All the waiting for the Doctor during the last few days was very frustrating. They have it set up so you never talk to a real person but only a machine and then they only commit to returning your calls within 24 hours which is pretty much what they do. So…. if you happen to miss their call then the whole process starts over again. Since they never answer their phone but seemingly let it always go to a message, this can be a never ending process. Let me see if I can think of a word for this process… I got it… STUPID. We miss the call from the Doctor but at least she does leave a message that she does not think the numbers are all that high and that I should just continue taking the medicine and I can continue hiking. This is the first realization we have had that they have at least finally paid attention to what is going on. Before they were acting like we were still up the street in Escondido! Neither Lenora or I actually agree that the “numbers are not that high” and I am just not feeling right but I decide to hike the next section while Lenora continues to try and get me an appointment. There is no sense me waiting because since we missed the call from the Doctor and because of the system they have in place it will take at least another 24 hours AT BEST for her to call again and actually have a conversation.

Lenora drops me off at Tuolumne Meadows at about 9 in the morning and I start my hiking of the next section to Sonora Pass which is about 73 miles away. I hope to do it in 4 or 5 days and I’m thinking since I am passed all the high passes this next section should be rather easy. WRONG AGAIN. Maybe I should change my trail name from “Mr. Burns” to “Wrong again” or “No Clue” or “Does not pay attention to maps”. Ok, that last name might be a little too long. After hiking for about an hour which was really easy and beautiful and FLAT, I meet a guy coming the other direction while crossing a river. We talk for awhile and he tells me he is doing the PCT in sections and that his name is “Turtle” and I ask how he got that name. Turns out he has been hiking sections of the PCT for 25 years and he is about half way through!! He then tells me that his wife has put her foot down and that he has to complete the PCT faster and so he has committed to finishing within the next 10 years. I really do LOL at this and he indicates he thinks he will probably set the record for the longest time to complete the PCT. I agree that he probably has a very good chance of doing that. Then he says he wants to challenge my memory and asks… Do you remember coming out the Bear Lake and walking along this large valley until you came to the Mojave Dam and then you go a little further and you go past another dam and then a little while later you go into a patch of trees and within the trees was a cooler that contained oranges and candy? I look at him and indicate that I remembered it very well. Do you, my readers, remember when I wrote about the magic I ran across and how much it meant to me at the time? It was the day after I burned my knee and I actually took pictures of the candy and the orange. He tells me that it was him and his wife that maintained that little bit of magic and that they had to refill the cooler every day and that 70% of the hikers he has talked to remember it. I told him I not only remembered it but it was one of the best days of the hike so far and that it meant a lot to me. We talk more about that and the circumstances and then he proceeds to tell me that the section I am about to hike is the “hardest section of the PCT”. Again, I actually LOL at that and tell him how many times I have heard that about the next section of the PCT. He is a bit annoyed that I am laughing at that and indicates that I will find it to be true this time. I will tell you right now that “Turtle” was correct in my opinion. The PCT has guidelines for how steep the PCT should be and indicate those guidelines will only be exceeded for short periods of time and only if there is no other option. The guideline is: “As a general rule, the trail should not be steeper than 15 percent (15-foot rise in 100 linear feet).”. I will submit to you that for at least 40 miles there is no part of this section that when going up or down meets this guideline. During this 40 or so miles the trail pretty much is always going up or down from a peek and other than very short sections, exceeds by a large margin, the guideline. For this section the guideline was thrown out the window. It may sound like I am whining. I am not as I enjoyed every moment of my hiking. I only mention it because it factors in to me being “WRONG AGAIN” about my expectations and why this section was indeed the “hardest section of the PCT”, up to this point.

I also meet another Ranger in this section that wants to see my permit and my bear canister. This is the 3rd time I have been stopped by a ranger. Not a problem because I have a permit and I have a bear canister, I am legal. All of the rangers have been really nice and helpful. This encounter was a little funny because she asked for my permit first. My permit is within my pack and so I have to take off my pack, undo about 4 straps to get inside the pack and dig out the container with my permit to show her. She looks and says OK and I proceed to put the permit in the container, the container in the pack, redo the 4 straps to tie down the pack and put it back on my back when she says… “oh, I am also suppose to check for the bear canister”. I am sure I pulled a face at this point and indicated that I had a bear canister, that it was at the bottom of my pack, and I would have to remove everything to get at it. She was sweet and indicated that if she could feel the canister in my pack it would be good enough. She could, she did, and I was good to go. Just before I left, she asked me if I had passed a group of young girls while I was hiking. I had indeed. Earlier in the day I caught up to about 20 young girls and I passed them, then they passed me back about 1 mile later, and then I passed them again in another mile, and I had not seen them since. I asked if there was a problem, where they lost or something? She indicated that there was no problem she knew about but that she was suppose to meet up with this large group of girls to help and guide them and answer questions and was wondering how far away they might be. It was unusual that they had not passed me again in the 4 hours since I had last seen them but I am sure they were OK. Since they were a group they were only going to be as fast as their slowest member which means there is at least 1 teenage girl in the world that walks slower than I do.

