Reading the stories of fellow hikers who I met on the trail, like Charlotte Clews and Joseph Piller, who both finished the trail, gives me feelings of regret that I didn't finish it. So I'm reflecting on how I could finish it the next time I try.
One mistake I made, and Ray Jardin warns readers about this, is that I took too much time off-trail. Annie and I wanted to go to Mexico for diving in July and to Nevada for Burning Man in September, which we did and which were good things to do. But they divert energy from finishing the trail. These diversions break up the trail. I also took four and half days off at Big Bear to go home to Palo Alto to see Annie. It was a great visit, but that was another diversion. It could have been shorter.
Another mistake I made was taking it too easy after Vermillion. I thought that I should luxuriate in not having to meet the demanding schedule that I had had to meet in the 10 days and 180 miles from Kennedy Meadows to Vermillion where I met Annie. But those easy days were actually tough on me psychologically because it gave me time to be lonely.
Another thing that would have helped would have been if I had recognized that after Vermillion I was in companionship-withdrawal. At Vermillion I was with Annie and lots of hiker friends. After Vermillion it was cold-turkey, no Annie, just an occasional hiker who I'd pass. Of course, if I had had sometime to hike with I wouldn't have had the big problem with being alone for so long. But a hiking partner can also be a drag if they are not perfectly matched.
It would have helped if I hadn't felt so indebted to my friends and coworkers at Transmeta. In retrospect, they would have done just fine without me and I really didn't miss much in the way of excitement.
I suppose the root problem of my not finishing was my non committal attitude when I started. I had no idea whether my arthritic ankle would hold up. I had no idea whether I would get tired of it. So I started off saying "I'll hike as long as I feel like it and not feel like I have to accomplish any particular goal". But now I half wish that I had been more determined. If I had I wouldn't have agreed to go to Mexico and Nevada (in July and September, respectively). It was also completely unrealistic to think that I could be away from Annie for months at a time. What was I thinking? Next time, I'll try to meet up with her about every two weeks, though I'll try to make the meetings brief so that I don't get too diverted.
The big net positive of ending my hike early was that it made Annie feel like she could take a long leave from her job, at which she was quite unhappy. If I hadn't left the trail, she would have been in job-hell for longer. I hadn't realized how unhappy she was until I was off the trail, but having realized it, I can't say that I wish that given the circumstances I had stayed on the tail.
Now we are expecting our first child about a year after the mid-point of my hike. I wonder when I'll be able to try again. I don't know if I'll start where I left off, or whether I'll start from the border again. I have about 1,700 miles left, or about three months worth if I start from where I left off (Sonora Pass, plus about 47 miles of miscellaneous skipped segments). Perhaps I'll start where I left off and then come back and redo the part I did before if I have enough spunk left. But with kids, I might not get the time off for 6-10 years, or maybe not for 20 years.
I envy the hikers who finished and I have a enormous respect for their ability and their greater fortitude. I hiked ten times farther than I've ever hiked before. Perhaps the next go, I'll make it all the way.
The stretch between Kennedy Meadows and Whitney was beautiful, and not too difficult. I saw two more bears, on two different days. I didn't realize that the trail north of Whitney was so much more difficult that the part up to Whitney. So I climbed Whitney, five hours up, four and a half down. I had back-packed six miles that morning, so it was a long day. Half trail, half snow. Route finding was a challenge at times.
The next six days I crossed six passes, all with a lot of snow, all difficult. I wished that I had had boots instead of running shoes. I got off route a lot as the trail was under snow for miles at a stretch. I wound up doing a lot of low-grade rock climbing and back tracking and post-holing. I made it to the ferry that took me to Vermillion on Friday the 18th, but it sure was a push. Several days I would wake at 4:30, be walking by 5 AM, and not stop until 9 or 10PM. I ran out of film, camera battery, flashlight batteries, toilet paper, and food by the end. But I had just enough of the latter two items to reach Vermillion. I left Kennedy Meadows with 22 pounds of high density food and arrived at Vermillion ten days later with half a packet of dried milk, a tea bag, some basil, and a few tablespoons of soy protein. That was cutting it close!
