I had camped near passed me in o we, twos and threes. After a few hours I made a wrong turn up a steep road and had to backtrack back down to the trail. I was frustrated with this mistake and went a bit faster than I should have, which ended up not being a good idea. My leg started feeling pretty bad again, and when I got back to the trail I had to sit down to stretch and rest it. 

I walked another mile or so, but was limping along not really having a very good time. A couple from Colorado I've been leapfrogging with since Warner Springs passed, and pointed out that it might be a good idea for me to just catch a ride on the nearby road to take a rest in town. I thought about this a while, actually walking back and forth along the trail, not able to make up my mind. I wanted to keep walking, but I didn't want to risk making my leg worse. Eventually I decided to go to the hotel, which it turned out was just 10 miles up the road. 

I tried hitch hiking for an hour and a half, but the only people on the road seemed to be folks out for a nice Saturday drive, and 4-wheelers looking for just the right dirt road. No one seemed interested in picking me up. I called the hotel to see if they had any ideas for arranging a ride, got a taxi company phone number, called and found out how much it works cost, tried hitching for another half hour, spilled a couple handfuls of crumbled Pringles in my pack, then called the taxi guy back to set up the ride. While waiting I took advantage of 3G network and looked for new shoes that might work better than the current ones. 20-30 minutes later an old minivan came screeching to a halt and I jumped up to get inside. The 15 minute ride was fairly exciting, the driver doing just a semi-decent job of keeping it in the appropriate lane. We were sort of like a bowling ball, going down the lane with those big inflatable tubes in the gutter. As we went through a particular set of tight turns, he told me about an accident he'd been in there one time. Good times.

When we got to Cajon Pass, I had to go to the ATM in a gas station to get cash to pay for the ride. When I got in there I realized I didn't have my wallet. I went back to the car and searched through my backpack. Not there. Check all my pockets again. Not there. Check the backpack again. Not there. I thought back to when he taxi arrived. I was trying to order shoes online. Was my wallet just sitting on my lap? I didn't remember grabbing it or putting it somewhere. I think the most likely thing that happened was that I had it on my lap, and when I jumped up I must have dropped it there.

Sheepishly I tell the driver we need to go back and look for it. So, back in the van, covertly gripping he door handle. I adjusted my phone in my shirt pocket so it's not under my seat belt. If we crash and I'm still conscious, I want to make sure my phone isn't broken I two or imbedded in my chest so I can call for help.

When we get back to where I was waiting, I search the whole area. Nothing. Now all the thoughts start going through my mind. Who found it? Some random passerby? A hiker? Should I call the bank now? I search my pockets again, my backpack. Of course it's not there. Having o e last thought, I check under and beside the van seat. 

I bet you can guess what I saw there.

With some relief I figured that it must have fallen out of my shorts pocket. So, back in the car, back to holding my breath around each corner, back to the gas station ATM then on to the hotel. I'd rather not say what the taxi bill was up to by now, but the driver did say he'd take me back to the same place tomorrow for free.

A half dozen or so other hikers were hanging out in the hotel lobby. I said hi and told my story, and one of them, Spark, handed me a beer right off the bat. The day was looking up. By the time the beer was gone my room was ready, so I checked in, got a burrito from Del Taco in the gas station, and got pretty serious about relaxing for the rest of the afternoon. Talked to Libby and she helped me brainstorm next steps, and ordered a handful of new shoes to be delivered to the hotel, figuring I'd come up with a good idea about what to do over the next couple days at some point soon.

My check-in paper work at the hotel.

Birds

Wilson's Warbler 

Spotted Towhee 

Swainson's Thrush

Mourning Dove 

Mallard

California Quail 

California Towhee 

Spotted Towhee 

Canyon Wren 

Bewick's Wren 

Wrentit 

Oak Titmouse 

California Thrasher 

MacGillivray's Warbler 

Black-headed Grosbeak 

Western Scrub-jay 

Western Wood-pewee

California Quail 

Ash-throated Flycatcher 

House Finch 

Band-tailed Pigeon 

Common Raven

Common Yellowthroat 

American Coot

Red-winged Blackbird 

Canada Goose

Cliff Swallow 

White-throated Swift 

House Wren

Lesser Goldfinch

European Starling

Bullock's Oriole 

May 8. Day 20.

