Day 61 PCT Mile Marker 1771.00 – 1793.50 Miles Hiked 22.50 Hoards of famished mosquitos were screaming and banging on my tent. Come Out!! They screamed. Banshees. My bug spray seemed to work okay even though it didn’t have Deet. Which is really good because Deet eats gear. I remember cycling cross country and spraying Deet in stripes down my legs. Pretty soon I looked down and found my shorts coming off of me in Read more…
Day 60 PCT Mile Marker 1747.90 – 1771.00 Miles Hiked 23.10 My Two Month Trail-A-Versary. My crazy journey started two months ago. It’s only been two months? It’s also been such a long, long time. I rolled the thoughts around in my head as I squashed a mosquito on my bicep. I left her mangled body there, a warning to all the others to steer clear. It totally worked for about thirty-five seconds. Read more…
Day 59 PCT Mile Marker 1727.58 – 1747.9 Miles Hiked 20.32 Crackle-crackle-pop-crackle-crackle The high voltage lines were menacing overhead. I felt like I should duck. I battled the giant dandelions, swatting them with my poles. They disintegrated at my touch, blowing up in a million directions, flying away with the wind. Be Gone With Your Bad Self! I hollered. SMACK. Thanks. They said. You just helped my babies become productive citizens. It was hot. Read more…
Day 58 PCT Mile Marker 1716.19 – 1727.58 Miles Hiked 11.39 All that food fit into three medium priority mail boxes. I’d unpackaged everything I could, removing it from cardboard boxes, getting rid of extra bulk, splitting stuff into ziploc bags and labeling them with my sharpie. This Is How We Do It. I successfully mailed it all UPS and USPS so I have food for the rest of the state of Oregon. My Mom Read more…
Day 57 PCT Mile Marker 1716.19 – 1716.19 Miles Hiked 0 Shamelessly, we snuck me into the breakfast buffet at Michelle and Leland’s swanky hotel. Then we sat in the hot tub for while. Then the pool. Then the hot tub. Then, unfortunately, they had to head home. I walked back to my motel and waved at the homeless person who was camped in the ditch by the gas station. He waved back. I told Read more…
Day 56 PCT Mile Marker 1716.19 – 1716.19 Miles Hiked 0 My tent was wet from the grass at the Lodge. Waited for it to dry. Moved it from this spot of sun to that one. Turned it around six times. Moved it again. …Watching Paint Peel… Draped it over a strategically placed boulder in the middle of the lawn. Fluffed it. Sat in a chair and watched it. Finally my belly took over and Read more…
Day 55 PCT Mile Marker 1693.58 – 1716.19 Miles Hiked 22.16 Hikers: “You don’t need that ice ax. You should sent it home.” Me: “Oh, I think it’s very fashionable. I think everyone will be carrying them in the future.” Hikers: “…” My favorite is leaving camp just when everyone else is getting up. I really like starting to hike at 5:15 in the morning. I like the alone time, which is weird since I’ve Read more…
Day 54 PCT Mile Marker 1668.24 – 1693.58 Miles Hiked 25.34 The moon was going down, orangy-yellow in the hazy smoke and early morning light. The wind was cool, flowing over my skin like water. So refreshing and clean. I followed paths around trees which had fallen across the trail. It was nice that others have gone before me on the trail. I had fewer and fewer things which needed problem-solving. I didn’t have to Read more…
Day 53 PCT Mile Marker 1653.42 – 1668.24 Miles Hiked 14.82 I don’t think you could call what I did “sleep”. I’d pitched my tent in what I thought was a far corner. Far away from Other People. But a light came on in the store that was really bright and shined right on my tent all night. And apparently there is no speed limit at night, so big rigs and cars zoomed down the Read more…
Day 52 PCT Mile Marker 1632.15 – 1653.42 Miles Hiked 21.27 So, so cold all night. And I was so tired, I left my electronics on…all night. Batteries were low on everything in the morning. But I got my favorite. My favorite is the early morning hiking on soft downhills. Watching the sun come up in fits and spurts. Waiting to see if we’re gonna be friends today or not. Once it did come up, Read more…