Yahoo!

So, update :). Came 'home' for a few days (and by home I mean the wonderful apartment above some of my good friends garage) then I hit the road for Colorado. Kelly had not started her job yet, so she came along. 

Obligatory photo op by the Colorful Colorado sign

First big happening, was stopping in Hays, KS at Taco Grande for Kelly's first ever....SANCHO (aka food of the gods)

Best. Cheap. Mexican. Food. Ever.

We spent our first night in Denver and went to dinner at Avanti. A groovy Denver spot and my nieces, and brother-in-law joined us

Aaaand....it just so happened that another of my AT hiking friends was in town and he joined us too.  These are the relationships I was missing on the PCT! Such incredible people. This is Mobius. The girls were excited to get to meet another of the 'crazies'. 

After some bonding time with Walter, the grand dog,

Kelly and I traveled on to Fort Collins in search of a home for me. I chose Fort Collins because it has sort of a 'Lawrence- like' vibe. It's a college town, seems open- minded and progressive AND bonus, it has 21 Breweries! (We only managed to squeeze in 5 while we were there. We gave it our best effort) I checked out a few rentals, knowing that it was a tough market. I know two people in Fort Collins. Two really cool people. And they introduced me to some friends, and...long story short (I don't want to jinx it) I found an amazing spot to land. Better than I could have imagined. This was a huge piece of the puzzle.

And while we were there, squeezed in a little hike to horsetooth Rock 

Had dinner with MORE AT friends (the two cool people that I mentioned earlier) 

Kickapoo and Pogano and got to see the tiny house that they built themselves. So impressive. Before entering their home, we had to try our hand at ax throwing....

Back to Denver after a successful few nights in Fort Collins and got to have dinner with all the kids (except Kelly's boyfriend Brad sadly) Every parent of adult kids knows how great it is when you get to spend time with all your kids together. 

We toasted to new homes, new business ventures and good family. Feeling very lucky.

So...the adventure continues and I am starting to feel like the pieces are coming together.  Whew!

So....

I can't believe I am going to say this, but I am suspending my hike for now. (Can't bring myself to say quitting) One of the hardest decisions I've ever made. This trail is absolutely incredibly beautiful. But at this point, I am not enjoying it. And by enjoying, I don't mean that I expect a pine needle path through the woods with rainbows and unicorns. I enjoy a challenge. I enjoyed rock scrambling through the White Mountains in NH. I enjoyed climbing up the steep side of Forester Pass in the snow. 'ENJOY' might be a stretch for walking over the rocks of PA for a week in the rain, but I did it and I still felt like it was right where I was supposed to be. Right where I wanted to be. I haven't had that feeling here for awhile now, but I kept pushing, thinking it would come. Plus, I didn't want to be a quitter!! I've evaluated and reevaluated why. Still don't really know but here's what I've come up with. First,one of the things I loved most about the Appalachian Trail was the wonderful people. The camaraderie. I still keep in touch with so many of those incredible folks and hope I always will. Out here...in my experience, there are way fewer people. We've done days and days without seeing but maybe one other hiker. I mean, I LOVE the mountains, the forest and the solitude. But I also like people. And conversation. And laughter.

They (whoever they are) say the AT is harder physically and the PCT is hard mentally. I would have to agree.

I have been lucky to have the two best hiking partners ever with Murphy and Movin On. They have been awesome, strong, and hilarious.

But my heart is not in it. My kids are up to some cool stuff and I want to be there to see it! And, there is my move to Colorado. I'm anxious to get that figured out. The where, the what, and the when. My greeting card business. I really want to build on that. 

This is such a dramatic, beautiful part of our country. A trail to be enjoyed, not endured. I will finish it, it just won't be in one year.

So, last trail notes for awhile. Spent last night in Belden, CA, population 12. Maybe. Here's the sign as we left Belden.

Had to hitch from Belden to Quincy. 24 miles. Another part of the adventure.

Took us three partial rides...

1) a guy who climbs trees to gather seeds for a living. Took us as far as the nearest Hot Springs.

2) Ride #2- nice guy with a bit of a twitch 

who drove like a bat out of hell down windy mountain road. Took us to the turnoff for Greenville. Really happy he was only going that far!

3) Nice guy with a huge truckload of giant tree trunks that are going to be used for a sweat lodge part of a 'sun dance ceremony' for his tribe. They invited us along, and honestly I think it would have been a cool experience, but it was further than we needed to go and I have to figure out a way to get to a town with an airport at some point. (Weird 😢)

Tonight after dinner, we went to a wine bar where we met some really fun Quincy locals. Had some wine, laughed a lot and I think I have a ride to Reno on Friday, for the trek home. Somehow things usually work out if you open yourself up. 

