On trail incident

Just wanted to fill everyone in on what happened out on the trail that made us cut our trip short.

Anna was in a bike accident 5 weeks ago in Aqua Dulce and broke her right wrist and had abdominal pain that was not correctly diagnosed. The doctors thought initially it was internal bleeding that would be re-absorbed by her body and should get better within two weeks. After 4 weeks she was still having a lot of discomfort so we stopped to see a general practitioner who guessed it was more likely torn muscles that hold the rib cage together and that it would take 6 to 8 weeks to heal. So we went back out accepting that there would be another couple weeks of discomfort.

On Saturday afternoon, she sneezed hard and a wave of pain hit her which she delt with the rest of the day and soreness into Sunday morning. After eating a big lunch on Sunday and having drank quite a bit of water she got up from lunch and the pain was overwhelming.

Anna passed out and went into shock out on the trail from the pain of what we found out was two re-broken ribs. I stabilized her and waited for a few other hikers to come along (who happened to be Monologue, present at Anna's initial injury, and a friend from college, Caitlin trail name Root Canal, who I hadn't seen since graduation and had been in my wilderness first responder training group, along with a friend of hers hiking a section with her). Together we carried Anna's gear out while she walked out under her own power about 5 miles down to the nearest trailhead.

Thankfully Caitlin knew someone in the area who was able to pick us up and drive us into Truckee to go to the ER. Huge thanks to Monologue, Caitlin, Levi and Nick for all their help and sacrifices.

It was the Truckee Forest Hospital staff who saw the broken ribs and the indications that they were previously broken. Having passed out around 1:00 and getting to the hospital around 8:00 we were out by midnight after a long afternoon.

The doctors pointed out that backpacking, especially at altitude, isn't a good way to let her ribs heal (which is obvious now after being re-broken by a simple sneeze 5 weeks later).

The silver lining to the whole ordeal was being able to spend an evening in Truckee with Michelle, a really nice section hiker and trail angel who we met in Aqua Dulce after Anna's initial bike accident. She treated us very well with an organic dinner and comfortable place to sleep and let us know more about she and her husband.

So, we are now on an Amtrak train in Colorado on our way to her parents in Virginia. Anna is going to heal up and I will probably find a couple smaller hikes or bike rides to occupy myself with around the Northeast.

It is a pretty big bummer to be missing out on yet another thru-hike, but we will try to make the most of it. The PCT will be there next year... who knows maybe we will be back out there.

I am going to keep posting to this blog trip reports of whatever I end up doing with the rest of the summer. So don't stop checking in.

Anyway, back to rafter spotting along the Colorado River.

Desolation Wilderness

Friday July 10th, 7:15pm

California's Desolation Wilderness is like a whole other world. After walking through the evergreen forest from Tahoe to Echo Lake, you follow the lake's rocky Eastern shore passing summer vacation cottages tucked between the trees. Leaving the shore at the North end of the lake you make a gentle climb on a giant pile of small rocks to the start of the Desolation Wilderness.

These mountains are picture perfect rocky slopes with patches of cold wet snow that litter the Northen faces. Between the mountains are sparse bunches of pine and spruce trees mixed with chilling snowmelt-fed lakes and ponds. The trails are gently graded and heavily used by day and weekend hikers. In fact, for being named Desolation this wilderness area is very crowded. We must have passed by around 20 hikers and campers, 2 dogs and a trail crew of 6 Student Conservation Association (SCA) workers.

Our pictures cannot do it justice, but next time we are in town at a computer I will add pictures to this post.

We have been able to relish in the beauty of this environment hiking only about 11 miles today, at a slow pace. We didn't get out of the tent until 8:30, had several breaks at edges of lakes and the top of a pass and were setting up the tent again by 4:00. It is windy here but we don't mind because the winds drive away the mosquitos. Tomorrow should be another gentle day as we are slowing down to let another hiker (Monologue) catch up probably tomorrow night.

Small World

Thursday July 9th, 10:00 PM:

The long distance / lightweight backpacking community really is a small world. Today we were sitting at Echo Lake with 5 other hikers when one pulls out a few odd trinkets to be delivered to another of the five from "Root Canal" who is a girl, Caitlin, that I went to college with. Not long after it comes up that another guy (Don Wilson) in the group lives in Tuscon, AZ and teaches Backpacking Light courses and low and behold he had co-lead with Andy Skurka the wilderness trekking course my friend Margaret from college had taken and lives 3 blocks from her in Tuscon. Pretty wild to discover these coincidences back to back.

Another great coincidence is that Anna's sister in-law to be, Kate, happened to be in Tahoe City for business and had a morning off to drive around the lake and meet us. It was so nice to see her familiar face and to have some company from real life (non-hiker world).

The other big news is that we spent last night, this morning and afternoon with Monologue and her cousin Michael in South Lake Tahoe. It was great to meet up with Monologue again after over a month. She is about 20 trail miles behind us, so we are going to take a couple short days so she can catch up. Her cousin Michael had come to town to visit her and had rented a car so we had the good fortune to not have to buy another bus day pass and got a ride back to the trail today without having to hitch-hike. That was a luxurious change of pace.

We are camped tonight on the only patch of dirt we have seen for the last 4 miles or so and really glad to be out of town and back on the trail. Going into town for more than one night a week sort of depresses me anymore. It is much more peaceful, simple, and enjoyable to be making progress on the hike and away from speeding cars, loud towns, and pricey convenient services. All you have to worry about on the trail is meeting basic needs of food,water, shelter, rest and health care.

We are lucky to be out here walking through the Desolation Wilderness. Now officially into Northern California, the hiking only seems to be getting better as we go North.

Pictures and an upcoming mail stop

I just uploaded new pictures to our webshots account. You can see all of the four albums so far by going here: http://community.webshots.com/user/annablinncole.

Also a reminder that we'll be at the Belden P.O. in about 10 days. If you want to send us something you can mail it to:

Anna or Garrett Cole
c/o General Delivery
Belden, CA 95915

We're leaving South Lake Tahoe today. Hope everyone is well!

bluebird

Slopes

July 6. 8:00 pm

This northern Sierra landscape is absolutely beautiful. I find myself saying "wow" dozens of times each day as I see things I've never seen before. The mountains are jagged and huge, remnants of volcanos years ago. We cross "passes" which are low points between two mountains, but usually we have to climb UP to reach them.

