We are scheduled to start May 11th and hope to finish September 5thish.
This site will hopefully be updated as we make progress along the trail so check back on us or send us an e-mail. Suggestions for deep thoughts on which we should ponder while hiking are especially welcome.
Progress Updates
(If there are many spelling errors, Rob is writing. Otherwise, it's Jen)
May 9th: Today we pack up, drop off the pets, and drive south. Thank you to Nomers & Bunzie for cat-sitting Chubbers, Dad & Marci for dog-sitting Sequoia, and Yvonne & Susi for cat-sitting Hemlock (a hurculean task). They will be missed a great deal, but we know they are in good hands. From here on out, most web updates will be made by our web-savvy friend Dan. Thanks Dan! More from the trail soon! Have a great summer everyone.
May 11th: Cobie hiked with us for a little while from the cold, windy overpass of I-10. Heather and Cobie were able to drive along side us while we were hiking the first 1/4 mile. Thanks to the Delfs family for seeing us off in style!!
May 14th: We're right on schedule, averaging about 14 miles a day. The weather has been great, and we don't have any blisters.
May 15th: We just finished our layover day in Big Bear City, where Mr. and Mrs. Sakai displayed the ultimate hospitality for weary PCT hikers- good food, good company, and a bed more than 1 foot off the ground. Thanks a million to the Sakai's!!!! Thanks to Dan and Jen for picking us up with drinks and food in hand.
May 17th [Email from the trail]: "We discovered that 1 package of stovetop stuffing is not nearly enough for two peoples' dinner. Luckily we had gotten some extra food from Big Bear."
May 18th [Email from the trail]: "After mile 10 [of 15 for the day], we were treated with a visit to a convenience store about half a mile from the trail. We both had brownies and ice cream. Hiking the PCT is really just something to do between pigging out at stores and restaurants." [And at the end of the email. . . ] "We stink."
May 19th: There's nothing like a sleepless night filled with 40mph winds to get you pumped for a 17 mile hike the next day. I (Rob) especially like it when the wind blows dust up my nostrils while I'm sleeping. Jen likes the wind because it's kind of like taking a shower if you stand naked in a strong gust.
May 20th: We stayed at the Silverwood Lake Recreation Area campground. The weekend recreaters just couldn't stop staring at us. I (Rob) thought it was because they were mistaking Jen for Julia Roberts. Jen thought it was because they were entranced by our odiferous presence.
May 21st: We never thought we'd be so glad to see a McDonalds. Those golden arches were singing to us like a Siren's song. They almost ran out of calories.
May 22nd: We had a brutal, 4000ft climb to a waterless camp. Of the elevation gain, Jen said "I feel like I'm closer to the sky!" After treating Jen for altitude sickness (just kidding, Jen's mom), we camped with our new trail friends: Vintage Christopher from Napa, Rowdy from Portland, and The Mann's from Sacramento. They are an entertaining bunch, and Rowdy's parents seem to be parked with their RV at every road crossing (read: we get treats at every road crossing)
May 23rd:19 miles today. We hiked up Mt. Baden-Powell. Lord Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts, so Rob had to spend some quality time with the memorial at the top of the mountain. Even though Mike Rose is far from being a boy scout, he made a good point about the Pseudotsuga macrocarpa. We're removing the species list from the web site. Rob just isn't as smart as he thought it was. This was realized after Jen kept telling him, "Rob, you're not as smart as you think you are."
May 24th: We bagged another 7,000 ft peak- Pacifico Mountain. Rob almost injured an innocent civilian while trying to hang the food bags to keep them safe from hungry bears.
May 26th: Back to back 20 mile days! Jen's uncle Steve and aunt Saay picked us up in Agua Dulce and brought us to their house in Lancaster for a bountifull dinner and a good night's rest. Of the dinner, Rob said "I can't beleive I ate the whole thing." It is common for PCT hikers to over-eat when they come into towns, but Rob practiced over-eating for 6 months before the hike. Let Isabella's words of encouragement in the guest book be a lesson to us all. Out of the mouths of babes...
Everyone keeps asking us about Rob-Jen personality dynamics. As long as Jen keeps beginning her sentences with, "Back when I was playing softball..." and Rob ends his sentences with, "trust me, I'm an Eagle Scout," everything works out fine.
May 27-28th: We said so long to Agua Dulce and the 20 mile days, and hello to an 8 mile day and a biker bar in Lake Hughes. "Harley's" has excellent burgers.
