Day 5 – July 8, 2014 Odometer Reading: 51.46 miles Miles today: 10.01 Camped: Shadow Creek – elevation 9,065 Today’s Key to Success: Lip Biting Neither of us slept. Our hips hurt too much, even through the ibuprofen (“Vitamin I”). I dreamed of wide rivers, the other side only accessible over a bridge of railroad tracks. I dreamed of lost wallets and stealing cell phones. I woke up a lot. Aidan teased me about my Read more…
Day 4 – July 7, 2014 Odometer Reading: 42.45 miles Miles today: 13.05 Camped: Rush Creek – elevation 9,952 Today’s Key to Success: Pack Covers Yip…yip…yip…yip-yip-yip-ahoooooooooo We opened our eyes. It came again. A lone coyote singing his little lungs out. Singing good morning to the world. It was really early. We lay there, all quiet and snuggly. I put my head on Aidan’s chest and we listened for a while. The most beautiful song Read more…
Day 3 – July 6, 2014 Odometer Reading: 29.4 miles Miles today: 12.5 Camped: Lyell Canyon – elevation 8,886 Today’s Key to Success: Catching the Last Shuttle We slept so, so well. It was a cold and perfect night with no wind. I wore my down booties, and was grateful for all the Facebook peer pressure that made me bring them in the first place. I also wore my down jacket, my down hat, my Read more…
Day 2 – July 5, 2014 Odometer Reading: 16.90 miles Miles today: 11.76 Camped: in Long Meadow Today’s Key to Success: Trekking umbrellas “No vomiting,” Aidan said, “You need those calories.” He petted my head. It was 1:30 am. It had to be the heat. I barely slept, so Aidan was in the same boat. I fidgeted and fussed all night. I couldn’t get comfortable. Please, Morning, hurry up and get here. Aidan got up Read more…
Day 1 – July 4, 2014 Odometer Reading: 5.14 miles Miles today: 5.14 Camped: near Nevada Falls Today’s Key to Success: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 4am came, loud and unapologetic. Don’t get up don’t get up don’t get up yet, I silently pleaded. Aidan got up. After several rounds of hugs and well-wishes, we were gone by 5. The Tuolumne Meadows Visitor’s Center was not yet open when we arrived, so Aidan took me to Read more…
5am: “I need to put an extra hair tie on the list. Rar Rar Rar. Aaaah!” I flailed my arms about. Aidan: “I’m not participating in rar-rar-aah.” He flailed his arms about, mocking me and smiling. 5am: “Good call. You’re totally right. No more rar-aahs. We’re going to be on vacation in a few hours.” Go time. I hung out at work for a while. Absently pushed some papers around my desk. Watched as I twirled a pen Read more…
I sat in my office, sipping on a delicious iced coffee, feeling grateful for the little heater I named Fred. Fred keeps me sane. He stoically combats the relentless air conditioning that blasts me in the head all day. Then I saw the weather report for the Yosemite Valley through the weekend. Sunny and a million degrees. I turned Fred off. Maybe I’ll just appreciate some cold weather for a bit. We decided to leave all unneccessary tiny-expensive-items in the truck in Tuolumne Read more…
We had a friend who was going to run, literally, our resupply up Kearsarge Pass and meet us on the trail. Even the offer was amazing. Pre-trail magic? Then she scored an awesome new position and was unable to take the leave needed to make the trip. We’re super happy for her, but we needed a new plan. So then, for about one solid day, we entertained the idea that we would do something super sketchy Read more…
“Hey buddy, where’s my sock?” Sherlock tilted his head. “What did you do with my sock? This sock.” I held up my lone Injinji sock. He touched it with his nose. “Good boy, show me SOCK. Yes, SOCK.” He touched it again and swished his tail…and did.not.move. I tore the house apart. This is not the best time on the planet to lose one sock. I tore the garage apart. Sherlock followed me around, Read more…
Do we have too much food? Not enough? It’s really hard to tell. In spite of our careful calculations and meticulous math, we can ultimately only hope we’re close enough for government work. Here’s our resupply for Red’s Meadow… I don’t know. I do know that by 8pm last night we’d worked on the remaining resupplies for 8 solid hours and we were wholeheartedly sick of trying to figure it all out. “I’m hungry,” Read more…