That's how long we've spent in the desert. We're finally at Kennedy Meadows and the start of the Sierras!! We got here on Friday evening after two really long days (25 and 27 miles). We had this place in sight and just wanted to get here! This last stretch has been one of the toughest so far. We have some stuff to do, and I have other blog posting to upload but no wifi here, so hopefully in a week or so!
In this next week we'll be hitting the highest point on the PCT and climbing up to the peak of Mt. Whitney, highest point in the lower 48!
Canadian couple driven to live and eat naturally. We're travelling the world taking on challenges that test us physically, mentally and emotionally. Visit www.naturallydriven.ca for more!
Sunday, 17 June 2012
Friday, 8 June 2012
I'm Terrible at Relaxing
We're at mile 558 of the PCT, Willow Springs road. We got a hitch into Tehachapi and then Abby and Carmen picked us up there and we're at their place in Bakersfield. We had sent them a TON of stuff from home that we now had to sort and prepare about 15 resupply boxes. Wednesday and Thursday were spent setting up 30 days worth of FULL resupplies that we mailed Thursday afternoon. This will get us all the way to South Lake Tahoe, and if needed we can supplement out of gas stations and small stores along the way. We also set up about another dozen or so boxes that they'll send to us between South Lake Tahoe and Cascade Locks. Mainly just supplements, couple pairs of shoes, supplies etc. We ALSO sent 3 boxes up to Shrek's hiker hostel in Cascade Locks, all the stuff that we'll need from there until Manning Park. When we get there we'll sort through it again and set up the boxes that we'll mail to ourselves that will get us the rest of the way. Oh, and we also sent two boxes home. Some stuff that we don't need, namely our brand new ice axes, Camp Corsa Nanotech, never used. For Sale.
It's been awesome to be here. Be clean for more than a minute after a shower, to enjoy good food, to enjoy the company of friends. But it also feels a bit weird. I feel myself seriously longing to be on the trail. I miss it a lot. I miss the feeling of walking and walking and walking, taking a break and walking a bunch more until we decide to camp. I love the feeling of making progress up the trail and I see people's pictures of the Sierras and do I ever want to be there. We're now pretty well at the back of the pack and I'm also a bit worried that we'll run out of time later on in Washington. Most of the people we know are now a few days to a week ahead, and even those that had fallen behind are probably now a bit ahead, we'll see. Also, my parents have booked a place in Tahoe and I don't think we'll be there in time. We'll have to arrange to meet them somewhere south of there.
Anyways, back to the trail early tomorrow (Saturday) morning after 4+ days off. Hopefully we can remember how to do this "hiking" thing.
It's been awesome to be here. Be clean for more than a minute after a shower, to enjoy good food, to enjoy the company of friends. But it also feels a bit weird. I feel myself seriously longing to be on the trail. I miss it a lot. I miss the feeling of walking and walking and walking, taking a break and walking a bunch more until we decide to camp. I love the feeling of making progress up the trail and I see people's pictures of the Sierras and do I ever want to be there. We're now pretty well at the back of the pack and I'm also a bit worried that we'll run out of time later on in Washington. Most of the people we know are now a few days to a week ahead, and even those that had fallen behind are probably now a bit ahead, we'll see. Also, my parents have booked a place in Tahoe and I don't think we'll be there in time. We'll have to arrange to meet them somewhere south of there.
Anyways, back to the trail early tomorrow (Saturday) morning after 4+ days off. Hopefully we can remember how to do this "hiking" thing.
