Author: wbas

Today is the 4 year anniversary of the day that Sherpa and I met. I am so glad every day that we did and have shared so many wonderful adventures as friends and as partners.  It’s also the Trailiversary of The Breakfast Club. To top it off it was one of the most scenic and enjoyable days on trail to date. 

We spent the morning walking through the Marble Wilderness and it wss breathtaking. There were snow capped peeks and lush meadows. Tall pines and marshes near glacial lakes. It was a true pleasure and I was feeling so much stronger than when I entered Seiad Valley. We really enjoyed ourselves all day even though we encountered a few patches of tricky snow. 

We had little difficulty navigating the snow but it was slow going.  By 11:30 we had only gone 7 miles in spite of feeling like we were moving. 

We took a break with 2.Toe and Yote at a glacial stream and had an early lunch. While we were sitting there a buck walked by nearly noticing us. Deer in this area seem very used to seeing people. 

After our break we came across a cabin that was really neat. I slipped into the window and took a quick picture of some antlers. 

The next section was covered in herbs like wild parsley and mint. I picked some for my dinner. Eventually the lush mountainside gave way to dryer ground and I found myself again without enough water. Sherpa of course had prepared and had two litres. We were in a burn section but I knew we would come across a trickle somewhere soon. Sure enough we found a beautiful seasonal spring 10 yards up a steep bank in a dyhedral streaming with ice cold water and yellow flowers. 

I didn’t filter the water and it was delicious and cold! Sherpa was jealous and so I swapped a litre of her warm water for a fresh cold one and so we sat and ate lunch and enjoyed ourselves. 

After a while we began the last and most striking push of the day. We had no idea what was in store for us when we approached a narrow pass between two mountains. We could see the moon hanging just above the opening and as we crested to ridge we saw that the other side was a giant bowl of snow, trees, and streams. 

Our first impulse was to glisade the whole bowl but the approach turned out to be a bit tretourus so we picked our way down through the trees and found a safe way all the way down. Once at the base of the bowl we traversed at roughly the same elevation for a couple miles passing many beautiful waterfalls where we filled our bottles at will without filtering. The water was so fresh, cold, and delicious. Sherpa was as brave as ever as this is some of her most scary terrain. We took our time and got through it without issues. 

A couple more ridges and we made it to camp. I felt like celebrating so I made a fire after Yote and 2.Toe showed up. We sat around ate and chatted. Only 10 miles to town tomorrow and we felt very glad to have a tough but enjoyable hike done. 

Sherpa went to bed first and then a few minutes later I drenched the fire and got in the tent and we slept like little hiker babies. 

Not a lot to say about today, mainly because I am having trouble remembering what we did.  I do remember the hike went quickly, though painfully, and it was very beautiful even though we belted out 24.6 miles. We were in Seiad Valley by 4:30 p.m. and immediately began consuming as many different beverages as we could get our hands on at the general store. I got a chocolate milk, Bai, Coors Light, Sobe, and a coke. I was so dehyadrated after walking 4 miles or more dry.  Soon after 2.Toe and Yote showed up and they said they had a tough day with a lot of foot pain. 

We all headed over to the campground and set up for the night for $15 a head which was a bit expensive for us but it was really the only option for the next 8 miles. We all enjoyed the showers and I did laundry for the group and soon we were all in bed and sleeping like little hiker babies. 

Back on the trail today! We are so excited to be hiking again after such a tough decision to flip. The longer we go after the decision, the better I feel about it. 

We woke up in the campground around 7 and sorted through our supplies to see what we needed to get in Ashland. Our next plan stop was Etna, about 100 miles away so we thought we needed roughly 4-6 days of food. I planned on doing a light 5 with a backup dinner. We weren’t confident that we could do big miles because we heard there was potentially a decent amount of snow still hanging around in the next stretch.  

We finished packing everything up and the four of us hit the road. We hit up the grocery store and then split up because Sherpa and I had more chores to do. First we went to the UPS store and shipped all but our essential winter gear back, including our ice axes. We kept our microspikes and I kept my glove liners but everything else went back. Next we went to the post office and Sherpa bounced a package ahead. 