There was also rain and hail during the hike today. I have good rain gear and so do not really mind it as long as it stops before I have to put up my tent. Much prefer hiking, especially steep slopes, in very cool weather. The scenery in this entire section is pretty much a constant of forest with a river, stream, and lake thrown in from time to time. Not as dramatic as the previous sections when coming off the passes but still beautiful. I camp about mile 957 which is just short of Spiller Creek. A beautiful, cold, water source. Fix up my dinner of instant mashed potatoes, cheese, summer sausage, and olive oil. Yum, yum.. I made it 15 miles today. Tomorrow the real fun begins.

During the day, I got a message from Lenora indicating that she heard from the Doctor’s office and since I have not seen the doctor in over 3 years, I have been dropped as a patient!!!! Seriously. I have received a call from the Doctor and she did not indicate that. I got my prescriptions changed before going on the trail… didn’t that count? She has renewed my prescriptions over the last years and never indicated I NEEDED to come in, didn’t that count? I am being punished for being healthy and not going to the Doctor for no apparent reason? What is really going on? I am not sure if I am more mad or more worried at this point. Lenora immediately calls around to folks in the Church and gets a recommendation for Dr. Delgado who runs the “Culture of Life” organization. As it turns out, due to a cancellation, he can see me and give me a physical on Monday. It is going to be hard to make that as I am in the middle of no where and need to get to Sonora Pass so Lenora can pick me up and we need to make it back to Escondido by Monday (about a 7 hour drive). Should be possible, but I am on the “hardest section of the PCT” (I know I could turn around and go back to Tuolumne Meadows, but I don’t turn around and go back…. ever). I have a decision to make. Do I change the doctor I have had for 17 years? Need to pray about it. Wait… a 7 hour drive. I have been hiking since April 6th and I can get back home in the car in 7 hours. I find that funny and go to sleep laughing.

Lenora’s Note:
When someone builds a wall across your path you can find a way around the wall, (how do I get this doctor to see Don even though the office claims he is no longer a patient?), or you go get a ladder and climb over the wall. As I processed our options I thought of people who had recommended their doctor to me and I settled on Dr. Delgado mainly because of his leadership in the Culture of Life and his obvious intelligence and caring manner that comes through when he speaks on behalf of life.
I do not expect to get an appointment but he is my first choice and nothing is lost by trying so I pick up the phone. Not only do I get to talk to a real person but she tells me that Dr Delgado will accept new patients and by chance they have just received a cancellation for Monday. Now I do not believe in ‘chance’ but I do believe in providence and my next action is to thank our loving God for attending to our needs.
For 17 years we have seen the same doctor and we both like this doctor so it is with regret that I make this appointment but finding out what is going on with Don trumps my emotional attachment to our ‘old’ doctor and so I go ahead.
The rest of the day I feel restless and have trouble focusing. Don is moving forward but I begin to wonder if he will make enough miles for us to reach Escondido before the appointment time.
Nothing to do but pray and finally comforted to fall asleep.

I wake up to a beautiful morning. I am camping right by a stream and so I fill up my water containers and add the purifying drops. The water always looks so amazingly clean, I wonder if I can’t just drink it straight. But I always purify or filter. There are hikers at the other extreme. I met a guy named “Rat water” and he got his name because he never purified his water unless it was very obviously necessary. Supposedly once drank water straight that was reported to have had a dead rat in it. I have not seen this guy since I met him and found out the story of his name. Perhaps he is in a hospital somewhere…. Just kidding… I hope not.

There are a couple little flowers where I am camping and I start the day by taking their picture.

Here are some pictures of the start of the day hiking.

For the most part this is another rather gentle ascent. Only the last part gets a bit steep. Here is a picture looking down on the way up. This should look rather familiar to you and the tundra look with lots of streams going between lakes seems to be common on the South side of a pass. The north side is always more rocky and dry.

