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Day 88
Graduation in the past, Pete dons his working threads and we head for the Marble Mountain Wilderness. At the top of a climb we meet a man who introduces himself as the UNIBONGER. Indeed he is, and it is quite a while before we are on the trail again – and almost out of water.…
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Day 87 (Pete)
I rounded a rusted outcropping of boulders to the tune of Dyl la laing out Pomp and Circumstance. It was silly but I felt the moment nonetheless. My face cracked a grin and I must say I felt proud of myself. We sat down at the cold spring there and enjoyed breakfast. As things were…
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Day 87
A momentous day arrives! Pete dons his flowing green cap and gown, which he wears for the rest of the day. We perform a simple ceremony, and walk 23 miles. Its hard to lend a sense of formality to such an unusual ceremony but I do my best. I feel proud of Pete and get…
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Day 86 (Pete)
At the end of a long shitty day my spirits rise so much as we stop that it is really hard to recount it in a proper negative fashion. My foot pain has been compounding due to the pack weight. It makes the rest of my sympathetically tired. Soon enough, the weight will be eaten.…
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Day 86
We are sticking to the crest, traversing southwest, then west, then north along various ridges. As we walk around a bend we spook a bear cub, which runs right up a tree next to us. We stop cold, and the cub hangs a Uee, runs straight down the tree, and disappears.
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Day 85 (Pete)
“Only ten days left of this madness.” That was the very first thing that popped into my head when I sullenly opened my eyes this morning. Dyl told me today, “You know, I came to the conclusion that if it wasn’t for me you would never get up in the morning.” He’s wrong of coarse.…
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Day 85
It’s clear now that I am the only one who still feels the need to walk all day. Pete seems to really be winding down, wanting to sleep late, not prone to walk farther than is comfortable. I don’t know what is driving me. Maybe I just can’t imagine ever stopping. Maybe I’m in denial…
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Day 84 (Pete)
“Just Tryin’ to get away from all the years inside the walls.” -John Prine Ken, as he had promised, left a note to the morning ranger to roust us out of bed and give us a ride down to the P.O. Her name was Jean, I think. She was young, talkative, boisterous, energetic. Energetic especially.…
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Day 84
Tearing ourselves away from Ameratti’s, we set our feet slowly moving up the steeply climbing trail. We both reach the verge of sickness fighting up the climb with our heavy packs, though we are veterans of such climbs. Eventually we are cheered by impressive Castle Crags, the refreshing streams, and the abundance of life that…
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Day 83 (Pete)
We made pretty quick work of the sixteen miles to town. What appeared initially to be a simple shortcut on an abandoned jeep road turned out to be quite a bit of thicket crashing and steep slope stumbling. Nevertheless, it did shorten the route. The Sacramento River offered up the reward of some deep green…