Passes have come to cause me much trepidation as we approach. While the southern side that we climb is green and blooming with wild flowers, the northern side that we go down more than likely has snow-covered slopes. The snow has been compacted and is quite hard and slick. If possible, I try to go around the big snow patches but today we came to one that was on a steep side hill. I was very scared to walk across the steep snow shoot relying on just the shelf-like footprints of hikers who went before. But with Garrett's help (we practiced on a not-so-steep section) and by not looking at the drop-off, we got across. I was so happy to have made it and conquered my fear.

For the last two nights we have battled ravenous mosquitos in camp. Tonight, though, we have a lovely campsite by a breezy lake. A nice ending to a long day. Lake Tahoe tomorrow!

Bluebird

New places, old faces

July 5th 9:00PM

We had planned to spend Anna's Birthday (Independence Day) in Bridgeport but after all the motels, hotels and campgrounds were full, we hitched a challenging 35 miles up to Sonora Pass. As we rode up to the pass at 9600 feet, the alpine landscape emerged with it's snow capped peaks and passes, rushing streams and waterfalls, and dirt and rock trails. This was such a welcome change from where we left the trail at Walker Pass (mile 650) in the desert.

We have been catapulted from the back of the pack, right into the middle of it. Being in the pack has its advantages and disadvantages. You have more trail magic, more comraderie, and more choice of who to hike or camp with. As soon as we started up over Sonora Pass we were stopped when we saw a sign for "The Sonora Pass Cafe." A trail angel and PCT maintainer named The Owl had camped out at the pass for three days and brought up three HUGE chocolate cakes, fruit, coffee, and beverages for hikers. But as we found out last night there are a limited number of good campsites so you have to get into camp early enough to get a spot, or risk being forced to hike on to the next available spot.

While we passed by most of the snow and stream crossings, we have had to cross quite a few small snow slopes and cold streams. Toward the end of the day today we had a particularly steep snow slope to cross which shook Anna up quite a bit, but she is fairing well for having her arm in a sling and a sore rib cage. We are seeing less elevation change and less snow as we go North so hopefully there won't be any more hairy spots.

Coming back to the trail after another week off felt great psycologically, but again I am feeling foot pain as my feet get used to walking all day and they widen out. After Anna's pain hadn't gone away we were close to calling off the trip. Skipping up around the Sierra was really the only other option, and so far, it is working out really well. The terrain is more varried, scenery more incredible, people more abundant and trail more motivating.

We have already been passed by three of our old friends (Heaps, Ben and Paul). It was great to see them as it had been since the day of Anna's accident 600 trail miles back. The three of them were planning to do 35 miles that day so sadly we may not see them again. We expect to see Monologue and Shadow in the coming week. Todd is off the trail for a wedding, but we expect he will catch up to us eventually in Northern California or Oregon. We passed by Warner Springs Monte who jumped up farther North to beat the Sierra snows and is hiking back to Mt. Whitney and taking pictures of all the hikers he meets. As we were setting up camp, Scott Williamson and Adam came past and we got to say hello again amid a torrent of blood thirsty mosquitos. I was surprised they were able to keep up their 40 mile a day pace through the High Sierra and seem to be right on pace doing a 44 today.

Even though the hiking is great, I am very much looking forward to our stop in South Lake Tahoe. Not only do I get to swap out gear and shed over 2 pounds off my pack, but there is rumored to be a buffet at Ceasars (casino) with steak made to order, ten yards of different types of salad, and plenty of cheesecake. Yummmm.

Just another 25 miles or so tomorrow and we will be in by lunch on Tuesday.

Anna just asked me for the secret codes for the robins or snow birds. She must be asleep, I better get some rest too. Goodnight.

Sugar!

I'm now convinced that in the last two weeks I have become addicted to Tang, the sugar based drink mix.

I have been drinking a liter of it for breakfast each day as it reminds me of orange juice and gives me a huge energy boost for the start of the day. But that once a day habit quickly snowballed into two or three liters per day. It is just so makes drinking water such a pleasure and doesn't leave a buildup of coloring on my lips like the On-The-Go Crystal Light packets.

Anyway, this afternoon I officially ran out of Tang and have been a little bummed out ever since. I'm not really sure if its because I like the high sugar taste and am sad to miss out tomorrow morning, or if I'm just coming down off my sugar high.

Either way, I think I should try to eat less high sugar foods on the trail, and instead look for a way to have more real, unprocessed, natural foods. It is hard to find high calorie light weight foods, but I think I should start eating better out here.

Decision Time

June 30. 10:15 pm

We've had a roller coaster week of deciding and redeciding what to do next. The morning after the last post I woke up with abdominal pain about twice as bad as it had been for the last few weeks. As we hiked on it didn't get much better. We decided to get off the trail at the next road in Walker Pass and head into the town of Lake Isabella (a 35 mile hitch!). I decided in my head that morning on the hike to the road that my body wasn't going to heal on the trail and that it'd be best for me to leave and go home. I had none of the internal debates, should I or shouldn't I, that I had had for the last few weeks. It was clear to me that heading home was the best option. When we got into Isabella, Garrett began making plans to hike on by himself and I started looking for plane tickets. We also made arrangements to go into the nearest big town, Bakersfield, and rent a car so that I might help Garrett resupply in the High Sierras. We got to Bakersfield and rented a small Aveo from Enterprise and made sure to hit an In-N-Out Burger on our way out of town. I'll always remember that day that we drove off in our "own" car and the freedom I felt. I felt free from the burden of the trail, free from the logistics of continuing on and free to go anywhere we wanted. It was a great and fleeting freedom.