I arrived at Vermillion weighing 160 pounds and after eating huge amounts of food and getting almost no exercise for two days, I weighed 158.5. I guess I was still burning a lot.
The big news is that at Vermillion I proposed marriage to Annie, and she accepted. After Vermillion, I hiked to Red's Meadow with a lot of food and no schedule. I got bored, missed Annie, didn't have the drive that I had had earlier. I thought about all the fun things I could be doing at home in Palo Alto. So I decided to end my trip at Red's Meadow, which is the 900 mile mark.
One sad thing happened at Red's Meadow. I ran into another hiker who I had met earlier at Vermillion and who seemed like an ok guy. His trail name was "Junkyard Dog" and is from the east coast. I was looking at his shirt, which said "Master Baiter", and was thinking that was a dumb thing for a 23-year-old to wear. He thought I was looking at his stolen PCT sign (which I hadn't seen). He said he didn't think the forest service should be nailing things into trees -- a lame excuse for stealing government property. I told him that in the winter, we depended on those signs high up on the trees to find the trail. He stood by his rationale. I told him that the trees weren't hurt by having something nailed to them and in in case if he didn't like it, he should write a letter, not steal the signs. It saddened me that I was in the company of people who would screw up the very thing that so many of the rest of us were trying to preserve and improve. While I and others cleaned out fire pits, picked up litter, and carried it many miles on our backs to make the forest a little cleaner, Junkyard Dog was ripping us off.
I hear from Rob for just a minute two days ago. His feet are doing well. He was thinking he'd make it to Kennedy Meadows yesterday. He found the desert hot, and so slept a lot during the day, but quite passable. He saw a bear mother and her babies at a stream he stopped at for water, and was so thirsty that he wasn't actually willing to go away. He met up with another hiker and they took turns watching the bear while drinking. He did well with the food he took. He's eating quite a bit, now. I am witness, he cleaned out several restaurants we were at in Tehachapi, and was ready a few hours later for the next meal!
He's on to Mount Whitney today. There is a side trip that takes you to the top of Whitney, but he's worried about having enough time to meet me in two weeks at Lake Edison, if he does that. So we're going to go back and do it another time.
I only talked to him for a minute, so that's about all I know, but as always, he sounded happy, and strong, and is thinking very much that he will be able to go on and finish the trail. He said that carrying a lot of water, like he had to do in the Mojave, where there was no water for two stretches of 35 miles, made for very slow going. Now he thinks he will be able to move along a lot faster, if he doesn't have to worry so much about water.
He's now gone until the 18th. Not near any towns, food or phones. I'll be meeting him the 18th or 19th, and will bring him his next set of food and supplies. Then it's out again for another ten days. So I'll definitely update his web page when I get back.
I got out to Tehachapi yesterday noon -- took just 8 minutes to hitch a ride. Annie arrived last night by car. She'll drive back to Palo Alto Monday night and I'll get back on the trail when she leaves.
After Wrightwood I was mostly solo, hiking up Baden-Powell (lots of snow). Beautiful mountain views. I had committed to long days, 20 miles/day, which long for me -- I'm not a fast walker. Towards the end of that section, I started thinking a bit about ending my trip early. I thought about all the other things I could do with my summer and about returning to Transmeta early and how much I liked working there. My mood had a lot to do with how recently I had had my big meal -- I feel much better about doing this for the whole summer after my big afternoon meal. I now think that I am not getting enough protein. My mood and energy improve the most after eating the Twinlabs Ironman bars, which are 30 percent protein.
The night before I got into Agua Dulce I was going to sleep near the North Fork (Fire) Station. I was met by the station's caretaker, Todd. I was just hoping for water, but he let me do my laundry and take a shower! What an unexpected treat! And what a nice guy, we wound up talking for a few hours.
