Hi everyone

Sorry Its been so long since I've written.  The small little towns and resorts all have wi-fi but of course I don't carry a computer with me and the library's are open on bizzar days and times.

After I left Lassen park I passed through a park called Burney Falls, on July 21, that had these incredible water falls.  I didn't want to pay the price to stay there so I walked up the falls aways and found this nice little spot right on the edge of the falls.  It was a fantastic place to sleep, like sleeping next to the ocean with a continues roar from the waves.  Next I walked 6 days to Mt. Shasta city where I intended to climb Mount Shasta.  The smoke from all the fires was so bad that even from the city, which is at the base of Shasta, you couldn't see the top of the mountain.  At this time I had developed some new blisters on my heels.  I thought it was from walking across all the lava fields but when I got to town I noticed that the inside linning of my boots was worn away.  So the next day I went to an outfitter to rent crampons to climb shasta and see about a new pair of shoes.  Well because of my unique feet (small) I couldn't find a pair that fit so I duct tapped the inside and this was better.  JUly 28th I climbed to base camp on Shasta just in time to see a guide being air lifted off the mountain and another bing carried down after being hit by falling rocks.  Several other thru hikers were coming down and said the climb up was to dangerous because of the falling rocks and the trail was full of loose muddy debrie from melting snow.  the forest service was there incouraging people not to climb, so I decided to save it for another time plus my heels were realy causing me alot of pain. 

After leaving Shasta I saw my first jet black black bear.  I was walking down the trail and noticed bear tracks on the trail.  As I came around this bend in the trail there was a good size black bear walking right in front of me he turned his head around and looked at me then turned completly around and squared off with me.  I wanted to get a picture but at the same time I thought I should back down the trail.  he wasn't moving so I went for my camera which scared him and he took off into the woods.  I did manage to get a great shot of his ass as he fled into the woods. 

This same day I got to watch planes and helecopters fight a fire that had just started that morning.  I was up on a ridge about 8000 ft. and was able to see the planes dive down into the smoke and fire and dump this red chemical on the flames.  I watched for about 2 hours when I realized that the wind was driving the fire my way and it was was coming fast.  I left the area so fast that I forgot to get water and had to travel the next 12 miles in 98* temp. with no water.  At about six miles I found this rasberry bush with enough ripe berries to fill half a gateraid bottle and this quenched my thirst till I could find some water.  perfect timming.

The rest of Northern Cal. continued to be filled with smoke I have many pictures but they are all distorted by the smoke.  walking through all this has got to have some bad effects on my lungs but only time will tell.  One hiker named Venture had decided to walk through all the fire sections instead of walking the roads.  He told me at one point he was in the middle of one of the fire zones and he noticed his boots were melting.  He said to himself "what am I doing out here I have 3 kids " It finally occured to him that he could die out here.  I'm glad I decided to walk around.

I'll finnish later as my time is up

Drive By

Hi Everyone,

Fotina I didn't get your package in Soda Springs but I had the post office forward everything to Old Station that shows up so hopefully it will be here on Monday. Your right about the fires screwing all the postal deliveries up. there are quite a few hikers that are missing packages.

Well I made back to the trail after wandering through some towns for a couple of days. while in the town of chester there was no place to sleep. I went to this small cheep hotel and asked about staying there and the owner told me that there were no vacancies because the fire fighters had taken all the rooms in town. He suggested that I sleeep in the town park just down the street. The place looked great, nice green grass, picnic benches, playground and 2 ball parks and a river that flowed on the side. I picked a bench next to the river. There was a ball game going on so I went and got a six pack of Coors and watched the game. After the game I set up my bag on the ground and went to sleep. About midnight I hear this shhhhhhhh sound and I think a bear is dragging off my pack and grab my trekking poles to fight it off. As I stand up I get hit with a blast of water from the water sprinkles that just came on. Now I'm grabbing all my gear and run to the edge of the river where I can set up just about 3 feet from where the water hits and right on the edge of the river but at least its dry. So much for sleeping on nice plush green grass.

The next day I was resupplying at the grocery store and met Gordon who's an old hiker but can't hike anymore because of back problems and no fine motor movement of his hands. He lives in his van and follows the hikers up the trails and does trail magic for them by helping us get to places we need to go. He gave me a ride about 5 miles to the trail head which saved me walking on a road with no shoulder. A great guy.

Part of the trail goes through this park called Lassen Volcanic National Park. this whole park is alive with geysers and thermal pools and bubbling mud pots. It also has a volcano that erupted several times back in 1914. I couldn't pass this place up so I stayed here a couple of days exploring I have some great pictures and movies which I hope I can get copied on disc and get to everyone.

Reva thanks for writing. I miss you very much also and should be home in about 2 months. I thought I might make it home faster but these extra side trips I take are pushing me back a little longer than I had planned. The trips are worth it, who knows when I'll gat back out here again.