Today was a very emotional day. Stopping my hike is not something I take lightly. Thanks to all my family, friends at home and AT friends, for the support and encouraging words today. (Which of course made me even more emotional) Once I had made the decision, I knew it was the right one, but it doesn't make it easier. 

So...for now...heading 'home' (although technically I am homeless :) to gather a few things and head to CO and figure out the next step.

And as for you PCT...I will be back to walk the rest of your beautiful miles. Just not today.

Buck's Lake Wilderness

Didn't get out of Quincy until late morning, but still managed to do 20 miles today. It was a day of really beautiful, gradual trail.

Cool, mossy trees.

There were tons of blowdowns in some of the sections! Had to do a lot of climbing over and around, but there was only a few very small patches of snow. Yay!!

We got to Belden at about 6:00 after a long steep climb down the mountain. Weather forecast here for the next few days is....a winter snow advisory above 6000 feet, and yep, that means snow. And winds gusting up to 50 mph on the ridges. 😝😁

Wades Lake to Quincy

Not a bad spot to camp. Right by a secluded lake.

Passed this water fall on the way down.

Hiked down to the Jamison Lake Mine with Matt and Yvonne and they gave us a ride into Qunicy. With a stop for a burger at the Frostee in Graegle. They were so kind and offered to drive us wherever we needed to go. 

They really are trail angels and I checked for real wings :). They came along right when we were pretty worn out.  Good people out here. 

Spent some of the day relaxing in Quincy to refresh.

Sierra City to Wades Lake

Got on the trail pretty early and had a big climb right off the bat. It was gradual and so not too bad. Interesting being out of the high Sierras. Mountains are not nearly as high and in the Sierras the snow is almost gone on anything below 9000 feet. Yet here, there is still a lot of snow clear down to 6500 feet on north faces, and in the woods where there isn't much sun.

The first 13 miles today flew by. Hiked past the Sierra Buttes 

And most of the trail was green with some really cool mossy pine trees.

Ate lunch on top of a mountain and it was warm and wonderful. And then...the snow patches began to pop up again. No problem. At first. Then we came to a sketchy area where the trail was buried under snow and we had to scramble down some rocks and glissade down a snow field to get back down to where we thought the trail was . And once we got in to the forest, the trail was gone again and there was 3-4 feet of snow covering the forest floor, so we had to use our gps to find our way down. Still managed to do 21 miles today, but I'm not going to lie...I'm over the snow thing!! The previous four years, snow has not been an issue out here. This was an El Niño year, meaning more moisture. It definitely makes the trail more challenging!! 

Trail? 

Got to a trail crossing at the end of the day and we were really tired. And after almost a whole day of not seeing another person, on a random trail crossing , we met a cool young couple, Matt and Yvonne...and they had a map!! We followed them down a snowy trail to Wades Lake, which was quiet and pretty and we camped down there just a little off the PCT. Good to get out of the snow!!! 

Sierra City

I am ready to walk!!! Larry picked us up for the drive to Sierra City this morning. So generous! It was an hour and a half over a mountain pass and he would not accept any compensation. Even told us to keep in touch as he has friends in Bend and a house in Ashland. What a great guy.

Sierra City is not a big place.

Tiny Main Street. We could have camped in the yard of the church or we chose to rent a room basically in the home of a local gal, Susan. It is right beside the river  with a wonderful garden.

And you know how sometimes you see something and it reminds you of something you didn't even know you'd forgotten? The wallpaper in the house...I think is the same wallpaper that was in my grandmas house in Abilene, KS. Different color, same pattern.

Talked to a few hikers in front of the general store who are heading south about what kind of trail we have ahead. (Mostly the snow situation) looks like there will be some but doable. One mile they said was sketchy, but we will be doing it about 3 days after they did, so come on sunshine, melt it down!

Up and out early tomorrow! I'm ready to roll!

Darn snow!

I'm So today started out great!! We had good trail, a few stream crossings and everything was so green!

We were optimistic that most of the major snow was behind us. We knocked off 11 miles by noon! That's almost as many as we had done all of yesterday. 

And we hiked out of the Desolation Wilderness.

Life was good! 

Hiked up over Barker Pass, still cruising and then, we hit the north side of Barker. Solid snow pack with no visible trail or swithbacks. One major steep snowfield, and we figured if we could get down that, and amongst the trees, we should be good to go.  Brownie and Dizzy were with us too. Made it down the first descent and then looked down to where the trail might be. It was crazy steep and there was still probably 8 feet of snow, so no way to find any trail at all. We decided our best option was to climb back up and hike the two miles out to Barker Pass. It took awhile! We used our gps to find our way back (of course we had just hiked this and tried to follow our own footprints, but they were melting in the afternoon sun. Found our way back to the road, no cell service so we started hiking down the 6 miles to the next road for a hitch to somewhere without death defying snow obstacles :)   After we'd hiked about 4 miles a guy came up the closed road, out for a bike ride up the steep incline. Larry. Our hero for the day. We kept walking and Larry finished his climb, then rode back down and got his car. He gave all four of us a ride into Tahoe City. We showered, met for dinner at Blue Agave ( with Larry) and he is giving us a ride tomorrow to Sierra city where....we are hoping for no dangerous snow sections!! We are trying to get some miles done, but I feel like this trail is pushing back!!! Today we did 21 miles, but only 14 PCT miles. We did have a pretty awesome view of Lake Tahoe though!

