The hike is going well. I’ve been doing big miles for the past few weeks without stopping much. Thruhiking really involves a TON of walking! I walk 12-14 hours a day. Every day. I’m in Etna, almost to Oregon, and am a little pressed for time. It’s late in the season but I’m still towards the front. Just crazy to think that I’m going to have to hike all of OR and WA in a month and a half! Sadly, I’m going to skip the next section because the Marble Mountains are closed due to wildfires. It’s only 55 miles and some people are going through illegally but I’ll take a the shuttle around it and hopefully come back at a later date.

We’ve had our first bad weather of the trip really this week. Some sweet thunderstorms through Trinity and Russian Wilderness. The black clouds gave us rain and pea sized hail off and on for two days. The thunderclaps are enjoyable to me but the associated lightning bolts can be a little scary. Mostly the struck ridges 3-6 miles from us but at least one strike likely hit our ridge. Damn was that scary to have a super bright flash and a ear shattering clap at the same time! When the storm cleared we saw at least two new lightning caused fires nearby. The closer one was an interesting sight. A single tree alight like a torch. Got a good test of my super-ultralight, weight wennie, minimalist gear because of the weather. I had honestly thought that I wouldn’t even use my new poncho/tarp hybrid because it wouldn’t rain in Norcal and OR. Well it did, and it worked. Sure, my hiking friends kidded that I looked like a jelly fish, walking with my tent as my rain gear. They also eagerly checked on me after a night of hail to see if I was wet (I was as dry as they were). While I wouldn’t want to use it for days-on-end continuous rain, I’ll keep my ultralight setup for a while longer hoping that it rains no more.

I’m going to start hiking solo again. It’s kind of a strange thing to be doing at this point it seems. Either, hikers are grouped up and will likely remain so, or they’re very much solo at this point. We’ve been on the trail for so long that most people have fallen in to their niches. I’m in need of some shifting though. Pepi and I have not had a fight or any major tiffs. Sometimes she wants to hike harder to get in to town faster than I’d choose but I can compromise on that mostly, especially because we hike at close paces and need to be doing roughly the same mileage. I’m just really ready to be doing exactly what I want to do, whenever I want to do it. No compromises. No one to satisfy but myself. I’m also eager to see if I can still handle solitude and solo hiking after being with someone else twenty four hours a day for almost two months. We’ve hiked nearly a thousand miles together! Maybe all I need is a week off and then will be ready to hike with friends again?

I’m giving myself my first zero day since Tahoe today. All that I have to do is buy food and get my ass over to Seiad Valley. I’ll also take two zeros with my parents in Ashland, mailing boxes and eating good food. Then, it’s off hiking again! In Etna, I’m staying with about eight other hikers at the Campus California Training Group. It’s a training facility for AIDS educators going to Africa. It’s great! Nice to be in a place that cares about recycling, consumption reduction and all of those good things. Had a super great hitch in to town too. The first car that passed us couldn’t give us a ride but he flagged down the second car for us. They had been sleeping in the forest and had gotten wet in the same storm we had so they were going in to town with a truck bed full of bedding. So I got a ride to town while lying on comforters in someone’s pickup. Very nice. EDIT: All that was said about taking a zero and skipping a section is changing. I’m headed out now. Solo. Hopefully, no angry rangers read this! Please, i’m a nice boy. Really.

 

Here I am clicking away at a computer in Old Station, CA. I’m resting up for a few more hours at a fabulous trail angel’s house. Again, everything one could need it provided for. Thru-hiking is the life!

Recently, I’ve hit quite a few mile stones. Hit my third month on the trail a few days ago. That was just after passing the half way point. I also finished the Sierra and entered the Casacades. All is good in hiking life. I’m doing about 25 miles a day and am still having fun. The miles are getting easier as we’re hitting long stretches without much elevation gain or loss. The heat wave that engulfed the state has come and gone. It’s now quite pleasant out which is a huge relief after the few blistering hot days we had about a week ago. It was far hotter than most of Southern California had been. Hopefully another thing that will make miles easier is a reduction in packweight. I’ve switched today to a frameless pack and a poncho/shelter combo. Pack weight is down to about ten pounds! Just got a email from my parents that I will indeed have new shoes in a few days. Another huge relief as the shoes that I’ve been wearing since only Tahoe City are too small. They were killing my feet until a friend gave me thinner socks.

