Lori and I are now at Cajon Pass on I-15. We were chased out of the mountains yesterday due to hail and thunderstorms. After the hail we spent the night under the awning of a public toilet! Ah, wilderness! The following morning we walked for 5 hours straight (14 miles), finally making it to the shelter of a McDonalds! This same storm dropped 3" of snow in Wrightwood, our next resupply town. The trail climbs 2200' higher than the town of Wrightwood so it is probably covered in 6" of snow. A few hikers and I were actually interviewed for the news (about the freak storm) but didn't make it onto the newcast. So we are taking a full day off here at this lovely freeway interchange - one hotel, three fast food joints. We will hit the trail again tomorrow and hope that the weather is better and the snow melts fast. We are now one day behind schedule. We knew we would be in Wrightwood on Memorial Day weekend so we did not send a food box there. We will resupply from the grocery store. Also, the public library will be closed so I probably wouldn't have been able to send a post from there anyway.
Before we got chased off the trail, we passed the spot of one of our fondest memories from '96: Deep Creek Hot Springs, one of only a few hot springs along the entire trail. We walked 22 miles (our longest day yet) to arrive at these healing springs. After a soak and a good night's sleep, our bodies had forgetton the abuse. A few hours after leaving the springs, we crossed a road junction and were greeted by Marlene, a trail angel offering root beer floats to all hikers. Trail angels are people who provide unexpected good will along the trail - perhaps it's a ride to town, a piece of fresh fruit, or a root beer float. I am always surprised at how many people come out of the woodwork to help us hikers. It is also ironic because we are the ones out for the summer having a good time and living in the woods!
Thanks for the comments and keep them coming!
7 comments:
Hey, Lori and Christian
It's been so much fun keeping up with your progress! The craaazy weather it AZ, too-- high was 65 in Phx on Thursday, after it was 107 on Monday. Neighborhood's still in one piece-- no trees planted in front of your place yet.
Mary
We had a hail and thunder and lightning storm last night, here in Portland. It was amazing, I was out on a hike telling my a fellow acupuncture classmate that you were on the trail. We want to go when we are done with school. Thanks for the inspiration. Happy trails to you.
Stacey Kett
L&C-
fondest memories... hmm!!! I was curious if you were having the crazy weather that we have had last week in Tucson. As always glad that you are having fun. L, I had two missed calls, was that you?
Love -- ct
Hi Lori and Chris...I'm enjoying your journal so much. And your pictures, are, as usual, out of this world.
Kip
Looks & sounds like you are having a great adventure. I find it amazing that you're only a day off schedule - awesome! I drove through 6" of fresh around Heber, AZ a few days ago and the Iron Horse bicycle race here in Durango was canceled for the 1st time ever due to 12+ inches of fresh stuff. No complaints - the snowboarding and rafting is killer right now:)
Keep on keepin' on. . .
What an amazing journey so far! It's been great living vicariously through you two. the Hot Springs sound wonderfully soothing, almost as much as the public toilet awning. Ahhh, life's little pleasures ;)
Hey...Lori....what were those seeds I planted for Otis to eat ? They're not growing, maybe I can buy some more...
Hey Lori,
My friend Nancy has a friend who is on the PTC during the same time/place you guys are. I checked your blog and he was near you around Idlywild (I think Tony and I've forgotten his trail name). But in passing I mentioned Sloride and Shake n Bake to my friend...read below... :O)
Love the small world!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Terra-
Read down the list of people this guy met on the Trail.
I told Tony, thought he would get a kick out of seeing what a small world it is.
-Nance
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Jonathan Karpoff
To: Marian Karpoff
This sounds great! But yikes, we will be out of town, so I might have to
miss my own birthday party.
I just got back from 4 days on the PCT with Six Toes and Spiff (Alex and
Sye), as they wound through the Yosemite area. Everyone on the trail has a
nickname. My first introduction was to a woman who called herself - with no
sense of irony or need for explanation - "Shake 'N Bake." Our tribe on the
trail included Jellybean and Lil' Wrangler, and I also met Squatch,
Nibblewill Nomad, Barely Legal, Llama, Johnny Two Stoves, two of the Three
Amigos, and apparently because he is from Italy and needs no additional
nickname - Lorenzo.
Overall, the time on the trail is an unusually amazing experience - one that
raises big picture questions about what is important and what is not, and
that focuses on such small details as food, water, sun, and rain. I'll
write something up and post a few pictures on Alex and Sye's blog. Thanks
to Tim and Chrystell for listening to my initial download about this PCT
thing.
Jon
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