Once I reach the top of Donahue Pass and look to the North I can see the wonderful valley into which I am going. Meadow after meadow of wonderful flat hiking.

I have a decision to make about the point I took the picture of the deer below. There is no camping within about 6 miles of Tuolumne Meadows and so I need to decide if I want to camp or go another 6 miles and spend the night in a hotel with Lenora. OK…. not a hard decision!! I decide to push on and text Lenora with the InReach indicating I will be there tonight between 6 or 7. I actually go a little faster and get to Tuolumne around 5:30. There is a great general store there and I walk into the store and while waiting for the register line to go down, I sit down in a corner of the store and drink a Gatorade and a double chocolate milk and then realize my money is out in my pack. I put the bottles in a safe place and go get my money. The gal at the cash register was amused when I gave her two bottles and indicated I drank them while waiting.

A 16 mile day is not bad considering I stopped many places along the way and just enjoyed the view, the sounds of birds, the sounds of water and just realizing how lucky I am.

I found out in Utah that my blood pressure had gone sky high. I was really surprised because after losing so much weight and feeling great I did not expect a higher blood pressure but a lower one. It was about 160 over 100. Those numbers are not good. I am on blood pressure medication and so I called my doctor and she told me to double the dose. If it does not go down, I will be off the trail until the reason can be found.

As of writing this post (Sunday) my blood pressure has gone down to 140 over 80. Will keep checking but will probably keep hiking AND schedule a complete physical with my doctor and go off trail when that can take place.

Lenora’s Note:
Don making great time to be at pick up point today. Unfortunately I ignored Apple a little too long and finally got locked out of my account because I had not updated my password. It took hours of phone calls that resulted in my leaving late to fetch him from Tuolumne Meadows but we still had part of the evening together.
I am in worried wife mode now because of the blood pressure so I am determined that he get checked out asap. On the weekend I completed another of my ‘unfinished’ projects.

Lenora July 18:
Since I’m not hiking I get to add notes for the 0 days, days Don makes no progress on the trail because he is with me. These are great days. Today we took a long drive over miles of dirt road to the ghost town of Bodie. It was a gold mine town and is a popular tourist spot. So popular they ran out of parking and after a long wait we decided looking at the town from the road below was enough and headed back to town for lunch. As we drove I noticed how sparce the vegetation is at this high elevation but from high on the mountain you can see part of Mono Lake. We saw lots of sage brush, cedar and juniper but little else.

July 19 (The Lords Day)
Infant of Prague church is both tiny and delightful. Fr. Jorge Romano gives a very good homily that stressed resting on the Lord’s Day and family. Today I finished the Leaf Collage needlepoint and worked on blogs. A good day of rest for us.

July 20, (Monday)
Another 0 day since we are hoping for a call back from the doctor’s office about Don’s BP and need for a physical. Stitching Day for me. New car carrier arrived as zipper broke on the Utah trip and everything inside got soaked in the rain. We got it put on car and loaded and think it will be much better solution for our needs. Don ready to hike tomorrow but still waiting on call from doctor.

July 21, (Tuesday)
Another 0 day. Waiting for doctors office to call we went for a ride and found we had cell service by resevoir so watched birds for a while. Of course we missed the doctor’s call and so we are trying again to get appointment. Blood Pressure seems to be improving so all may be ok.

So between July 6 and July 16 there was some more down time from hiking and in that time Lenora and I traveled to Utah for the annual Mickey Goodliffe Memorial Junior Golf Tournament. This is a tournament that is in memory of my Mom and it not the usual junior golf tournament. Rather than competition, the emphasis is FUN! My Mom was ahead of her time and she could see that the balance of all sports was trending toward competition and away from fun. The “Love of the Game” was being replaced by the love of the big paycheck. She always liked to emphasis the fun part of sports and by having fun you could also have success. So this tournament is not part of the junior circuit but is out there on its own and the focus is to provide a good time for all the kids involved. We do give out trophies for the age groups and a watch is given to the mentalist for both boys and girls but frankly if we could put a device on the kids to measure fun we would also give out trophies for those that had the most fun. The parents of the kids help with the tournament as many of them help the kids around the course and keep it moving. The most a kid can take on any hole is a 10. We had over 100 kids for the tournament this year. We put drinks all around the course to keep the kids happy and hydrated and cook hamburgers for them at the end of the day. Being the traveling child, I have missed these tournaments most of my life. This was the 42nd and I have been there for about 10 of them. Been there for the last 5 and will never miss another one. They are emotional and fantastic.

