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Day 37-43
While people fled towns and cities over Memorial Day weekend, Pete & I sat at his mom’s eating like pigs and watching TV. Something in my hip seized up, I could barely walk over the weekend. Now, back on the trail, I’m hoping it goes away. The first miles are not easy, but they are…
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Day 36-42 (Pete)
These days of transition from trail to town are always the strangest. They are always the longest as well. When I think back to where we woke up, it seems like a different world. There are four people in this roadside gas and shop speaking a language I can’t identify. It makes me feel even…
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Day 36-42 (Tape)
At the restaurant in Kennedy Meadows Lady: And are you accomp- are you guys both doing this together? Us: Yes. Lady: Right. Ok. Wow. That adds a whole new twist to it, huh? Dylan: Well its definitely different from Lady: you guys have never taken a trip to the mountains together… Pete: Yep that would…
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Day 36
I tell myself we are here to walk. We should appreciate all aspects of the trail. Monotonous sections are an opportunity for meditation. But the endless ridge contours of the morning nearly drive us mad. We’re thinking ahead, hoping to reach Kennedy Meadows to make a call for a ride into Ridgecrest by nightfall. We…
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Day 35 (Pete)
From Walker Pass 8.3 miles to the Owens Peak Mount Jenkens saddle is the only stretch of the PCT I had previously hiked. There are a few vivid memories from that day. Coming on a saddle, just before crossing to the east side of the ridge for a view of town, I noticed a small…
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Day 35 (Tape)
Kay, Monday May 20. Pretty straightforward day. We woke up way high in the mountains and walked along high in the mountains for a little while and then dropped down into a vally. And then up over a ridge. And down in another valley. And ah, pretty much had no problems at all. Had the…
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Day 35
At this point we are lookin good. A month of walking goes a long way towards cultivating a look. Doing a few 1,2,3 thousand-foot ridge hops will refine the style, enhancing those small but important details. We are kings wherever we tread. When night falls we reign over 37 empty campsites, cooking mashed potates over…
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Day 34 (Pete)
Day, or evening rather, thirty four finds us finally in the Sierra Nevada mountains. We are camped on the saddle between Morris Peak and Mount Jenkins. A little to the south east you can see Ridgecrest. Since moving away, I have never really considered the place my home. Nevertheless, this truly feels like a homecoming.…
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Day 34 (Tape)
Sunday, May 19th, I think. Was a pretty interesting day. Um. We woke up – it was windy all night long. And we woke up and it was still windy, but I think that was just due to where we were. On the ridge between the mountains and the desert. And ah, let’s see, we…
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Day 34
After squeezing every drop of water we can we from my clogged filter, we are offered a free drink by the two men with assault rifles in the cabin near McIvers Spring. They even sweeten the offer somewhat with scrambled eggs and cheese sandwiches. That’s it for us though, no more filter, no more fuel…