Day 42- May 31st

Back on the trail! We woke up in Santa Clarita, and once again took advantage of the complimentary breakfast at Best Western. (I'm really becoming a fan of this). 

Checkout was at noon and after that dad took us to a Ralph'sto do some grocery shopping. I looked at the maps and the next resupply was 110 miles away, so we got food for 7 days, which came out to $73 for my weeks rations. It sounds like a lot to spend but I have soooooo much food now there's no way I'll run out before Mojave.

We drove back to Agua Dulce and said farewell to Dad and Micah. This road trip we took was so fun and being able to sit back and relax for 3 days really helped me physically. All my blisters are gone and everything's healed for the most part. We took one final picture and they drove off.

We sat on the patio of the pizza place and organized our food into our backpacks. Everything barely fit! As we were doing so we saw the Saufley's (who Claire had stayed with for 2 days), hard at work taking people to and from their house in the truck.

We left town just after 5pm, walked a few miles on the road out of town and then back onto the trail! Tonight was the first time night hiking for either of us! When the sun finally set, the temperature stayed nice and warm until we found a good spot to camp at about 9:15pm.

Looking ahead at the weather for this week, we might start doing some more hiking, or even flip our cycle so we sleep during the day and can hike at night. 99 degrees, wow!!

Today we hiked 7.88 miles on the PCT. It's about 10:30pm, and we're going to try and wake up by 4am to get some miles in before the heat of the day. It's supposed to be 82 degrees by 9am!!

Our bodies feel great from the R&R, and we're in great spirits! Canada here we come!! :)

Thanks for reading! 

Day 41- May 30th

Zero day 2 with Dad! We woke up at the Best Western in Fresno and took advantage of the complimentary breakfast in the morning, I must've had like 4 rounds! 

Last night we strategically picked the Best Western closest to the REI in Fresno. Dad drove us up there and we got some new gear we've been needing. 

We each got new socks; my feet have been growing so I sized up, and Claire needed warmer sleeping socks and cushioned hiking socks. I bought some smell-proof plastic bags to deter rodents from attacking our tent at night. Claire bought a lightweight inflatable sleeping pad to replace the foam one, so she can lay on her side. She also bought a power-bank for her phone similar to mine since we sent our solar-charger home.

After all that we started driving on a loooooooong roadtrip. Around 350 miles to be exact. The first day dad picked us up the speed of the car had made us both queasy, but today I really enjoyed hanging in the car, seeing the sights, and relaxing all day!

We drove down to San Louis Obisbo, (specifically for Chik-Fil-A), but it was located inside of the University and was closed for Memorial Day. We "settled" for Carl's Jr. which was an amazing decision. :)

Then we headed out to Santa Maria and went to a Boomers for some go-kart racing and mini-golf!! It was Micah's first time driving solo and he had a blast! He and Claire were head to head!

The mini-golf was soooooo fun! Dad beat me by 3 points!! That sucker got 2 hole-in-ones! We wrapped up our game at 8:58pm and the place closed at 9pm. 

We then drove through Santa Barbara along the coast and then to Santa Clarita near Six Flags where we scoped out another Best Western. Carl's Jr, Mini-golf, and Best Western for the win! What a long fun day.

-Thanks for reading!

Day 40- May 29th

Dad and I woke up bright and early in June Lake. We let Claire and Micah sleep in for a bit and decided to go and take a little drive around the 4 lakes in the immediate area. The lighting was perfect for a few reflection shots. Here's my favorite:

You'll see a lot of pictures in today's post. Remember, I took them all with my iPhone!!

We picked up the sleepy-heads and went out for a nice breakfast at the local breakfast spot. Thanks Dad! As soon as we finished up we headed out towards Yosemite!

We climbed up and up into the snow on Tioga Pass Road, which just opened not too long ago. Soon we were met with a BUNCH of snow and some incredible views! Micah hasn't seen too much snow so we had a mandatory snowball fight!

Descending down from 9,900 feet, we stopped where the PCT intersected Tioga Pass Road. This is mile 943 of the PCT, and we're only at mile 450 when we get back to Agua Dulce, so we still have 500 miles until we're walking through this area. We walked 1.2 miles north on the trail to give them a little taste of the PCT.