The next day I dropped Garrett off at Kennedy Meadows, the beginning of the High Sierras and 50 miles north of where we left the trail. He was going to hike for 40 miles and I was going to meet him with food the next day. I went on to Lone Pine and got a room in a hostel. I ran into a hiker (Skywalker) we had met in Big Bear once I got to Lone Pine. It was exciting to catch up on all the news with people in front of us and trail conditions. Skywalker is an enthusiastic story-teller and he made me feel like a real, healthy, hiker again just by recounting the life of the trail. My body was feeling better at this point, probably from the relative inactivity. The combination of running in to Skywalker and feeling better gave me the idea that I didn't need to buy a ticket home and that I could join Garrett after the High Sierras. Later that night I got a call from Garrett who had hiked about 7 miles in and 7 miles back out realizing that he didn't want to hike this most anticipated section without me and by himself. I thought this was really sweet considering how much I know Garrett loves to just go, despite the challenge.

I came back to Kennedy Meadows the next morning and we spent the day in a guy named Tom's Airstream trailer/Cyber Cafe (Kennedy Meadows is a small town completely off the grid, so this small internet cafe was powered completely by solar!). I came cautiously thinking we could both get back on the trail since I had had one really good day of health; Garrett was there thinking that we'd both leave the trail so I could get well. After pricing every mode of transportation home and debating all the options we ultimately decided that we would wait it out one more week. I would see another doctor and if all was getting better we would get back on the trail after the Sierras. Skipping the High Sierras would be less risky with my cast and put us closer to more people (which I've decided is the next best thing to being healthy). I saw the doctor in Lone Pine today and got a reassurance that my internal contusions behind my ribs would indeed heal, but it would take longer than normal in the trail environment. She herself was a backpacker and could sympathize with the discomfort I was feeling. She didn't say it would be quick or easy recovery, but she did say I would get better. We felt pretty happy about the good news.

So now we are heading back to Bakersfield tomorrow to return our car. We will then take a bus back up to Lone Pine and on to the town of Bridgeport where we will ultimately get back on the trail at Sonora Pass. Bridgeport supposedly has a huge Fourth of July celebration with funnel cakes and the whole shabang, so that's an added plus. We'll hopefully return to Bridgeport after we get to Canada to hike the section we skipped through the High Sierras down to Walker Pass in September southbound.

We're both really happy to be heading back to the trail, and a nicer, cooler, less-sandy trail at that. Ironically, we're actually back on our original schedule now. Our next stop should be in South Lake Tahoe sometime early next week.

until then!
bluebird

Last children in the woods

June 24. Wednesday, 8:15pm.

We finished day 3 in our trek to Kennedy Meadows and the High Sierras from Tehachapi. The landscape is depressingly similar to the rest of arid southern California: brown scuffy mountians, loose-sand trails where each step slides backwards an inch, 15-20 miles between water sources, etc.

The bad news is that all this, on top of blisters and injury-related discomfort, has got us close to our breaking point. We have also learned that there are only 4 other thru-hikers behind us spread out across the last 500 miles. We feel really lonely.

The good news is that yesterday we had a bright spot in our hike. We were greeted at our lunch spot by the one and only Scott Williamson! Scott and another guy named Adam are attempting to break the speed record for a PCT thru-hike. The really fun part is that the guy who holds the record did so by running with no backpack, meeting a support van at every road. Scott and Adam are trying to beat that record in an unsupported fashion, carrying a backpack and resupplying in towns just like all the rest of us. We knew Scott was coming up behind us and we were really looking forward to meeting him. He is such a down-to-earth guy. He answered all our questions and wanted to know how our hike had been going, too. We must have sat and talked with them for over an hour. They're trying to do (and have done so far) 40 miles a day! We felt vey honored to spend some time with them. They're the ones who told us about the sparse thru-hikers behind us. But they also assured us that we are so close to a real change in scenery. Things will improve drastically they said.

So we are going to try to push through to greener pastures. It's hard right now to keep going but we have to have faith that this too shall pass.


bluebird

Tehachapi and beyond

Monday. June 22, 8:00 pm

We had a great stay in the town of Tehachapi Saturday and Sunday morning. We efficiently got our chores done (laundry, pictures uploaded, calls to home, groceries) and still had plenty of time to rest. This was the first time on the trip that we had gotten a motel room (besides the Warner Springs room we shared with three other hikers).

On our way out of town we ran into our friend Billy who had hiked in a few days earlier. To our surprise he was now also wearing a sling. As it turns out he was borrowing a bike from Mama Hillybeans cafe and the chain snapped as he was riding. He fell off and injured some muscles in his forearm. Not a good year for hikers on bikes!

The hike out of Tehachapi includes a very long climb out of the windy pass. There are over 5000 windmills in this pass, the largest concentration in the world! As we climbed higher it got windier and windier. Our legs and bodies were aching from the struggle up the hill against the wind. I finally laid down right on the trail (the only flat spot) and tried to ignore the wind ripping above. Garrett soon joined me and we debated whether to continue. It was about 6 pm so we decided to push on to the next flat campsite. As soon as we rounded the next corner huge gusts of wind nearly pushed us off the trail. We grabbed onto one another and tried to take steps forward. It reminded me of fording those rushing rivers in Maine. As we tried to go forward the wind knocked me to my knees. Because of my hurt arm I wasn't able to get up. Garrett helped pull me up and we escaped back around the corner. Having witnessed winter winds on Mt.Washington, Garrett thinks that wind was blowing around 100 mph. It was not safe to continue and we retreated back down the mountain to flat ground and chapparel that blocked the wind. It was disappointing to have to come all the way back down the mountain we had worked so hard to climb. But at the same time we could barely stay on our feet until we got down. I scraped up my knee pretty good when I blew down but nothing too serious, thankfully.

This morning we climbed back up the mountain and the winds were MUCH calmer. Our packs are heavy as we try to go 140 miles to Kennedy Meadows and still carrying lots of water. We're very excited to see the transition out of the desert and into the the High Sierras in the next few days.

A special hello to my family gathered in NC for my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. We wish we could be with you!

bluebird

Desert, Not Dessert...

June 19: In the middle of the Mojave

I said to Anna today that I have never been so uncomfortable in my life. I think it is true. We are sitting under a river (aqueduct) of water on its way to Los Angeles at the bridge over dried-up Cottonwood Creek.

