The High Sierra

We are officially in the High Sierra! And it is amazing. I've spent a fair amount of time in the Sierra before, backpacking with my brothers or college friends Tim, Brent, and Kyle. But I've never been as breath-taken as this. Maybe it's the stark contrast with the desert. Maybe I'm just deeper into the wilderness than I ever have been before. Or maybe it's the fact that this place is my home for the time being, not just a spot where I'm spending a long weekend. But I'm amazed. I keep stopping and asking if we are on a movie set.

As loyal blog readers will know (the few, the proud!) my brother Matthew and his girlfriend Alicia joined Justin and me for this ~60 mile section. Longest double date ever. Fortunately, everyone got along great, thanks to the common ground of hot chocolate with whiskey and beautiful Sierra sunsets. From here, Matthew is going to stay with me through Yosemite Valley, and then I'll do my first solo section up to Tahoe. I'll have ~450 miles under my belt at that point, so I feel very confident. Plus, the lure of a hot tub in Tahoe will keep me putting one foot in front of the next.

So where to begin with the highlights of this section? I'll start with the obvious one: I saw a baby marmot and it was the cutest thing ever. Marmots, for the uninitiated, are these high altitude loving mammals. They are squat, long, and kind of like a cross between a squirrel and a beaver, except their favorite habitat is meadows over 10,000 feet. You might be thinking of the "nice marmot" scene in The Big Lebowski. That is actually a ferret. Anyway, marmots are cute and plentiful up here and one day I said outloud that what I really wanted to see was a baby one. And then I DID. It made this adorable "meep" sound and scurried under a log.

Second highlight of this section: the best toilet of my life. As we got near Mt Whitney, we stopped at a backcountry ranger station to sort out the gear we wanted to bring up to the summit with us. There was a sign that said "toilet" and pointed to the woods. We thought that was just a cute way of saying "you're in the wilderness, everything is your toilet." But then Ranger Rob strolled by and explained that there's an honest-to-god toilet back there that has a great view. And he was right! It's in the pictures below. Speaking of Ranger Rob, he was super nice! This is his 23rd summer in Sequoia National Park and he met his wife here 15+ years ago, when he had to tell her she was camping at the wrong spot. She's a ranger now too, stationed at the next station down. Not a bad life. Ranger Rob checked our permits (first time we've had to show them!) and Matthew asked if he happened to know the results of the US-Germany soccer game. Ranger Rob said he didn't. 20 minutes later, he came back from his cabin, said he'd turned on his satellite radio to get the results for Matthew, then pulled out some whiskey for us all to sip in celebration of the men's soccer team advancing in the World Cup.

So besides the baby marmot and an amazing wilderness toilet, what else do I have to report? Ah yes. In the last week, we met up with Matthew and Alicia, summited Mt Whitney, and crossed Forester Pass, the official high point on the PCT! Meeting up with Matthew and Alicia was great. We hiked 2.5 miles off the PCT to a campground that offered bathrooms, running water, and trash cans. Honestly, we may have been more excited for the trash cans than finding Matthew (carrying around all your trash, including used toilet paper, gets old). We had a 36-hour window to meet them, since precision logistics aren't easy in the backcountry. We got to the campsite, sent out the SPOT message, and fell asleep. The SPOT message is for safety - it's a little device I carry with me (thanks, Ginny and Emily, for loaning it to me!) that allows me to push a button each night. This button sends out my exact GPS location to 10 friends/family. As you can imagine, my mom loooves the SPOT. Anyway, we're sound asleep when some total jerks come into the campsite at like midnight! They set up their tent right next to ours and are so loud! What the heck? The next morning, I wake up and poke my head out of my tent. Who pokes his head out of the neighboring tent but... Matthew Albinson! He had received my SPOT message and so knew not only that I'd arrived at the campsite, but also exactly where I'd set up my tent! I couldn't stay mad at him for waking us up for long, especially when I saw the amazing bounty of a resupply he brought (instant hummus! Pesto! Dehydrated corn chowder!).

We spent the next day dealing with logistics: shuttling Matthew's car up to the exit point for Justin and Alicia, buying a few more odds and ends, and getting an amazing lunch at a diner in Lone Pine. But the best part was seeing three thru hiker friends trying to hitch into Lone Pine (on a extremely quiet road) and being able to give them a ride! People have been so gracious and kind to us, it was fun to pay it forward.