With our chores finished we went to find Yote and 2.Toe. We parked our car in front of a music shop and we heard lovely flute music coming out of it. When we entered we realized it was Yote! Belting out some sweet licks on a wooden flute. Classic Yote, always with the surprises. 

The music shop was amazing and the staff were so welcoming.  They were very eager to let you try the instruments and they had a lot of beautiful, unique pieces. We stayed there for a few minutes and then hit the road to return the rental car. 

We dropped off the car at the Medford airport and then walked to the main road nearby to hitch to the trailhead. Within just a few minutes a guy pulled over and offered us a ride to Ashland. We hopped in and he took off. He told us his name was Jason and it was his first time picking up hitchhikers. He works for a audio book producer in Ashland and recommended A Boy With A Coocoo Clock Heart. He said it was a classic and shouldn’t be missed.  

He dropped us off at the Ashland exit and we started our second hitch. Soon we were picked up by a Trail Angel named Colin. He said he loved hikers and was always finding ways to help when he could and knew right where to drop us off.

He took our picture at the trailhead and we said goodbye then hit the trail. It was so gorgeous and green. It reminds me of hiking on the east coast and it felt great to be in trees and not desert.  

There was nothing too exceptional to report on the hike since it was only about 11 miles and mostly in trees except that it was lovely and over quickly. When we arrived at our goal our way was blocked by a heard of cattle. There were a couple bulls right in our path that seemed determined not to move so we went around. Sherpa is terrified of cows because she was chased by one on the AT. We got around without any issues. Later however, after 2.Toe and Yote showed up, I saw what looked like a mountain lion attacking a bull. Then I saw the bull charge the animal. Yote said it was a dog and then I realized he was right.  Everything looks like a mountain lion to me out here. The cattle gathered in a group and charged the dog. Yote saw the bull lift it into the air with its horns. We were really unsure what to do, if anything until we heard the dogs owner yelling “Trigger leave it.” We saw that he was a hiker and I felt I had to do something to help so I started heading towards the chaos and Yote was right behind me. I am not sure what I was going to do, maybe attempt my hearding skills, of which I have none. Luckily the hiker was able to separate his dog and he hiked on. 

It was a pretty terrifying seen for the dog and I am sure it needed medical attention. There was a truck nearby that took off a few minutes later so maybe it helped the hiker. We will never know what happened to Trigger. 

We, however, went to bed and slept like little hiker babies. 

Today we planned to pick up our resupply in Independence before the post office closes at 4. In order to do that we needed to hike roughly 10 miles over Kearsarge Pass. It was the scariest day on the trail to date. 

We woke up at 4:15 a.m. and hit the trail after 2.Toe, Yote, Godongo, and Murphy’s Law. We immediately hit a wide fast moving stream. The trail crossed at a shallow point but Sherpa really didn’t want to get wet so early in the morning. We walked up stream and found a log that crossed to a snow bridge over a narrow but deep and fast moving rapid. I crossed without incident but when Sherpa followed it the snow bridge collapsed under her and she fell into the water bashing her knee on a rock.  She was able to stand in the water but she was soaking wet in icy snow melt. I grabbed her arm and we made our way back to the south side. We both wanted to cross as quickly as possible as she was very scared and very cold. We went back to the shallow and crossed without incident. Then she stripped and changed into my leggings and her dry shirt. She was really shaken by the experience and it really scared me as well. I don’t think we were in any serious danger but it was dark and cold and it made it feel really dramatic. 

That set the tone for the rest of the day. Any time we came near a snow bridge, and there were a lot, Sherpa would get really scared and had to calm herself down. We thought the others must be way ahead because we were crawling along. Or so we thought. Instead we saw the group before we hit the Bullfrog lake. Everyone was having their own challenges. Such is the trail. No use in bemoaning your pace, because you are not alone. 