Took some pictures on the way back from Utah to Mammoth Lakes. Here is one of the Bonneville Salt Flats. I wanted to take the car out and try for a world speed record but Lenora would not let me.

So you may also notice that I skipped PCT miles 878 to 914. I just could not make Lenora drive the 7.5 hours between Mammoth Lakes and the VVR where the last hour is a bit of a dangerous road again. So rather than going back to VVR, I started from Agnew Meadow near Mammoth Lakes. I may do those 36 miles some day. Probably not.

There are lots of wilderness around these parts. I am entering a new one. Not sure which one I am exiting…

So I know I am only going to Tuolumne Meadows where Lenora will pick me up for the weekend and Sunday church. So I have 3 days to go 28 miles. I think I can manage that. Starting north from Agnew Meadow I am amazed at the number of wild flowers I am seeing and I stop to take a picture of each new species I see. I find out later from Lenora that they actually have a wild flower trail around Agnew Meadows for that very reason. She went on that trail (and many others around the area) and took a number of the same pictures. Here are a few:

I have two passes between me and Tuolumne Meadows. The first is Island Pass and there is a steady but gentle incline all the way from Agnew Meadows to Island Pass at 10200 feet. It is a very easy hike and here are some pictures along the way.

From Island Pass you drop back down to about 9700 feet and then start the ascent to Donahue Pass at 11031 feet. I am a little surprised by the elevation of Donohue because I thought my days at 11000+ feet were over. About the time I have finished the descent from Island Pass, a thunder storm develops over Donahue Pass. Thunder and Lighting, oh my!! I am amazed as it seems each time I approach a pass this happens. This time it seems more serious. It is only about 3 pm and I have 5 more hours I could hike but I decide to play it safe and set up camp for the night. Thunder and Lighting continue into the night but there is never any rain where I am camping. I have a nice meal of Idahoan Potatoes (BACON FLAVORED!!) with some extra cheese and some olive oil added. The package says it contains 4 servings. I eat them all and feel good. I have talked with other hikers who indicated over the higher passes that they also experienced problems getting sick after eating. They all attributed it to mild elevation sickness and so I guess that is what I had as well. That makes more sense than my body starting to reject food…. I like food!!

A good nights sleep and only 10 miles to go to VVR to meet Lenora. How hard can it be? Turns out harder than I figured. I get into an unexpected dry section again and again run out of water. BUT, I met a man who is hiking with his 15 year old daughter and later I would find out with his sister. They are going the opposite direction. I meet the 15 year old first and hope she is not walking along. I then meet the Dad and he tells me his daughter is just ahead of him, which I acknowledged, and that she will turn 15 on the trail. I asked him if he could spare some water and he had plenty and gave me a liter. This was more than enough to get me to the next water source. This was in the middle of a 1000 foot ascent and it is just nice to have water when going uphill on a warm day. I was very grateful. After getting to the top of the 1000 foot climb and starting on the 2000 foot descent, I met his sister and talked to her for awhile and asked her to thank her brother for me once again. This is an interesting day because I also met 4 other PCT hikers that I have hiked with off and on at other times and was surprised as I thought they were way ahead of me. Rock City, 8Track, Lighting, and another whose name escapes me. It was nice to see them. All of them were going on to Mammoth Lakes and so we departed when getting to the VVR cutoff. VVR is about 5 miles (a number I don’t agree with) from the PCT and is right on Lake Edison. There is a ferry that picks you up and takes you to VVR BUT the ferry only runs in the mornings and I got there at 12:30 and so I had to hike the 5 miles “around the lake” to get to VVR. I don’t know about you but “around the lake” sounds like a nice mostly level walk to me but this was anything but and it just had to be more than 5 miles. Perhaps the 5 miles was as the crow flies and since I don’t fly it was different for me. I’m guessing at least 7 miles. I have 3 resources that list the distance. One says 4 miles, one says 5 miles, one says several miles. At any rate I did make it to VVR. VVR is a full function resort and so I was able to shower, have a steak dinner, and a great breakfast the next day. Lenora picked me up the next day a little after noon. Now the distance on the PCT between VVR and Mammoth Lakes is 30 miles. However it takes 7 hours to drive between VVR and Mammoth Lakes!!! Talking to the people at VVR about it the manager there told me that he could hike to VVR faster than I could drive there.

