Cold, Hungry and Lost

Our adventure has gifted us a car rental and some time with regular beds!! We decided to head to death valley first and show catrina the hottest place on the planet, and it didn't disappoint, even at late afternoon it mustered a cozy 118F welcome for us, which is about 48C for those who prefer metric.. Toasty.. Surprisingly there are people who live in death valley, not to mention animals, has to be a rough existence Our next journey was to travel north to yosemite.  It was a fun drive, and a steep car trip up the mountains to get over the passes into the park.  Yosemite is basically a valley, with roads along the upper and lower parts. Our first day we stayed in the upper, and visited Merced Grove with some huge trees, not redwoods, but huge all the same.  It got late so we fled to a nearby town and slept, then returned to the park the next day, this time hitting the lower valley.  It is a beautiful park and well worth the time to visit. After Yosemite we headed ...

Miles: 8.2 + 9.9 side trail Start time: 7:02am End time: 8:15pm High / Avg / Low temp: 78.9F / 64.8F / 50.1F Relative Humidity Avg: 47.2% Injuries: none to report We woke this morning with a dusting of ash from the nearby forest fires, just a subtle reminder I suppose that nature is angry about that lightning storm from yesterday. We bumped into a ranger today and he told us that 2000acres was on fire and 0% contained, we didn't see any flames while hiking though, just smells and smoke plume. Our camp site turned out dandy and 2 other tents were snuck into the rocks nearby.  The skeeters were still mostly asleep when we packed up and fled, we skipped breakfast though to put some distance between us.. The first 6 miles was downhill and very pretty as we wandered down the canyon I guess you'd call it, with plenty of water and streams among the trees.  After 4 miles we stopped to filter water and eat, given I missed dinner last night I decided to cook a meal, and I poure...

Miles: 10.2 Start time: 7:32am End time: 8:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 70.4F / 61.8F / 49.2F Relative Humidity Avg: 44.9% Injuries: none to report Eeks.. it was a crazy camp site last night, loaded with mozzies, and they were back with a vengeance at sun up, lil winged leeches.  We packed up our tent in record time to avoid being drained of blood and basically ran up a half mile climb to try to escape them..which was mostly futile.. I think we avoided the interest of new skeeters when we fled, but the swarm that knew about us just followed us, we had to squish them all before we had any semblance of peace. This flight to freedom also included toting our gallon dirty water container in our hands which we'd stop and filter..if and when.. We escaped.. At the half mile mark we made our last stand and got our chores done... It was a day of amazing views, after our first climb we ended up in alpine meadows, surrounded by mountains, and they were beautiful, and scary..one of ...

Miles: 9.8 Start time: 8:29am End time: 5:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 82.5F / 71.3F / 67.4F Relative Humidity Avg: 27.0% Injuries: none to report It was an awesome campsite last night, and plenty of shade from the morning sun, priceless... Pretty sure the deer from last night came back to feed by the river, and it kept even less distance from us this time.. We also noticed a decent amount of scratch marks on a tree that looked suspiciously like bear claw marks, not from the previous night or anything scary, but in the not too distant past by the looks of the sap pouring out of the tree Today started with a brutal climb uphill, opening up to lovely views of meadows. That seemed to be the flavor of the day, brutal climbs with rewards of amazing views, especially of mountains later in the day We crossed two creeks today that required balance across rocks and stepping stones, with the occasional loose rock thrown in t test your balance, luckily neither of us ended up with wet fee...

