Etna to Castella

What a journey!

We're still trying to figure the best and easiest way to share our journey. Please bear with us as we experiment! This week we're trying a video.

It's been a tough, slow week. With Jeff still having some foot issues (we think he has a deep bruise exacerbated by the inconsistent trail). We managed to make our goal all but 2 days.

The views have been beyond description. Please note how much closer we get to Shasta as the week progresses. Just getting close to Castle Crags was so exciting. It was amazing (and eventually exhasting) literally walking at the feet of those impressive crags.

The California Pitcher Plant was fascinating. I thought of our daughter Kei often as we came across the ever fragrant lillies. There was one brief stretch of a honeysuckle-like flower, beautiful and so fragrant. Nature's bouquets bring life to the rocky terrain.

The heat was far cooler than predicted but still averaged in the high 80s keeping us nursing our water bottles. Water sources were mostly consistent with only twice worrying us. TBG stays well covered even in the heat due some sun sensitivity but I expose-and burn which peels adding to the itching from multiple bug bites. I have taken to resorting to strange attire during the heat of the day to alleviate burning so bad.

We continue to be light eaters. TBG is better at eating than I am. I am generally just so thirsty and sweet foods offer no appeal at all!  TBG's fave food has been his cashews and mine has been cheese sticks.

We fall into bed early and exhausted each night and fall asleep to the sounds of nature. The sunrise wakens us. If we have been fortunate, we have a level, smooth site! The campsite in the video was the worst one we've had-JUST barely big enough for the tent but desperation frequently dictates placement and we were so done that night!

Our last full day we met Wit and Brightside a couple about our age from Alaska hiking Ashland to Dunsmuir to finish thier goal of completing the PCT. They were pretty excited to be almost done!

The days blur. I never know what day of the week it is and only know the date as I keep a journal. Although we look forward to completing the hike, it's the journey that is important.  We may be slower than most and have our limitations, but we're out there hiking our own hike. We encourage you to do the same, whatever "hike" that may be.

Until next time, keep on keepin on.

Seiad to Etna

I don't care how much the maps all say you will go downhill. They lie. For every down there is an up is not true either. The hills would just kill us but we'd hang on in anticipation of the downs only to round the corner for...yep, more up.

All in all it's been a good 4 days. We've experienced many fun hikers, a fantastic trail crew who finished clearing nearly 100 downed trees the day we passed thru. We were happy to let them have the campsite we wanted!

We've dodged poison oak, bugs, ants and walked mostly on broken and uneven rock trail making our blisters and otherwise tired bodies cry out for mercy.

We've slipped across some small snow fields, ran out of water, worried for available campsites.

We watched beautiful distant mountains grow closer with each climb. We've seen the majestic views that words cannot describe.

We've seen so many deer and feel they are hiking with us as their heart shaped tracks lead the way down the trail. Lizards too, have provided frequent entertainment. We've seen fresh bear scat and the bear that left it.

We're sore. We're exhausted. We're hungry.  We STINK. I'm dreading the next portion which is longer and promises to be every bit as challenging. But it also promises to be rewarding and so we hike on.

It took about 30 minutes before we caught our ride to Etna. Thank you kind locals who give rides! We may take an additional zero day in town to rest bruised feet. We are staying in a quaint little hotel that makes us feel at home.

Until next time. We miss you all and look forward to hearing from you!

UPDATE: We stayed in Etna a few days and shopped/visited every business. What a warm and receptive town. A special thanks to Cassie at Collier Hotel who bent over backward to make sure we had what we needed and to Jeff at Mountain Healing for the fabulous massage.

On to the trail again...just saw where it will be triple digits in Castella-our next stop. We miss Oregon!

July 12 Ashland to Seiad Valley

Our first milestone! Bryan, Hunter and Stephen gave us a ride down to the drop off point on Sunday and took a few photos before they left us alone on the road wondering what in the world are we doing? And so it began.

The last 5 days have been full of ups and downs. Literally. Our trail notes might indicate our next waypoint will be down (or up) x amount of feet but what they don't tell us is that we may go up and down hundreds of feet between points. We have had some trouble with the altitude. It couldn't possibly be lack of conditioning or heavy packs!

We've had one day with very light rain but the rest have been in the mid to high 80s. Tonight, in Seiad it was 89 at 7pm. The heat makes the steepness steeper and we peter out faster.

To add to the adventure we developed blisters. TBG on the ball of his foot and me one on the pointer toe on each foot. I am sure I will lose both nails. Since TBGs are where he walks, he notices it more but rarely complains. Mine just get huge, pop, and grow again. We did the needle & thread trick tonight and hope that solves it.

We have met so many fun hikers. Mostly thru hikers but a few SOBOs as well. We have grown quite attached to Doug and Harold, two gentlemen from the Seattle area. We leap frogged with them all week but bid them farewell in Seiad today as they headed for their next section. There is a chance we meet again. We sure hope so.

Thru hikers have regaled us with tales of adventuring thru the sierras this year (not too many) or the different skips they are doing in efforts to still complete the trail. Most have been sharing what to expect and giving helpful advice.

We have been meeting about a dozen NOBO hikers each day but only 2 or three SOBOs. It feels like we're going the wrong way on a one way street. It's a bit discouraging to have them tell us we'll find water in 20 minutes or1/2 mile or so when in OUR time it'll be much longer. We definitely agree with other mature hikers that have similar speeds-stop, move and "I think I am gonna die!".

Seriously, it's been a good week. We miss our family and friends as they enjoy homecooked meals and rest in their easy chairs! But we can't trade the silence of the mountains or the open skies.

We've seen squirrels, chipmunks, lizards, birds, deer and even a bear. We enjoyed mountain flowers including the oh so fragrant lilies. We are learning to be adept at identifying poison oak as it is so ever present.

Our food lasted beyond our time out. I just had no appetite. I guess because I have so much stored. That's fine with me. We feel good over all.

We are having...fun. We are trying to rejoin with nature and rediscover parts of us we've been missing.

We love you and thank you for following us! Here's to Etna next week!

Please bear with us as we try to blog from our phone. We'll try to uodate and improve!

July 7, 2019

Ashland - And so we begin

We are here and ready or not it's time. Stephen, Bryan and Hunter gave us a lift to Ashland and now it's up to us to walk the rest of the way. It should be easy with all the butterflies in my stomach! Our final pack weight was a little more than we had hoped at 33 and 35 lbs. We know we've packed stuff we don't need so we'll probably add to the first hiker box we come to. Looking forward to getting our trail legs and mojo. It will be just the renewal we've been needing.

It was with mixed feelings I bid my coworkers and volunteers at Solid Waste farewell . It feels strange to not be coming back qnd I wonder what life will be like when we return. TBG will return to his job so we have that security to come home to.

To all of you wonderful well-wishers, thank you for your support and encouragement!

We promise to do our best to keep you updated as we walk along the trail. Please be patient as we'll be doing our communicating on our phone so typos and the like may be frequent!

With that being said I guess I can stall no longer....our first step of many.