In Sierra City, much of the “pack” grouped up again. Many of us met up to celebrate Nemo’s birthday. It was a great time seeing a large group of hikers together in the same spot. I left there though in front of most people and it’s stayed that way since. I’ve been seeing only a few other hikers at most per day and many of them I haven’t met yet. I’m at a point where I’m catching up to people who have always been in front of me and at the same time am being caught up to by people from behind who are pushing big miles. New people!

Other recent events include going in to Chester for the afternoon for a few martinis to celebrate the half way point. Got a great hitch out of town from a woman who brought Pepi and I to her house for showers.

Walked through Lassen Volcanic NP in what totaled a single day (split by a night).

Been seeing lots of Poison Oak rub against my legs and poles. Any time we’re low enough for it, it’s everywhere.

Did my first 30 mile day. It just envolves hiking more hours. Not really that hard compared with 25 mi. but I’m going to try not to do too many of them. At least not until Oregon where the hiking is rumored to be very easy.

Time to hit the trail!

Oh, and check out the other picture of Pepi and I grubbing on some trail magic sandwhiches at potatoe salad that was left beside the trail. mmmmm!

 

Jack here. Coming through loud and clear I hope. Sorry for not updating frequently but as should be expected, hiking hundreds of miles doesn’t involve using a computer. But! Here, I am, updating from an internet cafe in Bishop, CA (where one of my friends is the bartista). It’s odd I guess that my first computer comes in the middle of the longest stretch of wilderness in the lower 48.

So, what has this adventurer been up to? Well, walking primarily. I’ve gone eight hundred miles. I’m feeling strong and my feet are doing well. But to back track, here are some highlights:

After Hiker Heaven, the trail angeling continued. Hit the Anderson’s “Lunatic Lounge” a half day later by way of a fluke and unconventional hitch. That experience is best described as a hippy crash pad with rolicking hospitality and generous nudity. Hiking on, passed more socal mountains and then dove down to the Mojave. At the start of which was Hiker Town, a well placed, wind and heat insulated, eclectic hollywood set of a desert outpost/residence.

Thankfully, Hiker Town’s refuge was used my me more for the wind than the heat because next up was the aqueduct section. For a day I walked along with the LA aqueduct rushing underground beneath my feet. The next day I met perhaps the most unique character of the trip so far. Cuervo lives on the trail, practicing the life of a vagabond. His world for the past six years has been a blast from the past. His old fashioned traveling style involved donkeys, cookfires and ratty dogs as entourage.

Right after, we hit windmills which bracket the road out to Mojave. Mojave, the worst town I’ve visited yet was only notable because I was offered money by a man who I’m not sure knew that I was a hiker. I declined but it sure put a smile on my bearded face.

Out of Mojave and into the last section before the Sierra, I carried the heaviest pack of the trip so far. As if to toment us, we hiked through the driest stretches right before hitting the overly wet Sierra. The weight broke my pack, then I broke my tent and then a couple of other pieces of gear within a few days (luckily, pack and tent have been replaced my manufacturers). My luck with equipment earned me the trail name “One Strap”, which while better than my previous “Polygamy Jack” is still too long.

Speaking of trail names, I swung into Onyx for some food and was trail angeled by a very nice local couple who were helping out three other hikers. All of whom has gender mixed names. Hot Sister (guy), Lady Friend (guy) and Cucumber Boy (girl) were a little too much for that rural community. There are some really funny names out here.

Anyways, Onyx was good. I slept on the baseball diamond and was helped by said couple all day for my town chores. It took all day because while their generosity was exceptional, it was also exceptionally rurally paced. Funny to think that a month and a half on the trail doesn’t slow one down like 60 years on the range does.

Out of Onyx, I picked up the PCT flag from Hot Sister. I’m now carrying an entirely useless orange safety flag for the next couple of hundred mountainous miles. Tradition. At least I have an funny story related to said flag..

Kennedy Meadows! The Sierra! Here I am! It’s so incredibly beautiful out here that it almost feels as if the first 700 miles were just paying our dues. The Kennedy town stop is centered at a remote mountain store where you eat, sleep, wash, recieve packages and ready for the mountains. It’s great not having to deal with real town hassels.