May 29th-31st: The Mojave Desert. The Kings had just lost to the Lakers in the NBA playoffs. We had to walk in the desert along the L.A. aquaduct, which transports clean and clear Sierran water to the black hole that is L.A. Although we could hear the water flowing through the cement-covered canal, we had no way to get at it! We had to carry over a gallon of water each. Tortuous, it was. Since moving to the Bay Area, Rob has conformed with other Bay Area habitants and adopted a better-than-thow attitude towards L.A. All of you who live in L.A. should be ashamed of yourselves.
June 1st-2nd: The Tehachapi Mountains. We kind of got lost and had to hike through some private property that we later found out was patroled with armed guards (it was some kind of power company). We somehow made it to where Jen's grandparents were planning to pick us up, and we enjoyed a zero mile day in Tehachapi. Thanks to the Pauly's for their hospitality. The other hikers are green with envy that we've had so many friends and family in towns along the way. Thank goodness we're so popular.
June 3rd - 8th: Hello to the Sierra Nevada's! This magnificent mountain range greeted us with waterless and dusty climbs up shadeless slopes. Still, it was great to know that we were in the Sierra's, where we feel much more at home. We've seen 7 rattle snakes so far. Jen is getting very good at detecting them. She's thinking about trying to bump out 'The Crocodile Hunter' for a job with the Discovery Channel.
June 9th: Unfortunately, we have to go to Turlock for a family emergency. We heard about the passing of Rob's father while we were on the trail. It was actually a good place for Rob to deal with the loss. Thanks to Joel Watson (Rob's favorite brother-in-law) for picking us up in Bakersfield. We'll be back on the trail in about a week. I'll try to post some pictures soon.
June 13th: Back on the trail! Thanks to Rob's mom for giving us a ride to Walker Pass, which is now ingulfed in the flames of a wildfire (we sware, we had nothing to do with it. Mom, keep the rice crispy treats coming! They are the perfect trail food. Use real butter. Vermillion and Tuolumne Meadows are our next ressuply locations
June 15th: We strolled into Kennedy Meadows after a 20 mile day, just in time for the Saturday night movie in the outdoor ampitheater. The movie was "Jeremiah Johnson," starring Robert Redford as a pioneer in the Rockies. Rob tries to be just like him now while on the trail. He's hoping to wrastle down some grizzlies pretty soon.
June 18th - 21st: In to Lone Pine for a layover day. We need to rest up before taking on Mt. Whitney. We go for 13 days before our next resupply, so our packs will be heavier than ever. We'll also be incommunicato (Rob gets "Words of the Day" e-mails from Merriam-Websters in his relentles effort to appear smart) for two whole weeks.
A pretty big thunderstorm rolled past us on our way over a pass. We quickly made it over the pass before it started snowing. We pitched our tent and took a nap while the storm dusted the surrounding forest with snow. There were three seconds between flashes of lightning and quakes of thunder, so we were never in danger.
June 22nd: At 4418m (14, 494 feet), on top of Mt. Whitney, Rob took a knee (Dan is guessing on the knee part, but it's a safe guess) and popped the question. Yes, THE question. Jen, crying tears of joy (again, a guess on Dan's part), accepted. Based on a cell phone call from Rob, it's safe to say that he is the happiest man alive.
Rob writing now: Dan guessed right about the knee and the tears and the being happy. I don't think I was suffering from a temporary bout of altitude sickness, because I remember the whole thing and don't regret it. Here's how it happened: Jen often suggests that I go ahead of her when she's hiking slowly (or if she's tired of my singing), and I usually don't go ahead because her mom threatened to cause me harm if I left her alone for very long. On the way up Mt. Whitney, however, I quickly agreed to go on up to the top without her with about a thousand feet left to climb. I had plenty of time to build up my courage on the top, since Jen was having trouble with the climb. She actually decided that she wasn't going to make it, and was waiting for me to come back down. Thanfully, she changed her mind and eventually made it to the top. I was glad she said yes and she was glad we had something new to talk about. When I called my mom to tell her that I asked Jen to marry me she asked, "What did she say?" As if there would be any doubt. As if.
