Sunday, May 30, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
One last hot tub soak before our 9 mile
Monday, May 24, 2010
Big Bear City
Hi. I'm typing this on the oldest computer i have ever seen. We are at the Nature's Inn in Big Bear City, Ca. We have a hot tub in our room. There is now a "hiker ring" around the hot tub. The trip here was tough, and also amazing...
Left Idyllwild, camped at top of mountain. Next day, did a 20 mile day down to I-10 and slept there out of the crazy wind - train going over us every half hour.. slept thru most of that. But the awesome part right before that was when Jack - the owner of a suped up dune buggy style 1970 volkswagon bug offered me a ride to get beer for 11 dollars. He normally charges 18 for a "baha ride" but made an exception for us hiker trash bridge sleepers.. we went 65 miles an hour down crazy dirt roads, racing the train to the intersection, and won... i think i left fingernail marks in the steel frame around the window i was holding onto..
then the wind farm day.. the office let you come into the break room, cool off, and sold us microwave sandwiches and klondike bars for 1 dollar each!
we hiked on to Whitewater River, where a guy named Jackrabbit - a thru hiker from last year - had hiked in a 12 pack of beer. We sat in the river with all of our clothes on - and got drunk with him on the sandy beach. He left, and we had the beach all to ourselves in the moonlight with the 6 foot wide river rushing by our tent.. romantic evening indeed.. rawrrrrr!!
Then things went straight to sucktown the next day. We had to follow a washed out path way up this canyon stream. the trail would disappear, and we'd have to find it again by following footsteps and clues... we argued, we pushed on...
The next day we headed to higher ground, got up to 8600 feet, cooler, and had a mostly pleasant day. Stayed in the Coon Camp Shelter with "the aussies," "Slow and Steady," or "Bob and Barbara." This was the first of just a handful of shelters on this entire trail. We hung the bear bag for the first time, which was a scene in itself in the cold dusk..
The next day was our last full hiking day before the highway to big bear.. we made it 15 miles to a nice spot 4.5 miles from highway 18. Woke up at 5:30, made tea, and a big black cloud was coming! Snow started falling, and did not stop. We hiked fast to the road, covered in snow, and a guy named Marco picked us up and took us straight to the local diner, Thelma's. We watched out the window, across our pancakes and omelettes, as Big Bear City got a 5 inch dusting of snow. It's the end of May!! Freaking Snowing in SoCal!!
Well the rest of the Big Bear City story is all hot tubs, city bus rides, blister popping (i finally got one at mile 250), and re-supply for the next stretch... to Wrightwood. On this stretch is a natural hot spring, a McDonalds (big event for hikers) and a full moon! Maybe some night hiking!
Gonna go eat some honey nut cheerios with powdered milk that i found in a hiker box right now. Unga Bunga over and out...
Left Idyllwild, camped at top of mountain. Next day, did a 20 mile day down to I-10 and slept there out of the crazy wind - train going over us every half hour.. slept thru most of that. But the awesome part right before that was when Jack - the owner of a suped up dune buggy style 1970 volkswagon bug offered me a ride to get beer for 11 dollars. He normally charges 18 for a "baha ride" but made an exception for us hiker trash bridge sleepers.. we went 65 miles an hour down crazy dirt roads, racing the train to the intersection, and won... i think i left fingernail marks in the steel frame around the window i was holding onto..
then the wind farm day.. the office let you come into the break room, cool off, and sold us microwave sandwiches and klondike bars for 1 dollar each!
we hiked on to Whitewater River, where a guy named Jackrabbit - a thru hiker from last year - had hiked in a 12 pack of beer. We sat in the river with all of our clothes on - and got drunk with him on the sandy beach. He left, and we had the beach all to ourselves in the moonlight with the 6 foot wide river rushing by our tent.. romantic evening indeed.. rawrrrrr!!
Then things went straight to sucktown the next day. We had to follow a washed out path way up this canyon stream. the trail would disappear, and we'd have to find it again by following footsteps and clues... we argued, we pushed on...
The next day we headed to higher ground, got up to 8600 feet, cooler, and had a mostly pleasant day. Stayed in the Coon Camp Shelter with "the aussies," "Slow and Steady," or "Bob and Barbara." This was the first of just a handful of shelters on this entire trail. We hung the bear bag for the first time, which was a scene in itself in the cold dusk..
The next day was our last full hiking day before the highway to big bear.. we made it 15 miles to a nice spot 4.5 miles from highway 18. Woke up at 5:30, made tea, and a big black cloud was coming! Snow started falling, and did not stop. We hiked fast to the road, covered in snow, and a guy named Marco picked us up and took us straight to the local diner, Thelma's. We watched out the window, across our pancakes and omelettes, as Big Bear City got a 5 inch dusting of snow. It's the end of May!! Freaking Snowing in SoCal!!
