Bought the shirt now have to walk the talk!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I bought the "I climbed Whitney" shirt
in Lone Pine so we are committed to making it happen. I'm nervous but excited. This hike has been all about overcoming obstacles and fears. "Defeating" Mt. Whitney will be a big one to cross of the list!

Our goal for today was nearly 20 miles to get us to Crabtree Meadow, a pivot point for Mt. Whitney. After our extended days off, it was probably not the best goal. Even though most of the trail was level, it was also 3-6 inches of sand or rock. The rest of the trail was either steep up or down. On a positive note, for once water is plentiful. It got late and we still had about 2 miles to go when TBG got sick. Dizzy, nauseous and very weak. We set camp right there and he went to sleep as I stayed awake and fretted over what to do now. He was too sick to try to make it to Yellowstone as planned. Do we go back now and forget about climbing Whitney and the PCT altogether? Do we skip Whitney and jump off at the next junction? TBG suggested we jump off at Kearsarge pass which will give us more time (and food) to make Mt. Whitney and Forester Pass. Instead of pushing to be to Yellowstone in 8 days, we'll have 8 days of food (and energy?) to make it to Kearsarge in 4 days. Kearsarge Pass is the option we decided on. We aren't ready to quit. We don't want to but something has to change. This way we can slow our mileage and not push so hard. Regardless, we now know we will have to go home and get some real rest and healing for TBG. I am worried about him and a little afraid of him being so sick. My emotions are going wild. I'm relieved to have made the decision to go home, but I don't want to go home. I'm tired, sore and hungry (always hungry!). I don't want to leave the PCT without some sort of accomplishment. I feel like a wimp. We are only at about 750 miles. What's there to be proud of in that?

We agree to take it easy tomorrow and aim for Guitar Lake, about 6 miles past Crabtree Meadow on the way to Mt. Whitney. This will allow us to hike Mt. Whitney as a 10 mile RT hike instead of 16. Finally, I get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting and long day. I just hope we live to talk about it!

We still love hiking (I think!)

KOKO & The Bald Guy

PCT Mile: 746.46-764.34
Lat/Long: 36.53072   -118.36298
UTM: 11S 37798   4043682N
Elevation: 10,589

Finally! A deer!

So nice to finally have abundant water.

The Astor Column has NOTHING on this trail!

I loved finding encouragement through the hearts I saw along the way.

It is hard to "walk and gawk" at the beautiful sights.

Another heart.

OK, so it's dead, it's proof that there are fish in the streams. This one was about 8 inches long.