Miles: 10.3 Start time: 7:52am End time: 5:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 85.9F / 79.8F / 71.2F Relative Humidity Avg: 17.3% Injuries: none to report We got an ok start today, our campsite was not well sheltered from morning sun which always helps with the wakey wakey time, damnit.. After a maybe a mile we saw our first lake of the Sierra, chicken spring lake.  It was beautiful, and backed by a mountainous wall of rock, definitely a first for us We didn't see much in the way of wildlife today, except a black tailed deer at our evening camp site. It was not too much of a struggle today though, gentle ups and downs, and we had an excellent campsite away from other people, and by a sweet creek, the water was so cold... Naturally we stood in it to chill our aching feet bones.. We had a deer visitor, happily munching on soft river side grass and she wasn't overly worried about us setting up camp nearby.  Its getting darker and I'm sleepy, nighty night

Miles: 3.4 Start time: 8:32am End time: 2:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 84.9F / 71.2F / 71.2F Relative Humidity Avg: 15.9% Injuries: none to report We spend the last few days in lone pine, a town we were sure we'd skip, but ended up really enjoying anyways. Our last campsite was about six miles to the exit and we got real lucky with our hitch into town. For the return to the trail we paid a local to drive 4 of us up the hill, and the $60 turned into $15 each which was win win for us all.  The best part was we were toting town food to eat, such spoilt hikers. Our climb us was relatively short, the first 2 miles mostly flat across the meadow we exited from last time, just too the other side of it, but it was punctuated by a herd of cows cruising past, a few hundred at least, big ones, small ones, brown ones, black ones, black ones with cute white faces, even a few with horns, steers I'm guessing seeing as they didn't posture at all upon seeing us. It took a while to fi...

Miles: 10.8 Start time: 7:52am End time: 5:25pm High / Avg / Low temp: 75.5F / 66.4F / 57.8F Relative Humidity Avg: 24.5% Injuries: tender hip, altitude related fatigue We had a pretty full campsite last night, and we were the first to head out, not that we weren't overtaken in a few hours, two guys beat our asses by 4hrs to the camp site.. We took a lot of breaks though, turning up too early to camp has its ups and downs, up's..  Pick of the litter for camp sites, downs.. Usually way to much sun to be comfy until later in the afternoon, currently sunset is about 8pm.. Not that we haven't had plenty of good campsites started around 3:30pm We had an initial climb for 4.5 miles, back up to 10,676ft which is a new record for us, and it took it's toll, so much harder to breathe, but we made it to the top. Not before 4 fighter jets flew low right over top of us, they looked like they were having a good time, flying upside down at the end of their asce...

Miles: 9.0 Start time: 7:48am End time: 3:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 82.9F / 67.8F / 55.3F Relative Humidity Avg: 18.1% Injuries: none to report One thing they don't tell you when your go camping is how bright a full moon is thru a thin tent.. It feels like a street light.. But slowly migrates thru the sky, I miss no moons Our camp spot was pretty nice, and no interlopers so even better. We did however confirm our suspicion that the location was infested with marmots.  We saw our first one, massive, sitting happily in the middle of the trail just up from our camp, he was eyeballing us but as we were a lil away from him taking photos he didn't seem in a hurry to move, only when we started getting much closer did he shuffle along, one foot into the bushes, probably just waiting for us to leave so he could get back to his sunbeam.  He wasn't alone, we saw three others perched on rocks in the meadow next to us, was very cute. As we started our climb up to ...

Miles: 6.78 Start time: 7:00am End time: 5:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 71.6F / 85.3F / 53.3F Relative Humidity Avg: 28.3% Injuries: tender hip, but mending We left camp at a respectable hour today, 7am.. Life is hard.. Actually it was, we had very little water left after last night, so we scampered to the river as fast as we could When we arrived we noticed a million swallows nesting under the bridge, and of course unloading all the poop they could manage into the river..well, stream really.. So we gathered water upstream.. As you would We are still loving the higher availability of water we've found in the Sierra so far.. Erich is good seeing as we are hauling maybe 5lbs of extra gear needed for this leg.. We saw a bunch of cows by the river crossing and all around in that meadow, so many meadows.. The scenery is starting to shift.  There is a lot of elevation, we are nearly at 10,000ft tonight, basically 1000ft over our previous elevation record, and thos...