We got through a HOT 17 mile road walk and are most of the way across the Mojave Desert floor. To make today easier on ourselves we got up and night hiked by headlamp at 3:00AM. It was a chilly 70 degrees last night and by 8:00AM it was up over 100. It is 95 now in the shade and we do not plan on moving until this evening when we will start climbing into the Tehachapi Mountains, which have been described to us as giant piles of loose sand... Wahoo!

Wow, just checked in with the weatherman: 120+ in the sun now at 1:00PM.

Being in the middle of this desert has been humbling. The view to the East is of a seemingly endless expanse of sand, heat, and prickly plants once in a while. We can not begin to capture the hugeness in pictures. There is so much life and death all around us. Lizards eating ants, snakes eating lizards, snakes eating other snakes, and we are just watching our steps.

I have been amazed by Anna's determination and grit as she pushes on despite continued abdominal soreness and her broken wrist. I doubt I would have kept going if I were her. She is getting stronger each day but her physical limitations to do odd tasks like packing her backpack or get in and out of the tent frustrate her.

There is so much more to say, I will have to leave it for another entry.

Buster and Bluebird, Back in Business

Well as it turns out we did not get to start hiking again on Monday. Instead our plans were yet again changed when two men walked into Hiker Heaven. Bamboo Bob and Pappa Smurf are two people who started their hike at the Kick-Off and were at a stand still after late season snow fell in the Sierras just as they were going in. After getting sick of the cold and snow they rented a car and drove back to Aqua Dulce so Smurf could do a section he skipped when recovering from shin splints.

What do you know, just an hour or so before we hiked out of town, these guys show up with a car and are happy to support us all the way to Tehachapi, about 100 miles. It is a great way for us to get re-acclimated to trail life after the 12 days off. On the first day I carried about half the weight I would have normally and Anna was able to hike without a pack to do a 22 mile first day back.

On top of that good fortune, we have had a string of trail angels. From the Saufleys who are probably the definition of trail angels, to the Andersons of Green Valley who give their lives and home over to hikers like no one we have encountered yet, and finally Hiker Town, an ecclectic mismatch of services and attractions that welcomes hikers before their trip across the Mojave Desert.

Although we have had a string of good fortune and trail angel experiences, we have had a new wave of hardships. The most troubling being our changing feet. While we sat at Hiker Heaven our feet softened up. Former blisters that had hardened to calous dried up and peeled off the bottoms of our feet leaving fresh tender skin to walk on and now develop more of the same blisters. On top of blistering there is the ever-present ache of widening feet which had the chance to weaken while we sat and watched movies. Now miles are harder to pass by, but if we can tough it out and keep treating our feet to daily rounds of cleaning, blister popping and massaging we should be back in shape in another week or two... At least that is what we keep telling ourselves.

Enough typing for now, sweet and sour rice is calling my name.

Moving forward

Hello everyone!

Today is Monday and we are hopefully heading back out to the trail today. We've been at Hiker Heaven now for just over a week. It's been a wonderful place to rest. Jeff and Donna Saufley are extremely hospitable and generous souls. Garrett has become quite the chef cooking up all sorts of delicious meals and we've definitely caught up on any sleep deprivation that might have been lurking since our whirlwind departure from Delaware. We've seen a total of 38 hikers come and go since we've been here. But for the last day or so we've had the place to ourselves, another sign that we are definitely at the tail end of the thru-hiking pack.

After much deliberation here's our new plan: We will hike north out of Agua Dulce until we reach Canada....okay, so it's not THAT new. The "new" part of this is our decision not to skip up to Kennedy Meadows today to meet our friends and hike into the High Sierras with them. We talked to several different people about this and most of them agreed that walking into a 200-mile roadless, snowy stretch was not a good initiation back into the trail for me. The Sierras just got dumped with a fresh batch of snow to make matters worse. The better option is for us to push forward through the rest of the desert where we know we can find help if we need it and the trail will be more tame and what we're used to. It will be hard for me to adjust my balance to using just one trekking pole since my right arm will be in a sling. So the desert (including a ridiculously flat stretch of the Mojave) will be a good place to get use to the new way of hiking. We are sad to head out now seemingly alone as most of the other hikers have passed. But we've been assured by Donna that we're probably not the very last. If we can regain a good pace soon we'll be able to catch a few people. We'll need to keep a tight schedule from here on out if we want to reach Canada by the end of September when the snows can start falling.

My body is feeling stronger and we are getting restless as the days go by and we are not hiking. Time will tell once we get back on the trail as to how hiking long days will feel as my arm and body continue to heal. Our next stop is the town of Mojave, 100 miles away, and we hope to be there by next weekend. The whole time we've been here in Agua Dulce a strange weather event called June Gloom has covered the sky with clouds and temperatures didn't climb above 70. Ideal desert hiking weather! As our luck would have it, the sun came out yesterday and it looks like the heat may be returning just in time for our departure from the Saufley's guest house. The sunshine is pretty cheerful, I have to admit.

We now journey on, just as before, only 2 weeks behind. Thanks to everyone for their continued support!

bluebird

Spending some time at the Saufleys'

After 48 hours in the hospital, 4 catscans and 2 x-rays later, I was discharged Friday night with a cast on my right arm and the good news that I have only internal bruising in my left side. I was very happy to get out of the hospital and have the IV taken out of my arm. Garrett was a very big help feeding me my liquid meals (wasn't allowed to eat because of the concerns about a torn organ) and itching my nose occasionally (with the IV in my left arm and the splint on my right arm, I felt pretty lame!). We arranged to have a trail angel couple, Bill and Helen, pick us up from the hospital and take us back to Agua Dulce and Hiker Heaven at the Saufleys. Thank you Bill and Helen! When we got to our home away from home all of our hiker friends who had been there two days ago had left and new hiker friends had arrived. We heard that Heaps and Todd and Monologue had stayed an extra day in case we had come home from the hospital a day earlier, which was really nice of them. They had all left a card with their well-wishes.