Lenora’s note:
July 6, 2015 (Monday):
After getting my moving chore done I realize the next time I see this room it will be very different. So many changes in a short time. We are really looking forward to the redo of the office. I’m actually glad I could do this while Don is hiking so he can enjoy the result when he gets home and now I can relax and enjoy the journey. I’m very anxious to get going. I now know D will reach VVR early but I’m not ready and need to meet Mike H, return his shot.

One of the challenges of this adventure is leaving our faith community and not knowing when we will return. Among the things I know we will miss is Friday morning Adoration where we spend time with Jesus and see Ardie. Joan is there when we arrive and Tim arrives before we leave. Every week I am reminded how blessed we are to be in a place where the Body of the Lord is present for worship in a familial but also intimate way every week. Another thing is the meetings of our Small Church. This little community has become family and they share with us in the excitement of our adventure. Thank you guys. Another parting is our morning rosary and mass group. These are the people who encouraged Don every day of his RCIA journey and my heart is lifted with joy every time I enter that small chapel to pray and worship with these faithful brothers and sisters. There are many others and I hope they all know I carry a little bit of them with me on the journey.

July 7, 2015 (Tuesday):
Could not fall asleep last night. Decided if I’m awake I might as well drive. GPS said I had 6.5 hours to go to meet Don. GPS was wrong and not based on I-5 roadwork. LA is not my favorite city and much of the night was chewed up trying to get past LA. No bathrooms, no coffee and what is the deal with ALL the gas stations north of Temecula always claiming their restrooms are all out of order? Long night ending with a couple of short naps and starting drive again around 7 am. GPS says I have 50 miles to go and I have 150 miles left in gas so the closed gas station does not concern me. After driving around Huntington lake for a while I conclude there is no VVR in area and think to try “find my phone”. Still 26+ miles away? Now I need gas so get gas and directions. Two false tries and I’m on another mountain drive that surpasses all expectations of beauty. Too bad I’m so terrified of the sheer drop off that I can only stare at the road right in front of me. Thankfully on the way down Don drives and I enjoy the views. Lots of things to thank God for today.

July 8, 2015 (Wednesday)
My husband has uncanny fortune in hiking weather. A 0 day and he is missing the sleet, hail and wind. Too stormy for many birds but we drove over to Mono Lake anyway. Meagan’s news is both good and bad. Morgan’s aunt Carla continues to struggle with multiple issues related to diabetes and needs many prayers. Meagan has been assigned her first client at the Mercer clinic, the first in her class to be deemed ready to work with a client. We are suitably proud of her accomplishments.

July 9, 2015 (Thursday)
On our way to Brigham City for “The Mickey” and in checking in with Susan we learn of Rod’s ‘minor’ stroke last month. These Goodliffe men are a stubborn lot.

Heading across Nevada on Hwy 6 and the rain finds us again.
There should be photos but I’ve forgotten how to do that 🙂

July 10, 2015 (Friday)
At Rod and Susan’s. Cats in playpen in garage. Dinner w Reid & Jane who will have hip surgery soon.

July 11, 2015 (Saturday)
Rod went golfing while Don worked on his blogs. Lots of time spent identifying the wildflowers he photographs.

July 12, 2015 (Sunday)
Mass in Brigham then down to Jarek’s farewell reception in the park. He leaves on his mission to the Dominican Republic in two days. Watched Ashlynn walk completely unaided. Miracle child.
Heidi there and Chris.

July 13, 2015 (Monday)
My birthday and the Mickey. Whole family gathered to work and support and cheer on the kids. Saw Lori and all her kids. Mindy, Kaden a Gma Eloise there all day. Don manned the grill all day with first Susan then Shawn. Both of Shawn’s kids, Brinley and Tajer played.

July 14, 2015 (Tuesday)
Drive back to trail to Silver Maple Inn in Bridgeport, CA. Long drive. Both tired. Room very small, no ac and teeny shower with a bad shower head but room bright and park like tree filled lawn out front very inviting.

July 15, 2015 (Wednesday)
Getting ready to send Don out tomorrow morning. Checking out drop off spot. Cats left in playpen. They ran and tumbled and played all night. Visit to the drop off point. If there by 7 can drive up – if later take shuttle. Want to take shuttle myself to see the sights.

