Friday April 9th
It is 8 a.m. at the Monument in Campo California, the start of the Pacific
Crest Trail from the Mexican Border to Manning Park in B.C. Canada, 2650
miles. Here I meet my hiking partners for the first time, Gary Brambaugh and
his friend of 20 years named Lon. We took our pictures at the Monument and
kicked the border fence; it is solid to the ground and about twelve feet
high with barbed wire on the top. We did eleven miles the first day and
we were in bed at six-thirty p.m. Wow, it was cold last night; it
was twenty degrees during the night. I had ice all over the fly and my tent
was damp inside when I woke up. We are now at Lake Morena Campground and
will spend the night here. We have done 10 miles today. The climb up to Lake Morena was a struggle, it was very hot. We were in bed about eight p.m.
Sunday April 11th
We are up at 5.45 a.m. then walked the quarter of a mile for a big breakfast
at the local cafe. We left Lake Morena campground at Eight a.m. hiking to
Bolder Oaks we crossed the creek four times, lots of water. At Bolder Oaks
we found the store to be closed, but the water tap was still turned on so we
loaded up as we had a long dry climb ahead. We did not go very many miles
today we have only done ten. Gary has decided we should drop down off the
trail to Kitchen Creek. The next water is many miles away. The weather has
been great today, and we hiked in shorts and T-shirts.
Lon and Gary are two great guys and I am in good hands, I enjoy them. We
had a cocktail hour tonight. They had booze called “Everclear” you can only
buy it in certain States. It is 190 proof 95% Alcohol. They mix it with
Kool-Aid and they can burn it in their stove if they ran low of fuel, I
wonder what it will do to my stomach.
Monday April 12th
We are up at Eight a.m. I did not sleep well last night. I was cold in
my sleeping bag and could not seem to get warm during the night. The
wind was bitterly cold and it rained all night. The rain stopped about seven a.m.
and we packed up
the wet tents and took off. There is no wind now and it is blue sky, also no
snow fell on us during the night. We climbed most of the day. We hiked for about two hours in
shorts then the cold wind came up and the sky clouded over. I changed into
full Gortex, hat and gloves. Later on I stopped and put on Patagonia long
underwear. We are now hiking in a snowstorm with a very bitter wind, and at
5000ft we hit snow on the trail. Lots of snow fell during the next
two-three hours. We had to posthole which is really tiring, so we took
turns leading. I think for at least the last mile or even a little further,
there was no evidence of a trail, or any markers. But we did find
cross-country skiers tracks, which led us out to the road and to Burnt
Ranchero Campground.
From here we walked the road to the Mt. Laguna complex. We rented two
cabins. I had frozen feet, so I got in the bathtub for about an hour until
I got warm. Then I went right into a soft bed and I am toasty warm. Gary
says as of to-day we are only two miles behind schedule.
Tuesday April 13th
I had a great sleep. We did not leave Laguna until nine-thirty a.m. I
picked up my parcel and sent some of the food back. Gary has made the
decision to keep us out of the snow. We should normally have gotten back on the
trail, climb another 200 feet and then come back down in the snow.
Instead we walked down the road for two and one half miles and picked up the
trail there. We did not hike in any snow this way. My feet are really sore
on the balls of the feet. The pavement was hard on my feet.
The walking is good for me though and it seems to be getting easier. I started
to look around today. We made it to Pioneer Mail Campground by two-thirty
p.m. Gary's cousins had stashed three gallons of water here for us. The
Campground water was not turned on yet. We decided to have our big meal here
on the picnic table. Then we walked another two to three miles. Each of us
carried another gallon of water. We dry camped in the bushes and I am
tired. We have done over fourteen miles to-day. We had our cocktails, we
call it “Our Stuff” and we were in bed by six-thirty p.m.