Miles: 4.2 Start time: 8:32am End time: 11:25pm High / Avg / Low temp: 83.1F / 77.2F / 72.1F Relative Humidity Avg: 20.1% Injuries: tender hip, but manageable Our sandy nap spot last night was pretty awesome, and even sheltered us from morning sunlight for a good while.. Yay sleep in We had to waddle maybe 2 miles to get water, and the day decided to feel scorching, low breeze, minimal shade, it burnt.. And our fragile little minds checked out early at the first sign of decent camping and shade, it started as a siesta, but ended as a looooong nap leading to camping.. Watcha gonna do.. We have enough water to last the night, but it isn't enough to really guzzle all we could, but doable.. Not much else to report today, except the disappointment of continued scorch when we were so needing something other than desert.. Maybe tomorrow will what we need..

Miles: 6.8 Start time: 9:29am End time: 7:25pm High / Avg / Low temp: 90.7F / 82.5F / 72.9F Relative Humidity Avg: 21.2% Injuries: same old issh You know.. I feel lied to, we.. feel lied to.. There was all this talk of the desert ends at Kennedy meadows and its the Sierras after that.. It still feels like the desert, hot, dry, dusty.. We are at 8000ft though, so we've got the altitude challenges as well as scorching exposed trail.. We mailed our umbrellas back at Ridgecrest, expecting significant weather changes up ahead..shenanigans..  No matter Tomorrow we are heading towards 10,500 ft, a new record for us, hoping for an excellent view.. Tonight and last night we have been hearing owls, which is a new thing, we saw a bit of a meadow today, small as it was, all there have been signs of change, just not soon enough, walking in 90F/32C temps wasn't great, and we had to take several siestas today, we mistakenly thought waiting from 11:30am to 3:...

Miles: 3.4 Start time: 2:56pm End time: 4:45pm High / Avg / Low temp: 89.0F / 88.5F / 88.2F Relative Humidity Avg: 12.4% Injuries: none to report We left Ridgecrest today, after spending way more time healing than either of us would have liked.  During the last fifty mile stretch I tweaked my hip and left me limping for the majority of the distance, which while unpleasant, also slows us down considerably, and we decided it was better to rest with ready access to food and water rather than be at risk in the middle of no-where.  The challenge at being in Ridgecrest, while cheap, is that it's an hour away from where we left the trail at Kennedy meadows. Our front desk agent at the hotel was awesome and called her sister in law who is a trail angel in lake isabella, and the stars aligned as she was able and willing to collect us from Ridgecrest and  drop us off at the trail head. Her name is April and she's was a lot of fun to talk with while we drove back ...

Miles: 8.71 + 0.77 exit trail Start time: 6:50am End time: 11:25pm High / Avg / Low temp: 87.2F / 72.2F / 52.3F Relative Humidity Avg: 28.4% Injuries: these old bones We had an earlier start than we have lately, mostly driven by a desire for cold beverages at the Kennedy meadows general store, that and the sun was bearing down on us at almost immediately It was awesome camping near water, we filtered 2 gallons last night, another one in the morning, trying our best to be hydrated The walk was fairly casual today, no big ups and downs, just a steady beat, that and scorching sun, ever present..scorching..sun We made it to the road and started our walk towards the store, we made it most of the way before a kind soul stopped by us and drove us around the corner to the place, when we arrived we got a round of applause from the hikers already here before us, was nice, in its own way Our first action was getting a handful of beverages, out of a fridge, w...

Miles: 12.7 Start time: 8:02am End time: 5:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 85.7F / 75.6F / 63.5F Relative Humidity Avg: 19.8% Injuries: hip and walking bones Despite being in a prime spot by water we had our large camp area to ourselves, we saw one other tent down a hill from is the next morning, it's nice being able to soil a cathole in relative privacy We loaded up on water before we left our site and started the trek up to fox mill spring. It was only 2.5miles but it felt like 10 as it was a solid climb, and it was only a third of the overall climb today. It was however the last water source for ten miles So we tanked up and carried on with 3or so liters each, turns out it was barely enough given how exposed the last 8 miles were, but we lived, so all good It was such a relief to finally make it to water this afternoon, and to top it off it was cold, such a treat, not like ice water cold but we've been drinking water warmed by the sun for hours, it was ...