Lembert Dome

A couple deer were drinking from a spring-fed marsh

After that we drove west all the way down into Yosemite Valley. Because it was Sunday on Memorial Day Weekend, the traffic was so backed up it took us almost two hours to inch our way into the village in stop and go traffic and finally park.

We took the free shuttle from the visitor center out to the John Muir Trail trailhead. The PCT and the JMT share the same trail for mush of the duration of the JMT. However, when the Pacific Crest Trail crosses Tioga Pass Road and continues north, the John Muir Trail drops down into Yosemite Valley, and ends where we started hiking today.

We climbed up to Vernal falls, one of the most beautiful things I've seen. We took the Mist Trail which was properly named because we got soaked on the way up!

Left to Right: Half Dome, Mt. Broderick, Liberty Bell, Nevada Falls

After descending back down in a loop fashion, we waited in the 45 minute line to get back on the shuttle to where we were parked. We only hiked between 4 and 5 miles total, it it was such an awesome hike!!

On the shuttle, Dad met someone named Emily who had accidentally parked way above the park at Glacier Point, and didn't know there wasn't shuttle service back to her car. It was getting dark, and dad offered to drive her way back up to her car, not knowing it was 30 miles out of the way!

We were so hungry we had to eat some food first. Emily was super nice and bought us all pizza for our troubles. The shuttle wait was so crazy that we didn't get to the restaurant until after 8pm.

It was already way past my bedtime, and by the time we dropped Emily up off up at Glacier Point it was after 10:30. Then we had a 2 1/2 hour ride from there to a Best Western in Fresno, landing us at about 1am. 

The plan is to sleep in until checkout tomorrow! Today was a super full day. It was very fun despite the traffic waits and the long detour to take Emily back. We are definitely enjoying our rest and scenic adventures with Dad and Micah. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

-Thanks for reading!

Day 39- May 28th

This morning I woke before the light once again. Sleeping on the picnic table on Friday night, Memorial Day weekend, was not as nice as it is out on a closed mountain campground way out in nature, but it was still pretty nice. :)

I pulled the threads out of my blisters, wrapped those puppies up, and I was back out on the trail before 6:30am. I definitely walked VERY slow today compared to yesterday. I really think I overdid it, and today I was suffering for it. Also, I popped 5 blisters on the bottom of my feet yesterday, so at the least today was a painful wince with every step.

I knew I'd be fine because I only had 10 miles until Agua Dulce, where I would rendezvous with Claire, and if be there in time for lunch! :)

Less than half a mile out I came across the Golden Spike. A little monument next to the railroad tracks that commemorated the official completion of the PCT on June 5th, 1993. Dang, I could've hiked this thing when I was 3! 

Even though I had a very early start, I was scorching by 8. The summer sun is no joke here in the desert, and it's not even really summer yet! I found a cool little cave which gave me enough shade to change out my socks. 

My phone had some good service, so I called my roommate Emily in Portland to check on the new roommate situation and my car. My dad called me to coordinate our pick-up today in Agua Dulce! I'm so stoked! Claire and I are going to take a few days off the trail to recover, and maybe so see some cool things with Dad and Micah!

Time flies on the phone. When I got off, there was only 3.5 miles to go! There was only two places the whole day to stop for some shade. One was the cave, and the other was a tunnel under Highway 14. I stopped here to elevate and air out my feet, and do some necessary stretching.

Ah, some shade and a wall to elevate my feet! (Gotta catch 'em all!)

I left the tunnel shortly after 10am. It was nice to rest in the cool, but I knew I had to get to Agua Dulce, (and to more Agua), before the real heat of the day!

My blisters were reaaaaally hurting, and I was going super slow. I came upon Vasquez rocks which I thought were really neat but every step hurt so bad I just wanted to get there! There was a cool super steep rock that people were climbing and I really wanted too, but I just hurt too much..

I had been texting back and forth with Claire on and off, and coming out of Vasquez rocks area I read a text that said "Beast of Bourbon is on his way. I couldn't stop him!" I hadn't seen Bourbon since Warner Springs mile 109!! 