Wednesday, April 14th
A high-pressure system has moved in and the weather looks great. I woke
up at six a.m. and sweet birds are singing. We were on our way by
seven-fifteen a.m. It is still blue sky and we are walking through very
prickly bushes. In a couple of hours we should be in Chariot canyon. It is
warm out. We have camped early today two-thirty p.m. and are under a big Oak
tree by a creek with No water. We packed water from a storage tank at the
Chariot Canyon road. Then we came down a long tread. It is about Eighty
degrees and hot going in the Canyon. I am packing one and half gallons of
water now. No one is really anxious to do anything in the heat of the day.
My feet are becoming a disaster, blisters on the balls of the feet and on
the big toes and I have open sores all the way across my foot from a rubbing
in the shoe. We have tried to soften that with masking tape. I am taping the
feet all over and then it seems another blister will appear at the end of
the taping. I seem to be getting stronger, the pack is a bitch but is a
doable bitch ( I think). My body does not hurt so much now; I just
have to get these feet working. Because of the hot weather today,
we started looking for snakes.
Thursday April 15th My feet
are really sore now. I have bandaged them up; we were on our way at
six-forty a.m. I am changing my socks every hour as they are wet. More and
more blisters are appearing each time I change the socks. We are hiking in
100-degree weather and my feet are bloody. What a mess and so sore. After
four hours of hiking I have made the decision to go off the trail, I cannot
continue, I am actually hobbling. I cried a little and am really sad. My
body has become fit, but my feet have let me down. I have accepted this decision
and Gary has called on the cell phone, for the cousins to come and get me at Scissors Crossing.
I then had to get a mind set as we still have another ten or so miles to
go. I got the mindset and never took my shoes off until we got to Scissors
crossing and I only stopped once very briefly for something to eat and
drink. It was terribly hot and it seemed like we would never get there, we
could see the crossing from many miles back. The trail had to detour around
some private property. When the cousins came, I took off
my shoes and my feet have swollen up to twice their size and I cannot walk on
them. It had to be the non-breathable shoes in the heat. Oh do I wish I had
my old shoes. Have done 87 miles.
(Return to top)
November 1999
Section A - Scissors Crossing to Warner Springs to Lost Valley Road
in Section B, 41.3 miles
Here I am on the first day of section B. The temperature is 94 Degrees
and I am sitting at a spot
where yesterday I drove and hiked about a mile and half to cache two
gallons of water. It is about nine trail miles in from Warner Springs going
North and is intersected by a old jeep road called Lost Valley Road I am
going to spend the night here and recount my last few days.
I am now on the trail going South to Scissors Crossing from Warner
Springs. It is 92 degrees; I have my boots off, snacking, trying to
cool off and resting. I arrived at Barrel Springs at 4.30 p.m. and it
took me until five p.m. to find the two gallons of water that had been
stashed for me by Jeff Eckert from the PCT list.
Barrel Springs was not running, if anything a drip, maybe one quart in a
two hour span. The pipe was also broken. The water stashed by Jeff was on
the upper level on a flat spot by the Spring and it was spooky up there. So
I ate, and had a wash and drank a lot of water. Then I decided to hike a
little longer and find a place to sleep. I walked for an hour on a very
narrow side hill trail, there was no place to lay my bag down and it was
getting dark and I was concerned. Finally at the end of a gully, there was
just enough room for me to put my sleeping bag down, and be off the trail. It
is really dark at 6.45pm.
.
Day Two:
I was up at 6.45 just when it started to get light and started walking
about 7.30 a.m. There were two big fellows on mountain bikes, who caught up
to me within a half hour. They were hunters and were using huge pistols
instead of rifles. To day, I am drinking lots of water. At ten
a.m. it is 84 degrees. I ended up drinking a full 2 liter bag which
makes me short for tomorrow. I camped at five p.m. on a sandy wash near the
San Felipe Hills. I did about twelve miles today...It was HOT.
