Tuesday 23 June 2015

700 miles πŸ˜€πŸ˜…



10/6/15 made it to the 700 mile marker and kennedy meadows. Result! especially as I left a little later today (the 28.5 mile hike yesterday left me a little wake up stiff) 






Of course priority number 1 was shower! Boy, did i need a shower. Caked on dirt from 6 days in the desert, little water,  mixed with sun cream made for a very dirty outdoor shower! I cant wait for the slightly cooler, dust free sierras, as water wont be an issue so keeping clean will be easier! 

I decided to take a zero tomorrow - a rest before the over 10,000 ft mountains .... The next three weeks will be tough.... Made tougher with snow and later in the day slush πŸ˜€ 

9/6/15 28.5 miles today! So pleased and it felt really great. The sun was in and not out and that makes a huge difference climbing these hill ... Today there were two major hills made much easier... Feet and legs were feeling great! 

8/6/15 so today I arrived at the pass campground where many people have decided to head unto either lake issabella or onyx towns. I decided that I a) had enough food b) didnt want to go into town again c) i would forgo a shower and push in to kennedy meadows. Good decision, even after a super hot day in the sandy hills, 

7/6/15 Trail Angels are amazing people and today would have been extremely difficult with out them. Trail angel had put out x2 water caches - as there isn't any water in the creeks, streams or rivers. Although there are plenty of streams and where once water did flow, this four year drought has really taken its toll. For us hikers, carrying 60 miles of water whilst going up and down these very large hills is impossible!





Friday 5 June 2015

5/6/15 after 2 nights (1.5 days) resting up and eating the local supermarket out of food ... Its time to start the long and uber tough section of the trail. By this time next week (i hope) I hope to at Kennedy Meadows (no wifi between here and there) that marks the start if the sierras aka mountains that are over the 10,000 ft mark. The slopes are steep and relentless but the views and snow spectacular. Ahhh yes, the snow, that until this point has been minimal in the Sierras .... But guess what?!? Ahh yes, of course, there is an expected 'dump' of snow this weekend .... Along with the other 'freak' weather that is happening in the USA at the moment!

Should make for quite an entertaining next few weeks πŸ˜€


Wednesday 3 June 2015

The desert ....

2/6/15 up at 4am and before sunrise i was on the trail. I wanted to complete as much of the 20mile road section along the aqueduct as possible.         
  


The aqueduct runs across the desert ... So its flat, sandy(good for blisters!) and hot. After a little 2mile 'detour' I got to the wind turbine area. Its amazing place - huge wind turbines but means that its windy! Super windy and trying to walk through it with a rucksack swaying in the wind was definitely an interesting and tiring. 





Saw another rattle today! They have a great trick of lying in part on the path ... So that they can suddenly turn when disturbed ... Sadly for the 'looking at the view'  hiker ... They also blend in with the path. 

3/6/15 now that was the most amazing night. It was blowing a gale (I slept just off the wind farm) but it was warm wind and I was snug in my buvvi - an amazing experience and I didn't want to get out of bed in the morning. Nonetheless- I was out by 5am and got to Coppertones van (yes he was at the trail head again) for ice-cream and root beer. It tasted sooooo good again especially after another uber windy and sandy day of only 17 miles. 

The uber windy conditions today made for an interesting pee stop! I couldn't stop giggling ... And after about 5 failed attempts and a strategically placed rucksack (there were only a few randon wind resistant bushes around on the steep slopes πŸ˜€)  - success πŸ˜€


 


Oh, and have now passed the 550 mile marker πŸ˜€πŸ˜€

Monday 1 June 2015

Start of the desert section

31/5/15 hot hot hot again!   


      
  



 Even though I started walking at 5am by 10.30 I was feeling the heat. Arrived at the Angel Anderson's area at 1.30pm but hitched the additional 2.3 miles to the angels house for 4pm
Found out that there is a 21.5 mile road detour (due to fire) just before a 24mile concrete aqueduct walk! I am now worried about my knees and shins!! 
Needless to say I left the Anderson's and headed north, back to the trail head so that I could start on the 46 mile concrete walk! Ugg! 

01/06/15 landed up at hiker town. Its an amazing place ... In the middle of the desert with a variety of huts named after parts of a town. I am in the doctors office πŸ˜€. The quickish walk to hikers town was hard on the feet and shins .... So it was good to get (after 19 road miles) a lift from an old pct fellow for the last couple of milesπŸ˜€ 

Good company was had at hiker town - so many lovely people on this trail πŸ˜€