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.