Bench Trail Camp to PCT mile 318.

Miles hiked: 23.3.

Never mind, yesterday wasn't hard. Today was hard. 

It started hailing around dark, and sometime after I went to sleep it started actually snowing. I woke up to a rim of white around the bottom of my tarp, and the roof sagging down with a load of snow. But, I was warm and dry inside; the tarp did it's job. I pushed up on the ceiling to clear the snow, then extended the trekking pole a bit to take up some of the slack you get in sil-nylon when it gets wet. I had set the alarm for 5, but since I didn't know exactly how much snow had fallen, I decided to take my time this morning and let it get a bit light, rather than rush out and possibly have a tough time finding the snowed in trail while  it was still a little dark.

Home sweet home.

Finally got hiking around 6:15, and it was so beautiful! I'm so glad I didn't make it down below snow level. There was just a heavy dusting, with pink granite boulders and bare ground here and there. It was a great time to be hiking! California Towhees were out laying fresh tracks along the trail, and an Anna's Hummingbird visited manzanita flowers, seeming to stick his bill in to sip nectar even more delicately than normal to avoid dislodging the snow that had collected all over the bush. Where plants laden with snow drooped over the trail, I tapped them with my poles before walking through to stay a bit drier.

I was in bliss for about 4 miles. Then there was a short descent down to a bridge over a creek, and going down this really aggravated the little quad soreness I had gotten yesterday trying to adjust my stride to make my feet hurt less. Over the next mile or 2, this pain grew, radiating out from just above and inside of my knee. And thus began the  emotional and comfort-level roller coaster that lasted the rest of the day. By 10 I was just hobbling along, and stopped for brunch and a little rest. I had still been keeping up a nearly 2 mph pace, which is just enough to reasonably make it to the next resupply stop with the food I have. But almost every step was painful, especially going down hill. This got bad so quickly that I wondered if something serious had happened, and it was hard not going down the dark rabbit hole of wondering what impact this might have on the whole trip.

The yellow clown shoes got me this many miles...

Then a group of 4 hikers who I've hung out with before (Avenger, Ryan, who is now Shuffle, Caveman, and Fievel) came by and we chatted for a while. It was really great to see some people I know and talk and get my mind off the leg a little. I was also stretching a bit, and when I packed and got up to keep walking, the leg felt much better. What a difference it made to talk with some friends about nothing in particular and have a reduction in pain; so great for my mood. Now I was paying more attention to the Western Tanagers, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and Green-tailed Towhees singing here and there and flitting around dodging drops of melting snow. The trail was tracing the rim of the canyon of Deep Creek, win steep granite walls plunging down into clear pools, and quick riffles framed by the snow dusted hills above. I added Mallard and Red-winged Blackbird to the trip list.

Around noon I reached the Deep Creek Hotspring, which considering the surroundings should be really nice. However, it is just a couple miles from a road, and is apparently very popular with the type of people who like to leave trash all over the place and spray paint the rocks. I wasn't really planning to stop here because of what I'd heard about the trash and sometimes rowdy crowd, but with the leg in the state it was, I figured a hot soak might be just right. The soak did in fact feel good, and I was able to sit in a pool that was away from the crowd a bit with just one other hiker out for a week or so. Unfortunately the hot water and massaging didn't really help too much, and I think the later actually made things a bit worse. 

I limped up stream past most of the trash and made a liter of water then got back to walking. I was OK for a few miles  then things went downhill again. It was still a beautiful canyon, but the trash and graffiti just added to the depression I was feeling about the leg.