Thursday, 7 June 2012
I Thought You Guys Were Moving Joshua Trees
So we decided that it would be a good idea to night hike the LA Aquaduct section. It's a long 17 mile waterless and shadeless stretch and it's not a pleasant experience in the middle of the day. We hung out at Hikertown all day and finally got going with Shutterburst, Busted Magic, David and Britt. We walked in pairs, with Shutter and Magic taking off in front and us in the middle. You walk for a while along this big cement aquaduct and then along a dirt road for a whole chunk before returning to follow the aquaduct, only this time it's completely covered and underground and you're essentially walking on top of it. It winds its way out to the middle of nowhere and can become a little monotonous, but it was exciting for us as it would be our first night hike. It was nearly a full moon, so headlamps were more or less unnecessary. As it got darker, We could no longer see the two in front of us and Britt and David hadn't passed us, so we were still in our little bubble. It was pretty neat. Very comfortable temperature and easy walking. After a while we could see a big fire in the distance and thought it was a bit odd because there weren't many houses along the stretch at all. As we neared, we could see a bunch of old, crappy trailers and a group of country dudes just hanging out, drinking, shooting guns and having a big bonfire. We looked in and didn't see the others so we just hammered right by and kept going. EVENTUALLY we caught the two in front of us, which was comforting for us to be in a bigger pack because Shutterburst has a GPS and there were some tricky turns we had to take. Immediately we started talking about the little party going on back there and they confirmed that what we heard were in fact gun shots. The bonfire was so big that you could see it from more than a mile away, and probably unsafe because of the wind and because of how dry everything is out here. What was weird was that as we walked, we kept looking back at the fire and it started to look like it was growing. All four of us were convinced that it started to spread and get out of control. This continued for a good while, but I started to think that maybe what we thought was a spreading fire was actually lights way in the distance that were coming into view as we walked uphill ever so slightly. We never did solve that mystery.
A little while later we saw headlights coming from behind us and so we all jumped off the road. It was a couple of guys in an ATV, whizzing up and down the dirt road, no doubt hammered. Ten minutes or so later they came back towards us and so I just turned on my headlamp and shined it on the ground so they knew we were there. As they drove by, you could hear the sound of a paintball gun that the passenger was shooting into randomness. Luckily they just drove right by and kept goin'. Layer we found out from Britt and David that they almost got shot! At the last second the guy realized they were there and didn't shoot, saying to them 'dude I almost shot you in the face!' So after that little bit of excitement, we continued along in the darkness, the four of us, just trying to make this bridge so we could get some sleep. Just as all the nerves of that earlier stuff calms down, a vehicle with no headlights in comes barreling down the road towards us. Everyone jumped off the road, again, at the last second and the station wagon swerved away from us. He slammed his breaks, rolled down his window and apologized, satin that he though we were 'moving Joshua trees' and wanted to offer us a 'consolation beer'. He was clearly drunk and high. We just reminded him that he should have his headlights on and continued on our way. His quotes provided enough entertainment for the rest of the walk.
As we neared the bridge, maybe 2 -2.5 miles away, the winds picked up significantly. Sometimes a sidewind, sometimes a headwind, but always a strong wind. All of us were exhausted, it was well after midnight and we no longer cared if we made it to the bridge. We found a little spot off the road that was a little bit sheltered from the wind and called it home. A tent store no chance for staying up, so we all cowboy camped in the the shelter of our sleeping bags and it wasn't half bad!!
Awesome first night hike.
A little while later we saw headlights coming from behind us and so we all jumped off the road. It was a couple of guys in an ATV, whizzing up and down the dirt road, no doubt hammered. Ten minutes or so later they came back towards us and so I just turned on my headlamp and shined it on the ground so they knew we were there. As they drove by, you could hear the sound of a paintball gun that the passenger was shooting into randomness. Luckily they just drove right by and kept goin'. Layer we found out from Britt and David that they almost got shot! At the last second the guy realized they were there and didn't shoot, saying to them 'dude I almost shot you in the face!' So after that little bit of excitement, we continued along in the darkness, the four of us, just trying to make this bridge so we could get some sleep. Just as all the nerves of that earlier stuff calms down, a vehicle with no headlights in comes barreling down the road towards us. Everyone jumped off the road, again, at the last second and the station wagon swerved away from us. He slammed his breaks, rolled down his window and apologized, satin that he though we were 'moving Joshua trees' and wanted to offer us a 'consolation beer'. He was clearly drunk and high. We just reminded him that he should have his headlights on and continued on our way. His quotes provided enough entertainment for the rest of the walk.