Hey Espo I know my 70's looking hair has got to be eating away at you but the stile is coming back. :) Anyway you can work your creative magic when I get back. I'll see if I can give you a call before I leave today.

I hope everyone is doing ok and I'll write again the next time I have internet service

Love Drive By

Hi Everyone,

I appologize for how long it's been since I last updated this blog. I havn't had any internet access.

First let me thank Kelly and Sherri for their care packages they were great My fellow hikers think I have these girlfriends stationed all across America just to support me.

Kelly thank you for the chocolates, (food of the gods), they were incredible. Yours showed up at Echo Lake which only has a small country store so your package was perfect timing to help me resupply. Again I was able to share some of the goodies with several other thru hikers that were around.

Sherri, your package showed up at Sierra City I was able to pick it up just as I was leaving. the spiced tuna with crackers was excellent. I couldn't take the caned goods with me but there was this family, a single father and his 12 year old daughter, who lost their house and everything that they own to the fires that are up here. I donated the canned food along with several other things to this family they were very appreciative and the father was close to tears when I gave him the food.

Brenda I'm sorry but I didn't receive your package If you let me know where you mailed it to, I'll try to call the post office and have them forward it.

Terry and Kat It was good to hear from you I didn't think you had this blog. Terry I wish you were out here with me. It would be like when we were kids and I would take you on one of those adventures, where we would get lost, hurt, dirty and usually in some kind of trouble. Why can't life be that simple now? I hope to see you guy's some time in September.

So much has happened since I left Mammoth Mountain. While I was there I went down hill mountain biking. I took a few spills and hurt my right hip. When I left Cielo, Sam and the Grandkids I went back up to Red Meadows where I ended out staying for another 2 days as I couldn't wear my pack, my hip belt hurt to much . So I applied large ice bags to my hip for 2 days and even after that I was only able to make 10 miles a day as I had to stop and rest so many times throughout the day. It should of taken me 2 days to get to Tualomne but instead it took 4. The walk was still beautiful. I took an alternate route as I had already walked this section before and I saw the most incredible lakes I've ever seen. The mosquitoes in this section were the worst I have ever seen. they were so thick that they actually formed clouds. I had to wear my rain gear and lots of DEET just to keep them at bay and still they would get me. This lasted for about 150 miles. I found myself playing this game of how many mosquito carcases I could have on my body at the end of the day.

The mosquitoes weren't the only problem during this time. After Cielo, Sam and the kids left I became very homesick. It was also at this time that I hit the 1000 mile mark which is a big milestone. Then I realized that a 1000 miles wasn't even halfway and it would be another 2+ months before I would see my family and friends again. Every morning, for the next week, I would wake up and say "I could go home and spend the next 2 months with my kids, go visit my grandkids, and play with my friends." During this time it took every ounce of willpower I had to stay on the trail. I talked to several other hikers and they said they went through the same thing at about mile 1000. So maybe it has something to do with that time frame and the fact that we all do miss are family and friends.

I have become a true vagabond. I haven't stayed in a hostel or motel since leaving Mammoth. Instead the last few towns I have come to I have stayed in a cemetery, summer camp for kids, church lawn and behind a library.

When I arrived at Echo Lake it was 8:30 pm and the country store was closed. There were 2 other thru hikers that were trying to bum a ride in to South Lake Tahoe. They told me there was all you could eat buffets, bars and gambling. Instead I walked 1/3rd of a mile down the road to this summer camp for teens and talked to the camp director. I told him I was hiking the PCT and if he might have a place I could stay. Well, he had his kitchen staff breakout all the leftovers which was fried chicken, black beans, pasta, pudding, fruit, and coffee. I ate as much as I possibly could. Then he let me take a shower, hooked me up with a tent cabin that overlooked Echo Lake with a real bed in it and also fed me breakfast in the morning with flapjacks, sausage, homemade granola (which I had three helpings of) more fruit, yogurt, juice and about 5 cups of coffee. All this for $25.00. Then as I was leaving he gave me his card and offered me a job as camp nurse for next year. I told him I would have to get back to him.

I love these small towns the people are so incredible going out of their way to help you and asking nothing in return except a good story or some company.

I arrived at Soda Springs before the general store and the post office opened so I was sitting on the porch waiting when this old gentleman about 85 came from across the street and brought me a coffee, melon and toast with butter. He told me his name, Christian, and said that he had climbed most of the mountains in the sierras and some were first accents. He is also responsible for building a lot of the lodges around the lakes in the areas. He wanted to know what I was doing and I told him I was a thru hiker on the PCT apparently he has cross country skied most of the PCT through the Sierras. He told me they don't get many thru hikes any more because of a hostel just off the trail called Pooh Corner and now all the hikers go there. I told him that I appreciate the small towns and I get so much out of meeting the people. Christian had so many incredible stories it was hard to get back on the trail.

