Bright Gaters

 I'm afraid that there is a misapprehension about my new shoes. The brightly colored things are called gaiters, made by Dirty Girl Gaiters. It is made of Lycra and serves to keep dust and rocks out of my shoes.  I've been wearing them from the start and they are a huge help.

Since my break in Reno I've fallen behind my hiking buddies and am now hiking alone. The landscape in the Northern Sierras is beautiful and I'm enjoying the first solitude of the trip. It is really stunning with small lakes nestled into the hillside.

Trail break

I made it to Sierra City, Cal. on May 25. Despite the very pleasant hiking conditions I was in need of a break. My hiking shoes were shot (over 750 miles and torn) and I somehow managed to get some dust in my right eye which got scratched.

Dory's high school friend Abby J and Mark came to my rescue, picking me up from Sierra City and bringing me to their home in Carson City NV via the REI in Reno.

I visited the doctor in Reno and learned I have a scratch on my conjunctiva (the white part of the eye). The doctor gave me a prescription for fancy eye drops. Fortunately it's a minor problem.

Vista from the trail

Hikers at the store in Sierra City

Mile 702

Mile 702, the Kennedy Meadows General Store, is a major landmark for PCT hikers. It signals the end of the Southern California Desert and the beginning of the High Sierras. Reaching this spot also means we have hiked slightly more than one quarter of the trail.

This year has been exceptionally dry, and I have grown used to hiking 30 or more miles without encountering water.

However, ironically, there is a lot of fresh snow in the high sierras. There are many reports of hikers being turned back. As a result a few of us are skipping forward to Donner Pass and will hike north. I want to enjoy these mountains and I think it will  be better without snow and ice.

Not a hobo!

I'm in Tehachapi doing a resupply at Albertsons. Outside, at a bench , I was approached by a lady who tried to give me a few bucks. "I just want to help out those less fortunate". "Oh no, I'm a hiker not a hobo!" I said.

Actually, I kind of feel like a hobo.

Above the Mojave

Walking next to the LA aqueduct.

The Andersons

ITrail angels are special, unique people. Some of the offer rides, some stock water caches, and some open their homes to hikers. We are currently staying at the Anderson's, near mile 478. 

I wasn't planning on coming here, but as I joined a few others at the highway a pickup stopped and asked if we needed a ride to the Andersons. A sign from the fates.

The Swiss guy

Kind of like a hippy heaven.

Not sure what's going on here.

Evidently there is a free taco salad dinner every night!

A typical day

Here is what a typical day on the Southern California PCT is like for me.

4:30 wake up, make coffee, eat granola, pack. Leave by 5:30 (light enough to see)

9 or 10 a.m.  take a break along the trail. Depending on the terrain I might have made 8-10 miles.

1 pm lunch break maybe 30-45 mins

4 pm late break. Plan for camping spot

530-6 pm camp. Set up tent, collect water if available, cook. In tent in sleeping bag no later than 730. 

With this routine I make 17-24 miles a day, depending on elevation gain.

Sleep. Repeat!

Some random flower pics

Spring is pretty nice in the desert. Here are some flowers I've shot

Snow

Dave sent a photo last Tuesday, May 5 and a quick text message the next day, but then I didn't hear anything for a few days.  He was up at a fairly high elevation (notice that I didn't say altitude, @andymention?) in the most remote part of the trail so far, so there wasn't much mobile coverage.

Here's where he was on Tuesday, near Wrightwood, California:

And then it got cold.

He looks a bit miserable, but a little dapper too -- he trimmed his beard somewhere along the way.

He hit some snow, but the lupine didn't seem to mind too much.

And he passed a major milestone -- or stones, as it turns out, as well as pinecones and snow -- 400 miles!

When he sent these photos on Saturday night, he had just finished a 24 mile day and was at mile 436.  He was out of the snow and was planning on hiking half a day to a KOA at Acton, California.

"Los Angeles North?"  Are you kidding me?  

The red line is the trail.

Here's a map of the PCT showing roughly where he is:

If you're interested, it's kind of fun to look at the PCT on Google Earth because you can zoom in and see where Dave is walking.  Once you open Google Earth, you will need to download a spatial file, for which you can find the link here on a webpage from the US Forest Service.  I used the one called Google Earth KML.  

Also mentioned on the Forest Service page is the Pacific Crest Trail Map Brochure which has a great map in it and lots of other cool info if you are becoming a PCT nerd like I am. 

Iced Coffee

Here's the morning view on the trail today:

May the 4th be with you...







But here's the big landmark of the day: Cajon Pass, where I-15 heads north from the sprawl of San Bernadino County and into the Mojave Desert on its way to Vegas.  Still a long way to go...

When you're hiking the PCT, you can pretty much eat whatever you want, especially when you've hiked 16 miles by 2:00 in the afternoon.  So you'll forgive Dave for seriously slurping an iced coffee at the McDonald's at Cajon Pass.  According to Wikipedia, "it is famous among hikers" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajon_Pass).











When you're in charge of the blog,
you can publish whatever you want.
--ed.



Also, he pointed out that the next 25 miles would be without a water source, so his pack was a lot heavier when he left Cajon Pass than it was when he arrived.

Finished for the day

A little Day-Is-Done update from Papa Razzi (Dave's trail name)...


This is what the trail looked like when he started out this morning:

And here's the view from the campsite where he ended the day:

It should be a terrific place to see tonight's full moon -- assuming he stays awake that long!


This is the exact spot where Dave is spending the night tonight:

These photos either came in texts or WeChat -- isn't technology just amazing?

Along the trail near Big Bear Lake

Dory again.  Dave sent some photos for me to post that he took yesterday, I think.

I'm guessing this is Big Bear Lake

Here's the photographer in his trusty Tilley hat looking ahead

The first encounter with this particular specimen of the local fauna -- a little rattler, doing an excellent demonstration of how camouflage works.

Trail Widow

Dory here.  Dave and I have been able to connect one way or another almost everyday since he has been gone, either by text, Facebook, WeChat, or phone calls, and that has been great.  We talked this afternoon and chatted about what a challenge it is for him to post to this blog from his phone because of power issues and the whole small scale of the phone, so I agreed to grab some shots from Facebook and put them up for him.  Below are a bunch of photos from the last week, when the weather was lots better than it was last time he posted here.

In general, everything is going well.  Dave has been hiking for the past week with a guy named DJ  from Georgia (the one on the East Coast, not the former Soviet republic) and they're pretty evenly matched. They've made very good time  -- Dave is actually several days ahead of the schedule that he carefully mapped out over the course of the winter.  He's happy with his gear and his feet have been fine.  Today, with two and a half weeks and 10% of the trail behind him, he feels like he's found his rhythm and wakes up in the morning ready to hike.  He sounds great.


You might note that Dave looks pretty much the same in all of his selfies.  This is because he has the one shirt...

Some people were worried about Dave taking on the trail "by himself," but as you can see in the photo below, he has plenty of company.  Check out the line up of backpacks in the background on the right.

This is not New England.

There is this phenomenon on long distance hiking routes called Trail Angels.  These are people who, out of the kindness of their little hearts, do special things for the hikers.  Check out this stocked dumpster with comfy sofa -- a great place to take a load off.

Itty bitty tent -- one reason that his pack is so light.

This is where Dave was hanging out when I talked with him this afternoon.  It was hot and he was waiting for things to cool off before hiking some more.  He had already done 16.5 miles up to this point.

I'll try to post as soon as I have more photos -- Stay tuned!