Well the rest of the Big Bear City story is all hot tubs, city bus rides, blister popping (i finally got one at mile 250), and re-supply for the next stretch... to Wrightwood. On this stretch is a natural hot spring, a McDonalds (big event for hikers) and a full moon! Maybe some night hiking!
Gonna go eat some honey nut cheerios with powdered milk that i found in a hiker box right now. Unga Bunga over and out...
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
mile 200 video
i uploaded a new video yesterday. To see it, click the 'moss videos' link in the green side column. We are actually at mile 212 now! Wind farm coming in 2 miles.. Unga bunga
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Trail Names
here are just a handful of the trail names we have encountered thus far:
Leap Year
Alien March
Scout
Frodo
Nuclear
Bag Lady
Stroker
Nubbs
Bacon
Meander
Hurricane
The Pro From Dover
Billy Goat
T-Rex
Dreams
Picker
Rain Maker
Spirit Walker
The Newlyweds
Moon Shadow
Sojourner
Dundee
Pockets
Flannel
Tigger
That's all we can think of right now, and in a few hours we'll be headed on the next 5-6 day leg of the trip - on to Big Bear City, California. We have 6 hard boiled eggs and some other fancy provisions. Two days from now, we'll be crossing Interstate 10, our first big highway crossing since Interstate 8. We're starting to turn West towards the San Bernadino mountains, getting closer and closer to Pasadena and miss Katie Crawford-Kinnebrew, our gracious host for our Los Angeles trip. Bye-Bye for now. More photos to come...
Leap Year
Alien March
Scout
Frodo
Nuclear
Bag Lady
Stroker
Nubbs
Bacon
Meander
Hurricane
The Pro From Dover
Billy Goat
T-Rex
Dreams
Picker
Rain Maker
Spirit Walker
The Newlyweds
Moon Shadow
Sojourner
Dundee
Pockets
Flannel
Tigger
That's all we can think of right now, and in a few hours we'll be headed on the next 5-6 day leg of the trip - on to Big Bear City, California. We have 6 hard boiled eggs and some other fancy provisions. Two days from now, we'll be crossing Interstate 10, our first big highway crossing since Interstate 8. We're starting to turn West towards the San Bernadino mountains, getting closer and closer to Pasadena and miss Katie Crawford-Kinnebrew, our gracious host for our Los Angeles trip. Bye-Bye for now. More photos to come...
Sunday, May 16, 2010
snow!
read moss's post below for full details. i just want to say that after an initial spasm of fear related to my "handicap" (which i am just figuring out that i think i have) i felt confidant and fine. i had fun being "lost" in the snow. the comic relief of sliding down huge hills on my butt (glissading) was priceless!
Idyllwild, California...
Six days of hard hiking from Warner Springs, and we are finally safe in Idyllwild, but not without a challenge, probably the most dangerous and nerve wracking hiking i have ever experienced.
Ice chutes: very scary. like solid ice that is 40 feet above and below the trail at a 30 degree pitch. some brave soul before us had cut a path across where the trail should be with an ice axe, and then all the others in front of us had dug in 6 inch foot steps. The only way to pass is to put your feet right in those same footsteps and be very focused. I am not kidding, if you were to slip anywhere on that chute, you would die or wish you were dead at the bottom of the canyon. I almost vomited from the adrenaline rush from crossing the first one. Natalie thought she would shorten her poles and do it on her knees, and i refused to let her, that would have been sure death, her pants are slick. But we made it across about 7 of these 40 foot ice chute trail crossings. And i only got a little bloody that day when i had to retrieve my stick which had fallen at the first chute.
So later that day we made it to 8400 feet. Then the PCT disappeared under 2-4 feet of snow when we came around to the north face of that particular ridge. We found foot prints in the snow, and followed. Bad move. We went way down into the valley below, slipping and sliding, and using new muscles in our arms to hold our poles steady. I am sore in the shoulders right now. We were lost basically. Following others who were even more lost! But we have a good map, and my watch has an altimeter, which came in very handy when we went searching for "Saddle Junction" where many of the trails converge near the peak of the San Jacintos. We just stayed at the same altitude, and went sipping thru the snow around the ridge until it got way too dark to navigate. We broke camp in a non-snowy spot that was not so flat, ate the last of our food, and went to sleep. In the morning, with our bearings still fresh from the night before, we followed our shadows to keep going west, and we found the elusive PCT again, and followed it to Saddle Junction, took a left on the Devil's Slide Trail, and that goes 4.5 miles straight to Idyllwild, and we went straight to eat breakfast at the local diner!!