As we neared the bridge, maybe 2 -2.5 miles away, the winds picked up significantly. Sometimes a sidewind, sometimes a headwind, but always a strong wind. All of us were exhausted, it was well after midnight and we no longer cared if we made it to the bridge. We found a little spot off the road that was a little bit sheltered from the wind and called it home. A tent store no chance for staying up, so we all cowboy camped in the the shelter of our sleeping bags and it wasn't half bad!!
Awesome first night hike.
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Saturday, 2 June 2012
500 miles, tough days
I'm writing this from Hikertown at mile 518.x on Friday June 1. Today was a huge milestone as we crossed 500 miles! What a great feeling. We've hiked 500 miles, having never really hiked before taking this on. It's been a constant learning process since we left the monument way back on April 27th. We've made so many little mistakes, and corrected them. We've become more comfortable with everything. After 500 miles, I'd say we're pretty legit hikers!
The past two days have been, by far, our most, uh challenging. They've been god awful hot and the bugs have been relentless. Like I'm talking a heat that I've never before experienced, let alone HIKED in!! We are truly in desert now. Nights are coolish, but it gets hot QUICK in the mornings. I'm talking 7AM and I've got sweat dripping off me. Not only that, but water sources are so much more scarce out here that it becomes a legitimate concern. Yesterday we hiked about 8 miles or so in the morning, until we got to the red carpet cache. It was nice, with a picnic table and a cabinet full of gallon jugs of water, lots were full. We took what we needed, ate lunch and napped for a bit. Our pal Shutterburst came through and we chatted for a bit before he took off to climb up and over the next set of mountains. We slowly got ready and finally left the cache at 2:30, with the plan of making it to Sawmill campground, 14 miles away (22.5km). It was HOT, and we were climbing, and despite having been fully hydrated and taken a bunch of water to go, we couldn't keep up with what we were losing. It was unrelenting hot, minimal wind and less shade. We walked and walked and tried to distract ourselves with music. We took a spontaneous break. Threw our packs off and sat down with our umbrellas. Shutterburst came barreling through. We got ahead of him because he pulled off for a rest somewhere. A quick confirmation that we were all feeling the same way and he was on his way. About 100 feet up the trail he turned and asked if I had a trail name yet. I said nope. He asked what I thought of 'Mr. C', like Mr. T (because of my new Mohawk) but since I'm from Canada, Mr. C is more appropriate. I said right on that sounds great and so it is. Mr. C. Though Julia will still call me Boozen or Bizzy or Bizzard if I'm in trouble. Break time was over and we knew this next stretch would make or break us. It was around dinner time, though because of the heat, neither of us felt much like cooking up a hot dinner, so we walked. We walked and walked and became more tired and dehydrated, both running low on water. We were becoming a bit cranky too. We just wanted to get to where we were going. The first goal was to get to the next reliable water source. A cement tank about 2 miles before where we wanted to camp. It seemed to take forever to get there. That's the thing about the PCT, you always think you're closer than you are. We finally dumped out onto this jeep road at about 7PM and I went to pull out my instructions on where exactly this water tank was. Shutterburst had just arrived and so he called down to us and told us how to get up there, but he warned us that there was a dead mouse in the tank. 'We'll take it!' I replied and we hurried up for some delicious rat water. With some careful scooping and thorough filtering, it wasn't half bad. We had dinner, mashed potatoes, and decided that we weren't going anywhere. Shutterburst also decide to stay and so we all set up camp and passed the heck out!