As I was looking at my phone trying to figure out what the text meant, Bourbon popped out from behind a rock and grabbed my pack right off of my back! I was only about a mile from Agua Dulce, and he had walked from the town to come meet me and carry my pack!

We spent some time catching up on things while we walked back. He had dislocated his hip while trying to pick up Nema, his girlfriend he met on the trail! He was doing some volunteer trail angel work for the Saufley's while recovering at Hiker Heaven! It felt so weird walking without my pack for a bit, but my feet hurt waaaay less, I couldn't complain!

We walked into town with a few others including Metro and BJ, who had caught up to my slow-butt even though I had left earlier than them. When we walked into own I went straight for pizza! Downed a loaded 10 inch pizza and a beer and felt niiiice. 

I had told Claire when I would be there and she rode from Hiker Heaven down to the pizza place to meet me. A few minutes later my brother Micah called me, they were already in Agua Dulce! Everything was happening so fast I was so excited!

They came and picked us up at the pizza place, then we drove back to Hiker Heaven to pick up Claire's pack. She gave me the tour as if never been there before, and we met Donna Saufley and one of the caretakers there.

The place was beautiful! A true hiker's heaven! I didn't get many pictures because I felt kind of weird just strolling in with everyone and then leaving again, but just trust me; it was magic.

Also, there are 8 dogs living there! 

Guard dogs sleeping on the job and letting all the dirty hikers in!!

We left and started heading north! We're going up to Yosemite for a couple days, and then dad will drop us off back in Agua Dulce!

As we were leaving town, dad was curious about Vasquez rocks, so we pulled into the parking area to check it out! I was feeling a little better and pizza and seeing my family, so on the hiking shoes went and up the giant rock we all climbed! (The one I was bummed about not climbing earlier)

In the pictures below we are at the very top of this rock pictures above.

We drove north up highway 395 and stopped a few times at a gas station and a store. We were able to find a vacancy in June Lake, (45 minutes from Yosemite), so I bought some Epsom salt for a foot bath later!

In the car Claire and I feasted the whole time. In true hiker-hunger fashion we ate everything we could get our hands on, most items provided by Dad. (Thanks Dad!) there were Macadamia nuts, li hing mui mangos, he even bright us a whole box of Clif bars!

The drive up just got prettier and prettier! We scoped out the Sierra and were in awe at all the snow, daydreaming about how soon we'd be up there to experience the beauty first hand. 

Driving up to June Lake we saw a super pretty sunset on the mountains  and reflected in the lake. The people at the front desk told us to take all the food out of our car, because there's a local bear that has broken car windows to get food! Yikes!!

So here we are, crazily 280 miles north from where I woke up today. Man today was looooong! I'm writing this whole my feet are soaking. Hopefully they feel good enough to walk around Yosemite a bit tomorrow! I'm so excited!

And I'm really really happy to see Micah and dad. Micah just graduated 8th grade, so dad took him on a little road-trip, and we joined up for the Sierra portion! What an awesome day!!

-Thanks for reading!

Day 38- May 27th

Last night's cowboy camping was amazing! I woke up feeling super refreshed, and best of all, I didn't roll of the table! Since I woke up at first light and I didn't have a tent to pack up, I was out in the trail by 6:50am!

In the early morning I spotted a big dear who heard me from afar and tromped away down the mountainside off of the trail. When I crossed the trail where I saw the deer run down, I was shocked to see a bunch of poodle dog bush. I guess they don't get affected like humans? 

Sometimes I wish I had hooves like a deer. So I wouldn't have to worry about all these darn blisters I have in my feet! I got two new ones on the bottom of my right foot. Blisters on the bottom of my feet are a new occurrence for me. A new, sucky occurrence..

The trail felt lonely today. One reason is obviously that I'm Claire-less. And although I did enjoy the nice early start, I was reminded how much I love her company..

The other reason why the trail felt lonely is because no one in their right mind (except for us PCT hikers), would ever hike this portion of the trail with all the poodle-oak bush! (A term I coined for the unfortunate combination of poodle dog bush and poison oak at the same time.)

