15

July

0

PCT Update and Random Contemplations – 1075 Wolverine Miles Completed

Crossed the border into Oregon a couple days ago with mixed emotions. I am indeed in Oregon, but due to my forward flip, still have a big chunk of Nor Cal to complete later.  For a moment this thought gets me down. Then I shake it off, move on and embrace where I am now. There is much to focus on here—so I do that. While I am grappling with these diverse thoughts I am traversing a broad steep slope on a tiny width of trail. There is a rock cliff above me and I can not see the bottom of the slope because it gets swallowed up with many trees hundreds of feet below. Precipitous. I could have been […]

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Category: Adventure

04

July

0

Pacific Crest Trail Update: Plan Z

Feeling pretty worked, I took two zero’s (zero miles hiking on these days) after coming out at Tuolumne Meadows and then reluctantly ventured out on the trail again. Reluctantly, because when I said good bye to my husband, Chris, I felt enormous hesitation. My typical mode of steady confidence felt shot. I wasn’t “right” going into the next remote 5-day stretch of trail. Everything felt off. I’d been having on and off stomach problems for a couple weeks. The main symptom is nausea and lack of appetite, even off trail, which translates to everything going south and the gas tank running on empty. When other hikers are enjoying “hiker-hunger” I was dealing with anti-hiker-hunger. Yikes. Its difficult to walk for […]

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Category: Adventure

26

April

0

Pacific Crest Trail Update: San Jacinto, The Rock Slide and a Well Earned Zero

San Jacinto:  After taking a zero day (zero miles hiked) on day 9 outside of Warner Springs, we headed out again with a couple of friends who joined us on trail for a few miles. The next day we took a short break off trail to eat an awesome meal at Paradise Valley Cafe (a must eat) then headed back out and up that afternoon. It was tough to get going again after a bunch of food but we forged on steadily, hoping for good weather up on San Jacinto. To get out of the heavy wind and to get water we headed off trail 1 mile. I’m not a fan of extra trail miles but when water is needed, […]

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Category: Adventure

17

April

0

Pacific Crest Trail Day 8: Morning, Geographic Diversity and People

Morning I’m hiking with my dear friend Diane, who got her trail name, Guppy, a couple days ago on her 61st birthday. We have been having a blast chatting about just about everything as we meander along. Guppy is a bit slower than I at packing up camp in the morning, so I take off ahead of her to enjoy the early quiet of the desert.  I can hear my breathing begin to open up as my feet crunch the dry earth with each step. Its cool in the morning so it feels comforting to be a bit bundled up, but I’m not cold. It feels invigorating. I flush out birds nesting in the brush beside the trail, notice the […]

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Category: Adventure

07

April

0

The Pre-Hike Yo-Yo

Also Published on The Trek Yo-Yo Taming As we pulled out of our driveway in Northern Washington, I suddenly started sobbing. The gut-wrenching kind of sob that makes you blow a lot of snot on your hand. We just finished our gorgeous new home that we’ve been fully consumed with working on for two years—about a week ago—and now I am abandoning it for several months to walk north and sleep in the dirt. Sometimes timing is an odd bitch.  Before rolling out of town we stopped in at our attorneys office to, sign our Will. More sobering timing. Finally hopping on Highway 5 to head south, I turned to my husband Chris, to declare the current reality check so […]

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Category: Adventure

27

September

0

John Muir Trail Thru-Hike Recap

For 18 days we backpacked from a parking lot in Yosemite Valley to Whitney Portal—a total of 223 miles—211 of these were on the John Muir Trail. Obtaining this difficult-to-get permit which starts at Happy Isles in the Valley, and finishes at the top of Mt. Whitney at 14,505 ft (4421m), is considered a win of “The Golden Ticket”, as thousands apply for this particular route each year. I had fast-packed most of the trail prior, but my 4 companions had not, nor had they backpacked in the wilderness for more than a few days at a time. At an age range of 56 to 60 years, we were all first-timers at doing the whole trail in one fell swoop. […]

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Category: Adventure