The hike was beautiful but it was hard to fully appreciate it with the early morning experience. Sherpa was as always such a champion and worked through her fears throughout the day and it was a difficult, steep hike where our only indication of the trail was thousands of footprints going in all directions. Luckily the pass was easy to spot and so we trudged along in the best way possible. 

After the pass the mood lightened somewhat but the hike didn’t let up. It was still steep and challenging.  We did get some good glisading and skiing in though and eventually came across a georgous lake with massive waterfalls feeding it.  So startlingly breathtaking. 

Our final descent to the parking lot was wandering with lots of switchbacks.  A lot of the hikers were cutting the switchbacks because they were probably used to the freedom of snow hiking where you can’t even see the trail to follow it. We decided to stay as true as we could for the trail’ s sake. When we finally reached the parking lot 2.Toe and Yote we’re already gone and had descended down the road because there was a road closure due to runoff. 

We followed their footsteps and picked up Godongo along the way. We Found ourselves after a short while at the end of the closure where a bunch of cars were parked and we started hitching.  It looked like it was going to be pretty hopeless for a while as everyone seemed to be coming in and not going out. 

We chatted up people that were coming in and found ourselves with a couple Dale’s Pale Ales. A short while later we saw a hiker descending to the parking lot. Sherpa was on it and asked him for a ride. He eagerly and graciously accepted and we were soon on our way down the 13 mile winding steep mountain road. 

We passed a lot of hikers who didn’t want to wait and they had given up and were trying to hitch again. We felt bad but Rich, our car host, had a car full of gear and Sherpa was already sitting on my lap. 

Rich was great and we stopped by his campsite while he put on his sandals and he offered us some beers. We had a great chat and heard about his many business ventures passed and present. 

After beers we loaded up and he drove us to Independence and there we were reunited with all the hikers we had seen in the last couple days. We grabbed our packages and within minutes a man and woman pulled up and asked if anyone wanted to go to Lone Pine and we said yes! They needed to run errands and then they said they would be back in 10 minutes. As always it was just enough time for the four of us to get ourselves together. 

We hopped in and hit the road for Lone Pine where Yote and 2.Toe had already secured a room. We arrived and spent most of the rest of the day kicking back in the room and doing chores. 

2.Toe and Yote came back from the post office with some big news. They were going to flip. They were having fun in the snow but were feeling the pressure of the slow pace to meet their time window. Our first thought was we are really going to miss them our second thought was should we flip? After such a crazy day it seemed really appealing. 

We would sleep on it. And we did, we turned up the a.c. and turned down the sheets and slept like little hiker babies. 

Warning: this post contains a naked butt or two. 

Today was to be a special day in our lives but it definitely didn’t start feeling that way. Our plan was to wake up early at 3:30 a.m. and try to be descending in the early to mid morning before the snow is overly slushy. We planned to leave our gear at the tentsite on the Mt. Whitney and carry our winter gear and water only. 

Waking up was a real chore for both of us and we immediately started bickering within a mile we were in a full fledged walking fight. We had to stop every ten feet because we were too frustrated to walk and we both felt very injured and sure that we were the ones being wronged. We explored every angle of our frustration and eventually ran out of options for our own vindication and the others’ condemnation so we had to give it up and make up. I am sure, for my part, I was very tiered and sensitive because of my lack of sleep but I was also frustrated because of the fear that was now palpable and surrounded us because of the hikers we spoke to yesterday who had a scary stream crossing experience. 

Their fears are not unfounded and they had a terrifying experience. That being said, having been involved in some of the more difficult sports when it comes to facing fear, such as climbing, I know that once you are afraid your situation becomes immensely more challenging. It also often leads to mistakes and injury. I was eager to have us push through the next two stream crossings and have some success before getting bogged down in the terror of the unknown. There is undoubtedly dangers ahead, but if we keep our heads we can find safe paths around them and not put ourselves in significant risk. It is so common to hear of the risks ahead and hear from those who have tried and failed that there is no safe path forward. These are experienced hikers so their stories should not be discounted, that being said they have their own lens and it is tinted with a terrifying experience. I was eager to assess the obstacles and see if there is a safe way forward before giving up. 