We've now been here in the guest house single-wide trailor that the Saufley's devote to hikers for 2 days resting and moving very little. It's hard to watch hikers come in for a night and then head back out to the trail when all we want to do is be hiking. Although I can potentially hike with a cast on my arm, the main concern is the abdominal pain I'm still having when I breathe, laugh or sneeze too hard. Unfortunately that means I can't watch any of the comedies the Saufley's have on the movie shelf. We are going to play it by ear, but hopefully be able to rest for a week or two and then get back on the trail. Donna and Jeff Saufley are extremely nice and generously people. They have 8 friendly dogs who love to be petted and several horses. This is probably the best place along the whole trail to be cooped up with an injury.

If we get too restless here, we may rent a car and explore California a little. Hopefully we can skip ahead by the 18th or 19th of June to Kennedy Meadows where we can resume our hike with our friends and still with enough to finish the trail in Washington before the snows. We can return and do this 250 mile section between here and KM in October when the Mojave Desert should be nice and temperate. I feel silly for having such a trip-altering accident when I wasn't even hiking. But I guess you never know what will happen and once it does, all you can do is go with the flow. We are very committed to getting back on that trail and when we get depressed we just think about all the beauty and adventure yet to be had.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We have surely felt your support and community even when it seems we are so far away. Be sure to check out our photo album because I'll be posting some new pictures in the next few hours.

Good and Bad News

Well the good news is that we made it through our 9-day stretch to get to Aqua Dulce with relative ease. Since Big Bear we have stuck with Monologue and the three of us pushed each other through a string of long days with big climbs. The hiking was through a huge variety of climate zones and trail conditions. A recent geologic highlight was walking through Vasquez Rocks County Park.

The bad news is that Bluebird has had a bicycle accident when she was riding back to the Saufley's from having lunch in town. I was just ahead of her when I heard her go down and I went back to help her. She said her skirt had gotten caught somewhere in the bicycle and was trying to get it untangled when she lost control. She went into shock briefly after realizing she was really hurt and I flagged down a car and amid a buzz of on-lookers and fellow worried hikers we rode off by ambulance to the local hospital.

After being seen in the ER and having x-rays and cat scans taken, it looks like she has a chip fracture on her right wrist (most likely from trying to break her fall) and abdominal pain that the source has yet to be determined but is worst when taking deap breaths, laughing or caughing.

The trauma surgeon explained that the pain could be a number of things the worst of which could be a tear in an intestinal wall which would need to be operated on when found. The other options would be a tear in the spline or liver which will heal themselves after some recovery time.

Now we are awaiting the results of a third cat scan and Anna has said she is feeling a little better, but has a headache and her wrist is throbbing when not on morphine.

So far we have been in the hospital for about 20 hours and it looks like we will be staying another day. The Saufley's being as generous as the are have told us we are welcome to stay with them while Anna is healing.

This puts forward progress of the hike on hold while all efforts will be on Anna healing. We have thought of skipping ahead to Kenedy Meadows and finishing the 250 miles of desert in the Fall after we reach Canada. And although nothing has been said of it, I could always go on alone if recovery winds up being a long process (of course that would be a last resort and completely change the trip).

I am hoping for some good news soon, and thankfull to all our concerned family, friends and the fellow hikers/trail angels who are worrying for us with empathy.

RAIN!!!

May 31st:

Well after 18 days of clear blue skies we finally got some rain. It actually sprinkled on us after we left Cajon Pass but we camped without serious rain until last night when we were up around 8000 feet coming down to Inspiration Point.

After hiking the AT with week-long rains you would think an afternoon shower would not bother us. But at high elevation when the clouds roll in, it gets down right cold. Throw in some driving wind and rain and its not very pleasant.

On a brighter note the past two days have been physically challenging and we have made it through with relative ease. Yesterday we had a 17 mile climb with no water along the way, and today we climbed steep Mt Baden-Powell and had an end of day road walk detour around a closed section to protect the mountain yellow-legged frog.

We are felling stronger every day and are planning to hike 25 miles tomorrow. Looking forward to meeting Donna & Jeff Saufley in Aqua Dulce. Hoping we can get a ride to the REI outfitter so I can get some new socks and Anna can get some pants to hike in to keep the mosquitos up North away.

I was thinking today about someone who said that they would tell anyone to drop what they are doing to come out and hike the PCT. I would not tell everyone that. It is an amazingly scenic trail so far, but there are parts of being a thru-hiker that are very tough. There is the constant worry that the next water source will be running, trying to avoid stepping on rattlesnakes, staying out of the sun when you can, keeping one eye open at night making sure bears (or racoons) are not trying to get to your food, and plenty of places you do not want to fall. It is definately not for everyone, but I am enjoying it.

Unique Desert Experiences

May 29

It's 6:30 in the evening and we're already into camp. We have a few extra hours of daylight to wash our feet (with wet ones) and journal. Since we left Big Bear we've been hiking with Monologue, a nice woman in her early 30s who hiked the AT northbound in 2006. We know we met her that year on the trail but we're still trying to figure out where.

We've been having some great times. One we camped at a hot spring on the Deep Creek. It was very nice to hike all day and then soak in bathtub-temperature water. Apparently this hot spring is also a popular place for skinny dippers.

The next day we walked out of the Deep Creek gorge and found a lot of graffiti on the rocks. It felt weird to see everything tagged with bright colors and letters. That night we hiked to Silverwood Lake (manmade) and camped by a beach. I tried to go swimming but by 7pm it was already too chilly. We also met two hikers that night that started from the border on May 16th. They've been doing 30 miles a day! Oh yeah, and one of them is in his mid-60s. It put us in awe, for sure.

Today definitely marked a high point on the trail when we hit Interstate 15 and a McDonalds was .4 miles off trail. I've never been so happy to see those golden arches. We did 15 miles before 10am just so we could make it for breakfast... We also stayed for lunch and packed out some sandwiches for dinner. It was quite a differnt day to spend 5 hours with a bunch of other hikers in a McDonalds eating food and watching people in their normal lives. No one really even noticed the dirty hikers and backpacks piled in the corner!

We are attempting to do a 190 section here between Big Bear and Agua Dulce. This was only possible because we could pick up some more food in a gas station by the McD's. We have 5 days and 100 miles until Hiker Heaven in Agua Dulce. We're looking forward to going over Mt. Baden-Powell soon. It's been looming one the horizon for a few days now.

bluebird

http://ordinaryadventure2009.blogspot.com

Two Weeks In

May 26:

Coming back out onto the trail after a day off is never easy, but today was not as hard as I was afraid it would be.

