I’ll never hike again.  That is what I was thinking at the end of this day as I threw my backpack into the back of the car and jumped into the front seat.  I turned down the air conditioner to “Lo” and pointed all the vents at me and sat gasping for good air with tears running down my face.  Tears of joy, tears of the love of God.  I broke down and thought never, ever, hiking again.  So how did it get to this point?  Just a normal day on the PCT.

I wake up just before 4 in the morning to the sounds of some birds singing.  It is still dark and so I just lay there for awhile and listen and think.  I think about “Optimistic” and how fast the PCT got to him.  The PCT is just relentless.  Just when you think you have it all figured out something will happen that you had not planned.  Perhaps a longer or steeper grade than you expected.  A stream that is faster and deeper than expected.  A trail that suddenly turns rocky.  The almost constant worry about having enough water and getting to the next “reliable” water source to find it dry or the “seasonal” stream that is apparently out of season.  Then of course for a lot of the time you are alone, alone with your thoughts.  Those thoughts can be deadly if you focus on the failures and the could-have-been’s in your life or they can be uplifting if you think about your success’s, the few things you have done right, your Lord and your God, the source of all that is good.  If you think about the journey and the beauty around you and not only about the destination.  2650 miles and really some injury is always just around the corner.  It is amazing to me that anyone actually completes the PCT.  From the pcta.org site there is this:

4,881 people have completed the trail.  88 did it more than once.  Walking or riding the entire Pacific Crest Trail is an achievement worthy of superlatives. It represents not just athletic prowess, determination and extreme proficiency in the outdoors, but a devotion and dedication to the magic of the West. To be a 2,600 Miler is to have achieved the remarkable.

that is a shockingly small number considering the number that start each year.  There is a definite increase in the number of people that have completed the trail in recent years.  I think just because SO MANY MORE are trying.  A survey of why people left the trail resulted in this:  36% because of injury.  Seems low.

After awhile I turn on a lantern and start packing up.  Once everything is back in my pack I have a good breakfast.  I know I am in for a long day and at the first I have a 5 mile steady ascent.  It looks like it will be gentle but steady for 5 miles.  I have some sausage, some cheese, and two carnation instant breakfasts.  I’m feeling really good and start hiking about 5.  By 7:30 when I reach the Rogue River National Forest I have reached the top of the crest.  I figure the hard part of my day is already over.  Time to celebrate with a snickers bar.   Here are some photos along the way:

The sign above is at the top of a mountain called “Old Baldy”.  As you can see it is definitely not bald.   It gives me hope 🙂

Thus far the trail has been pretty much as expected.  Nice soft forest trail with lots of shade.  I can tell it is getting warmer pretty fast but the shade of the trees is perfect protection.  I have 16.31 miles to go and I’m feeling good and strong.  No issues.

Another 4.5 miles and I reach Dead Indian Memorial Road.  The same road (but not the same spot) where I picked up “Optimistic” a couple days ago.  This is a paved road with good access to the PCT and locals will park here and do short hikes.  As I get here and decide to rest and have a chocolate/oatmeal bar and a lot to drink.  There is suppose to be water a couple miles ahead so I splurge a little and drink a lot.  A couple drives up and parks and heads out on the trail the same direction I will be going.  A man, a woman, and a dog walk past my resting spot but don’t seem interested in talking.   After awhile I start again and reach the “reliable” water spot which is dry.  I still have 2 liters of water and that will probably be enough.  Near the dry reliable water source there is this sign which puts me in a good mood.

Anyway at about this time the couple comes back on the trail towards me and tell me there is a small pond just ahead on the right.  Sure enough in about a half mile there is a small stream and pond.  So I take the 2 liters container I have and empty it into my camelback.  I’m wondering if I really want to load up the 2 liter container again but decide just to be safe I will.  As I take out the purifier from my pack I notice I still have some electrolyte tablets left in the bottom of the pocket.  Great, I thought I was out and now I have enough for 4 liters.  Don’t think I’ll need them but I add two to the camelback and save 2 in case I need the other two liters.  I had gone forward a little to some shade and so now I walk back with my two liter container and a cup to scoop up some water back to the pond.  As I am scooping up the water, I hear a clear and loud voice say “take three”.  I am shocked, stand up and look around.  Nobody is there.

Ok, I believe that God has been with me all along on this trail.  It is not like I have a bubble of protection around me or anything but He is with me.  When I badly burned my leg 2 days from civilization, He sent me a medically trained woman doing the PCT on a horse with a full medical kit and knew how to wrap my knee to protect it from infection and wrap it so it would not come off while I walked.   She happened to be there because the trail was blocked by a large tree that she could not get past on the horse so she had to backtrack.  When I needed water to continue, He sent birds across my path that dove down into some brush.  Could the birds have gone done there for water?  I hike down to where the birds went and there behind the brush is a small pond coming from nowhere, that cascades down a rock to a lower pond that goes nowhere.  This water source is not marked on any PCT map or application.  When I was sick on the trail, He guided Lenora through the wilderness on closed rocky roads and she found 2 hikers that had seen me and knew where I was and told her they would go back and get me to her.  This was not my most shining moment but it was a good one for God.   There have been countless moments when I needed a fresh breeze to cool me down and keep me going.  Out of nowhere, He sends a fresh cool breeze.  This will happen later today as well.  To quote Gibbs rule 39, there are no coincidences.

