Thursday, May 26, 2011

A Reflection: April 28 to the Present

As of tomorrow we will have been hiking for one full month- April 28-May 28. It truly is hard to believe we have been on the Pacific Crest Trail for a whole month! To honor the occasion, I thought I'd reflect on how the last month as gone and what we are preparing for coming up.

Quick Summary: 
Miles Hiked: 454
Days in Town to Resupply Food: 5
Days Hiking: 24
Rattlesnake Sightings: 3, including one that Garrett had a very close encounter with...
Other Snake Sightings: Too many to count
Most Common Animal: Small lizards
Most Despised Plant: Chaparral, particularly a really thorny one we've nicknamed the "devil bush" 
Best Day: The day we hiked to the top of Mt. San Jacinto
Worst Day: The day we hiked through the area decimated by the 2009 Station Fire in the Angeles Crest.
Toughest Physical Ailments: Blisters

As I write this, we are resting up after a pretty tough week on the trail. We hiked over Mt. Baden Powell, a 9500 ft peak in the Angeles Crest that was covered in steep snow pack, and then proceeded to hike through more than 50 miles of burned area along the trail. The vast majority of it had not been maintained since the fire so it was either in really bad shape, overgrown with weeds. Burned trees had fallen into the trail which gave us a feeling that we were actually in a jungle gym or obstacle course instead a national scenic trail. It was draining physically as well as mentally. Hands down, this week was definitely the most trying time mentally for us.

When we first started in April, our biggest challenges were the physical ailments. We both started at less than 100 percent. Garrett had literally not eaten for 3 days due to the flu and I came down with a nasty cold just days before we started. We then spent the next 2+ weeks dealing with multiple blisters and finessing gear and food. We now feel pretty good physically and have figured out what food/gear works for us (We actually didn't change our gear too much--just changed shoes and I did end up buying gaiters to keep the sand out of my shoes...). Overall, we've been resourceful and overcome any adversity and feel confident about that is coming up. 

Now that we feel pretty good about managing the desert (which was actually quite wet & cold this year), it is ending in just over 200 miles and a new challenge is around the corner. The Sierras await, where there is still significant snow pack at 10,000 feet. Logistics become much more difficult as easily accessible towns get much more sparse. We are already making adjustments and preparations to be ready for this next phase of the trip. For the next section, we will be adding bear canisters to store our food in, Microspikes for our shoes to get more traction in the snow, the mesh body of our tent to keep the mosquitoes at bay, and ice axes to assist in traversing steep snow slopes. To say the least, it is a little intimidating, but I feel confident about our preparedness and am excited about what the wild Sierras hold for us.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Donation Update!

As you know, during our hike we are hoping to raise one dollar for each mile we've hiked on the Pacific Crest Trail ($2,650) for the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. So far we've raised just over $200 toward our goal. Thank you to those who have donated!

Miles hiked to date: 369 miles hikes on the trail

Our miles are starting to get a little ahead of our fundraising though, so if you can, please help us get them to match up again!

Trail Angel in Wrightwood

We've met a lot of awesome people with kind hearts who have helped us out in one way or another. Some people are committed to helping PCT hikers because they themselves have done it before. Others help because, well they just have kind hearts. Our most recent helper was a woman who was going out on a day hike with her dog and stopped to help, not just one, two or three of us, but eight of us poor, lost, stinky souls. We had just spent the night at 8,000 feet and were hoping to get into town Wrightwood for some good breakfast and more food before we continued onward. The highway was strangely empty and we just couldn't figure out why. One of the few people who drove by was this blessed woman who stopped and said the road was closed (due to the snow and rains this winter) just a few miles past where we were standing, thus the lack of traffic. She took pity on us and offered us a ride back into town 6 miles away in her suburban.

Soo in case you were wondering, you can in fact fit 8 stinky hikers, 8 stinky packs, one dog, and a driver into a suburban!

San Jacinto: 10,834 feet

On top of San Jacinto. Note the ice-covered trees in the backbround.