Met a hiker named Eric from Tazmania yesterday. He was about 6'2". He said his last few creek crossings in the Sierras were terrifying and he had to swim across. Started up stream so that by the time the current shoved him down stream he would be at a spot to climb out. He got pretty banged up. There is more snow in the forecast for there on Saturday night. Come on summer!!! Show yourself.

And as we were driving down to Tahoe City with Larry, we saw a HUGE bear in the road. Tried to get s pic before he took off. Pretty happy I was in a car!

A few random photos from the day...

Made it down this steep slope before we decided to go back. Then had to climb back up 😜

Crossing a few streams early in the day. These were ok! 

No snow here. Thanks Ranger Rick :)

Fan out searching for the trail.

And the end of the day . Ah! Dinner with Brownie, Dizzy and trail angel Larry. 

Trail?

Tough day. Before we decided where to jump to on the trail, we called the ranger station up here to check trail conditions. 'Not much snow' is what we heard. Well...apparently Ranger Rick has not ventured up in to the mountains. They are still buried in about 10 feet of snow! Which makes for no trail at all. It was slow going today and we had to go up over Dicks Pass. At least we have our microspikes and gps. A few other hikers, Dizzy and Brownie, asked to stick with us today because they did not have their microspikes or gps. We tried to dig deep footprints as we went so they had someplace to step. And we had to stop every 20 yards or so and check ouR GPS  to see if we were heading the right direction.

Got over the pass

And then the fun really began. Steep slope, no trail. We all did a lot of unintentional butt sliding. It took us well over an hour to even go a mile. It was frustrating and exhausting! 

Stopped for lunch on some rocks because at least we were out of the snow temporarily and tried to dry out shoes and feet.

When we finally got down lower , we could occasionally get glimpses of the trail beneath the snow, and it was usually filled with running water down the mountain. Needless to say, shoes, socks, and feet are soaking wet.  

We walked past several beautiful lakes and in August, this could be a great place to hike.

We were hoping to be able to knock out some big miles up here, but not the case so far. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!!

Echo Lake

We were moving pretty slow this morning. Went to IHOP for a big breakfast, went back to the motel to organize. It was about a 30 minute drive to Echo Lake where we were going to rejoin the trail. Such a weird feeling ! Weird that Movin On drove us there and then was splitting off, and weird that we were starting hiking at a spot we hadn't gotten off at. 

Movin On walked down by the lake with us. We all got a little teary. When you spend 24/7 with people and you are going through some of the challenges we've encountered, you get pretty close.

Finally, about 12:30, we started hiking. Trail was beautiful at first and skirted the lake. 

And it was green and lush. Then it got a little Pennsylvania-ish... Meaning a few miles of rocks...

And then it got snowy. We weren't expecting it because we were only at about 8000 feet. For several miles. It was warm and woodsy, so it wasn't hard, but it was surprising. We didn't think we'd be seeing this much snow here. We walked by several lakes and talked about how awesome this would be in the summer to stop and swim. The weather was warm, but the water was not.

The trail was pretty non-existent, but between footprints and gps, we were able to find our way.

This area is called Desolation Wilderness which made perfect sense. 

The water in the lakes Is really high, but stream crossing have been fine so far. As we were getting close to where we planned on camping for the night, there was a slippery snow bank right by Susie lake. We'd worn out microspikes earlier but had taken them off because we were walking on lots of rocks. This would have been a good spot for them, but at this point, there was no place to stop and put them back on. I got past the snow bank without too much sliding.....but Murphy....

Have I mentioned that her trail name is Murphy because of Murphy's law? So...you can probably see what's coming here. She slipped and 'glissaded' (involuntarily) down about 15 feet, right in to Susie lake. I saw her start down and was trying to figure out where to toss my pack if I had to go in after her. Fortunately, it was shallow (chest deep) and she was able to walk to a spot where she could easily climb out. Thank goodness we were just at our camp spot!! We threw up her tent, and she climbed in. Most of our gear is stored in dry sacks inside of our packs. Her sleeping bag and spare clothe were dry, so all good. Had a few laughs about it after the fact! If you look closely at this pic, you can see the slide marks in the snow down to Lake Susie.

Aaand we passed 

Tomorrow, we have Dicks Pass, and although it's only at about 9000 feet, we know there is snow. I have to admit, I won't be sad when we get out of the snow!!