At this point I have 9.92 miles to go.  There is no indication that it is anything more than an easy walk in the woods.  Why should I “take three”?   I’m having a conversation in my head now cause nobody else is there.  It is only out of an abundance of caution that I am getting 2 containers full, taking 3 containers seems just foolish.  Just more weight to carry without reason.  I do have another container back in the pack.  I can go get it and fill it up..  I decide not too and I get back to my pack and add the purifier and again I hear “take three”.  I am actually a little annoyed at this point.  Why am I being nagged?  I consent.  I dig down in my pack, find the other container, fill it up, purify it, put it in the pack and say THERE!!  It is 11:30 and about 10 miles to go.  Feeling good and strong.  No issues other than slight annoyance 🙂

This part of the trail has not been very well maintained.  There are many trees across the trail that need to be navigated.  Most I can get over because of my long legs.  Some I have to go around but there is usually some little trail around the tree as others have the same problem as me.  It is just something that slows you down a little.

In about two miles I cross a small dry creek and enter into the Brown Mountain lava fields.  It is about 1 pm and I have a little under 8 miles to go.  When I see the lava field I take out my phone and look at the halfmile application to see what lies ahead.  Normally it will tell you about roads, about campsites, about water sources, about interesting features.  The only thing it says is that in 7.75 miles you will reach Hwy 140.  So it is 1pm, the heat of the day, and I’m about to enter into 8 miles of the Brown Mountain lava fields, or as I like to call it, hell!

I am blessed for a couple things here.  There is some shade during this time.  Between the lava fields there are pockets of trees to provide some shade.  I have 6 liters of water and 4 or those liters have electrolytes.  The grade is sometimes up and sometimes down but never a steep grade and generally it could be classified as gradual.  So I have a lot going for me here.  But it takes me until 7 pm to cross these 8 miles and there were times when I was sure I was going to overheat.  It was at least 90 degrees air temperature and the lava rock both gathered and reflected the heat.  I can’t even begin to describe how hot it felt.  My feet, in new thick hiking boots, could feel the heat on the trail.  After about 1 mile into it, I realized my eyes were getting burned or so it seemed.  As I looked down at the trail it was blurry.  BUT, I had a pair of cocoons that I had infrequently worn but always carried and I put them on.  It seemed like just putting on the sun glasses dropped the temperature a bit and my eyes felt much better.

There had been a couple trees down across the trail in the lava field.  One I could step over.  One I decided to go around into the lava rocks and decided I would not do that again.  Might not look it from the photo but the rocks are large and jagged and it would only take a simple misstep and the game would be over with a broken ankle or worse.  My only choice on the tree below was to go under.  Off came the pack and I crawled under.  Guess what is under that tree?  Yes sharp and very hot rocks!  At this point I realized I was walking on rocks hot enough to burn you.  Or at least to burn a sissy like me :).  It was at this point that I said a few bad words.

 

Each crossing of a lava field to some shade seemed to get more difficult and I would be breathing very heavy to try and get enough oxygen.  I was not actually gasping till near the end when I would rest I would actually be heaving to get air.  I would just sit down until I could breath normally which was generally about 20 minutes.  Each time I would consume a bunch of water.  When it was finally over I had about 2 sips of water left of that 6 liters.  “Take three”.  Yes Sir, I will never question your will again.

I have decided I will hike again.

Lenora’s Story:

“I’ll never hike again”.  Not sure how I felt about that.  It is a little scary when you pick up your love and have him climb into the car and burst into tears.  I had watched his progress all day and knew it was a hard day by the miles and the stop times but I was impressed that he had done so well.  That was until I saw how very very used up this day on the trail had made him.  What do I say?  How do I say, without being unsupportive, “This is crazy!!! Why do you do this to yourself?  You should be done!  It is time to go home.!.”  Yet I got over that impulse and as the evening  wore on he got over the exhaustion and the elation at having survived and was ready to consider hiking again.  So once again I am in for the duration.

While the Holy Spirit is talking to my husband I am spending another day at the really really hard job of doing needlepoint all day.  Each day begins and ends with fervent prayer to protect this man as he continues his journey.  Today I now know my prayers have been given extra attention.  Thank you Lord Jesus and Abba Father for continuing to guide our lives and steps.

 

Don: Post Script

At Church on Sunday one of the songs was Be Not Afraid

You shall cross the barren desert, but you shall not die of thirst.
You shall wander far in safety though you do not know the way.
You shall speak your words in foreign lands and all will understand.
You shall see the face of God and live.

The sermon was about how we should not be afraid.