There is another bad snow area ahead on the PCT, and we are skipping it! We don't have crampons or ice axes, and don't want to buy them or cary them. We'll be doing the alternate road walk to meet up with the PCT 8 miles past the bad snow. If you are interested, the spot is called Fuller Ridge, and it is covered with snow and ice chutes, and is on the north face of San Jacinto, and we have just had enough of near death excitement! I am actually glad to be on the way back to the desert!
In the desert, there are a million lizards. Humming birds fly right up to you and check you out and then buzz away. Huge ants are busy building in the trail, and i try not to step on them for all the work they are doing. The flowers still amaze me sometimes, and the smells are sweet and strong now and then. There is a sort of ringing in my ears all day hiking in the hot sun with sweat running down my cheeks, like the drone strings of a sitar or something... very tripped out.
Nano and I are very strong now. We can do the miles a lot easier. Not quite machines yet, but 200 more miles will complete the training. By the way, we are at mile 179 now. Our next big stop is Big Bear City in 87 miles, which is mile 265 or so on the PCT. Looking more and more forward to our stop in Los Angeles at mile 450. That will be a nice break. We have also discussed slowing down some because we really don't want to go into the Sierras until most of the dangerous ice is gone... let the crazy fasty pants do that... we'll be chillin in the back of the pack!
Ok for now, other people want to use this coffee shop computer...
Hike your own Donut!
Ice chutes: very scary. like solid ice that is 40 feet above and below the trail at a 30 degree pitch. some brave soul before us had cut a path across where the trail should be with an ice axe, and then all the others in front of us had dug in 6 inch foot steps. The only way to pass is to put your feet right in those same footsteps and be very focused. I am not kidding, if you were to slip anywhere on that chute, you would die or wish you were dead at the bottom of the canyon. I almost vomited from the adrenaline rush from crossing the first one. Natalie thought she would shorten her poles and do it on her knees, and i refused to let her, that would have been sure death, her pants are slick. But we made it across about 7 of these 40 foot ice chute trail crossings. And i only got a little bloody that day when i had to retrieve my stick which had fallen at the first chute.
So later that day we made it to 8400 feet. Then the PCT disappeared under 2-4 feet of snow when we came around to the north face of that particular ridge. We found foot prints in the snow, and followed. Bad move. We went way down into the valley below, slipping and sliding, and using new muscles in our arms to hold our poles steady. I am sore in the shoulders right now. We were lost basically. Following others who were even more lost! But we have a good map, and my watch has an altimeter, which came in very handy when we went searching for "Saddle Junction" where many of the trails converge near the peak of the San Jacintos. We just stayed at the same altitude, and went sipping thru the snow around the ridge until it got way too dark to navigate. We broke camp in a non-snowy spot that was not so flat, ate the last of our food, and went to sleep. In the morning, with our bearings still fresh from the night before, we followed our shadows to keep going west, and we found the elusive PCT again, and followed it to Saddle Junction, took a left on the Devil's Slide Trail, and that goes 4.5 miles straight to Idyllwild, and we went straight to eat breakfast at the local diner!!
There is another bad snow area ahead on the PCT, and we are skipping it! We don't have crampons or ice axes, and don't want to buy them or cary them. We'll be doing the alternate road walk to meet up with the PCT 8 miles past the bad snow. If you are interested, the spot is called Fuller Ridge, and it is covered with snow and ice chutes, and is on the north face of San Jacinto, and we have just had enough of near death excitement! I am actually glad to be on the way back to the desert!
In the desert, there are a million lizards. Humming birds fly right up to you and check you out and then buzz away. Huge ants are busy building in the trail, and i try not to step on them for all the work they are doing. The flowers still amaze me sometimes, and the smells are sweet and strong now and then. There is a sort of ringing in my ears all day hiking in the hot sun with sweat running down my cheeks, like the drone strings of a sitar or something... very tripped out.
Nano and I are very strong now. We can do the miles a lot easier. Not quite machines yet, but 200 more miles will complete the training. By the way, we are at mile 179 now. Our next big stop is Big Bear City in 87 miles, which is mile 265 or so on the PCT. Looking more and more forward to our stop in Los Angeles at mile 450. That will be a nice break. We have also discussed slowing down some because we really don't want to go into the Sierras until most of the dangerous ice is gone... let the crazy fasty pants do that... we'll be chillin in the back of the pack!
Ok for now, other people want to use this coffee shop computer...
Hike your own Donut!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Comments from y'uns...
Just wanted to tell you all that i get your comments on my phone as soon as you post them when i have service... It's spotty out in the desert with getting signal, but i keep my phone on most of the time just to get your comments and to upload photos if i have 3 or 4 bars.. speaking of bars, i am going to the Warner Springs Cantina to fill my coffee with whiskey and baileys! I might post something tomorrow after my hour long massage at the spa. My life is awesome. Every day is saturday. Keep the comments coming, we love you.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
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