It's been about a month since we have updated our blog. With the Sierras just about behind us, we are heading north today after an all too brief stint in Tahoe City with Buddha (an unbelievably kind trail angel who has hiked the so-called Triple Crown: the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide trails). She took us to get Pizza and see the new (extremely dark, twisted, and good) Batman movie on its opening night.
Whatever I was previously expecting the Sierras to be, they were way better. Once again, I find myself completely unable to communicate about the hike in words, now that I'm in front of a computer. I'm simply not a good enough writer. It all seems a bit like a dream. This whole hike has been a dream-come-true really, a sort of stroll through some surrealistic fantasy. Yesterday, we came across a mother quail and her countless baby chicks. She did a hypnotic distracting display for us while her peeping babies fled in all directions. A few days ago, we walked through a volcanic dreamscape with menacing spires juxtaposed against endless fields of wildflowers. And then we hiked along a high prairie crest in the moonlight, rising and falling in and out of creek-carved canyons like the tide. And a couple of weeks ago, we playfully glissaded and tromped down steep plush snowbanks with bright blue glacier lakes below us.
In normal life, you can be lucky to experience days like these every once in awhile. But here, on the trail, every adventurous day is so full and rich. Like a rice krispy treat.
-Gerry
Here are 14 randomly ordered pics (out of 150 which we will post later)-
fields of flowers on the way to Echo Lake
wild iris
Michelle and her new (free) straw hat
Michelle climbing on "the western font", Tuolumne Meadows
Flowers, flowers everywhere
Me demonstrating the lightness of my pack without a bear canister. Volcanic formations loom in the background.
At times, the PCT definitely lives up to its name. Up above everything in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness.
Michelle not needing an ice axe on one of many Sierra mountain passes.
The High Sierra north of Mount Whitney near Forrester Pass
Highest point on the PCT. All downhill from here (more or less, right?)
The head of a Rubber Boa we came across
A fox (or coyote?) that watched us from atop a tallus slope.
Michelle at sunset
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Wow life is full of overwhelming experiences lately. It's always amazing to look over photos from the last weeks on the trail and realize all that we've seen and been through. Ger and I had been thinking of how we could get to town to see the Batman movie and we find ourselves whisked off to Tahoe City with the delightful Buddha. And for days before that: magical sunsets, one of the most beautiful landscapes, perfect weather, and few mosquitoes. I must also mention the wonderful Carl and Raylee who rescued us from a few days of growling hunger with loads of extra food that they no longer needed. Seems like a lifetime ago though ... that was before Vermillion Valley Resort, a few hundred miles ago now. What can I say? May the future be so bright as the present.
love to everyone,
Michelle
Finally, here is an interesting recent article on a particular hiker and the PCT.