Today is Sunday and normally I would not hike but I want to get at least over Selden Pass so I don’t have so far to go to get to Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) tomorrow. Lenora is going to pick me up at VVR and then we will stay in Mammoth Lakes for a day and then head to Utah for the Mickey Goodliffe Memorial Junior Golf Tournament. I had hoped to make it to Mammoth Lakes (30 miles beyond VVR) but it was not to be.

Wild flower where I was camped

So today I get up and just relax and enjoy my camp site. Fix a good breakfast, listen to the stream, do a little bird watching, watch a deer browsing for food and just relax and give thanks for my blessings.

I get started hiking about noon. I decide to go as slow as possible so as to never sweat during the hike. Here are a couple pictures to show how different this section is with regards to water. The forest is dry, very dry.

But after a mile or two I come to a lake and of course above the lake is a stream inflowing into the stream.

Moving on up from the lakes it is level for awhile and a marmot watches me go by.

Continuing on up there is Heart Lake because it is shaped like a heart but I could not get a shot that showed its heart’ness.

Shortly after I reached Selden Pass and looked down on the lake below, Marie Lake. I will go just beyond Marie Lake and find a campsite for the night, just short of Bear Creek which is suppose to be one of the harder rivers to ford A very nice and relaxing and stress free day. Leaves me only 10 miles to VVR tomorrow to meet Lenora.

Here is a view of Marie Lake from Selden Pass

Lenora’s Note:
For me much of the trail experience centers around the 0 days. My adventure centers on finding Don and hearing about his days on the trail, the challenges, the fun, the other hikers and the incredible people who are trail angels. We try various eating places, indulge in wine in the evening, ice cream whenever we see it and a new church to celebrate the Lord’s Day almost every week. This Sunday we walk to mass and I think we are almost regulars in the tiny parish of Lone Pine since we have been there two weeks in a row. Saturday is a 0 day for me as I experience my first migraine in many months after my short trip up to Horseshoe Meadows. Sunday was more of an adventure. We drive up to Whitney Portal and explore the waterfall for a short time before we have one of the worst hamburgers I have ever eaten. I think these folk cook for the starving hiker because nobody else would put up with such dry, overcooked and bland burgers. After eating all I could we headed up the Mount Whitney trail just to see what it is like. It made me want to give that hike a try and we started to plan how we might do the training necessary to get me ready to do it next year.

A fairly good night and I get up early and decide to try a good breakfast before hiking. Some hot food. So I make some Raman Noodles and add some peanut butter for calories. I have no figured out why food is making me ill but am going to try to eat a good meal before I get started to see if it makes a difference. I actually make 2 batches of the noodles. I am only able to eat about half and need to throw the rest away. I start walking and not too long into it, I am feeling sick again. Not as bad as before and I am able to walk it out. Here are some pictures of Evolution Lake as I start hiking.

I now arrive at my first real river crossing. Evolution has been published as being one of the most difficult crossings on the PCT. It is not too bad when I reach it but it is the first time I actually have to wade through the water.

After couple hours of hiking I arrive at some nice meadows. There are deer about that they really pay me no mind. No fear.

Another couple hours. Another stream to wade across.

Just below the nice easy stream that I waded it gets a little more interesting

Towards 4 pm I get to a point where I am entering a new section of the wilderness. As you look at the picture of the sign do you notice how dry it looks? I did not notice at the time. About an hour later, I noticed how the forest floor had changed to being very dry and I had not seen water for a long time. It was going to be 6 miles before I would see water. What a shock after having water everywhere for a number of days. I ran out of water on the ascent to Selden Pass but was able to borrow some from a PCT hiker that was coming down from Selden.

Anyway, all along the trail today everyone was wishing a Happy 4th or Happy Independence Day. I always responded with a thank you and a May God Bless and protect your hiking today. I thought it a good opportunity to try and remind people that our nation was founded under God in whom we trust. Most seemed to appreciate my response. Perhaps I planted in seed in those that had not thought about God lately. It also got me thinking about how I could explain the beauty of this place I am hiking in.