Miles: 8.6 Start time: 9:32am End time: 3:15pm High / Avg / Low temp: 92.0F / 76.9F / 64.1F Relative Humidity Avg: 21.5% Injuries: Matt's right hip, we both have sore feet We slept in today, on account of awful sleep, bah humbug So we didn't get on the trail until after 9am, not the end of the world, on account of our tiredness we decided to hoof it the 8 miles to the next water source and call it a day.  This means we have 23 miles left, we have two dinners left, so we have a lil buffer, I am hoping we'll escape in a day and a half or so, time will tell We started with 2 miles up hill, then a few mixed miles of up and down, then 4 miles down to this water source, by water source I mean barely moving puddles off to the side of the trail, but it's cool and fresh tasting, and saved our lives, I arrived here with only a mouthful of water left, it's been so hot and dry, it's been an educational experience hiking this southern californian secti...

Miles: 9.6 Start time: 7:32am End time: 4:35pm High / Avg / Low temp: 75.3F / 67.3F / 59.3F Relative Humidity Avg: 38.3% Injuries: some hip pain (Matt) We slept with the fly off of our tent last night, and the view of the stars was amazing, one of the many highlights of walking remote places is the reduction of light pollution, so many more stars can be seen along with the usual stars and constellations you are used to appear so much bigger and brighter in the sky.. We commenced this morning at a reasonable time, and immediately started an ascent of a thousand feet, and within 4 miles we had descended that thousand and some to today's water source. It was a shallow trickle across the trail, but it was cool, and very welcome.  We relaxed and filtered 3 gallons of water, and set back out into wilds by 1pm.  My hip decided it wanted to hurt today, making every step slow and somewhat painful, i ate 4 Advil today and that seemed to take the edge off it for most o...

Miles: 12.41 Start time: 7:49am End time: 3:31pm High / Avg / Low temp: 87.8F / 75.6F / 57.2F Relative Humidity Avg: 22.2% Injuries: none to report Back in action after our detour, good news though, the desert is still interested in murdering us with heat and dehydration, we packed 6L today each and had to resort to the spring near us that is contaminated with uranium, yay for superpowers, we'll let you know what special abilities we get.. In all seriousness it isn't so bad, it tested above the levels deemed safe for a lifetimes worth of consumption, we took only a few litres, and we'll only drink what is absolutely necessary, fresh untested water awaits in only 4miles!! Which is the sad facts for nearly all the water we've drank so far, who knows what we've been really consuming, but we filter everything.. Otherwise today started early in Ridgecrest, to catch a 3 times a week only bus that goes around 7 back to the trail. Was one of those...

It's taken some time but we think we have a plan. We will jump ahead 200 miles to ridge crest, then walk the 50 miles into Kennedy meadows and resume the trail as previously planned. This replanting will put us back on track to complete the trail before mid October, hopefully keeping us out of harms way I cant say I'm going miss the dehydration and struggle to find drinkable water, some of its been pretty nasty and this current section is the worst so far, but par for the course, the purists will turn their noses up at us but this is our adventure and we'll adventure it how we choose. Now time to add pictures for the last blog entries..

Miles: 10.32 Start time: 8:32am End time: 1:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 77.1F / 67.7F / 62.2F Relative Humidity Avg: 36.1% Injuries: none to report Today we had a mile and half hike to water, which was good since we had maybe half a litre each after the evenings thirst, the desert makes your pretty thirsty all the time, the air just sucks the moisture out of you while you breathe The water source was a trickle, but it was clear and cool and definitely awesome. There were about 10 other hikers there taking a break and guzzling water, as we do when we get to water.  The bees were all around, sipping at the water too, probably taking bathes and having a great time, they didn't bother us at all. After we gathered our water we moved on, and finished the climb to the top of the mountain, and were rewarded with a view of the desert floor we are heading towards. It looked hot and dusty lol, but they all do from a distance. We kept walking around the mo...