Day Three:
I was hiking by 7.15 a.m. I am still not putting up the tent. And
right now I am hiking down those forever switchbacks, in and out of gullies
that go forever. I am about two miles from Scissors Crossing and I meet up with
Jeff, who is hiking in to meet me and drive me back to Warner Springs. Jeff
is a great person; we had not met until this instant on the trail. I was
sitting on a rock in a shady part of the trail and he came around the
corner, he startled me, and I startled him.
I had been rationing my water and only had about 2 cups left. It was 96
degrees today and Jeff had brought me a bottle of Gatorade which I consumed
on the spot. He also had another small bottle of water for my hydration
system. I was a little light headed this day, due to the heat and
consequently had a fall down and scraped up my knees and one arm. We were
down to the Cottonwood tree at one p.m. right on schedule.
We drove up the Lost Valley Road and then walked in about a mile and
quarter; I put two gallons of water in the bush there. I planned to
take my car to Kamp Anza, where Paul Miller and Pat run an Oasis for
Hikers. They really do a lot for hikers who want a layover day with the
convenience of showers and laundry. They like to know who is on the trail;
Paul is trying to start a safety net, especially in the Off season, for
people like me.
I did not get there until 5.30 p.m. They had a friend visiting named
Mr. Bill Jennings. He had been out that day stashing water up ahead for me.
I have a list of instructions now for the next couple of days. The help from
people like Bill Jennings and Paul and Pat is marvelous. I repacked from the
re-supply in my car, had a shower and got ready for the next morning...
Day Four:
Paul has now driven me again to Warner Springs and I am heading North for
approximately thirty-four miles and if my water stashed work out then I will
come out at the Jeep Road for Terwillinger Rd. There is absolutely NO Water
in the Aqua Calente Creek. In fact there has not been any water anyplace
that I have hiked.
Now, I am back on the first part of Section B which I started this episode
(where I stashed the water). Somehow I was sitting in a bunch of red fire
ants and got about 20 bites on one leg. Gosh, they hurt so badly. I washed my
leg, put some ointment on, but that did not help, the leg burned all night
long. I was feeling very sorry for myself. I finally got to sleep, when the
most raucous, howling, moaning evil sound woke me right up. I thought it was
going past me on the trail when all of a sudden it was back on the other
side of me going the opposite way. All I could do was blow my whistle for a
half hour. I sat up in my sleeping bag with the hood up, bent over, and
hoped it would go away... and me without my tent up. It got my attention and
I did not sleep much this
night. I dozed on and off and wished for the night to end
Day Five:
I am getting a late start today; it somehow does not feel quite as hot. I am
on the trail about 9.30 a.m. I am weary and need to have a good sleep, and
could this be possible, a little bit cranky?
The day turns out hot and I have to deal with this. I make pretty good
time for the first two hours and then take until two p.m. to do another two and
half miles. I am very near to my next stash of water and Gatorade when
I start observing what is going on around me.
First, it is the smell like someone is burning tires or creosote? I remember
reading that Chaparral bushes smell like creosote when burning. I look up at
the sky and what I thought was a welcome cloud cover is in actuality smoke.
Now this all has my attention...I climb up hurriedly to the next ridge
and have a look. I can see that over two ridges from me is a big fire, though
all I can see is the smoke, and the planes and helicopter dumping water.
I decided that my best option would be ( I am in fifteen trail miles) to
hike the six or so miles back to where I camped, then I could get on the old
jeep road and hike another one and half miles and be out. This was my plan
and is what I did. Suddenly my pack became much lighter and I went very
fast, The heat
 did
not bother me and my adrenalin was running. When I got about two and half
miles from the road, I came around another corner and there was the ridge
right there, with all the flames and smoke billowing up. I stayed
there for about ten minutes to see if this fire was going
to come over the ridge. The winds were really squirrelly. I went as fast as
I could and got out on to the paved road.
Once on the road I decided to sit down and regroup, at this point I am not sure which way
to go on the road. I am sure if the fire comes down here, there will be fire
trucks coming along the road. I had no idea they were looking for me, apparently there was a helicopter going up the trail, but further up then I
was, maybe it was a good thing I was so slow this morning. They were
checking all the campgrounds in the vicinity to see if I had hiked out to
any of them. It was on all the lower California TV stations that there was
"A 72 year old Female from Idaho, hiking alone" and was in danger from
the fire.
