almost to the 200 mile mark

Yesterday, we hiked about 28 miles in 11 hours over several (no, many) mountains. Our longest, strongest day so far. A huge chunk of the trail was "closed" due to a recent forest fire. So we skipped it by hitch-hiking to our next resupply town, Idyllwild. But then we learned that thru-hikers had been hiking through the closed section, and that it was beautiful with great views. The section goes up into the San Jacinto Mts. You go through several ecological landscapes starting in the desert, then scrub, alpine meadow, and by the end, you are walking through snow. How could we just skip such a nice section of trail?? We decided to get back on the trail and do the whole section in one long day going north to south (backwards). We were really moving, at some points running. I often had my pack slung over one shoulder. (Ray Jardine was right after all, it does allow you to move with more freedom). Then we hitched a ride back to where we left our tent and dinner food. So now after 30 miles, we're back in Idyllwild. We've spent the morning cleaning ourselves and our gear. Today will be a rest day (ie maybe only 10-15 miles). The San Jacinto Mountains are gorgeous. On one side of them, the terrain is all green with pine, and on the other side of this distinct ridge, its arid, brown desert. The PCT walks pretty much along this so-called "desert divide".

We've been really happy with our gear so far. Michelle switched into her third pair of shoes. I'm still using my Inov8 trail runners. These shoes are fantastic!! They are so light and breathable and havent given me any bad blisters yet. Here are 5 other things that are working out way better than expected:

1. FOOD. Gosh, we eat so much food. I think I'm actually gaining weight. Everynight we have corn pasta with lots of vegetables, pemmican, sometimes cheese, and whatever else we decide to throw in. We've been eating sausage like candy bars. And we usually have food leftover. Then theres the food we can get in town. I think I need to go on a diet; from now on I'm limiting my caloric intake to 500,000 calories a day. That's it, no more!

2. Our alcohol stove weighs less than an empty soda can, and we use gas anti-freeze as fuel (HEET), which you can get really cheap at any gas station. It boils a pot of water with medicine cap-size amount of fuel. It's excellent.

3. Wide brim sun hats. Our heads are always in the shade. That makes a huge difference.

4. Rice Krispy Treats. These deserve their own category, because they are actually the most delicious food in the universe.

5. Our tarptent weighs less than 2 pounds, which helps keep our packs so light.

We weighed our packs at the local outfitters. With food and water, mine was 23 pounds and Michelle's was 19. And most of that weight is food and water. I'm never going to go backpacking the same ever again. This ultra-light style is definitely the way to go. It's basically like going dayhiking several days in a row. Basically I've learned that the best gear for thru-hiking is made in people's garages and sold online. The home-made stuff we bought here and here, are excellent!! All the commercial stuff is total crap by comparison.

A few things I have mixed feelings about:

1. Vitamins. Why are we carrying a half-pound of vitamin pills? We eat vegetables and all kinds of fresh foods when we get into town. That weight could be... more clif bars. It seems like I'm always taking pills, but they never run out. Plus those vitamins make my pee look radioactive. I guess vitamins are good for us in the long-term. Maybe if they came in the form of a bar, covered with maple syrup...

2. rattlesnakes. On the one hand, they are beautiful and neat to see. On the other hand... aaaaawwwww, oh god, there's another rattlesna.... oh wait, that's just a stick.... Anyways, as I was saying, we.... AAAAhhh I hear a rattle! Oh that's just a dry branch....
We've seen 5 actual rattlers so far. And about 90 things that kinda look like rattlesnakes.

3. sand. There's a lot of sand here. Sand everywhere, even in my corn pasta. Sand is hard. Sand is hot. Sand puts holes in my socks.

Oops my time is running out...
Everything has been fantastic so far. This is the best hiking trip I've ever experienced... It's such a joy to live out of a pack, especially a little bitty one.

love
Gerald/Gerry

Whew yesterday was incredible and exhausting too. I'm glad to have a half-day break today. It's wonderful to be up in the mountains with some real trees after days in the "desert" -- what we've been through is not truly desert perhaps but most would call it that. It's hot, dry, and shadeless, and there's cactus, but it's not at all like the vast sweeps of blowing sand you might imagine. But we're going to be going back there after this short respite among the real trees. Idyllwild (where we're writing from) is an incredibly friendly town to hikers. We've been enjoying the restaurants. Apparently not tired of pasta yet as we headed straight for an Italian restaurant last night. I'm out of time now! On to big bear ...
Love to everyone
Michelle