June 23rd - June 30th: We hiked through Kings Canyon National Park, which is full of challenging mountain passes (Forester, Glenn, Mather, and Pinchot- all above 11,000ft). We did one pass a day. Each pass was a refuge from the swarming mosquitoes down in the canyons below. The park is full of bears that often take hikers' food. We were able to avoid bears, but some weren't so lucky and had to hike out for a whole day back in to town to get food. Here's our method for avoiding pesky bears: We hike at least a mile after eating dinner so there is no scent of Top Ramen to attract bears. We then hang the food at eye level about 66 feet away from the tent. The bag is booby trapped with a cooking pot and a bunch of rocks so a bear visit would triger a cacaphonous symphony to wake us up. Upon waking up, Rob's job is to start throwing rocks from the pile that was earlier built right next to the tent. Just like a throw from second to first base. After Rob has missed the bear and there is only one rock left, Jen hits the bear like nailing a base runner leading off third. Here's the real trick for outsmaring bears- I urinate near the food. It's primal behavior like this that you need to outsmart wild beasts. I learned that in 7th grade P.E. class.
We resupplied at Vermilliion Valley Resort, which offers free beds to hikers. The bisquits and gravy were fabulous. We met a guy who had just broke his foot during a stream crossing. We did the same crossing the next day with no problems. Jen gets a strange look in her eyes when we have a challenging stream crossing. I'm not sure what it is. It's not fear or anxiety. I think her eyes actually change colors.
July 1st - July 5th: After a couple of more passes, we entered Yosemite Park. Rob was sure that we'd encounter a bear as soon as we stepped foot inside the park, but we never saw one of the beasts. Instead of bears, we saw a lot of people who, after a week in the backcountry, can be as disturbing as any wild animal.
July 5th: Rob and Jen reached Tuolomne Meadows at the southern end of Yosemite National Park today. They are moving along faster than planned and are one full day ahead of schedule, despite taking a few unplanned days off. Even though Rob proposed on June 22nd, Jen got her ring today (she probably cried again). The delay is a funny story--I'll let Rob tell it later--it'll be funnier if it comes from him. Rob thinks Jen has a minor Giardia infection, as she is suffering from, uh. . . a bit of the runs. She'll probably kill me for telling the world about that, but hey, this is what the internet is for, right? Jen, of course, insists that Rob is full of it. By "it," I mean nonsense. Rob is keeping a close eye on his girl and I can assure everyone that she is in good hands. Rob is, after all, an Eagle Scout. Rob and Jen are considering a rest day at Tuolomne Meadows (I really hope I'm spelling that right), then they'll be off again.
Here's the ring story [Rob writing]. I had a ring to use in Lone Pine, which was the last town we were in before climbing Whitney (I say "to use" because I didn't want to bring the real deal hiking for fear of losing it). I had the ring in a shorts pocket for safe keeping, but right before we mailed our floating package to the next town I decided to mail the shorts I was wearing. So I took off the shorts and threw them and the ring in the the package. It was too late when I realized the ring was in the package, but couldn't tell Jen why I was suddenly in a bad mood. I thought about making a ring out of twigs, but that would be taking the whole outdoors thing a bit too far.
July 6th - July 11th: This was supposed to be an easy hike from Yosemite to Sonora Pass on Hwy. 108, where Rob's mom was scheduled to pick us up for a resupply. A little bug called Giardia changed our plans and turned the hike into a long and painfull adventure. Painfull for Jen because she had to constantly stop to either throw up or "have the runs" every few hours. Long for Rob because it is probably his fault that Jen has Giardia. We had trouble hiking our minimum of 15 miles a day, but Jen hiked through pain and discomfort to make it to Sonora Pass on time. It's toughness like this that Jen will need to be able to live with Rob. I reckon it's good trainging for the future.
Coree was right- our new trail game is to think of wedding reception songs. So far we have Brick House and Cotton-Eye Joe as definites. From Sonora Pass, we got a ride from a Lake Tahoe Chef named Stacy, who was travelling in his 70's model van to a hippy reunion in Pinecrest. Thanks to Stacy and to Rob's mom for giving us rides.
Jen is taking medicine right now and should be back on the trail in about a week. Meanwhile, Rob is going to hit the trail going solo. Quasi-solo because Jen will probably meet him at all of the major road crossings. The trail hits a road about once a day, so if we plan it right Rob won't have to carry much gear at all. He will have the heavy burden of trying to hike without his favorite partner though, so he may not go any faster than before.
Sylvan (Rob)
Jen's recovery from giarda is moving along swiftly. It makes such a great story to tell other PCT hikers, it's been almost worth having her get sick. Rob was thinking about slipping some more giardia bugs into Jen's drink so he can continue hiking in luxury, but she's probably immune now so he'll have to break her legs instead.
If you heard the sound of a bell, it may have been because some new trail angels got their wings recently. The Ferguson family (Sheryl signed in to the guestbook) in L. Tahoe have been fabulous, meeting us at the trailhead and providing excellent food and shelter. Thanks a million to Sheryl, Scott, Kile, and Clarise!