All that eagerness shaped my night and morning and so my patience with Sherpa was drastically diminished and so we had a slow start but as the sun came up we were back on the same side again. 

We only had roughly 8 miles to the summit but much of it was covered in snow and suncups. Suncups are these large divots in the snow formed by the sun melting the snow at different rates. They are often have nearly knee high ridges and the valeys are just under my boot side so there is rarely a comfortable foot placement. They really kept our speed in check and so we slogged our way to the junction. 

All in all it was a very difficult hike but very beautiful. The altitude was really starting to get to us when we reached the Whitney Portal junction. We would take 12 steps and then break, then another 12 steps and break. We repeated this till the summit. 

By the time we reached the summit our attitudes had drastically improved and just in time to see Yote’a naked butt briefly posing in celebration of hike naked day! Hike naked day is on the summer solstice and many hikers hike all day in the buff. It was on my PCT bucket list but since we were in such a supposedly touristy area, I decided I didn’t want to end up on the sex offenders list!

Yote, 2.Toe, Sherpa and I had the summit to ourselves which is rare on such a celebrated peak so of course I joined my naked brother for some quick butt shots to celebrate our accomplishment and to add more scenery to the most scenic peak in the continental U.S. Poor Sherpa tolerates my eccentricities and I love her for it. 

We hung out at the summit for a while and then headed down in reverse order Sherpa and me followed by Yote and 2.Toe. The decent was such a fun hike. We really started to appreciate our surroundings and the snow was a bit softer so we could really throw ourselves down the slope without much danger. We were skiing, running, and glisading our way down the mountain and there was lots of laughing and wet, cold butts. 

We got back to camp around 1:30 p.m. and were pretty spent so we took a siesta. Sherpa, Yote, and 2.Toe took a nap in the shade and I watched a movie on my phone. 

Around 4 we packed up and headed for the crossings.  The way there was really pretty enjoyable and I was getting excited for the streams. We reached a fast moving stream and immediately assumed it was the first tough crossing. I plunged into a sport that looked safe and demonstrated to Sherpa that she could do it. She mustered up the courage and we went across together.  We were so excited and proud of ourselves walking arround, high fiveing, and patting ourselves on the back. Suddenly we started to realize that wasn’t the crossing at all. This stream wasn’t even talked about! A little bit of dread set in as we descended a steep slope but I was glad we had a practice stream. 

Soon we came across a hiker we met at Casa De Luna named Murphey’s Law. He was planning on spending the night to cross in the morning when the stream was lowest. We invited him to come with us and cross now so he did. We heard that it was safe to cross Wallace right at the trail and when we came upon it we were like whoa! This is a hell of a lot more water volume then our practice stream. 

Again I tested the water and it was totally doable. It was fast moving but only thigh high and totally manageable. Sherpa and I crossed together after the others and she was so brave. This type of fun terrified Sherpa but she always sucks it up and does what needs to be done. We are a good balance because I am often overly bold and she is often overly conservative and we are both willing to budge in the other direction. I am sure it is more difficult to make yourself more bold!

“On to the next crossing!” We all shouted and we hiked our way Write. This crossing was no joke. It was obvious that we were going to have to hike upstream because the water was raging and scary. I was skeptical of finding a safe crossing that we would all be willing to cross. 

On the way up the stream we picked up another straggler hiker Godongo. We hiked for about a mile till we came to a flooded meadow made up of a series of waste deep rapids. After pacing the shores for 30 minutes first Murphy’s Law crossed. Then 2.Toe broke the monotony. After that we all were going for it! There were many falls and wet, scraped hikers but it was safe enough and we all made it across. 