In Agua Dulce Friday evening (May 21st) I got my parcel and called the Saufely's (spelling?), a PCT host family. While waiting to connect with them I had dinner at a good Mexican restaurant. I had a big meal and two margaritas and dessert in about 30 minutes. It was a treat until just after I finished and then I felt like hurling. I lay down for a while on a couch in back of the market and the feeling passed. The Saufely's were extremely helpful, letting hikers stay in their home, do laundry, driving them about, etc. High energy folks, it was a great stay.
At the beginning of the trip, I had about 1.5 pounds of food per day. I decided that now that I've been out of a month, that I needed more. So in Agua Dulce I loaded up with 13 pounds for just six days. I ate a huge amount, gave away about 1/2 pound to people who needed it (and I certainly had plenty), and managed to end with just four tea bags, almost no sun screen, little food powder, almost no toilet paper, and no fuel. This was perfect! Ending with a lot of supplies means that one has carried too much.
Just after Agua Dulce Meadow Ed gave me a ride out to Bouquet Canyon Road where I was met by Candace O'Connor and her husband Scott. Candace and Scott fed me and Meadow and "Little Bear" (a trail name from the AT -- I don't recall his real name) some wonderful food. The next day Scott and Candace dropped me at the trail head ten miles north of Aqua Dulce with even more food that Candace had baked. There is a ten mile section, Agua Dulce to Bouquet Canyon Road, that I've skipped as a result. (In the unlikely event that I get all the way to Canada, I'll go back and do that ten miles plus a four mile section east of Big Bear City that I skipped, plus a 4.5 mile section in the Mojave where I got a ride.)
Despite having and eating a lot of food, I still felt like ending the trip early at times. Partly this was due to prolonged time w/o contact with other hikers or Annie. Partly I think it was due to a lack of protein. But at least I was walking fewer miles (16 per day instead of 19) and getting lots of good tasting food.
Wednesday night I walked through the Tejon Ranch and made it to Jack Fair's house around 9 PM. I wound up talking to Jack until 1:30 AM. He told me his life story, which was quite a story. I left at 11 AM the next morning with "Skitz" (Mike), which is exactly the wrong time to walk through the desert. I didn't complete hydrate before leaving, and I had only a quart of Gatorade and a quart of water. Both were gone in five miles. I had another seven to go to Cottonwood Canyon, the next source of water. Normally, I can walk 15 miles w/o water. But this was the Mojave in the middle of the day with a pack. In another few miles my mind was obsessed with thoughts of water. It is kind of like being hypoxic. I wasn't stumbling yet, and fortunately did not have dehydration cramps or headache, but I was quite uncomfortable. It was frustrating to be walking on top of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, hear the rush of mountain water, and not be able to get a drop of it. Meadow Ed had left a water cache, but I didn't see it. Skitz saw it and took some water there, but we weren't together by that point, he walks over 3 MPH and I cannot sustain that rate.
There was almost no traffic on the Aqueduct road, but one car came, stopped, asked if I needed help. I wasn't certain that I would make it to Cottonwood Canyon. I took the ride. We then picked up Skitz. I consumed a gallon of water and still couldn't pee for an hour. That was a little scary. I had two dinners at Cottonwood and spent the night there. Skitz pressed on after dinner, taking advantage of the relative cool of evening. The next morning I started the last 23 mile stretch with 13 pounds of water, vowing to not make the same mistake again. I saw my fourth rattlesnake of the trip. I got to Tylerhorse Canyon around 11am, where there was water, so I didn't need to carry all that water. But after my experience the day before, I didn't mind. I spent the day there and ate two more dinners. I left at 5pm after a short and refreshing thunderstorm. I made another five miles, putting me an easy 10 mile downhill hike to the trail head near Tehachipi.
Note: the Internet connection I am using to type this is slow, so I will wait to correct most errors until I have a better connection.