 A view of San Jacinto peak from below as we descended into much warmer climes...

A Day in the Life

Some of you may be wondering what a typical day is for us as we continue our hike on the Pacific Crest Trail so we thought (we have a lot of time to think...) we'd let you'll know:

5:30-6:00 am: Wake up with the birds!
6:00-7:00 am: Eat a calorie-loaded pre-breakfast snack (like oatmeal cream pies) and head out of camp.
7:00-8:30 am: Hike.
8:30-9:00 am: Eat breakfast, typically granola and vanilla protein powder).
9:00-11:00 am: Hike.
11:00 am: Eat another snack, like a protein bar.
11:00am-12:30pm: Hike on!
12:30-1:00 pm: Eat lunch, usually consisting of peanut butter, nutella and some sort of bread/tortilla.
1:00-4:00 pm: If its hot, like really hot, this is siesta time under some shade. If it is not hot, we continue our journey.
4:00 pm: That's right, its snack time again!
4:00-5:30 pm: Hike.
5:30-6:00 pm: Cook dinner. Currenty favorites are cous-cous, parmesan cheese and tobasco sauce; mashed potatoes and cheese; and stuffed pasta.
6:00 -7:30 pm: If we are really motivated, we continued hiking. This typically happens when it has been a reallly hot day and we want to hike in the cooler evening air. In the last week though, it has been so cold (high of 50's during the day, and 20's and 30's at night) here that we have not taken siestas and stopped hiking by 6:00pm.
7:30-8:00 pm: Stretching & yoga. Don't forget--one more snack before bed!
8:00 pm: Hiker midnight--its time for bed!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

It's Snowing on May 15th

Its snowing outside as we wait for our ride back to the trail outside Big Bear City. Others are a bit nervous about the snow but I'm not really too phased by it. Bring it on, I say! The trail is still calling us back. About once a week we have to stay overnight in town and honestly it is getting harder to sleep in a real bed inside. The sound of the wind and the cool, fresh breeze across my face as I shut my eyes to sleep is hard to beat.

We've experienced quite a range of weather and climes in the last week--

We summited San Jacinto Peak at over 10,000 feet and had to hike through a lot of snow pack and use all our map navigation skills and good luck to get back to the PCT. The side trail loop to the summit had not been used enough yet to know where the trail was under the snow pack. Every once and we while we were rewarded with a glimpse of trail tread so we knew we were on the right track. It was a big confidence booster since we know it won't be the last time we run into snow. When we finally got to the summit, it was awesome to have a 360 degree view of where we had already hiked and where we were heading. Where we were heading was down to the San Gorgonio Pass which is at around 1000 feet, just outside Palm Springs. Within less than 36 hours we went from a snow-capped peak to a hot desert floor. Crazy!

I'm so thankful for those who worked hard to get the PCT trail together.  The incredible expanse of wilderness that we are traversing, climbing and descending through is just at times overwhelming. We are only a 10th of the way through the trip and we've already seen so much that few people get to see, just because of the remoteness of the hike at times. Until the next post...~Maya

Monday, May 9, 2011

Photos: Scenes

Yucca in bloom.

Name that Insect--Acts like a humming bird, looks like a fly....

Photos: In the San Jacintos

R.I.P

A 2010 thru-hiker who didn't get to the H20.

Photos: Where We Get H2O

Water from a USFS forest fire water storage tank--Yes we did have permission!

Water from one of our many 'trail angel' water drops.
I've never been so happy to see bottled water in my life!

Day 1--The Start of the Hike!!

That wall in the background is the US border with Mexico. We couldn't get much closer to Mexico without being run over by the U.S. Border Patrol.

Hard times and good times on the trail.