As I sat on the road eating my gorp and thinking what to do next, a speeding
Sheriff's car comes along and I wave him down and ask very nicely if he can
help me. He screeches to a stop and his first words are "Are you 72 year old
Marge well we have been looking for you". He then gets on the radio and
proudly announces that he has found "72 year old Marge" I told this very
engaging young man that if he told one more person how old I am then there
was a good possibility he could loose his job.
The long and short of it was, I was in his custody until Paul from Kamp
Anza, who, when he learned about the fire, reported to them that I was in the
area, came and got me. Everyone was very kind to me. The medical
technicians wanted to work over my knees, but I assured them they were just
fine. They were all just happy that I had the presence of mind to go the
right way and that I was safe. If I had continued on I would have been going
in the same direction as the fire. They wanted to do a back fire, but not
until they were sure I was not in the way of the fire.
After I picked up my car from Kamp Anza I decided not to go back on the
trail until the weather cools down and there is water in the creeks. I am
home safe.
(Return to top)
Section B. Lost Valley Rd to Pines to Palms Hiway, Anza,
April 2000, 34.5 Miles
We were still in Yuma, when my Granddaughter, Jana, decided to come down
for a visit during her spring break from school. Well once there, I
convinced her we needed to hike for three days on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Once more I drove to Anza where Paul was good enough to drive us
to the Lost Valley Rd. so we could start our hike where I had come out due to
the fire. He then took my car back to Anza for us to pick up in three
days.
In this picture, we saw the smoke and thought Oh No, not another fire,
but this one appeared to be a controlled burn and many miles from us.
The entire three days were very hot; we needed to pack a lot of water each
day. We had water supplies from the Water Tank at a private home .3
miles off the trail. Tule Canyon Creek and the year-round Tule Spring
which is also off trail. This was the first time that I had a dry
mouth and really had to concentrate on drinking water. I could only eat
with liquids mixed in with the food. Once home, I did check in with my
Doctor who said, I must have let myself get dehydrated, but he also
suggested that if this became a problem then chew gum to keep the saliva
working in my mouth.
So I do now.
Here we are spending the night on the trail, it seemed to be the only
flat spot around, so we just spread our sleeping bags, my feet pointing at
Jana's head. It worked just fine.
We had a good three day hike, but with the heat and water not being
frequent, we were glad to reach the hiway. We walked up the hiway to
the cafe on the corner which is where you turn to go to Anza. Here we phoned Paul,
he came with my car and we drove him back to the Campground and that was the
end of our short hike.
(Return to top)
Section B Pines to Palms Hiway, Anza - Apple Canyon May
2000, 17miles
I had driven down to Lake Morena to attend the annual PCT Kickoff Party,
better known as ADZPCTKO, it was a great event. While there I had made
arrangements with Flyin Brian and his Dad Roy Robinson (Trail Dad) to drive my car and
me up to Pines to Palm Hiway. I planned to get back on the PCT and hike for a few weeks. They took my car up to Interstate 15
near Cajon Pass and left it at a motel, where I planned to spend t he night
at the end of this section hike.
They drove me to the Trailhead, took my picture and I was on my
way. It was a nice hike and within a few miles I found water in the Penrod Creek. I only went about six miles that afternoon and the next
morning I hiked down the Cedar Springs Trail to get water and hiked back out
and continued on my way, again only hiking about nine miles and camping at
the Apache Springs. The following day I hiked another few miles to Apple
Canyon and here I had to cross a rock fall.
I was careful going across this rock fall and took my time. On the
last step, I had stepped on a smaller rock and was ready to put the other
foot onto the trail when the small rock turned under the foot jamming my
foot in between another rock, this sent me backwards instead of forward onto
the trail and the result was I broke the smaller of the two bones in my leg.