Do you remember when you were a kid and your would go on a special vacation into the mountains? Seems everyone has their favorite spot in the mountains to go for a few days and either camp or stay in a mountain cabin. These places usually involve trees bigger than you had ever seen before and a cold stream near by to wade in and a meadow to wander in and perhaps see some birds and some animals that caught your imagination. Perhaps when seeing the trees and the different plants you became interested in protecting the environment so that everyone could enjoy the same thing. Perhaps when seeing all the different birds you became interested in knowing more about birds and in protecting them or perhaps you just became a life long bird watcher and contributor to conservation/protection efforts. Perhaps when seeing the animals, you were told about how there is a balance in nature and that laws are made to limit the number of animals that can be hunted and when, so as to keep a perfect balance and at that time you decided you wanted to study those types of things. Perhaps you went fishing and learned that you only keep the number of fish you intend to eat and you let the rest go and from that time forward you learned to only take what you need and leave the rest for others. So this beautiful, wonderful spot where you had the family outing because a learning experience and may have even determined what you were going to do the rest of your life. If it did not do so immediately, the seed was planted in you and when the conditions were right the seed bloomed. I was one where the love of the outdoors seed was planted and it took a long time for the conditions to be right for it to bloom. A lot of the seeds planted in me were that way. Anyway, back to the point, that special vacation place in the mountains that you went to….. EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK UP HERE IS JUST LIKE THAT!! Pick any spot, sit down and listen and you will be blown away. It is that good.

So there was about a 10 mile ascent to Selden Pass. I made 6 of those miles today. From the profile, it looks to be hardest of the miles and it appears things level out for the last 4. I make it to Senger Creek where there is indeed water and I stop there. Tomorrow is Sunday and I am not sure if I will hike at all. If I do hike, it will be very little.

Rained hard again last night, really hard, but not for very long. I am getting rain but each day I hear about people that are getting hailed on. It is always about 1 day ahead of me the hail occurs. Good thing I am slow I guess. The morning was beautiful and I felt ready to try to get to Muir Pass. It was only 7 miles away. How hard can it be. Well it took me from 7:30 until 2:45 to make the pass. 7 hours to do 7 miles. Do not believe I set any speed record. This was the hardest ascent for me. But it was beautiful. It was a series of steep ascents to a plateau where generally there was a lake. The trail would generally take you across the outflow stream from the lake, take you around the lake, and across the inflow stream to the lake and then a steep ascent to the next plateau. Beautiful but for whatever reason, I found it difficult. Here is my hike in pictures.

I camped by Evolution Lake and it looked as if it was going to rain but it did not. First night in awhile there was no rain. Ate some dinner and got ill again.

Last night the skies opened up and it rained hard and it rained most of the night. My tent did its job and I was mostly dry. One of the other campers had a miserable night as all he had was a tarp and when the rain started coming sideways because of the wind he got soaked. He was basically up all night in his rain gear and in the morning he was walking around trying to get dried off a bit. He was in remarkably good spirits however. He made the best of the situation and said he thinks he figured out how to set up his tarp for the next time so he would stay dry. Away from the other 3, he liked to talk. His name was Patrick and did not have a trail name yet. If I had any imagination, I could have given him one. I told him about my “I will never be dry again” experience in the snow and rain and how I learned from that it is critical to have the tent set up properly no matter how cold it is at the time. We both laughed at our “learning” experiences. I would see this group off and on for the next two days and then they would disappear into the sunset.

I was feeling good this morning and started hiking about 7:30. As it turns out, I think all the hikers this day were blessed by the rain. It was incredible hiking towards Muir Pass. There was water EVERYWHERE. There were waterfalls all over that were not there the day before. I met a JMT hiker coming from the North and he told me I was going to have to dodge a few waterfalls along the way down. It was just amazing. Here are some pictures of the waterfalls and the flooded PCT trail…

There is no point in trying to keep feet dry today. It is just an amazing scene everywhere I look. Here are some more pictures and a close up of the waterfall mentioned above

There is a steep decline from Mather Pass to the bottom of the valley before you start the climb towards Muir Pass. Combine the steep decline and the rain from the night before and you have a raging river. You go from 12000 feet to 8000 feet. Most of this decline happens very rapidly and is called the golden staircase. I had heard about this golden staircase from hikers earlier in the trail. Wait till you get to the golden staircase!!! It is impressive for sure, but it was not any harder (going down) than it was coming down from any of the passes. Going the other direction and going UP the golden staircase would be a different story but I found going down it not all that taxing.

Here are some raging river pictures

Some pictures associated with the golden staircase

Some pictures descending the golden staircase and looking back up once reaching the bottom

When I got basically to the bottom where I stopped to dry things (picture above) may JMT’ers came by and looked up at the golden staircase and paused a bit. I could imagine their thoughts as they looked at the mountain in front of them and 3000 feet of elevation gain they had to make in a short distance. So happy I was going down!!!