Miles: 7.8 Start time: 10:56am End time: 3:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 89.2F / 63.2F / 50.0F Relative Humidity Avg: 41.7% Injuries: none to report Today started out cold, we were in a bit of a valley and all that blowing cloud from last night chilled the tent and filled it condensation. So we had to dry out the fly later in the day, and by later in the day I mean when we built the tent in the evening.. It was a late start today, neither of us slept well, and we only had a few miles to go today to set us up for our next water target.  Water is definitely the deciding factor in a lot of our decisions, it is humbling and when we return to the world the ease of access to water won't be something we take for granted anymore.. The terrain today was pretty casual as well, gentle ups and downs, and the trails had plenty of non pct hikers out, it is Memorial day weekend and being a long weekend we expected plenty of people out and about, and we weren't disappointe...

Miles: 3.6 Start time: 1:42am End time: 4:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 59.8F / 58.5F / 56.6F Relative Humidity Avg: 37.1% Injuries: none to report Today was a short walk, we got dropped off by an uber at our destination and walked a total of 3.6 miles to the next reliable water source, which is a spring on the side of the trail.  The ride into the mountains was very pretty and we are grateful to be able to see the sights from multiple perspectives. While it meant we had to skip trail we are very happy to see that endangered frogs were being protected. We got a good look at the desert floor we are heading towards once we descend the mountains in angeles forest (just above LA), the desert floor is better known as the Mojave.. One of the hottest places for us yet I'm lead to believe, lucky for us we will be engaging with that monster in June and not July (summer) Currently we are tucked into the tent, as the clouds are blowing by at our level, might be a heav...

Hey there internet of things, I thought I'd make good on a blog for the last few days. We spent it in cajon pass, I believe pronounced with the j sounding like y.. The motel was pleasant enough, nothing nearby to speak of though, three gas stations with a subway, McDonald's, del taco embedded in them. Slim pickings for food but we, I, needed the break from walking to let this knee heal, and so far so good Several times a day we alternated between the hot tub and pool, which was ice cold, I don't know how these California pools get so cold.. But it worked wonders on the inflammation Other than that days were spent on minor hiking chores, planning our next leg, enjoying running water..the little things We decided that the conditions for the next section were kinda perilous, and we would get a ride around the section and look to return later and complete it if the conditions improved.  The primary issue is water, or lack thereof.  The 27 miles out of cajon ...

Miles: 10.8 Start time: 7:28am End time: 4:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 77.6F / 68.4F / 58.4F Relative Humidity Avg: 41.3% Injuries: none to report We had a pretty good night at our secret camp site, a lot of bugs though we're trying to eat us but our trusty tent mesh didn't fail us, thankfully none of them figured out how to crawl thru where the zippers meet, something tiny could possibly squeeze in there, there were dozens of flies, a few spiders probably wanting to eat the flies, the usual.. Our first stop was the deep creek hot springs, home to rare but sometimes fatal bacteria allegedly, so we naturally avoided the hot pools, but we did rest up a ways up the river where the running water was lovely and cool.  We ended up staying there for about three hours, ate our tuna burrito, washed some clothes, enjoyed the soothing sounds of running water, it was lovely We headed back out after midday and for most of the day it was pretty gentle ups n downs, ...

Miles: 16.59 Start time: 7:28am End time: 5:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 82.6F / 74.2F / 69.4F Relative Humidity Avg: 31.0% Injuries: none to report What an adventure today, started at an ok time, we were waiting for the interlopers to move on so we could go on about our business with a semblance of privacy, while we are aware that we share this trail with 5000 other hikers and countless day hikers etc, it's still a definite buzzkill when we have to camp in close proximity to others, definitely our problem, most other hikers seem to have no problem being all up I each other's business, which is mind boggling to me, all this space..might as well enjoy the distance from others that is usually impossible to get in the usual rat race In other news we passed mile 300 this afternoon, maybe not as momentous as mile 100, this is certainly a record for both of us in distance and time spent in the wilderness/desert, even with days if we are pushing 30 days in the tent, ...