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!