We're home!

We’ve been off the trail for about three months.  We ended our hike in September, and we came home and rested for a couple of weeks.  We were surprised: we had no idea we were so exhausted--and hungry!  We craved lots of sleep and HUGE AMOUNTS OF FOOD.  We have each now achieved

Ahh...(slurp!)...good!  Get fat!

our "pre-hike" weights, gaining back pounds that had been eaten up by the hike, and re-acquiring muscle mass that had disappeared as well. Mike had, at one point, been down by 17 lbs. while Jan had dropped about 12 lbs.  Jan is now beginning to complain about becoming overweight!

Upon our return, we took a drive up to British Columbia for a few days of fly fishing, we got cold and wet, very few fish--and had a good time.  We couldn't quite finish the walk up to BC, but it was a very nice drive from Seattle....

We quit the hike around Tahoe, having walked at least 1,300 miles of trail (about 1/2-way to Canada).  At about the time we decided to end it, reports had begun to come in of some hikers with whom we had started back in April, having already by then arrived in Canada. 

First steps

OK. It became apparent we weren't going to finish the trail.  But, we had already experienced the best part of it (nothing was likely to be the scenic equal to the John Muir Trail, which is a 217-mile section of the Sierras). We decided we had better things to do (like go home, recuperate, eat some food and maybe drink some beer).  We had a great hike, we walked 15-23 miles each day when we weren't lounging in a motel.  By PCT standards, we were pretty slow!  We slept in our tent at least 100 times, we were usually bone-weary and hungry, and we smelled funny the entire time. This year's crop of mosquitoes was incredible-- see the ever present "dinner guests" hungrily parked on Mike's leg and licking their tiny lips (below):

'Skeeters at dinner (hate 'em!)

   

                                                                                                             

Our home                                                                                                                                            

We enjoyed it all.  A few pics show why:

Atop Forester Pass (13,252' high)

Reflection

Bishop Pass

In fact, we plan to return and do the John Muir Trail section again in a year or so.

  

Rae Lake campsite

Serious sun cups

Along the John Muir Trail, we were (for three weeks) nearly always at elevations well above 9,000'.  Forester Pass, at more than 13,200', was our highest point, but nearly all of the approximately 25 passes that we traversed took us up to above 10,000'.  

The first 700 miles of trail went well.  The countryside is not, in our opinion, irresistibly beautiful.  It was interesting, and we were especially excited about hiking through the desert.  

We wanted to see it, we saw a lot of it, we enjoyed most of it, we decided we’d seen enough—and now we’ve done it. There, one does not find a lot of elevation changes, nor many trees, but rather lots of stickery damned bushes, some minimal rock formations—and not enough water; nearly always, the thought of “water” is on one’s mind as one hikes along consuming it at a rate of about a liter every 7 miles—and sources of water can be as far as 30(+) miles apart, are often unreliable at best, and usually necessitate a somewhat worrisome reliance on caches stocked by volunteer “trail angels” as the the best (and usually only) supply option available).  

Water cache stocked by a Trail Angel

Additionally, mindful that a single liter of water weighs two lbs., one can see what a logistical problem this life-giving resource can present: The hotter the weather, the more water one consumes.  The more water one consumes, the more water one must carry.  The more one carries, the slower one hikes.  The slower one hikes, the more water one consumes per mile…..etc., etc…. The tiniest damp place, or trickling little “seep” with even suspect-looking water is sought out and all, of course, must be either filtered or treated with chemicals before being consumed.  Lots of sand, lots of scrubby plants (esp. sage), huge burned-over areas (it seemed as though nearly all of southern Ca. had recently burned), snakes, horned toads…  All were things we wanted to experience, and we saw them, up close and personally, at a speed of around 2-3 miles per hour, we’re glad to have done it, and we have no desire to do it again.  It was SO NICE to finally arrive at Kennedy Meadows South (at about milepost 700) and to see some flowing creeks, real trees, significant hills (even the beginnings of mountains!)--and greenery.  What a relief!

We had a couple of minor accidents (we each fell once).  We're all better now...

Dislocated pinky (Mike)

Jan took a bad tumble

Whenever we left the trail to pick up our resupply packages (mailed periodically by Jan's daughter, Michele), we would take a side trail out to a trail head or campground and then hitchhike into town.  For some reason, PCT hikers are treated like rock stars by those living in the vicinity of the trail (the hospitality was often quite amazing). Perhaps long-distance hikers represent freedom and adventure, which work-bound people yearn to share and eagerly support (BTW: we recommend one do this adventure around age 25, rather than at 65!).  In any case, we benefited from this phenomenon. Hikers return each year at a fairly predictable time (like the proverbial "swallows to Capistrano"), and rarely cause any trouble. They typically go into town, spend some money, quietly drink a few beers, eat a couple of huge meals, pick up their supplies, are in bed by 8PM and then hitchhike back to the trail, usually early the next day).  Never before (in the USA) had either of us experienced such a manifestation of genuine and spontaneous hospitality.
These "hitches" were often quite available, and the people interesting.  Our last (and final) ride was most unique: a large van with part of a circus troop called "Lucent Dossier" (sorta like the more famous "Cirque du Soleil") returning from a gig in a nearby city, stopped for us.  Fun young people, they were curious about us and drove out of their way to deliver us to Tahoe. 

Lucent Dossier.  Check their website.

Here are two links to a (2-part) slide show that Jan created covering most of our hike (and it hardly took her any time at all to do this, either...really...!).  It is in two parts (as in "Part 1", followed in succession by "Part 2"--yup!). YouTube decided it was too long in the form in which Jan originally tried to post it.  We used an iPhone4 for the photos (which did just "okay"), and Jan accomplished wonders enhancing them despite the iPhone's not providing her with much quality to start with. When we return to the trail (which we surely shall), we plan to be equipped with a better camera.


And: our apologies for having arrived home unheralded--and then dropping the bag (er...the blog).  We got sidetracked, and it gradually became one of those "projects" that we seemed to have difficulty getting around to completing (a "roundtuit", as they say).  


It was a great summer, and we're glad to have had this experience. Trail conditions in the Sierras this year were challenging, with snow depths at levels greater than any recorded during the past 55 years (around 65% deeper than normal)--we actually came back home for a month in September (to allow the snow to melt) before attempting the Sierra Mountains portion of trail.  Snow, together with the fact of our being the oldest through-hikers on the trail provides us with a couple of (admittedly lame) excuses for having bagged the hike half way through...I guess.... :-).


Again:  'Sorry for the tardiness of our blog, and don't forget to have a look at the two slide shows.  They are here, and then here.


Thank you for following along and sharing our adventure.


Mike and Jan