Two days later, we summited Mt Whitney! Mt Whitney, 14,505 feet tall, is the highest point in the continental US. It's not technically on the PCT, but it's a side trip that only adds 17 miles, so almost everyone does it. Including us! The trip was pretty easy for Justin and me, as our legs now love walking and our bodies are very used to the elevation. There are a ton of folks on the mountain at any given point though - PCTers, day trippers, and JMTers. It was weird to see so many people! We've also crossed Forester Pass (high point on the official PCT), and gotten a taste for what else the sierras have in store. The next section is going to be very difficult and very awesome.

I also ran into someone wearing a Princeton Outdoor Action shirt!! Needless to say, I was SO excited! Molly just graduated and is doing the John Muir Trail on her own. We had actually met a few months ago at an OA event and it was clearly awesome to run into her at Tyndall Creek in Sequoia National Park.

And a final, important update. Justin and I finally have trail names. I'm Cache Money (because I used to haul around so much water, I was basically my own cache. I've gotten savvier since then) and Justin is Lance-a-lot (because he loves to lance blisters). We haven't gotten totally comfortable with them yet, but I think they work.

Since my picture captions never come through, here they are in a list.
1. Best sunset ever
2. Double date!
3. The Whitney approach with Guitar Lake in the background.
4. Mt Whitney heck yeah!
5. At the Summit!
6. Highest cartwheel in the continental US.
7. Cool rocks need no caption.
8. Alpenglow
9. Molly and the OA shirt!
10. Not a bad wake up view!
11. Albinson family love.

Kindness of strangers

This may look normal scene. It's not. Total strangers heard we were thru hikers and needed to shuttle Matthew's car up trail for when he and Alicia exit. They gave us their car for the day. THANK YOU Julie and Gray. Your generosity is unbelievable.

Matthew is here!!!

Matthew and Alicia are joining us for the next week!!!! Here he is getting his wilderness permit (inside a building with AC that Justin and I are enjoying!). So excited to have them!! Hopefully in two days, we'll be at the summit of Mt Whitney!

Kennedy Meadows Vortex

So tonight will be our fourth night in Kennedy Meadows. It's a vortex of playing cards, sipping gatorades, and soaking my feet. Miles accomplished since Tuesday: 0.

In large part, this was by design. We're meeting Matthew and his girlfriend Alicia on Tuesday about 45 miles north of here, and so had to kill some time between now and then. And this is a great excuse to rest our feet, and my blister in particular.

But it's starting to feel a little sad to see crews of hikers arrive, get their resupply boxes, repack, and head out. We've watched three different waves at this point.

We finally decided to get ourselves in gear today, since the plan is to depart tomorrow. We picked up my bear canister, the Cadillac of bear canisters: the bearikade. Bear canisters are required for the next few hundred miles, and can be heavy and expensive. I'm so lucky that a previous thru hiker, Barrel Roll, who I met through Ginny and Emily, mailed me his. The way this community pays it forward is pretty amazing. Plus, his canister is amazing.

We had a big date night last night. The only restaurant in town, Grumpy's, will provide hikers with round trip transport if enough people want dinner. So we went with another couple to try out the local fare. Delicious baked potato for me. And even better - the girl in the other couple went to Princeton too! She was in Butler, so we had a moment of down-campus solidarity.

Some pictures of the scene. First, a bunch of dirty hikers on the general store porch.

The joy of chia seeds

We made it to Kennedy Meadows! KM is of tremendous importance to thru hikers because it symbolizes the end of the desert portion of the trail and the start of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. That being said, there's not much here: a dusty general store with a big porch, a campground, and a few houses. As Justin and I walked up to the store yesterday, dirty and tired as all hell, we got greeted by a rousing round of applause from the hikers on the porch. The same happened as other hikers trickled in throughout the evening. We made it! We got through the desert without dehydration, heat stroke, or rattlesnake bite! Yes.

The last 8 days or so have been big ones! We hit the 200-mile mark and feel like we got our hiker legs under us. We've even done a few days with mileage over 20 miles. One day, we did 21 miles and 3000 vertical feet. There's no way I could have done that, even a month ago. Pretty cool. Though they'll be some days in the Sierra with 6000+ vertical feet, so there's still a ways to go.

We have come to expect the unexpected from the PCT. One expression we find ourselves saying repeatedly is "only one way to find out." As in:

-I wonder where the trail goes from here? ...Only one way to find out.

-Why does it look like the trail goes down to the valley floor when I thought we were supposed to be climbing that mountain? ...Only one way to find out.

-Will there be water at the water cache at highway 178? Or will have the hikers in front of us polished it off? ...Only one way to find out.

