6millionsteps: Stuff

(PCT milepost #266, Big Bear City, Ca.)

(Mike and Jan)

It is raining here this morning--a good ol' Seattle drizzle--and here we sit, comfortably warm, snug (and smug) in the Motel 6, Rm. #205. What incredible timing! Our " timing", however, has not consistently been working to our advantage these past couple of weeks, so I guess we deserve a break :-) . About a week ago we left the wonderful (and very "hiker-friendly") tiny town of Idylwild, hiked up to above 9,000' elevation, ran into long patches of trail covered by a couple of feet of hard, icy snow, got caught in a rainstorm which soon became an ice storm augmented by very high winds, and had to hurriedly erect our tent (in the wind--which is quite a challenge, requiring an extensive vocabulary of foul language expertly provided by Mike). This was followed by our worst night ever, with our constant and well-founded fear of the tent's blowing apart and our being out there in the middle of the night, stranded about 8 hour's hiking time from any shelter. We got almost no sleep that night, and were relieved when the next morning brought back the usual clear sky and 85 degree temp. We resolved to thereafter pay more attention to local weather reporting.

"Trail Names":

Nearly every PCT thru-hiker has a trail name (either self-assumed, or inflicted by others). This becomes one's name for the duration of the hike and hardly anyone knows another's true name. One typically introduces him or her self by their trail name and generally to some degree, kind of forgets about their former identity (each of us is simply a "walking machine", moving along the trail at their own speed and doing their own thing). There is a motto to which most every hiker adheres: "HYOH" (Hike Your Own Hike). Jan's trail name is Skeeterbait, and she's handy to have around if one doesn't want to apply bug dope on themselves. Mike's trail name is Nader (consistent with his persistently contrarian political bent). Others we've met are: Dr. Phill, Grenade, Waitforit, Thumper, Stumbling Goat, two girls called The Shotgun Sisters, a retired post office guy named Special Delivery, Rattler (whose feet are so incredibly blistered that Mike saw fit to photograph them) and his partner, Train Wreck (the young restaurant chef from N. Carolina), Skinny D (young lady who got caught skinny dipping in a creek), Tum-Tum (delightful little young guy who just travels all over the world and walks around being happy). There is also the guy who more or less dashed Mike's hopes of claiming the title of "Eldest Thru-Hiker": For some time we'd been hearing rumors of an old guy doing 25-mile days, and then one morning a distinguished-looking gentleman strolled into our campsite, introduced himself as Gray Ghost, and after a bit of prodding, claimed to be 69 years old (ruined Mike's day). We do, however, think that Jan is the oldest woman on the trail. We can confidently lay claim to at least one, albeit dubious, distinction: we are definitely the slowest hikers (we are usually among the earliest on the trail each day and just about the last to arrive wherever we're going that day). Oh well: HYOH.... The kids just politely pass us up and leave us in their dust. Lots of really, really nice people thru-hiking (in fact, I've thought for years: if a person had ever applied to me for a job and they had "PCT thru-hike completion" on their resume, I'd have hired them in a flash). This hike demands a unique and surprising amount of self-reliance, persistence, skill, tenacity, endurance, stamina, and resolve--and we feel privileged to have become a part of this little subgroup and we hope we can measure up,

"Friendly natives":

Everywhere we've landed people have welcomed us (as well as all other PCT hikers). 'Not too sure why but we presume that former hikers have behaved themselves well and thus left good
impressions. This really helps us all. Upon exiting the trail onto a highway just outside of Big Bear City, we stuck out our thumbs and immediately scored a ride with a woman who drove us all over town to show us around, and then to the post office where we were to pick up our resupply box. Then later, as we were leaving the PO, a woman there asked us where we were going and offered to drive us to wherever. She hauled us to a couple of stores, waited while we shopped, and then took us to this motel and made sure we were settled in. Today, rather than ride the bus, we rode on our thumbs four times, never once having to wait longer than five minutes for a ride (and this is typical).

(Jan)
Just as we arrived at the frontage road to Cabezon, Pete, a trail angel delivering a cache, drove up and gave us a ride into town. When we were done eating a great lunch at the Wheel Inn, Jim gave us a ride back to the trail in his Semi (my first ride in a BIG truck!). We are grateful for all the help and time people have so willingly given us.

The weather has turned cold and is predicted to stay that way the rest of this week (46"h, 30"l). We may even get a little more precip but hope to outwalk it and dropping down a bit in altitude may help.