I had the usual first day out of town, heavy backpack, sore feet blues as we headed up the hill out of Big Bear, CA. We decided to pack out 7 days of food for the 190-mile stretch to Aqua Dulce, so our bags are more of a burden than usual. After some slow progress we took a break with another hiker (Monologue) and ate some of the heaviest foods.

The little bit of food out of our packs and into our bellies must have made a difference because after the break we were cruising and managed to get 21 miles behind us after starting at 11:30.

The miles seem to go by easily, but our feet get tired out from the punishing heat, and persistant grit in our shoes. Tonight I am excited because I got a blister to pop that had formed beneath the calous on the pad of my right foot. The last week it has caused me quite a lot if pain, but if I can keep it drained it should harden up and make the hike a lot easier to enjoy.

We have been walking through incredible stretches of burned forest. All that is left is the largest trees and new shrub growth since the fires that we speculate were just last year.

Tomorrow we will continue down this burnt valley that we are in and should run into our first hot springs at Deep Creek... Looking forward to it!

We are now a day behind two guys we have been hiking with, but hiked today and are camping with new friends.

Time to get some sleep...

pictures

I've been working on a webshots photo album of pictures from the last 265 miles. I didn't get a chance to label them all yet. Enjoy!

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/572416710BaOsWq?vhost=outdoors

bluebird

Big Bear Lake!

May 25, 9:13 am

We are taking a full day off today at Big Bear Hostel and I get to type this entry on a real keyboard! We came into the resort city of Big Bear yesterday in time for lunch yesterday. About 15 miles before the road into town the night before we were hiking up the trail and saw an unusual sight: an armchair sitting by the trail! Next the to the lazyboy was a cooler of fruit courtesey the Big Bear Hostel. It was pretty amazing to recline and eat a banana while watching the sun set behind the mountains. Other places to stay in Big Bear also left "trail magic" on our way to the road (colas from the Motel 6, water cache from another inn) but since the hostel was so creative with their magic we decided to stay with them. It's a great hostel with laundry, internet, kitchen, movies, kayaks and bikes! We came into town with Todd, Heaps and Shadow (George) and met a new hiker, Skywalker, at the hostel. Monologue came into town later in the day. We found a big buffet at the Sizzler and watched Little Miss Sunshine.

This is a big resort town and full of people on this holiday. We hadn't planned on taking a day off (zero day) until mile 450 at Agua Dulce, but we won't be able to pick up a package at the PO until Tuesday because of the holiday which we completely forgot about. The day off is much welcomed, even though unexpected.

Garrett made pancakes for breakfast for everyone this morning. Today we plan on shopping for crocs for Garrett, resupplying and biking around town. I'm working on uploading some pictures. Heaps and Shadow are leaving today but hopefully we'll catch them in Wrightwood, our next town. Todd and Monologue are heading out tomorrow, though.

We're at mile 265 and we feel pretty good about our pace so far.

Humingbirds and Lizards

May 23 3:30 pm

We are taking a short break at a picnic area in the San Bernadino Forrest near San Gorgonio mountian. We've been hiking long days since we left Idyllwild and plan to be in Big Bear City tomorrow for lunch. We've been doing longer days partly because we're feeling stronger and partly because we're short on food! But thanks to some unexpected food at the Mesa Wind Farm (donuts and frozen pizza available for hikers) at 7:30 am one morning we'll be ok.

After leaving the San Jacintos we crossed the desert floor and climbed back up into the San Gorgonio Wilderness. We crossed the largest river we've seen yet and even went swimming. The cold water felt really good. For the next 10 miles we followed a creek up it's gorge crossing it over 15 times.. It seemed like a completely diferent world from the waterless desert we had been in a few days before.

We've seen a few snakes but mostly we see lizards, large and small, darting across the trail. Humingbirds are everywhere also. They'll buzz right up behind you and be gone just as you turn your head. We think they mistake the bright patches on our packs as wildflowers.

We'll hike 6 more miles this evening to a water cache. It's nice and cool in the mountains!

bluebird

Thank you,
Garrett & Anna Cole
Buster & Bluebird
http://ordinaryadventure2009.blogspot.com/

San Jacinto Mountains

Tuesday, May 19. 8:30pm

It is a very blustery night as we pull out our sleeping bags in a windy pass of the San Jacinto Mtns. We hiked up today out of the small town of Idyllwild where we spent last night. We hitched into town a little earlier than planned on a road 18 miles from town. We needed to treat our blisters and regroup. It turns out 24 hours off the trail isn't enough to magically heal blisters and take away feet soreness. But our morale went up being back around some hiker friends and meeting new ones. Idyllwild is a lovely little town with great food places (we hit Monday night taco night!) and a camp ground in town to stay at for $3! We also got some much needed laundry done. All in all town was a nice resting place.

Also a good cure for the desert blues: tall mountains and tree-covered paths! The views from these passes and peaks is incredible. We may even see some snow still on the ground tomorow as we pass the 8,000 foot mark.

We hope to be able to share our pictures just as soon as we can get our hands on an SD-card reader. We've gotten some questions about what the desert we walk through looks like and we're anxious to share.

After we finish this little mtn range we have a 7,000 foot descent back down to the floor of the desert. Luckily we have 20 miles to make that drop.

Time to get some rest in all this wind!

Bluebird

Thank you,
Garrett & Anna Cole
Buster & Bluebird
http://ordinaryadventure2009.blogspot.com/

More Blisters, More People

Wed. May 20, 9:00 PM

Well I have officially joined the crowd of people who get blisters. Both pinky toes have fully developed and as of today both pads of my feet just below the big toe have blood blisters. I am going to attribute the pinky toes to too small shoes, but I have no idea what is causing the pad blisters, unless my feet just need to get used to hiking 20 miles per day.

To reduce the pain of walking, I have switched to hiking in Crocs for the last 45 miles or so. Since the switch the pinky toes have been healing and the soft slipper/shoes have been very comfortable.