Deep Creek Canyon 

Then, lo and behold, my mood was buoyed again by seeing friends. This time it was You Again and Angie, coming up behind me when I thought they were way ahead of me. It turned out they had camped at the same place I had but I didn't see them, and that Angie's foot had been bugging her so they were taking it a bit slow. They told me where they were planning to camp and continued on. Their destination, mile 318, suddenly seemed doable to me. If Angie could get there in pain, shouldn't I be able to? So many other hikers are dealing with their pain seemingly better than I am. A bit after they continued on the trail made a steep descent down a hill and past a dam with no water on either side. This was only about a quarter mile of switchbacks, but it took me about a half hour to get down, making steps of only a couple inches. By the time I got to the bottom I was a wreck. Now I could hardly walk on flat ground, and I went back to those frustrating thoughts of wondering what this meant for the whole hike. Have I really injured myself? How bad is this? How long will it take to recover? I wondered if I should try and find the parking lot for the hot springs and hitch a ride somewhere. But I had no idea where I would go or really what I would do when I got there. Since the maps I carry only show the narrow swath around the trail, I didn't really know what was around me; I couldn't see any towns or anything, just a few scattered houses and a far off power line. I sat in the sand next to some more trash and had a bit of a breakdown. Tried looking at a map on the phone but no service. Looked at the trail map to count miles to Cajon Pass: 36. Probably can't hike there tomorrow. Not sure I could take another 2 days of walking like this. Eventually I decided that the best choice was to just keep heading forward on the trail. I had enough food to make a slow walk to Cajon, and if it was still really bad then I could hole up in the Best Western there and figure out what to do next. At the creek crossing I ran into the same guys I'd seen at brunch, and sat with them a while, listening to bad and offensive jokes, and trying to arrange myself so that my upper leg but no other part of my body was in the cool water (it was only in the 50s, with a bit of wind). Again, being with these guys made me feel much better, and I think the cool water helped too. The next couple miles went pretty well, on flat and gently climbing trail. Where the trail crossed a road there was a little note tacked to a post letting hikers know there was a water cache just ahead. Never mind that we just passed a great natural source about 10 minutes ago, what caught my eye was the "via con dios" at the bottom of the note. I thought that was interesting but just fine. But when I got to the cache I found that it was right next to what seem to be a couple graves, which made the whole scene seem a bit weird to me. There were some people in a car nearby so I didn't take a picture, and just kept on my way. 

Orange Mariposa lily.

2 miles later at PCT me 316 I made a bit more water from a little trickle flowing through poison oak, then continued another 2 miles to camp. The trail had been traversing the side of a hill, looking out toward what we all think must be the Mojave desert (we've been saying it like mo-jave; rhymes with slow shave). It was quite beautiful. My leg did pretty good until the last quarter mile or so, which was pretty painful. Set up camp by Angie and You Again, had vitamin I, ate potatoes and veggies, and settled in for the night. The low whistle and rumble of trains going up and over Cajon Pass carried on through the night.

Birds:

Swainson's Thrush- fledgling 

Mountain Chickadee 

Black-chinned Sparrow 

Northern Flicker 

California Towhee 

California Quail 

Song Sparrow 

Green-tailed Towhee 

Bewick's Wren

Hairy Woodpecker 

Oregon Junco 

Ash-throated Flycatcher 

Cassin's Vireo 

Anna's Hummingbird 

Black-headed Grosbeak

Mourning Dove 

Pacific-slope Flycatcher 

Lazuli Bunting 

Western Tanager 

Mallard 

Common Raven

Wilson's Warbler 

Canyon Wren 

Bullock's Oriole 

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 

Spotted Towy

Western Wood-pewee 

Red-winged Blackbird 

Wrentit

Yellow Warbler 

Western Meadowlark 

May 7. Day 19.

Big Bear Lake to Bench Trial Camp (PCT mile 294.7)

Miles hiked: 19.7, plus ~2 on Van Duzen Rd 

Today was a bit of a tough day. Last night I signed up for a 7:30 ride back to the trail. There is a storm coming in today with the possibility of a few inches of snow at higher elevations, temps below freezing, and strong winds. Past mile 275 where I exited for Big Bear, the trail stays a bit above 7000 for 10 or so miles then drops down to 5000 in the next 10 miles. My plan was to get back on the trail early today, and try to beat the weather down to lower elevations where it might not be as severe, and also hopefully take advantage of the cooler weather to get through a section of trail that can be pretty hot at times. The alternative would have been to wait out the storm a day or 2 in Big Bear. This wouldn't have been too bad since it's a nice town, but I've already taken 2 zero days and really wanted to be back out hiking. If anyone happens to be following along on a map at home, Big Bear is where the trail makes that big turn west. I left the Peninsular Range, that stump of the Baja Peninsula, back when I crossed I-10. Now I'm working my way through the Transverse Range, the East-West set of mountains in Southern California where there's a big kink in the San Andreas fault system. Now I'm skirting west around the Mojave desert, with the trail traversing along the northern slopes of these mountains.

