Day 3

Miles: 13
Total: 36

Today was another slow moving day. About half of the time I spent walking across snow, a quarter was spent walking across boggy marshes, and another quarter was spent walking in scrubby desert. The elevation change is still nagging me--sometimes I feel like I can't walk more than 50 feet without having to take a break and catch my breath. But I'll still take that over the snowy mountain passes. I knew this would be hard before I started, but I didn't think it would be hard 100% of the time. Hopefully my body catches up soon.

At about 1:30 two guys in their 50s passed me--Bones and Reboot--and then at about 3:30 I caught up to them. To both of our surprise. They were talking to a day hiking couple, and when the woman heard I didn't yet have a trail name, she said it should be Easter Egg--because I was wearing different combinations of bright yellow and pink. As we walked away from them, the guys told me that it's traditional you get your name from another hiker, and when they heard where I was headed, Reboot started calling me Seattle.

They seemed like really friendly guys, so I decided to stick with them as long as I could. We started going through a flatter desert portion of the trail just as another storm started to roll through, and as we were the tallest things around, booked it another 3 miles in the not too heavy rain to a better camping spot. They have both been hiking since Campo, and met each other on the trail. They told me that this section is the hardest portion of the trail (besides the Sierra's), and that they think I'm doing pretty well for having just started in this section. But I felt like they might have been playing the 'supportive father figure' role. I'll take it.

When they heard that I haven't been able to use my stove, Reboot made us all hot chocolate and said I could use his stove to heat up my food! It was the first day I've actually felt hungry, so both were quite a treat. Another guy (Camvoyage) walked into our area and decided to camp there and wait out the storm, too. We all talked a little bit--sharing stories, and them sharing trail wisdom, and then went to bed about 8. Reboot gave me one of his baselayer shirts because I said I have been sleeping cold because I hadn't expected the snow and colder temps. This helped a little, but I still didn't get much sleep. They headed out on the trail around 6, and when I tried to give the shirt back, he said to keep it and consider it Trail Magic. :)

Day 2

Day 2
Miles: 13
Total miles: 23

Last night was colder than I had expected. I wore almost every piece of clothing that I had--which was not much. I tossed and turned most of the night, but got some ok sleep from 4:30 to 7. I did not want to get up and go, so I had a later start than I wanted.

At about noon, 5 miles into my day, I was passed by a couple I had meet a few days ago in Tuolumne--who had not been very friendly. Today, seeing that I was a PCT hiker (and not recognizing me) they were much friendlier. The woman was Raindancer and the guy was Chimp. We commiserated about the snowy passes, they commented on my laundry (I was shirtless, having just washed my two shirts in the creek), and they went on their way. They are incredibly fast hikers.
A couple hours later a British guy by the name of Stampede passed me, and a couple hours later I caught up to him. We kept crisscrossing each other, as the trail was fully covered in snow, and we both made a few blunders that led us off trail. Around 4pm a storm started rolling in, and I still had about 6 miles until my destination. Any even portion of the trail I tried to (cautiously) fly through, but these inclines and elevation changes kill me. Every day I have gone up 2000ft and down 2000ft.

I decided to stick w Stampede and he decided to take a short cut down a mountain to cut off a mile of the trail. He seemed nice and knowledgable enough, and I didn't want to be caught in a storm by myself, so I followed him. He stayed with me until we got to my camp for the night, and we had a very pleasant conversation about our lives, our favorite foods, etc. He told me that he is meeting up w his wife at a cabin about 27 miles up the trail, and said that they were hoping to invite some other hikers. He said they have it until Sunday, so if I get there before then, I  am welcome to join them. Oh, that sounds so nice! I'm shooting for 15 miles tomorrow, but it would be awesome if I could do 20, and then make it in time to join them. We'll see.

I already feel every ounce of this pack, and every muscle in my back and legs. By the time I make camp, I'm so tired I'm not even hungry. I was at a site today where some other hikers made a crude campfire ring, so I made a fire and enjoyed the amazingness for a few hours. I was actually able to cook some food tonight using the fire (my alcohol stove is essentially useless at this elevation :/), and forced myself to eat the whole thing. While by the fire, I saw my first animal of the hike--a deer who didn't seem at all bothered by me. It was nice to have a little company :)
 I was ready for bed by 8, so I put all my clothes on, and am hunkered down for the night.

Day 1

Today was a lesson in humility.

Sometimes you feel like you can conquer the world; sometimes it feels like the world is throwing back at you, everything she's got. Today was one of the latter.

The day before yesterday we did a lovely 11.5 mile hike in Tuolumne Meadows in about 4 1/2 hours. Today, I did a little under 10 miles in about 7 hours. This ain't no easy nature walk, folks. I think I got to experience a little of everything today--desert heat, snow-covered mountains, soggy bogs, deep streams, and woods.

The first two miles were relatively easy--though they were not shaded, and walking along high cliff edges, I was making good time. So I must have seemed cocky. I crest a summit (about 1000 ft higher than where I had started at) and there it is: the mountain I have been walking on is suddenly covered in snow, all the way down, and my path leads across it. Oftentimes, what you think you can do, and what you have to do are not always synonymous. I couldn't turn around, so I just had to keep pressing on. After about the 4th mountain snow pass, and too many posthole encounters, I felt like a pro. So I must have seemed cocky.  Because they just kept coming.

Near the last cliff pass like this (number 10?) a guy shouts from behind me--oh, it's just Homelessman (trail name) and he's passing me, and he started two hours after me! So I tell him to go ahead, so I can follow his tracks, because wouldn't you know it, everything is covered in snow and there is no trail to be seen. So I naively follow Homeless man down the side of the mountain, trying not to kill ourselves by sliding down or breaking an ankle in a post hole (when your foot unexpectedly falls through the snow; which was up to my knees) in the process. Well, he's so far ahead of me it's ridiculous, and suddenly I'm having trouble finding his tracks OR the trail.
I reach for my maps only to find, you guessed it, nothing. Somewhere along that ridiculous decent my map holder became unfastened and fell off somewhere. I curse and think about retracing my steps, but I honestly don't know if I could find them. Now I'm a little worried--I'm off trail with only my cell phone map to guide me. ON THE FIRST DAY!

I tell myself there is only one option: to continue forward. About an hour later I have found the trail (success!) and am working my way past the snow, into the forest!
I know what miles markers I need to get to, and hopefully there are no more snowy mountains to pass, so I can make my goal of 15 or 20 miles!

Now I'm lying in my tent, trying not to work myself up about the Mountain Lion tracks I saw the entire way ahead of me until the snow vanished. As I lick my wounds and hope for a better day tomorrow, I am still so glad I'm doing this.