This morning we LOADED up on water, about 5+ litres each to carry plus what we drank before leaving. It was going to be a long day. We left before Shutterburst and headed towards goal number one for the day. The mile 500 marker. By the time we got there, maybe 7:30 or so, it was already boiling hot. We took photos, bug nets on because every type of fly on earth was trying to eat us. The next few miles were all climbing, and in one uphill, Shutterburst blew by us. The man can walk a hill like we can the flats. We found him shortly after taking a break at around mile 505, and so we joined him, naturally. From here we would focus on getting to our spot for lunch. We decided that we'd find a good spot under a tree and pitch the tent and have lunch inside so that we could avoid the bugs. It was so uncomfortable. Heat and bugs and no relief from either, for hours. The best thing to do is keep moving. We did for a while and eventually found a suitable spot for lunch. As planned, we put up the tent in record time and jumped in. Nutella and shredded coconut wraps, and warm water. We passed out for about 20 minutes but were awoken by some hikers that walked by and couldn't fall back asleep because it was now hot in the tent. We packed up quick and started a massive decent. Well, the bugs disappeared but it got hotter, and we got lower on water. We finally hit the floor of the descent, and from there it was just rolling terrain. In any other circumstances it would be a nice walk, but today it sucked. All you want is to be there, but the PCT can be a cruel bitch. Every time you think you may be heading for the final stretch t your destination, you round a corner and head up and away from where you want to be heading. That's so tough to deal with when you are absolutely spent mentally and physically, out of water and getting a bit delusional. It felt like we were getting closer to Hikertown, we had to be. We rounded a corner a dropped down to a dirt road that lead up to the highway where Hikertown supposedly was. That road went forever. We were both exhausted, having walked over 4 hours straight through the middle of the day to get there. We went through a gate and there was a small cache of water. We picked up a jug, poured some into one of our containers and chugged. The water was HOT, but it was wet. Hikertown was finally in view and only a few hundred feet away so we bolted over to it. Upon arrival, we saw Soren and Justin packing up outside one if the buildings so we ran over to say hi and get the scoop on this place. They had ice! And water. And so generously shared. Best part of the day bar none. Once we came to our senses, we decided to stay the night and the leave tomorrow evening and hike through the night to avoid the heat. It's 17 miles of exposed, hot walking along the LA aquaduct to get to Cottonwood creek where there is a bridge and a water cache. we'll hide there for most of the day and then night hike again the rest if the way. I managed to get a ride with a few other hikers up to a local convenience store and bought ice cream bars, Gatorade, an avocado and a bag of ice.
What. A. Day.
The past two days have been, by far, our most, uh challenging. They've been god awful hot and the bugs have been relentless. Like I'm talking a heat that I've never before experienced, let alone HIKED in!! We are truly in desert now. Nights are coolish, but it gets hot QUICK in the mornings. I'm talking 7AM and I've got sweat dripping off me. Not only that, but water sources are so much more scarce out here that it becomes a legitimate concern. Yesterday we hiked about 8 miles or so in the morning, until we got to the red carpet cache. It was nice, with a picnic table and a cabinet full of gallon jugs of water, lots were full. We took what we needed, ate lunch and napped for a bit. Our pal Shutterburst came through and we chatted for a bit before he took off to climb up and over the next set of mountains. We slowly got ready and finally left the cache at 2:30, with the plan of making it to Sawmill campground, 14 miles away (22.5km). It was HOT, and we were climbing, and despite having been fully hydrated and taken a bunch of water to go, we couldn't keep up with what we were losing. It was unrelenting hot, minimal wind and less shade. We walked and walked and tried to distract ourselves with music. We took a spontaneous break. Threw our packs off and sat down with our umbrellas. Shutterburst came barreling through. We got ahead of him because he pulled off for a rest somewhere. A quick confirmation that we were all feeling the same way and he was on his way. About 100 feet up the trail he turned and asked if I had a trail name yet. I said nope. He asked what I thought of 'Mr. C', like Mr. T (because of my new Mohawk) but since I'm from Canada, Mr. C is more appropriate. I said right on that sounds great and so it is. Mr. C. Though Julia will still call me Boozen or Bizzy or Bizzard if I'm in trouble. Break time was over and we knew this next stretch would make or break us. It was around dinner time, though because of the heat, neither of us felt much like cooking up a hot dinner, so we walked. We walked and walked and became more tired and dehydrated, both running low on water. We were becoming a bit cranky too. We just wanted to get to where we were going. The first goal was to get to the next reliable water source. A cement tank about 2 miles before where we wanted to camp. It seemed to take forever to get there. That's the thing about the PCT, you always think you're closer than you are. We finally dumped out onto this jeep road at about 7PM and I went to pull out my instructions on where exactly this water tank was. Shutterburst had just arrived and so he called down to us and told us how to get up there, but he warned us that there was a dead mouse in the tank. 'We'll take it!' I replied and we hurried up for some delicious rat water. With some careful scooping and thorough filtering, it wasn't half bad. We had dinner, mashed potatoes, and decided that we weren't going anywhere. Shutterburst also decide to stay and so we all set up camp and passed the heck out!