Sherpa and I were jumping around trying to get the feeling back in our toes and we decided we needed to hike on so we could get warm. We took off and to our pleasant surprise, the trail had paralleled the stream and we hadn’t done any extra hiking.  We jumped on trail and ascended a short slope.  We camped at the first dry spit of flat land we could find and to our pleasant surprise we found Giggles, Stacks, Tidy, Curry, and Megaphone were camped 30 yards away. Yote and I greeted them and chatted with them then went back for dinner. 

Sherpa and I ate quickly then slipped into our tent. We watched a movie for a few minutes to calm down and then put in our earplugs and fell asleep like little hiker babies. 

Today was an easy 12.5 to town. We got up at 5 a.m. and were on our way by 6. The miles went quickly and the terain was very nice and mostly downhill. The most notable part of the hike itself was the massive pine trees we encountered. 

They were so impressive we stopped frequently and we can’t wait to see some redwoods. 

As our hike came to a close we ran into a hiker going south that looked like she may have been running. She stopped and talked to us and let us know that the Make a Wish Foundation was having a race and they had an aid station up ahead where we could get food and drinks for free! We continued to pass more and more hikers reiterating the same thing.  When we finally arrived at our destination we came on a glorious site.  They had so many delicious snacks and were so welcoming. Sherpa and I said hi to a few hikers we knew, Gourmet and Flame. Then we crossed the street to hitch. 

While we were hitching we saw a few of the racers, who were going 26.9 miles, emerged from the woods and were cheered. One woman was met by her husband with a series of honks from his cat and some hugs. Sherpa felt things, I looked on. 

A few mins later a woman in a white car stopped for us and two Swiss hikers.  We crammed into her car and learned her name was Kathy. 

Kathy is a real gem. She gave us her number for when we wanted to go back to the trail. She said she was a CPA retired from the Ford Motor Company on her way back from helping out at a dealership. She was very kind and drove us all the way to the post office and introduced us to one of the town’s oldest members.  

At the post office I shipped Crash’ s sleeping pad and then we went to find a place to stay. We ended up with one of the last available rooms at the Robin Hood hotel. It was great because we had a king size bed. After the hotel we went to get burgers and beer at Fire Rock Burgers and Brews. The burgers were exceptional. Sherpa’s had bbq sauce and Mac and Cheese drizzled on top. 

After burgers, we were pretty spent. We want back to the room and I went to get fuel and a watch for Sherpa.  When I got back, Sherpa took our clothes to the laundry mat. 

When she returned we went to eat Himalayan for dinner. Another delicious meal which Sherpa topped off with some ice cream. We stopped by some shops and went back to the hotel. 

At the hotel we turned on the tv and the classic Miss Congeniality was on. I was watching it more than Sherpa and when she was getting really tiered I had to beg her to let me watch at least till they foiled the exploding crown plot. 

After the crescendo, we turned off the tv and slept like little hiker babies. 

Idyllwild has been a bittersweet stop for us. We are currently on our third zero in a row due to some painful injuries. Sherpa has some nasty shin splints and I have a little plantar fasciitis. I noticed mine in long runs before the trail and expect to have to manage it throughout our hike. Hopefully Sherpa’s shins will be in good shape tomorrow as we plan to hike our first thing in the morning or, less likely, take her to a Sports Medicine doctor. That is the bitter.  The only thing harder than hiking with injuries is making yourself rest. Especially when your new friends are hiking on.  

The sweet has been undoubtedly spending time with our wonderful and talented new friends. The first day and night we shared a cabin with 2.toe (Nicole), Coyote, Amelia, and Louie. We also got to spend the morning with the amazing and insta-famous, Crash. 

We arrived in town first because we had to hitch to town passed the detour due to Sherpa’s shins. Had breakfast at The Red Kettle.  Soon after the crew rolled up in a posse and we hung out with them while they ate. Afterwords we all meandered gr8 a while. Crash was waiting on a package at the post office, which opened at 1:30 pm. So we hung out with him for a few minutes and ate more food from the grocery store.

When 1 rolled around we said goodbye to Crash and went into the Library and worked on our blog.  It was sad to see him hike on but he’s a pro and it might be a while before we see him again.  