Hi everyone, before I get into telling a few stories of the trail, here is the break down of our trip so far:

PCT miles hiked: 179
Lowest elevation: 2380
Highest elevation: 8380
Terrain: Some days we've had little to no shade in the desert with temps in the 90s, and other days we've been hiking up to the higher elevations of the San Jacinto mountains with crazy winds and temps down in the 30s at night.
Weather: No, it actually has not been sunny everyday. A front moved in a we were traversing the mountains up to Idyllwild and we watched as clouds formed all around us. Yesterday we hiked through snow pack! There is more snow to hike through in the next day or so before we drop to the H O T desert again.
Water situation: Water access has been interesting to say the least. There have been periods of hiking where we had no water for 20 miles or more, but thanks to PCT volunteers rightfully called 'trail angels', we've gotten some water at strategic road intersections.

Story time! One of the many trail angels is a guy who allows PCT thru-hikers to come to his vacation house which is only a short distance from the trail in the middle of nowhere-I mean nowhere-to get water.  He also has a small shack that they call the hikers bunk house, though its really a shack.  Now you would think this sounds great but we heard the trail angel was not there and his caretaker, who had a reputation of getting drunk and then threatening to shank hikers, was looking over the place.  So when Maya and I got to the house we approached with caution because not only were we scared of this caretaker guy but the place looked more like a compound then a house at first.  Our need for water and rest after 18 miles of hiking overcame our fears and we proceeded anyway through the gate, past some junk and the gate with the ten foot high barbwire fence (like the ones that are around prisons). Luckily, we were greeted by fellow hikers and a PCTA trail crew volunteer who was there for the weekend.  Our anxiety was erased when we were given cold drinks and place to sit.  We did see the legendary caretaker when he came out of the house looking mad, but trail crew volunteer jumped up talked him back into the house. Thankfully it was an uneventful Cinco de Mayo

Gaiter Break Down: So far, I have been the only one to have a small break down as I decided to hike a day with out my mini gaiters (goes around the top of your shoe and lower calf to keep out stones, snow, etc.) in the theory that it would let my feet breath more. Maya had been hiking without them so I didn't think it would be that bad... Well, that didn't go well.  Only a few hours into the hike, I screamed, threw down my hiking poles and pack demanded that "I Will Hike No Farther With Out My Gaiters".  I then proceeded to sit in the middle of the trail, pout some more, empty out my shoes, and put my gaiters back on.  Maya just laughed at me and suggested that I eat something so that I wouldn't be to grumpy.  

The trail has been fun and exciting and we've have met some great people, though that part has been harder than we expected (Perhaps more on that later).  Our bodies hurt and our feet are thanking us now that we got some new better trail shoes.
Our spirits are high and we our psyched for or next section of trail.  

Garrett & Maya

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

And on the 7th Day, They Rested

We hiked for 6 days and within those 6 days, we have covered 109 beautiful miles of the PCT. Each day, our hike has taken us into new terrain, and offered different flora and fauna. The arid climes of Southern California are more beautiful than anticipated, though still hot and dry at times. Yucca are in bloom, barrel and ocotilla cacti are in bloom, as are prickly pear and teddy bear cacti.We've also hiked through pine forests and under oaks, so we have gotten some shade from the cloudless sky too.

And yes--we've already encountered our fair share of snakes: On the first day, we were resting under a tree to escape the heat of the day when a black snake dropped in on us, literally! It just dropped out of the tree and slithered over Garrett's shoulder right between us. As soon as Garrett realized it wasen't me and as soon as the snake realized he was not going over a log, we all freaked out. Talk about a way to get the blood pumping! We also have seen a racer and a rattlesnake. Don't worry, PCT hikers on average encounter three rattlers on their trek, so between Garrett and I, we've got one encounter done with five to go! 

We've taken a lot of pictures, but honestly they just don't do the trail justice (We will post some when we can though). In most places, the only break in the view is the small line of the trail snaking along the mountainside into canyons that can only be accessed after hiking many miles of trail. While our feet our aching and blistered, our hearts are soaring. We are glad for the respite day and opportunity to get cleaned up a bit on our first rest day since we started. That's the latest until our next break!