I was up around 5 after not sleeping very well in the bunk room I was in. I caught up on the journal and sorted my food for the next 3 night section to Wrightwood. This took pretty much until a bit after 7, and I was left in a bit of a rush there at the end, huredly packing my bag and running a couple blocks away to get a coffee that wasn't very good anyway. At 7:30 we loaded into the hostel "shuttle" which is an old station wagon with a rear facing seat in the way back and a luggage rack on top for packs. We loaded up with 8 hikers and headed out, the rear bumper dragging  here and there as we went through dips in the road. There was clearly no way this car could get us up the dirt road to the actual trail, so we were dropped at the end of the pavement and left to walk the last 2 or so miles. The other hikers shouldered packs and started up the road, but I hung back to call Libby once more and try to figure out when she might be able to come visit along the trail.

Loading up the hiker wagon.

The time away from home and Libby and Abbey is hardest on the days I leave town. It's that time of uncertainty between two different worlds, between the conveniences of town which are so similar to home, and this other lifestyle I've chosen to live for a little while. It is impossible not to feel the tug of home at this time, and I think this is fine. It's fine to miss home, family, friends. Just like it will be fine to miss thru hiking when I am back home. Missing one part of your life while another part of your life is happening is just fine, and perhaps this is just a consequence of living a full life.

After the phone call, I started up the road, not particularly aware of my thoughts or feelings, and not particularly sure what they should be at that point anyway. I rechecked the water report and realized I was carrying 2 more liters than I needed, so I drank 1 as I walked up the road, and saved the other extra for brunch. I reached the trail at about 9:10, just as a pickup with a few hikers in back arrived; good timing. I hiked about an hour, through more of the same Jeff. Pine, juniper, pinyon forest, then stopped to have some granola that was left over from the last section. Similar to when I left Idyllwild, today I didn't eat much breakfast. I wasn't real hungry for some reason, and sort of ran out of time at any rate. Now the food went down fine and I smacked on a couple other things, and gave the rest of my extra water to a nearby shrub. After another hour and a half and 3 or 4 miles, the poor sleep last night caught up with me and I laid down next to the trail in the sun and with my pack sort of blocking the wind, and slept for about a half hour. This improved my somewhat moody demeanor, and so did some Pringles.

Marine layer oozing over from the LA Basin.

However, as the trail now began descending into Holcomb Creek Canyon, my feet began to suffer. The had gotten pretty sore 2 days ago when I had a long downhill, but yesterday they felt pretty good so I thought maybe it was just an off day. Bit today the pain and soreness were back again, both in my heel and the arches of my feet. I started to wonder if my shoes were already wearing out, or if maybe these "zero drop" ( sole thickness is same between heel and tow, so heel isn't raised) don't give my feet the support they need, especially for these consecutive 20-ish mile days. Some of these thoughts were supported when I reached Holcomb Creek and so pared shoe notes with Danger Muffin, who also has Altras. He thinks these shoes are fine for running when you're naturally up on your toes, but not really for backpacking where there is much more heel contact. This sounds right to me, but still plenty of people use these shoes without problem. I hobbled on another 10 miles from there to camp, still mostly downhill and still fairly rough on my feet. 

The landscape was beautiful. The area had recently burned, and sage, lupine, and what seemed like black and live oaks were taking full advantage of the new sun now that the canopy was gone. There were big pale pink granite boulders, piled in disorderly collections and with soft, rounded edges so they looked like a bunch of giant marshmallows that had been gummed for a while then spit out.

Whole hillside of lupine.

At mile 291 I had a Snickers and this gave me a second wind to get another 4 or so miles sow the trail. These last miles actually went pretty quick, and I reached my intended destination for the day with just enough time to set of the shelter, make some water at the nearby creek, and get into my sleeping bag before some hail-type stuff started falling.

Birds:

Wilson's Warbler 

Western Scrub-jay 

Mountain Chickadee 

Clark's Nutcracker 

Fox Sparrow 

Western Bluebird 

Common Raven

White-breasted Nuthatch 

Western Wood-pewee

Townsend's Warbler 

Northern Flicker

Green-tailed Towhee 

Spotted Towhee 

Harry Woodpecker

Rock Wren

Mountain Quail

Bushtit 

Black-chinned Sparrow 

Olive-sided Flycatcher 

American Kestrel 

Brewer's Blackbird 

Song Sparrow 

May 6. Day 18.