After we finished our internet chores we went back to the cabin and hung out with the crew for the rest of the evening.  We drank beers, cooked dinner, chatted, and had a fire. It was very plesant with such good company. 

The next day the crew hung around till around noon at the coffee shop, Higher Grounds, then we went back.  They packed up and took off for the hills.  It was a little sad to stay behind but we want to stay healthy and finish strong. 

Sherpa and I went to the movies at 2 to see Gardians of The Galaxy 2.  It was ok, though I am starting to be shocked how action movies have so much wholesale, glorified, mass murder. There was a seen where the “good guys” were laughing and blasting music while killing what seemed to be hundreds of “bad guys”. It disturbed me. Afterwords we got some food and propped up our feet, I made a fire, and we watched 2 episodes of Fargo. Oh!! And I almost forgot. When we got our of the movie we met the Mayor! 

We got in bed and hopped to decide whether to hike in the morning.  We slept like little hiker babies. 

In the morning we waffled in indecision for a few hours than finally decided to try and rest one final day.  We miss the trail and it feels really hard to stay! 

We will relax again today and hopefully we will be in good shape for tomorrow!

Today was a great day.  After our big 24 mile push, we were excited to have a short day and to resupply at Warner Springs (mile 109.5). 

We let ourselves sleep, which in trail life means 5:30 a.m. but Sherpa woke up feeling more tired than when she went to sleep. I was feeling a little tired myself having woken up at 5 feeling refreshed, but drifted for 30 minutes. Of course that extra half hour cost me and I was feeling groggy. 

In spite our sleepiness, we let the air out of our mats and packed up. We both scarfed down a protein bar and hit the trail.  Within seconds we paused so that Sherpa could pee and I could put on my jacket. Off to a great start.  Two people passed us, Fran and Mayo. We got ourselves together a second time and caught up to them. 

We hiked through some very nice valleys with beautiful live oak trees all day.  After a few miles we came upon Louie and Amelia.  Louis carries a guitar and seems to be pretty good at it.  A mile or two later we entered a beautiful prairie of rolling hills and a few isolated live oak trees where the horizon seemed to be tilted to the south. 

It was an odd and impressive view. After some time we arrived at Eagle Rock. Sherpa mentioned several times she was excited to see it. I, of course didn’t know the first thing about it, or any other significant sites on the PCT with a few exceptions. 

It definitely lived up to the hype.  It really does look like an eagle and shortly after we arrived we were joined by Amelia and Louie. They took our picture and vice versa then we hiked on, only to quickly run back to retrieve my water bottle which Amelia was kindly carrying. 

After Eagle Rock we only had a short distance through a beautiful forest valley to our destination, Warner Springs.  

Warner Springs’ main feature is a community center right off the trail that caters to, and celebrates hikers. The town is small and there are so many wonderful volunteers shuttling people around and helping them with everything you can imagine. Here is a quick summary of offerings: camping, coffee, Wi-Fi, computers, resupply store, vibrating foot bath and Epsom salts, gearshop, rides to the post office, bucket showers, laundry, clothesline, power, hiker box, hiker clothes, books, and lots of wonderful places to sit. Pretty unbelievable! 

We were one of the first ones there and it filled out quickly. I got a coffee and headed to the post office with Slow Buffalo, Andrew, and Mayo. We had a great talk and it helped keep me from getting lost on the shortcut. Sherpa stayed and did internet chores.  

After I got back and did my chores, we went through our resupply. We were generally pretty happy with our choices, though we are carrying way too much food for 70 miles! Most people were in the same boat and we made lots of cool food aqusitions. I got Starbucks VIA and some dehydrated Asian veggie mix, which was amazing in my Pad Thai tonight. 

After we chilled for a while and had lunch we packed up and said goodbye to most everyone to hike another six miles.  We knocked that out in no time and camped next to a pretty stream, ate Pad Thai, which I generously gave some of mine to Sherpa. Amazing, I know.  And now we are in our tent getting some early r&r before an early day and potentially 21 miles.