Hiking in the San Jacintos has been amazing... the higher elevation has lowered the temperature which makes hiking during the day bearable. We spent most of our day today climbing from our camp at 6000 feet up to over 9000 feet where we got to play in some snow that has yet to melt off.

As we were setting up camp tonight three more hikers rolled in after their stays in Idyllwild (an awesome trail town). They are Matt from Connecticut who we had met in Mount Laguna, Billy from Santa Barbara, and Monologue, who we have heard about being just minutes ahead f us for days and who also hiked the AT in 2006. It is exciting to camp and hike around so many people, and reassuring that we are not out here alone. Tonight we are camped at 8850 feet and at 9:00 it is about 50 degrees, so we are probably in for the coldest night we have seen so far.

Tomorrow we drop 7000 feet back down to the desert floor going through every ecological zone in California except alpine. Not looking forward to the desert but it has got to be done to get to the San Bernadino forrest coming up.

Tough Days

May 17

We have had a few tough days ever since mile 78 at Scissors Crossing. From Scissors we had a LONG afternoon hike up a 13 mile sun exposed mountain that also happened to have no water.

That afternoon we met our first two hikets who we have spent some time with. During our ciesta we got to know George from Georgia and Michael from New Zealand, who we named Heaps. We camped with those two, Sean, who is now known as Aquaman, and Todd who is on his second PCT Thru- hike.

The next day we all went into Warner Springs, our first trail town and resupply point. On our way in we experienced our first desert field walk an the way to and from Eagle Rock. It is just plain hot in the sun, and when you're walking through the sand or fields you can feel the heat rising.

In Warner Springs Todd got a room and let Anna and I take showers. Little did we know we would be coming back and splitting a room with the 3 other guys, when we found out town security would not let us camp just on the outskirts of town. So we split the room and took advantage of their hot spring fed pool and breakfast buffet.

Anna and I have developed extensive blistering on our pinky toes and Anna on the pads of her feet, so we think we are going to take a day or more off in the next town to drain them and possibly switch shoes.

Well right now we are huddled under a bush to escape the sun, but we are losing our shade, so we have to be on our way... If I never saw sun and sand together again that would be just fine.

Warner Springs

Relaxing now in the first shade since 24 miles ago during our siesta. We're headed into Warner Springs after our break where we hope to
find a shower and pick up our maildrop. This town is super small and
only has a mini-mart, P.O., and resort. Needless to say, we are
getting pretty excited about the mini-mart.

For the first 3 days we saw no other thru-hikers and only 2 section
hikers. But yesterday we caught up to 4 hikers in front of us and 1
more today. It's great to be with people! Most all of them still
need trail names so we're having fun with that.

until next time!

Bluebird
Thank you,
Garrett & Anna

Siesta!

We are sitting at the Sunrise Trailhead where, thanks to trail angels there is 3 gallons of clean water. We stopped at 11:00 when the temperature in the sun was 113.5 degrees. Here in the shade of the Pit Toilet building it is 68.5 degrees. We will stay here until 2:00 or 3:00 when we will head out to look for a campsite around the Rodriguez Spur Truck Trail.

This morning after realizing the sun screen on my legs just wasn't cutting it, I borrowed a trick from our friend Jason (Stretch/Sarong) and attached the groundcloth of our tent around my backpack to drape over my legs. The shade it provides helps cool me down and reduces the risk of sunburn.

First two full hiking days

We started off strong with two 20 mile plus days. Our first two days have been similar routines in that we have done 15 to 16 miles before lunch, taken 4 hour breaks and then finished with another 6 to 8 miles.

The sun is relentless, I am glad to have a huge goofy looking hat. Despite the sun, the high desert scenery is spectacular. I am seeing a lot of new plants and animals, and learning a lot about how to stay comfortable in our new environment.

Today we had to do a long road walk around a helicopter crash site. We could see the clean up effort from the re-route. The exposed repetitive pavement walk took a toll on us and we revived ourselves with ice cream from the general store in Mt. Laguna.

Now we are just below Garnet Peak at mile 49 and it is well past bedtime.

Very happy to be out here...

Mail!

Hello Everyone!

This post is all about how we would love to hear from you during our hike.  Here are the places along our hike where we can receive mail and packages.   We will have to go these post offices anyway to pick up our food, but we also love to get news from home!   Here are some instructions on how packages and mail can reach us:  

-Letters can be mailed First Class (that is normal, regular mail)

-Boxes must be mailed via Priority Mail throught the US Post Office.  If you send a box via First Class or Parcel Post, we probably won't get it.  We've had the best luck with Priority Mail, for sure.

-If you do feel inclined to send a care package, food that we can snack on right away is always a big hit (cookies, chocolate, candy, etc.).  

-We don't have exact dates of when we'll get to each post office, but we've estimated a date that is on the early side.  Our arrival may very well be up to a week after the said date.

-When addressing your envelop or package write:

Anna or Garrett Cole

c/o General Delivery

City, Zipcode

- Also write on the envelope or package: "Hold for PCT Thru-hiker.  ETA: (date listed below)."   This memo can go in a corner somwhere visible but not in the way.  If you're mailing a box it's also helpful to write "COLE" in big letters on other sides of the box so it's easily identified in the post office.

Here are our post office stops:

Warner Springs, CA (this post office is tiny, so if you do send something please keep it small!)

92086

ETA 5/15

Belden, CA  

95915

ETA 7/12

Castella, CA

96017

ETA 7/22

Ashland, OR

97520

ETA 8/1

Cascade Locks, OR

97014

ETA 8/21

Just a couple more days until we ship out.  We are now at my parents' house in Ashland, VA getting our last things together.  Next post should be from the trail!

Anna

One Week to Go!

That's it... this time next week we'll be in the Southern California high desert staying shaded from the sun and hydrated.

Everyone we know seems to ask, "Are you excited?" The short answer is "Yes, of course." But honestly, it's probably going to be a challenging experience on many different levels. For a long trip that is this challenging, for me to be excited is a little out of character and would be overzealous. I'm looking forward to getting started without a doubt. I can't wait to see what living in a desert for a month feels like, or climbing snow covered passes in the High Sierra's, or walking past giant trees, hot springs, lava fields, and experiencing the rest of what the American West along the Pacific Crest Trail has to offer.