This past section, the start of the “real” Sierra and the High Sierra was stunning. The beauty far eclipses the increasing challenges. I’m traveling as a tight group of four now with Luigi, Pepi and Sackett. We’re together mainly because the high streams and snow travel demand group safety. It’s also a lot more fun. Summited Whitney a few days ago. Did Forester Pass the day after. Both were much feared but totally OK. Forester, the highest pass on the trail is steep, very steep and mostly snow covered. While I used crampons and ice axe, some others did not. On the most exposed section the switchbacks were clear for all but ten feet in the main chute. Glissading and stomping across the three miles of snow on the north side was good fun as well.

Anyways, this is getting long and I need to be relaxing. Town’s are stressful with all of these tasks. Heading back into the High Sierra tomorrow. I’m ready to get out of the oppressive Bishop/Independence heat and into the cool mountains. Sorry but I won’t be updating my journal for another long period I suspect.

One last thing. I LOVE the wide open Sierran forests. Oh, and the dramatic snow-capped peaks as well.

Much love to all out on the trail and all back at home!

Sitting here at the Saufley’s house it’s easy to forget that you’re hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. So easy, that people sometimes stay here for weeks. The Saufley’s are the hosts of Hiker Heaven. The greatest trail stop so far and likely the greatest on the whole trip. This place is absolutely incredible. As hosts, Jeff and L-Rod have opened their house to almost two thousand strangers in the past few years. And no one is treated as anything but kings and queens.

The back yard, center of activity for Agua Dulce, is abuzz with hikers. We sleep in the guest house (a full sized trailer home), an RV, large camping tents, the lawn, around the fire ring, down by the corral or on one of the 24 cots in one of the six large catering tents. There is TV, music, computers, books, magazines, a kitchen, bathrooms, the works. We get sucked in. Since it’s been Memorial Day weekend, they’ve also been feeding about 40 of us a night.

Right now I’m on my second zero. I’m waiting for the mail delivery to come in as my battery resupply package is not here. If it doesn’t arrive, I’ll probably borrow the car (“Big Red”) and head back to LA to purchase the thrity or so lithium batteries my GPS needs. Yesterday’s zero was an LA day already. I drove seven of us around to Adventure 16, REI, Office Depot and the supermarket in Northridge. Boy was I glad to get through that ordeal. A hiker already totaled one of the Saufley cars this year. We all are so greatful for the Saufley’s. Everyone uses this as a base for figuring out the next major section. The Sierra Nevada requires extras like bear cans, ice axes, warmer clothes and other things that people purchasing and sending from here. I have a new pair of shoes, bug goop, maps, zinc and other stuff being sent from here and will call in a few days for my parents to send my bear can filled with food and my ice axe and crampons. I’ve also ordered a pair of Dirty Girl Gaiters and will hopefully arrive when I get to Kennedy Meadows.

As I said, it’s easy to forget that we’re actually hiking when we’re here. My past week was superb though. I hiked from Wrightwood across the rest of the San Gabrial Mountains. It was about 90 miles and took five days. Through that time I was between packs, hiking alone and sharing the trail with only two other hikers (Snail and Rob). It was really great being out with so few others and then catching up with everyone in Agua Dulce. I had a great short first day where I topped out on Baden Powell and then camped alone high up on the ridge. My second, third and fourth days were 20 miles but they were a breeze. I hiked my own pace, breaked when I felt like, even slept in a few days. It was SO great. I met more people because I could stop and talk to them instead of pushing on to get miles. Plus, since I was on a high ridge above LA most of the week, my radio had good reception. I listened to a lot of NPR and it was really, really enjoyable. Stimulating thoughts with stimulating steps.

I met some cool old dudes while hanging out at the picnic area with Snail. They hooked us up with some great trail magic. I also met a burned out plumber with some great advice about life. We sat and talked next to a pathetic Forest Service bathroom. And right before Agua Dulce at the Vasquez Rocks formation (which looks like it belongs in Southwest Utah) a great family gave Snail and I cold drinks, shade and food.

If I don’t head out this afternoon, I’ll leave tomorrow morning. Ahead I’m looking at a 14 mile road walk, the Mojave, a long walk along the LA aqueduct and the increasing heat. But not before I get to Casa De Luna, another trail angel house (and trail party central, I hear).