This morning we LOADED up on water, about 5+ litres each to carry plus what we drank before leaving. It was going to be a long day. We left before Shutterburst and headed towards goal number one for the day. The mile 500 marker. By the time we got there, maybe 7:30 or so, it was already boiling hot. We took photos, bug nets on because every type of fly on earth was trying to eat us. The next few miles were all climbing, and in one uphill, Shutterburst blew by us. The man can walk a hill like we can the flats. We found him shortly after taking a break at around mile 505, and so we joined him, naturally. From here we would focus on getting to our spot for lunch. We decided that we'd find a good spot under a tree and pitch the tent and have lunch inside so that we could avoid the bugs. It was so uncomfortable. Heat and bugs and no relief from either, for hours. The best thing to do is keep moving. We did for a while and eventually found a suitable spot for lunch. As planned, we put up the tent in record time and jumped in. Nutella and shredded coconut wraps, and warm water. We passed out for about 20 minutes but were awoken by some hikers that walked by and couldn't fall back asleep because it was now hot in the tent. We packed up quick and started a massive decent. Well, the bugs disappeared but it got hotter, and we got lower on water. We finally hit the floor of the descent, and from there it was just rolling terrain. In any other circumstances it would be a nice walk, but today it sucked. All you want is to be there, but the PCT can be a cruel bitch. Every time you think you may be heading for the final stretch t your destination, you round a corner and head up and away from where you want to be heading. That's so tough to deal with when you are absolutely spent mentally and physically, out of water and getting a bit delusional. It felt like we were getting closer to Hikertown, we had to be. We rounded a corner a dropped down to a dirt road that lead up to the highway where Hikertown supposedly was. That road went forever. We were both exhausted, having walked over 4 hours straight through the middle of the day to get there. We went through a gate and there was a small cache of water. We picked up a jug, poured some into one of our containers and chugged. The water was HOT, but it was wet. Hikertown was finally in view and only a few hundred feet away so we bolted over to it. Upon arrival, we saw Soren and Justin packing up outside one if the buildings so we ran over to say hi and get the scoop on this place. They had ice! And water. And so generously shared. Best part of the day bar none. Once we came to our senses, we decided to stay the night and the leave tomorrow evening and hike through the night to avoid the heat. It's 17 miles of exposed, hot walking along the LA aquaduct to get to Cottonwood creek where there is a bridge and a water cache. we'll hide there for most of the day and then night hike again the rest if the way. I managed to get a ride with a few other hikers up to a local convenience store and bought ice cream bars, Gatorade, an avocado and a bag of ice.
What. A. Day.
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Big Bear to Hiker Heaven Pics
Not sure how the quality will turn out, doing this from the iPod touch.
Monday, 28 May 2012
May 2-4
What a weird day. Last nights's sleep was pretty terrible because of the insane wind, but we wanted to put in a lot of miles today. We didn't end up leaving our spot until about 7:15, which is one of our latest starts to date. We made it a few miles and took a break, made another, took a break. I think all of the climbing we did yesterday has caught up with us as neither of us had much energy. We made it to Guffy campground around 11 and decided to stay for lunch, and I even had a nap. After that it was another slow slog ahead, up a ski hill and around and to the highway. We crossed the highway and got water at the Grassy Hollow visitor center and moved on for another hour or so, before stopping at this nice open space with pine needles. Our day was over just before 5PM, definitely our shortest day yet. We still managed around 13 or 14 miles, but we needed to stop. Dinner was nice and relaxing, I was asleep at 6:30, Julia shortly after.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)