I knew it was broken as I heard it snap. It was like a boot top fracture
though I was hiking in NB 803's.
After the initial shock had subsided, I knew I had to get myself in a
better position. This I managed to do by scooting backwards on my butt and
holding up the broken leg with my good leg. The bone was not displaced so I
was able to do this. It took me an hour to go the few feet up onto the trail
bit by bit. Once on the flat trail I was able to make myself
comfortable. I pulled out my sleeping bag and pad and placed it on a piece of tyvek. I crawled
into the sleeping bag and took a pain pill. As long as I did not move the
leg I could tolerate the throbbing. This was about eleven a.m. and I
decided to make up a Jello instant pudding using one and half cups of water. (
my first mistake)
Because I was in a very hot spot I needed to rig up some sort of shade
screen. I was able to use my silnylon poncho and my hiking poles to rig the
screen over me, using a 6 ft bush on one side and leaning my poles against
the big rock wall on the other side.
I did not get much sleep this night even with the pain pills, I had
some fears. My location resembled what I thought was mountain lion habitat.
Normally while hiking I did not have any fears, I always thought I
could make a big person out of myself by raising my hiking poles over my
head and banging them together hence scaring of the cougars. Well that
night I felt very vulnerable as I was a wounded person on the ground and
this position made me an easy prey for any animal. So sleep did not
come easy that night.
The next two nights I did manage to sleep with the aid of the pain pills
and a changed attitude. I thought about my life and my family, said some
prayers and decided that I have had a marvelous life to this point and if it
was my time to leave this earth then I accepted that. So I turned all
my worries over to God and went peacefully to sleep. I no longer
worried about the animals and as it turned out, it was not my time to leave
this earth.
The next day, I inventoried my water supply and what I could eat, without
using water. I had less than two cups of water, I had ten sticks of chewing
gum, and the toothpaste. The water I started to ration, but I used more than
a cup during the day. The weather was very hot and it never occurred to me
that I might be too far ahead of the crowd of hikers from Campo. On the
third day, I had about 3/4 cup of water left and I decided that I would only
use half of it for this day and save the rest for tomorrow. I was
dozing fitfully most of the day and in the late afternoon I thought I was
hallucinating when I saw two people coming across the rock fall.
They were two thru hikers, a man and a lady, who had not been to the
Kickoff at Campo. Her trail name was 'Sunshine'. They knew I was ahead of them from the Sign-In sheet at
the Anza Trailhead. They gave me loads of water and some goodies and the
man took off like a speed demon for the trail down to Idyllwild, and a 911
call for help. The lady, after about 20 minutes went after him, I had
assured her I would be okay now especially after quenching my thirst and
knowing that help would be on its way.
Just before dark the Search and Rescue team from Riverside, Calif.
came and got me. They took me down a very steep rocky trail on a Stokes
Litter on the backside of the mountain. This was a miserable narrow,
steep rocky trail for the Riverside Rescue team to maneuver me down off the
mountain. With three or four people on each side of the liter one or
more would constantly loose their footing and fall off the trail getting
very scratched up in the process.
At two a.m. I was in the emergency room at the Hemet Hospital.
After having a cast put on my leg, I was released at four a.m. I went to a
motel and early the next morning the night attendant at the motel agreed to
drive me up to I 15 and my car.
When I got to my car I decided to stay in the Motel there, I needed to
sleep and figure out what to do next. The people at the motel were very
good to me, the lady in charge helped me put a plastic bag over my cast so
that I could get into the shower. It felt so good to get myself clean
and I slept through until the next day. There was a McDonalds near by
so the next morning I had a McDonalds breakfast and decided to
start my drive back home to Idaho. It was my left leg that was broken, so I
was able to drive with my right foot on the gas and or brake.
I do not think I will ever go back to the hospital in Hemet again, I
really thought they would have kept me overnight. I was filthy dirty, I had
not slept for several days and I was sure I needed some TLC for the stress
of the entire situation... So here I am with my pack, hiking poles and a set
of crutches and a cast on my leg, duh........they handed me the telephone book and told me
to call a cab and book a motel.