Another frequent saying we have is "The PCT giveth, the PCT taketh away." Not sure when Justin and I started saying this, but it's relevant at least once a day. Examples:

-great lunch at a campground with a water cache and friendly people passing through (the PCT giveth), followed by an afternoon of the worst wind I've ever experienced - justin and I couldn't talk for 4 hours because it was so loud (the PCT taketh away).

-Arrived at Kennedy Meadows early evening despite having to hike 21 miles to get here (the pct giveth), learned that we just missed the closing of the grill and that there's a waitlist for showers and laundry (the pct taketh away).

The phrase helps us keep our attitudes in check - otherwise it might be too easy to ride the highs and lows of the trail. We know that just because something awesome happened doesn't mean that the challenges for the day are over, and likewise, when things feel kind of bleak, we know something great will be right around the corner.

Trail vocabulary. We've been learning lots of new words on the trail. For example, cache, seep, cistern, trough, and spring are all code words for water. We pay attention to those words carefully - as in the desert, there are frequently 20-30 mile stretches with no water. There are thru hikers (Mexico to Canada) and section hikers (picking off one section of the trail at a time). Technically I'm a section hiker, since I'm only doing 1700 of the 2650 miles of the trail. But it's a pretty long section. Yesterday, we learned the term "slackpacking," which we're still not totally clear on, but I think it involves having a support person with a car who shuttles your stuff around for you so you can walk with a super light pack. I'm not sure what's in it for the person in the car, but it sounds awesome for the hiker.

We've met a ton of fellow hikers in the past week, and are starting to build up a little community of folks who we recognize and who recognize us. Most people adopt trail names out here (we are still working on ours), hence the weird names you are about to read. We were glad to be leapfrogging with Snake Charmer on the windy night. It felt a little scary out there, so it was great that we kept tabs on each other. Half-Step is typically a few hours ahead of us and writes the best comments about his hunger in the trail registers. When we met String Cheese for the first time, she had a huge smile on her face and exclaimed "you must be Jen and Justin! I've been following you guys for days!" Because everyone signs in at the trail registers (notebooks every half day or so), you've always got a good sense of who is around you. It's an awesome little community of folks.

But, as the PCT giveth (new friends!), she taketh away (injuries). We've been lucky to not have anything debilitating yet, but our bodies are definitely suffering a bit. Justin's IT band is acting up, and I've got some blisters. One in particular. It started as a little bubble on the bottom of my foot. Then, the constant pressure of walking forced it up between my toes. Then this bubble of fluid just got a mind of its own. It is now sitting on top of my foot and sprawling like a city in Texas. I'm popping it today (since we have showers!), since I fear it was coming for my face next. I would post a picture but a) there's not enough bandwidth at this place to post pictures and b) You would be horrified.

Last but not least: FOOD. Hiker hunger finally kicked in and we are eating our faces off. It's awesome. All the dehydrating I did last semester totally paid off, as ramen is way, way more delicious with dried poblano peppers and corn from Reading Terminal Market. Ginny and Emily taught me about chia seeds, and those have been the discovery of the week. They are a superfood, though I have no idea what super powers they confer upon the eater. All I know is that 4 spoonfuls of chia seeds, Gatorade powder, and a liter of water make an AMAZING drink that tastes like something you shouldn't be able to make out here. I call it my milkshake, but it's more like bubble tea.

Animal updates for dad: three deer, squirrel, ducks (in the Kern River, biggest body of water yet - saw it yesterday!!). Safety updates for mom: we are being so, so safe.

Desert hikin'

Holy Toledo. Only 2 days since I last posted, but the desert has officially put me in my place. 100+ degree days, no shade, blisters, snakes... the whole shebang. 

After leaving Hikertown, Justin and I started an "infamous" section of the trail known as the aqueduct. Yes, you citizens of LA, I walked along your water source! I was hoping for a roman style aqueduct, but no dice. In lieu of a roman aqueduct, I would have accepted an open air aqueduct which allowed us to frequently resupply on water. Also, not in the cards. We walked for 15-20 miles, in the hot desert, next to a sealed pipe. Our water supply was firmly on on our backs. Dang. 

We experimented with a new schedule that works for us - hiking from sunrise until noon, waiting out the heat of the day under the tent and in whatever shade we can find, and then hiking again until sundown. Some thru hikers totally flip their days and nights in the desert, but I think I'd get lost in a hot second if I attempted a true night hike. And by "hot second," I mean Mojave desert hot. 

It was a day of infrastructure. After we finally left the aqueduct, we began gradually approaching a wind farm. We felt we were almost on top of it for ~2 hours, before we finally arrived. The desert indeed plays tricks on your eyes. We still have no idea how tall each turbine is, our sense of scale is so messed up. I say 100 feet, Justin says 200. 

