Against the Grain

Day 21 PCT Mile Marker 1265.4 – 1272.09 Miles Hiked 6.69 Aidan hiked out with me for a while. It was afternoon and I didn’t have any real plan on where I was trying to go for the day. The boys came too and were so, so happy to roll around in the stickers and grin their faces off. We got to a creek and Aidan pampered me for the last time. A good once Read more…

Day 20 Mileage 0 There was food all over the floor.  Piles of noodles and peanut butter sandwiches.  Cookies and breakfast pastries.  Nuts and berries and tuna fish and mashed potatoes and TVP and dried vegetable soup. And protein bars.  Forty-seven-hundred of them. At least there’s a good variety. I put together my food for the next stretch to Drakesbad Guest Ranch.  I also put together a resupply box to take me from Drakesbad to Read more…

Day 19 Miles 0 Today was our anniversary. Four Years of Extreme Happiness. Really, we all hit the lottery just by being alive, right?  All those people who had to meet at just the right time throughout history.  All those people who created little kiddos who survived this tough old world long enough to procreate.  All those people who lived and handed down legacies, and traveled, resulted in you being born.  And me.  And it’s Read more…

Day 18 Miles 0 It was snowing in the mountains again today. Time To Study. I sat in my properly heated dining room and binge-watched YouTube videos on my laptop.  How to properly attach and use crampons.  Techniques for using an Ice Ax. I rolled around on the floor, doing my best to imitate snow scenarios.  I’ll have to practice on some real snow, but I felt better having a little more information. This was a good Read more…

Day 17 Miles 0 We got back to Mom’s really late last night, and sleeping in this morning was an understandable accident. We shoveled some cereal into our mouths and raced to Grandma’s apartment in town.  The thrift store was meeting us at 9am to take all of her furniture. By 11:30, they still hadn’t shown up.  I had ants in my pants so I left to get us some coffee and lunch. They apparently Read more…

Day 16 Miles 0 Got to Mom’s house just after 8am with the truck.  She hopped in and after a stop at the grocery store to get sandwich stuff, we were off. The desert drive was so familiar.  This mountain range, and that.  Shadowy canyons folded into cinnamon hills.  The Painted Desert.  Tiny towns crumbling to dust around their tens of inhabitants.  The Sun Eating Everything. I love the desert.  I love that every day Read more…

Day 15 Miles 0 Did charging / posting / updating / whatever-other-stuff you do with electronics. That was Goal Numero Uno. We unloaded all the goat manure from the back of the truck.  Aidan created a spot for it in the side yard, so now we have a little goat shit mountain back there.  He threw a tarp over the top and weighed it down with some bricks. Didn’t want any of it to get Read more…

Day 14 Miles 0 My breakfast was enormous.  My tummy was a stuff sack, and I just crammed the whole plate in there.  Then I had ice cream with strawberries for dessert.  Eating insane amounts of food will be a definite boon to trail life. I was so glad to be close enough to be able to come home and be here for my family.  It would sure be great if I could just come Read more…