Section C. and D.
I have decided to leave the most Southern Part of California for awhile and
hike elsewhere for a change. I will come back and finish off Section C. and D. another time.
(Back to top)
Section E. and Section F. Agua Dulce to Walker Pass Nov/Dec 1999
192.9 miles On Saturday, Nov. 20, 1999 I drove from Yuma
AZ to the Airport in Los Angeles to pick up a friend of 30 plus years. She
came from Whistler, B.C. Canada and came with a large backpack. A few
years prior she had thru hiked the AT. Over the phone we had agreed to hike a couple of sections of the PCT. We arrived at Aqua Dulce by seven p.m.
We were hosted by trail Angels, Jeff and Donna Saufley, who
allowed us to use a marvelous 2 bedroom trailer on the back of their property. They make this facility free to anyone hiking the PCT. It was
GREAT.
That night we arranged all our food and made up a re-supply box. Early next morning we proceeded to drive to
the Mojave desert to stash water and drop off the re-supply box. We did not have to put out much water,
a young couple LETITBE AND SKUNK (trail names) who were hiking North to South had already stashed water and were
unable to finish on this section. They left information on all the water locations for us. Next, we met up with Jim Ostdick and Kelly in the town of Mojave,
another great Trail Angel couple. We left my car at the White Motel in Mojave
and Jim and Kelly drove us back to the trailhead in Aqua Dulce.
We are really excited now.....have waved goodbye and are off hiking when we realize
"disaster number one" we do not have the hiking poles, they are in the trunk of the
car. These poles incidentally are the two
poles needed to set up our tarp-tent. Well we mulled that over for awhile and realized the only thing that resembles a pole
on the trail are the dried up stalks of the Yucca Plant. We got two of these and they lasted for the entire
section as our hiking poles and also for our tent poles.
Marge walking the Aqueduct - Mohave desert
Our packs are a little heavy as we are both carrying a gallon of water. I think we are scared the next stash of water will not be
there, so we end up carrying more than needed. However, after we learned to
trust that the water would be there, then we managed the water better.
Only one time the water
stash had been used by some one else. "Disaster number two" so we looked in the
guide book and saw where we could get out to a highway and find a forestry fire
station. We used their hose to fill up our bottles. It was so dark when we finished and really cold, we just set up our tent
by the fire station, and went to bed (no supper that night).
From Agua Dulcie we experienced the Santa Ana Winds. These winds come in from the North and are bitter
cold. In some areas they were blowing in
gusts at 70 mph. We experienced very high winds in both sections and all the time
very cold. Our tarp tent was flattened only once, I ended up on top of it and
Pat ended up inside it, we did manage to sleep that way for a few hours before
dawn. We became very good at pitching the tarp tent. (It has no floor, just netting at each end).
We also became very innovative in setting it up. We tied up to Joshua trees, big rocks and anything else we
could find to anchor it when the ground was too hard for the tent stakes. We
even banked up the tarp tent with frozen cow pies one night.
Pat, keeping out of the wind on the trail
With all the wind in this part of the country, you see lots of Wind Farms which
are big windmills used for electricity. One night we were camped just below a
number of these windmills and at 5 a.m. we both sat up wondering what had
happened. The wind had stopped blowing and the windmills had shut down. It was
an eerie silence that woke us both up. Apparently they are all computerized and
when the wind gets below a certain point the windmills shut
down automatically.
Another experience in the wind, as we were coming along the final mile and half towards Mojave, the wind
was so strong it kept blowing us off the trail; I was walking by a barbwire fence and had to use my Yucca stick against the fence to stop me
from being blown into it. You had to hunker down into the trail and plant your feet firmly.
Your hat had to be tied on very strongly or it was gone.