Arrastre Trail Camp to Big Bear Lake (exit PCT mile 275).

Miles hiked: 18.8 on PCT, plus 2.8 on road.

Brrrr. Last night was the coldest yet, right around freezing. I didn't set up my shelter and just had my light base layers on, and was just a bit too cold to really sleep starting around 2 this morning. I dozed and did sit-ups until 4:30, when I had set my alarm. Made coffee and stuffed all my things in my pack, staying in my sleeping bag until the last moment then jumping up, tying shoes on, stuffing the bag in the top of my pack, and starting walking. I started slow, letting the legs warm up, feeling my way along the trail in that pale light between the soft yellow of the setting moon and the cold glow of the growing dawn. As you'll recall, the  early start was in order to make it the 9.9 miles to the highway 18 crossing (PCT mile 265-ish) by 9 this morning to get a ride in the Big Bear Hostel shuttle.

A little after sunrise I was off trail a bit checking out what turned out to be a Chukar, and looked back at the trail and saw You Again and Angie go cruising by. My long lost buddies! I got back to the trail and caught them when they stopped to adjust clothing. We caught up on everything that happened yesterday, determining that they were just ahead of me all day, then they mentioned that they were going all the way to mile 275, where there is another road to access town. They said the hitch is supposed to be easy there, and also said they had some extra snacks I could have since I was down to just a bit of granola. I thought about this for a moment, then decided to go for it.

They handed over some bars and meat sticks then we set out. We wanted to get to town with enough time to take care of resupply chores this afternoon then try to get back on the trail tomorrow morning, so we kept up a pretty good pace. The trail was great for quick walking: gentle ups and downs through the cool morning, passing by junipers and Pinyons and occasional Joshua Trees, along a ridge with a long view east and north out over the desert below. Black-chinned Sparrows and Green-tailed Towhees were the birds of the morning.

I stopped to change clothes and they continued ahead, and for the next several miles they were just a few trail bends ahead of me. I crossed hwy 18 at 8:30 and kept going. I got a bit of water at the Doble Spring camp, then passed Y.A. and Angie while they took a break. The trail made a gentle climb up into to mixed juniper/Pinyon/Jeffrey pine/oak forest, crossing a few rocky talus slopes with scrub and California Thrashers singing. I passed day hikers, my new thru-hiking legs feeling strong under an empty pack. Then You Again passed me, and a bit later Angie too. I got some new birds for the trip: Chipping Sparrow and what I'm pretty sure was Cassin's Vireo, then right before me 175 some Red-breasted Sapsuckers. On the last mile or so I chatted and walked with a nice couple about birds and trees. I got to mile 275 just after noon, having covered almost 19 miles by lunch time. It was pretty fun to push like that and see what I could do. I don't want every morning on the trail to be like that, but now and then it's pretty fun.

I walked another 2.8 miles down to the highway into Big Bear Lake, and quickly got a ride to the hostel. The front desk person, "Sarge" wasn't there, but another staff person told me hat a couple had just arrived and were next door at the Mexican food place. I assumed this was You Again and Angie, but it turned out to be Sweetums and he who is now Skua ( he actually spent the last 2 years at McMurdo Station, where my Antarctic work was based out of). I got some fish tacos because I thought they were going to be only a dollar, but they weren't. You Again and Angie showed up about the time we were done, then we all reconvened back at the hostel to get checked in by Sarge around 2:30 or 3.

Got the rooms, took a shower, did laundry, and bought a few supplies. In the evening we went out to Himalyan food (just like Indian), then got a few beers and watched the first half of Top Gun; what a classic!

Birds:

Western Bluebird 

Mountain Chickadee 

Oregon Junco

Olive-sided Flycatcher 

Spotted Towhee

Black-chinned Sparrow

Chukar

Green-tailed Towhee

Wilson's Warbler 

Ash-throated Flycatcher 

Bewick's Wren 

Yellow-rumped Warbler 

House Finch

California Thrasher

Chipping Sparrow*

Mourning Dove

Clark's Nutcracker 

Violet-green Swallow

Cassin's Vireo*

Red-breasted Sapsucker*

Black-headed Grosbeak