After what felt like days of turbines, we finally got back into the mountains. We did another two miles and were rewarded by a small creek. Our first natural water on the trail!! A bubbling Shenandoah steam, it was not. But we were thrilled to stick out feet in and refill our many water bottles. Nap in the shade, then an easy four miles to get to a great campsite on a valley floor. 

Today we were midway through our hike out when we stopped at an *amazing* water cache! Two Tehachapi locals, Dan and Larry, started stocking a little grove with water three years ago. Now it's evolved to have water, apples, a great trail register, chairs, and a little shade structure. As we were packing up to leave, Larry himself showed up to restock! We were thrilled to meet him and give him endless thanks for making this corner of desert a bit more hospitable. 

Speaking of trail angels, another one completely made our day. We got down to the road where we needed to hitch into town. Very hot and no cars. Uh oh. But daaaaamn if that isn't a cooler filled with cold sodas labeled "PCT!!!" People in this part of the world are too kind. 

Got a ride into Mojave with Tim, who grew up in NJ and found his way out west over the last 30 years. He reminded us to channel Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" whenever we hitch. Good advice. Fortunately, most of our re-supplies from here out are on trail or close to it. 

We are now staying at the Motel 6 in Mojave. The checkout guy at the nearby grocery store looked at our purchases (blister care, beers, and Gatorade) and said, "so, you're doing the trail, eh?" Tomorrow, we resume hiking. But tonight it is nice to have a shower, my feet up, and The Bachelorette. 

Also, my dad requested a log of what animals we've seen, so here you go: lizards, rabbits, birds, chipmunks, and snakes (2 garters). What we've heard but not seen: coyotes. What we haven't seen: rattlesnakes (apparently it's only a matter of time), mountain lions. 

LARRY!

First two days!

I'm writing from hikertown (http://www.hikertown.com), where we are waiting out the heat of the day (currently 95 and hella sunny). It's been an amazing two days so far!!

Minna dropped Justin and me off at PCT mile 456, where we started our journey. No water for the first 6 miles and we got (very minorly) lost twice. Solid start. We were thrilled to get to San Francisquito Canyon road and find that the rumors of a water cache were true! Under a tree were about 40 gallons of water, stored by the incredible Anderson's, a local trail angel family. We were luxuriating in this newfound water when out first friend walked up! Then, as we were preparing to leave, another two people walked up too. Phew. We're not going to be all alone out here.

We made it to "the oasis" that night, another Anderson-supplied cache. They not only had stashed water for hikers, but also a cooler full of soda and beer, camp chairs, and clown paintings hanging from the trees! Incredible spot to end our first night.

We hiked all the way to the Anderson's house the next day, where we spent the night eating delicious taco salad and meeting fellow hikers. The Anderson's call the house "hippie daycare" and everyone has to wear a Hawaiian shirt (they have a rack with 100+ options). They have been hosting pct hikers for 15 years, and expect to see some 800 people pass through their home this year. Absolutely incredible.

Most hikers have been out here for a month already so are very confused where Justin and I came from, and why we are so clean. And then they've all been extremely welcoming. Fellow hikers have taught us a ton already, including the finer points of blister care (leuko tape!) and hitch hiking (take off your sunglasses and smile huge).

Today's section of the hike was closed due to fire damage, but we got a ride part way with the Anderson's, and then another part with a lovely local couple who are reading "Wild" and wanted to ask us a bunch of questions! It was really fun. Dre - the girl was from calabasas!

Next up: Mojave desert! 4 days walking until our next stop.

First day jitters

I've spent most of my life as a student or as a teacher, and I've never fully escaped the "first day of school jitters." Now, I've got the "first day on the trail" jitters. I'm in LA now, where I'm spending the night with Minna. Tomorrow, she'll drop Justin and me off at the trailhead. And then we are on our own. We're starting in the California desert, in what has been one of the most historically dry years ever, so it's going to be tough. There's no water for the first 25 miles, so we're each carrying 6+ liters. So much for all of my lightweight packing.

Justin and I are trying to fully embrace the backpacker mentally. While Wharton students clearly would have taken a cab from LAX to Minna's house, we embarked on a journey that included two buses and a hot walk. It felt right to start the hike on that note. Plus, LA is totally known for its public transport.

Weather is beautiful here in LA. Hoping the Mojave is the same?

Resupply in the suburbs

Justin claims to be a city boy. As these pictures of him at Costco make
clear, his natural habitat may in fact be the suburbs. Also, we did some real damage at the food court in terms of individual sized sauce packets. Hiker instincts are coming in strong. T-2 days!