Our days began about 6.15 a.m. just as the dawn was breaking; we were off hiking by
seven a.m. We would stop for breakfast at nine a.m. and after going to bed without supper a few times we started having our main meal at
two p.m. Then hiking until four p.m. Look for a flat spot to camp and be in our sleeping
bags by five p.m. It would be dark by this time and usually very cold. We then
had a snack and would be asleep by 5.30 p.m. It was critical we find a spot to pitch the tent by 4.30
p.m. A few times we could not do that, so we ended up sleeping (not well) on the trail. or in among the small bushes without benefit of the tent.
Some of the hiking was just beautiful and some was awful. The awful parts were on trails
that motor bikes had run up and down. It was very much like walking in
eight inches of sand uphill. Very tiring and of course my mind was writing letters to my congressman complaining about
the condition of the trails. The signs all say "no motor vehicles" just foot and horse traffic. But Oh
well.......
We did get lost a number of times, due to motor bikes making other trails, or there were no signs. Pat was the best in finding our
trails. She was RIGHT five times out of five. I learned to be quiet and let her find the
trails and just do as I was told.
Part way through the first section, we had a food (re-supply) drop at a small store on Hiway
138. We manage to get to the store before it closed and pick up our
package and then we decided to visit with Mr. Jack Fair (another Trail Angel). The PCT trail goes right beside his house at the start of the Mojave
Desert) You can get water there and have a shower, do your laundry, and sleep in his garage (all for a small fee). We did all
this. We had stopped by his house and met him when we drove our re-supply
food box to the store prior to our starting our hike.
He was expecting us and had been concerned for our whereabouts, as most people do
not hike at this time of the year. We listened to Jack talk for hours on
his "far out" philosophy of life, he was 76 years old and smoked constantly.
We were saddened to learn, that in the year 2002 Jack Fair passed away.
The desert was not what I expected. It is full of vegetation and people. We
hiked along the cemented over big pipe that holds the California Aqueduct. Lots
of people have places out there and come from Los Angeles for the weekends. We
could not have done this section without the water stashes. We came across a trail water seep only once.
When we finished the first section we spent 2 nights at the Whites Motel in Mojave. We got cleaned up and ate everything in sight. Again, good
friend Jim Ostdick has come here to help us. He will take my car to Walker
Pass. He and Kelly have also stashed water along parts of the trail for us.
Now, we are back on the trail for another seven days. During this time it is
very cold with high winds. Our water bottles froze on two nights. I wore all my
clothes to bed and all my clothes on the trail. I never took off my hat and my
hair hurt when I did take it off. During these seven days we did not wash ourselves or our eating pot or dish and spoon. We rationalized the cold would freeze any germs
on the pots etc. As to ourselves, we did manage to get a diaper wipe on the body once or twice. I felt we were in a Survival Mode and just
wanted to hike and get out of there.
Two days from Walker Pass, we thought it snowed but it was only frost.
Jim was able to leave water in a few places and the rest we had to get it from Springs. Some of these Springs were running just fine and one we
could not get water out of except in a small stream on the ground. I had a new filter with me and we just could not scoop up the water correctly. We just managed to scoop up a litre and use the iodine tablets. Jim
would leave us extra water that we could not carry; if the temperatures had been warmer we would have used it for a sponge bath. This did not
happen; the winds were just too cold. So we left several gallons for some others who might be hiking.
When I turned in a short trip report to the PCT List on the internet. We had many messages of congratulations. The following two I would like
to share with you:
From Owen Kitteridge:
There is a reason that the area east of Mojave has windmills and you found out. I went to High School in Mojave and that was 27 years ago and
I still will not go into the High Desert in the winter due to unstable
weather. I was a boy scout and camping/hiking in the wind/sand sucks. In fact Mojave averages 360 days of wind.
From Charlie Jones:
Congratulations to both of you. You two must hold the record this year for being the last hikers with enough guts to still be out on the
PCT despite the weather and low temps.
I hope you turned off the lights...........there is no one hiking behind you.
Charlie.
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