Looking back at the past year and a half, living in Newark, DE has been better than we expected. Anna is days away from completing her Masters work in Historic Preservation of Architecture. I was able to work at a job I enjoyed much of the time. We made a few good friends. For myself the two best parts of living here have been picking up the habbit of bike commuting, and working in a job where I got to talk to a lot of different people about recreation and outdoor sports. I would say I'm now healthier than when we came to Delaware, and any fear or anxiety of talking to people I don't know is gone.

At this point I've finished work at Eastern Mountain Sports, dropped off my car with my parents, we've completed our mail drop schedule and all boxes are set to be mailed out to cover the next 5 months worth of food, and are currently doing the "what stuff can we give away so we don't have to move it" thing. We'll be renting a UHaul to store most our belongings at Anna's Parents house in Richmond and our apartment check out is scheduled for Thursday at 2:00PM. We will spend Friday unloading the truck, Saturday worrying we forgot something, and early Sunday morning we'll fly out of Richmond to San Diego to get to California by late morning.

We don't know where we'll end up after the trip, but we agree on a few main criteria for places to land: First, there has to be distinguishable seasons (that means hot or at least warm summers, and reliably snowy winters.) Second, there needs to be mountains. Anna grew up in the mountains of Kentucky, and I've been starved living in such a flat area for two years. Third, there needs to be the possibility to walk, bus, or bike to work. There's no place we want to be driving routinely. Fourth, there are jobs available (it's tough living without any income after a big trip.) We've looked around and sort of narrowed down some ideas, but can in no way say anything for sure.

All that said, there's plenty of packing and saying goodbye to do here, so I'll get to it. The next post will likely be from on trail.

Thank you to everyone who is supporting us on this trip!

Mini Adventures and New Phone

We just returned from a three day 60 mile hike on the AT in Southern VA over Anna's Spring Break. This was a section we had skipped on our thru-hike because of a knee injury and trying to get to Pearisburg in time for the ALDHA Gathering. We have decided that Spring is a very enjoyable time to hike! The weather was pleasant during the day time and a little chilly at night. We were surprised how many leaves from last fall were still on the trail as we waded through them. We met very few people along the trail surprisingly. Several early Northbounders had already beed through. the trail crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway several times and there were some nice overlooks. Our first night out there was a wind advisory. We slept in the shelter because it offered better protection. We were also afraid branches might fall on our tent.

Today, we biked our first century (100 miles) and it feels great to know we can do it before we set off and attempt to ride cross country. We rode Delaware's Route 9 Coastal Heritage Highway from Historic New Castle to the Dover Air Force Base and back. The route passed through industrial zones like around the Valero Oil Refinery, coastal marshlands, and agricultural areas. It was a perfect day for it with light wind and temperatures in the 60s. Not to mention good company, Peter, who reminds Anna and I of our friend Stretch from the AT 2006 season.

With those two excursions under our belts, I'm looking forward to my last day of work April 16th and a trip up to NY to bike around Lake Ontario (650 miles) with my college roommate Andy. I know it sounds crazy but why not give it a shot. We'll be starting from his apartment in Ithaca and riding clockwise around Lake Ontario crossing into Canada at Niagra Falls hugging the shoreline through Toronto and returning via the Thousand Islands Bridge.

By the way... This post was done on our new / used smart phone. (Thank you Anna's Grandad Blinn!) We're in the process of making sure the phone and the data plan does everything we need it to now before we get out on the trail.

Crunch Time

Time has flown by this Winter/Spring.

All the sudden I've got just a couple weeks of work left and a lot of food to box up.

Looking back, we've got most of our "gear" and a lot of food stashed in the pantry, we have guidebooks on their way, and our flight West is set. Now we just have to get everything, our apartment and belongings as well as all the adventure supplies, in order and head out.

We're looking forward to a meeting with a friend of ours (Stretch AT06/Sarong PCT08) to give us his feedback and input for our maildrop strategy on April 2nd. Then we'll be relatively set on where we're mailing food and supplies, and I'll start boxing up food. My Dad has agreed to mail our food for us which will be a HUGE help.

We're hoping to be getting a cell phone/blackberry/PDA in the coming weeks so we'll be able to keep this blog updated and communicate with family when we're in towns.

Throw into the planning mix a trip to Kentucky this weekend after spending last weekend in NYC and Boston, and a 60 mile section hike on the AT in Virginia and a possible bicycle trip with Andy around Lake Ontario (The LOL, Lake Ontario Loop), and it's a pretty busy time here. It feels like we've got a lot on our plate to take care of in six weeks. I had better go get some lunch before I have to go into work.

Can't wait to be living life on the trail.

Expensive Logistics Complete

It's been a while since the last post. A lot of small aspects of the trip have been figured out and sewn up over the last month or so.

We bought and received Yogi's Guidebooks which offer a wide variety of opinions on many aspects of the Pacific Crest Trail, and also includes a PCT Town Guide that we'll use to figure out just what towns to go into and how to navigate these towns efficiently.

Anna has started an every other day bicycle workout regiment and I am continuing to bike commute daily having driven to work only once (New Years day) since Halloween.

We ordered the complete set of a new guidebook called the PCT Atlas. They're in their second edition (full color) now and are relatively expensive, but should be a very thorough and easy way to keep track of where we are. Starting a little later in the season, we can use all the efficiency we can get to make sure we can get to Canada without trudging through too much snow.

We were given a food dehydrator for Christmas from Anna's parents and we'll pair that up with the one we're borrowing from them to do some large scale dehydration soon.

This morning I just bought airline tickets to get to San Diego for only $127 per person.

This means the official departure date for our trip is MAY 10, 2009!!! Wahoo!

So we've got the majority of logistics pretty well under control for the hike. But we still need to get permits required for the PCT, Mt. Whitney, and entry into Canada. We'll need to do a little thinking for the bicycle leg of our adventure.

Some additional expenses will be shipping bicycles, getting back to San Diego via Amtrak or otherwise, becoming Adventure Cycling Association members and buying Southern Tier route maps from them.

I can't wait to get back on the trail.