Still some down to go and still have the raging river beside me. Wondering if I am going to have to cross this bad boy at some time.

Mostly down from Mather by now and walking in the forest and at times what appears to be a rain forest.

And some pretty flowers at the end of the day…

Stopped by a stream and washed out some clothes and hung them out to dry. Hoping there would be enough sun left in the day to do the job. There was not. Here is my camp and you can see where I have dung a little channel for the water to run. There is suppose to be another storm tonight. I am 7 miles from Muir Pass.

Lenora’s Note:
This is the day I have chores scheduled and my goal is to get things done early so I start at the car dealer at 7:30. I make it to mass at 8:30 and my Thursday group is down to two of us this week but we don’t let it keep us from sharing or praying together. Tonight is my big night out, work-out followed by dinner and drinks. These girls (Linda and Jenn) have a killer routine, at least killer for me and I push to keep up. I’d love to do this every week, maybe I would learn to keep up. Bev is at dinner and she looks great. What with travel I haven’t seen her since her hip went south and we enjoy talking surgery recovery and getting caught on the welfare of other friends. I miss seeing these folks regularly.
After a late evening I sit down to watch a little tv before bed and it suddenly strikes me. I have to get ready for the closet people. I’m tired and nothing works better than putting off a big job until tomorrow so to bed I go.

Again a little bit of rain during the night and again I did not sleep great. Perhaps it is elevation. Spend a lot of time at night thinking over the day and the wonderful sights I have seen and giving thanks to God for the ability to do this trail and the wonders I am seeing. Generally these types of thoughts help me go to sleep. I am getting good rest but not sleep. A good friend told me that worrying about sleep is not necessary and as long as you allow the body to rest you will be fine and sleep will come in due time. The target for today is going to be Mather Pass. As I start to walk there is a coyote coming up the trail towards me . He sees me and veers off to the side. Wanted to get a picture but he was too fast for me. Here are some shots of Lake Majorie where I start my day

Here are some pictures of the trail on the way down the valley. In this section you are always going down from one pass or going up to the next pass. Very little walking on level ground. There is also generally a rather big stream on one side of the other. Every chance I get I look at the stream to see how far I can see where the water the going with me which means I will still be on the downside. When the water turns against me, I am on the upside, but I generally don’t need the water direction to tell me that 🙂

The day was short. I stopped pretty early after getting over Mather Pass. I was not feeling good with an upset stomach. I am not actually eating very much because food is causing me to be nauseous. Again, perhaps an elevation thing, but I have found eating proving difficult for most of the trail. Just seems to be getting worse at these elevations. Make it to Mather Pass and below is a picture from the top looking down to Palisade Lake where I will stop and camp for the day.

I camp early in a spot where I figure I will be alone. Not the greatest camp site and just ahead there are plenty of good camp sites according to Guthook. Since I am not feeling well, I want to be alone. However about 7 pm, 4 other PCT hikers show up and decide to camp at the same spot. Oh well….. anyway they did not start the PCT at the beginning but started at Cottonwood Pass skipping the first 740 miles. They did plan on going all the way to Canada. They were not interested in talking much.

Lenora’s Note:
Today the pool demolition was supposed to start. Following morning mass about 7:15 am I am ready but no workers, and no Tom to present me with a contract to sign or a request for money. 8am, 9am, 10am still nothing so I send a text. Nothing. Next a phone call. Several hours and several phone calls later they agree to send a small crew on Friday. Good news is I have filled the time waiting and am going to finish my current project soon and I have this evening and Thursday to run errands, get car serviced and cleaned, etc. I make a date to see Linda and Jen at the gym tomorrow followed by dinner and drinks – I’m thinking Margaritas :).
One of the blessings of this “time out” of our ordinary lives is getting the chance to realize how very petty most of my daily anxieties really are. If the pool guy doesn’t show today I can stitch, not tomorrow? It is ok I can get the car serviced. Things work out for the best when I relax and accept the disappointment and irritations as a part of the journey. I am thinking about Paul a lot and how he could rejoice in his suffering and I pray that my trust in Jesus grow as I face life with less rebellion and fewer demands for my own way.
The sat phone runs out of minutes during this week and feel more lonely once I realize even the voice contact is being taken away. However I am happy to be going out with friends tomorrow and know they will pepper me with request for information on Don’s journey, progress, well-being and mood. I am excited to share.