The post we've all been waiting for... GUEST POST FROM LINDSAY!!! Sorry for the delay. Unsurprisingly, Internet is not the most consistent out here! Take it away, Linds!
I am Jen's friend from business school and joined Jen on the trail for 5 days near Tahoe. While I have glamped a few times (three to be exact), I have never had to set up my own tent or cook my own food. However, I trusted Jen's past experience and figured we would be ok. Plus, we had more than one hungover run/walk in business school so I figured this couldn't be much harder than that.
We started out easy – with some tubing down a river with Jen's family. We got to enjoy the hot tub at Jen's brother's house and had a leisurely morning before we hit the trail. My vacation was off to a good start.
Jen already provided an update on our week in the woods, but I thought I'd add a little color from my perspective. Here are a few things I learned on the trail:
1. Lakes and views are awesome. I am definitely in Matthew's camp that it's worth hiking a few extra miles to find a great place to enjoy a meal, swim, or camp.
2. Make sure you know the total mileage you need to do before you plan your trip. Then you don't figure out at 3:30pm on Day 2 that you need to walk 8 more miles, for a total of 17 that day. That's ok Jen – now I seem pretty impressive saying I walked that far – twice!
3. Instant meals taste pretty good out on the trail. Thanks to Jen we had dehydrated vegetables, which elevated couscous and ramen to my favorite meals on the trail. Also hot chocolate was a perfect way to end each night.
4. I learned on Day 4 what to do if we ran into a bear. Glad I asked this question on the second to last day. Luckily, there were no encounters. But now I'm ready in case I see any back in Dallas.
5. The keys to bear-bagging are to a) find a good branch (strong, high enough and far enough away from the tree to be out of a bear's reach, and some distance from your tent), b) wrap the rock like a present, c) help hoist up the heavy food so there is less friction on your (hopefully strong) rope, and d) hope a bear doesn't come by.
6. Try to drag yourself out of your tent at least once to see the sunset. You don't need to be in bed at 7:30pmevery single night. Especially when you're sleeping 12 hours a night.
7. Modesty goes out the window. Barely-clothed swimming in front of strangers or even relatives of friends is totally ok. As is sharing spoons, baby wiping in the tent, not wearing deodorant, cleaning bowls with your fingers, and swallowing your toothpaste.
8. The community of PCT hikers and the respect it garners from day-hikers is pretty cool. Everyone who asked Jen what she was doing was super impressed. That's because…
9. Jen rocks!!
All in all, it was a great trip. Not surprising to anyone reading this blog, Jen is extremely competent and I felt totally safe and comfortable the whole time. I emerged feeling slightly more confident in my own backpacking capabilities, though I'm not sure I have the courage or confidence to ever do a long hike by myself. Way to go Jen!
I'm very sad to be leaving Jen and Justin tomorrow as they set out on the next section of the trail. Not that I envy the mileage they are going to do in the next few weeks or the time away from showers and varied meals, but the 5 days I spent on the trail were really great. It was so nice to step away from the world, enjoy beautiful scenery and nature without material distractions, and spend quality time with a really great friend. And for those reasons, I could definitely see myself doing something like this again.
Especially when it ends with more hot tubs, boat rides, and fun Albinson family meals! Thanks Tim and Heather, Sharon and Dave, and Matthew! I've loved meeting the rest of the Albinson clan.
Jen & Justin – I don't need to wish you good luck, but I wish you good weather and good health. I know you'll take care of each other out there and will enjoy the experience more together. Have fun! Take lots of pictures. And I can't wait for the next blog post. xoxo
Photo captions:
Jen & I near the start. Clothes are still clean!
Jen, Matthew & Alicia on this awesome ledge at Aloha Lake. Skinny-dipping experience #1
First bear bag attempt. May not look too good, but luckily we had a boy scout troupe nearby to scare off the bears.
Mmmmm couscous
Sunset worth staying up until 8:30pm
We did it! Friends forever. :)
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