This was by far the worst on the trail I've seen. I had to be super attentive at all times and I'm almost sure my pant leg got it a few times. We'll see in 1 week! Haha

I hit the North Fork Ranger station at 7:45. This meant I had been cruising at over 2.5 mph! They had water there and I filled up my liter. I then bought some snickers from the ranger as I was down to my last protein bar and had 8 hot miles to the KOA. 

At about 10 miles, I had a second deer encounter! I was resting in a sandy ravine, not making a sound, and a deer came over to feed. He was about 6 feet from me and definitely startled me! I stayed quiet to observe him. 

Soon he looked over at me and slowly stepped toward me. I know deers aren't aggressive but he weighed a ton and I didn't want to confuse him or have him run into me, so I made a loud noise and he bolted away up trail a bit. 

After I snapped the above picture, he walked away up the trail. There was a switchback directly above the ravine I was sitting in, and moments later, it got spooked by another hiker coming down. I thought he was going to crash into me blindly so I stood up and made some more noise. He stood at the same spot on the trail, confused as ever. When the other hiker came around the last corner, he finally bolted away for a final time they way he came. It was a very neat experience.

I knew that the Acton KOA had a swimming pool, so I decided to start running on the downhill sections to get there faster. This was a horrible idea... At the bottom of a long downhill section, I was still kind of running, and when I started up the next hill, my brand new, 1 day old blister popped!

It hurt soooooo bad! If a big, matured, full blister pops on trail, sometimes it feels good after a little sting. But when it's a new freshie that you smash in your shoe, ouch!!

I stopped in the hot sun with no shade to rinse it with some water and get it wrapped. But I realized Claire still had the Neosporin and scissors for the gauze!! It was a hack job but I basically taped it up and trudged on at a slow crawl.

Coming down the last 2 miles I recognized a vehicle way down below in the parking lot near the KOA. It was Coppertone!! The trail angel we had met the day after Deep Creek!

It was round two of root ever floats and vanilla cookies! I also grabbed some fresh carrots, a banana, and an apple. And of course a donut to top it off. You see, I had eaten the protein bar and 2 snickers shortly after the ranger station, and I was out of food for the last 5 miles to the Acton KOA. Coppertone saved the day, again!!

After thanking him and throwing him a little donation, I walked the quarter mile to the KOA. Amazingly, even with the blister pop, the short breaks, and more Coppertone magic, I still arrived by 12:30! Since I walked 14 miles today, that's about 2.5 miles an hour with breaks! 

I was one of the first hikers there, the place is super neat! The Acton KOA, has a pool, a hot tub, a store, showers, horseshoes and other games, as well as a lounge and a few other amenities. I checked in and paid my $15, only the third time paying for camping mind you. :)

I showered up and cleaned my blisters, then jumped in the pool! It felt so good in the heat of the day! When I got out, "Listen" and "Squirrel", who had given us a ride out of Big Bear, had bought hot dogs, beers, chips and salsa for everyone.  

I gave them a few dollars, and then consumed 3 hot dogs, almost a whole bag of chips, and 3 beers throughout the day. Then later, "Metro" bought me a drumstick! What did I do today to deserve all the good stuff? 

It was a great day, everyone was hanging out and having a good time. Some people have already been here for one or even two days! I thought the place might be mediocre as described in the guide book, but the staff is super nice and gave us hikers 7 sites and a huge grass field to lay out on!

Since I didn't have all the necessary blister care products, BJ and Metro offered to let me use their things. They gave me a clean sewing needle and I attempted to "thread" my blisters. This is when you poke a hole through the blister with a thread threaded through, and let it dry out overnight. The thread helps to drain all the fluid out until it dries, (normally by the morning), and then you take the thread out, wrap it, and you're good to go!

Before:

AFTA!!:

My sister Sarah would be proud :)

I popped the monster I had between my toes, as well as three others. They're looking pretty good, and hopefully they're looking good tomorrow! Well, it's 9:40, past hikers midnight (9:00), time for bed! 

I'm cowboy camping on a picnic table once again, I think it's becoming my new favorite thing to do when tables are available. Guaranteed no snakes and an earlier wake up!! 

-Thanks for reading!