When I walked into Sierra City (population 225 in the summer) it was 9:00 pm and I went to this little restaurant/bar. They closed at 8:30 PM but the owner, Joanne, told me to sit down and made me the best hamburger I had ever eaten and gave me 2 Coors. After eating I asked her if there was a place I could stay. She said there was a bike race in town and that there were no vacancies but that I could stay on the church lawn. on the way over to the church she asked if I wanted a shower. It had been 8 days since my last shower so I enthusiastically said yes. After my shower she said no one was using the couch so I could sleep there. I offered to give her money but this offended her more than anything else. these are the kind of people you meet out here.

Today I had to do a road walk as 100 miles of the trail is cut off by the fires. the road walk was about 26 miles. After the third car in about as many hours a gold miner picked me up. He said he had been in the mountains since May 22 panning for gold and was coming in to town to do laundry and resupply. he insisted that I eat breakfast with him and then payed for it. He wanted to take me to the library so I could catch up on my blog and pay bills but across the street was this job finding business that had free internet for people looking for jobs. when I told the receptionist I was on the PCT and needed internet time to pay bills and catch up on my blog. She said that sounds like business to me and gave me as much time as I needed.

All the above are examples of the kind of people I have met, and have made this trip so much more interesting and fun, more than I could have ever expected.

I should talk to you a little about the trail. From Tualomne you follow the Tualomne river to the Tualomne falls. These falls are spectacular they stretch on for miles of just cascading white water into blue and green pools. After the falls the trail goes up and down these steep canyons where the trail can sometimes be at a 25 degree angle. This is some of the hardest trail I have walked on. As you come out of the canyons the mountains start to change from giant walls of granite to volcanic mountains with the most bizzar shaped rocks and mountain tops I have ever seen.  Part of this volcanic range is Sanora pass and Carson pass.  As I climbed over these incredible passes, unfortunately the smoke from the fires obscured much of the view and many of my pictures won't show much but haze.

Because of the fires the trail is closed from La Port to Chester. I need to figure out how I'm going to get my maps and bounce box from the town of Belden which is where I sent them and is my next resupply. It is being evacuated and the post office there is closed. My next resupply after Belden is almost 200 miles away in Old Station. this means I'll have to make this next section of almost 200 miles without maps. Thats what I like about the trail one adventure after another.

Well I'm being politely asked to give up the computer to another client so I'll say good by for now. I think I can catch a buss from Quency which is where I am now to Chester and then pick the trail up there. I'll let you Know how it goes.

Again thanks to everyone for your support and interest and the delicious packages.

Love Drive By

Hi Everyone

Sorry it has taken me so long to write.  I have been very busy with resupplying strategy and post office work.  I am in Mammoth lakes and arrived here on the 25th  after 13 days of walking through the Sierras.  This is the longest walk without resupplying that I have had to make todate and hope I don't have to do it again.  The nice thing about it is I was able to meet up with Dan at Horseshoe Meadows.  It was so nice having  someone from home meet me out here.  We had a great time hiking together even did some night hiking with a full moon off of Mount Whitney.  Dan was a trooper even though I might of pushed him a little hard.  I hope he finds the time to meet me in Washington for a portion of the Cascades, where he mentioned he would like to meet up with me again, as he spent time there as a teen.

Prior to meeting Dan I had an oppotunity to walk through a section of the forrest that was on fire.  At one point the smoke made it difficult to breath but the experince made it worth it.  Some of the hikers even saw a tree explode in flames, they said it sounded like a jet flying over head and in seconds the tree was bare, burnt  and charred. 

After Dan and I seperated and he went back to his  car, I was filming an incredible waterfall when my camera just stopped working.  Through the rest of the walk to Mammoth I could not get it to work.  When I arrived here, I went to a camera shop, to at least get the pctures off the memory card but they were lost.  I was sick to my stomach so many wonderful pictures lost and on top of that still had to buy a new camera.  I'm hopping I can get other thru hikers to send me pictures of that section that the camera stopped working and of the pictures I had already taken.  It shouldn't be to hard as I have made so many new friends out here.  

On a good note I was able to meet my daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids here in Mammoth.  It was so great to see them and we have been having alot of fun swimming, hiking and climbing.  Today they all went horseback riding, I didn't go as I had to get ready to leave tomorrow.  We did get up to yosemite national park and had a great day.  The kids were troppers hiking all over the rocks and walking up to Yosemite falls I have had so much fun with them.  Oh yea we had a 4.2 earthquake that julted me out of bed, it lasted about 3 seconds but it was great...My first earthquake.  

Well I'm kind of hogging the computer so I'll go for now.

I Miss you guy's  and will see you in about 3 months.  Can you believe that 2 months have already gone by?


P.S. Willson if you could pick me up a pass I would appreciate it as I won't be back in time to get my own. 

Love Drive By