After Idylwild, I hiked with Donna Norman (she didn't want to use her tent, and didn't want to go up in the snow alone). We both made the same mistake of cutting our guide books in such a way as to leave out a crucial map. At Saddle Junction, we picked the wrong path to follow and then our mistake was confirmed by an A16 guide who said we were on the PCT when we were not. We spent an extra day in the snow as a result. It was beautiful up there, but I was really annoyed by the error. We had a 25 mile day going across Fuller Ridge and down Snow Creek Canyon. Plus , I ran back a mile or two to retrieve my knife, which I had dropped. We camped at the first water, at 10:30PM, in howling wind. The next day was again in high wind and not pretty. We crossed Interstate 10, begged some food from the nice luncheon ladies at a school for wayward boys ("future inmates" is how one described himself), and then met up with Meadow Ed, Al, Joseph, Mary Sue, George, Walt, and Pat, at a building belonging to the Littleton's which they generously made available to PCt hikers. It had a fire going while the wind raged outside and the clouds let little light through. But we headed out anyway and camped a few miles past the Mesa Wind Farm (well situated, that wind farm).
The next few days were dry and the weather was better, so there was no need for Donna and I to stay together. She gets up late and hikes late, I get up early and stop when it is still light, so when we hiked together, we slowed each other down.
I pulled into Big Bear City with Al and Joseph and we got rides right away from people with pickups to the fire station. The fire station allows hikers to use their showers and to pitch tents on the lawn, what a deal! I went back to Palo Alto to see Annie. It was great to see her again, I don't know what I was thinking when I planned to be away for 2-3 months at a time. We now plan on seeing each other every three weeks or so. The visit back home also allowed me to catch up on paperwork, order a new tent from Stephensons, change some of my equipment, etc. I left my old, leaky, Stephenson's 2X at home and am now using my Outdoor Research bivy sack. I also carry a light tarp.
Returning to the PCT on May 10th, I continued solo to the Doble Trail Camp. I met the two Jeff's from Minnisota who were doing 28 mile days! whew! And I met Bung and "Homebrew". The Deep Creek Hot Springs are on this section and I took good advantage of them. How wonderful to soak in quite hot mineral water for hours after days of hot and dusty walking. For those who wanted to cool of, Deep Creek itself is plenty cold and is what the hot springs drain into. I stayed there overnight.
Next day was hot and mostly water less. I reached, however, Silverwood (is that the name?), a reservoir for LA which allows day use. I slept in a nice day use area near the water's edge. With a garbage can, running water, and a picnic table, I felt like I was in the Hilton.
Next morning I ran into Walt and Pat again, a happy reunion. They told me of seeing big cat prints on the trail, apparently stalking a small dog which was with a hiker up ahead. Pat had gotten a nasty spider bite which had side lined them in Arrowhead for a day.
We reached Cajon Pass, where the PCT, Interstate 15, route 138, and major rail lines, and major gas and fiber optic lines all intersect. My feet were hurting, so I stayed in the Econo Lodge there, where Walt and Pat also stayed. Homebrew and Bung opted to continue on into section D that day after eating at micky d's. I stayed up way too late reading Time and talking to the friendly Indian proprietors of the motel.
Next day I listened to my radio a lot and saw no one. I bivvied in the trail after a fine dinner ramen noodles and prego spaghetti sauce. My appetite had really kicked in! I had taken just a liter of water and a liter of Gatorade for the 23 mile water-less stretch. My bivy was about 16 miles in. So in the morning, I downed the last 1/2 cup of water and set off to get to the water without delay. Upon reaching the Duffy Campground above the water source, I met a nice couple with a lot of water which they had no more use for. So I didn't have to find the spring, which the guidebook said was difficult to find. shawn and Sherri, their diesel truck wouldn't start, so their night of camping last longer than anticipated. I slacked my thirst, ate the rest of my Oreo cookies, and continued to the Grassy Hollow Family Campground. The campground was closed, but some nice Forest Service folks kept the Men's Room door unlocked for PCT hiker's. Running water, lighters, a mirrors, and a real toilet! Clean too. I made a big meal of angel hair pasta and retired to my sleeping bag, on pad, in bivy sack, on top of a picnic table. Around mid night I heard what could only be a bear trashing some large metal container. Then the noise stopped. I looked up to see the bear coming at me. I let out a primal scream of total fear. It turned around. I lay awake for a long time, with my glasses on, clutching my tiny Photon flash light. The bear did not return. The next morning I hiked a few miles out to Highway 2 at Vincent Gap and got a ride into Wrightwood with a nice Dutch woman named Jan. Now, I need to get my butt out of Wrightwood and get back on the trail!
The night before Idlywild I had a cold, windy, bivy on the trail.
I'm not at all sure that these notes are of any interest to to others. But I hope that they will serve to remind me of the trip later. Already, the camps, water caches, springs, supply drops are blurring together. I've seen tremendous views, met some truly great people, and suffered only a little discomfort. I'm refining my equipment, techniques for dealing with blisters, and overall camping and hiking style.
Rob sent email today from Camp Anza, 154 miles in. He's a wonder to find a way to log in from the middle of nowhere. He says he thinks he will make Idyllwild Wednesday night, and then Big Bear May 3rd and 4th.
But I digress. Rob did indeed start April 16. In his journal he writes:
4/16/99 Drove to Lake Morena with Allen Downs, his wife Rita, and step daughter Yasmeen Arunan. Wonderful folks. It was hard to leave Annie. I slept in Cabin 1 both Friday and Saturday nights. 45/43F.
4/17/99 Left for the border at 6:05am. Took lots of pictures and signed trail register. Started walking with Allen Downs and Jonathan Ley at 7:30. The three of us walked and talked together. 93-100F. Used umbrella with mylar hat, but it seems fragile. Lots of litter from illegals. Passed white and blue ceonothus, greasewood, indian paintbrush and madrone. Beautiful views. Filtered water at Hauser Creek. I took pictures of Batch (Calvin Batchelder, 77), Ann and Jim. Arrived back at Lake Morena at 5:30. Spoke with Brick Robbins and friend Donna on the trail. Took pictures of Tom Reynolds, Goforth (Joanne Lenox), Bob Reiss, Jason and Lar, Charlote Clews, Rebecca Williams, Margot Chisholm, Donna Normal, Andrew Yip, and Meadow Ed at ADZPCTKO party. But there was little for me to eat. Headed back at 11pm. 36F outside. 43F in cabin. Sleeping bg just barely warm enough, even with most of my clothes on. Had a wonderful hot shower before the party.
4/19/99 Mount Laguna. Spent last night at Kitchen Creek Falls. Beautiful. No tent, 55F at 6AM. About 7 - 8 miles. Today walked rest of the way to Mount Laguna. Caught up with Donna and Charlotte, Yip, Jason and Lar, Walt and Pat, Jonathan Ley, Darryl, and young guy with long hair. Walt, Pat, Batch and I are staying in cabins here. I finished the first third of "Into Thin Air". Walk was beautiful and solitary. Started at 7:30 am. Mostly uphill. Encountered snow. Picked up about ten pounds of litter. Most of it from illegals. Last night soaked in Kitchen Creek. Wonderful! I look forward to a long hot soak tonight. Said goodbye to young crowd. Pushing forward. Doubt I'll catch up to them.
That's all I have so far of his journal. He called April 22nd from Warner Springs. He, Donna, and someone who's name I forget were staying at the Warner Springs Hot Spa together. They soaked in the hot pools, got massages, did their laundry, and resorted through their equipment. Rob is very pleased with what he has, and he and Yip helped Donna get rid of some of her heavier stuff.
He saw a rattle snake and managed to get two photos of it on his way by. It was rattling at him at the time. He said the views have been unbelievably beautiful. In general, he sounds totally happy. His ankle hurts a little. he has some blisters. he's eating more than he thought he would be. he's learning he can be happy without water for longer than his compatriots. He went fifteen miles the other day. He loves the people he's meeting. He loves the trail, and he's done with his book. If you know of anything he might like tor ead, let me know. I cut the books into pieces and mail them to him
My training: