Crap

I was going to use my notes to update my blog, when I accidentally deleted them all. Poof! Two months of hiking gone in an instant. I guess I may have to walk the PCT again...

"And in the end...

the love you take
is equal to the love you make."
-The Beatles

I finished the trail at 10:00 a.m., October 3rd. It took me a total of five months and six days to walk from the border of Mexico in California to the border of Canada in Washington.

My feet hurt.

My knees hurt.

I'm tired.

But DAMN!!! I'm so proud of myself. I had a lot of help getting from there to here. I will be updating the days I've missed in the next week or so, and I will certainly have a special thanks section coming up, but for now I'm going to recover, which involves elevating my feet, soaking them in cold water and Epsom salt, getting a pedicure (poor thing that has to deal with that), and a whole bunch of lying around doing nothing.

Thanks to all of you who have been reading my blog and for the words of encouragement!

Zero Day 39 - Snoqualmie

My mom and I picked up some beers, sodas, made Rice Krispie Treats, grabbed a box of king sized Snickers, boiled hot water, grabbed some tea and hot cocoa, then headed for the pass after picking up our family friend, Barb. I got to the Family Pancake House, but no one I was hiking with was there, but Squatch was, so we were seated next to him and we chatted it up with him. Looks like the section I missed was a bad one, so I guess I didn't miss much.

Eventually, Edelweiss and Mr. President appeared, and come to find out Fire Wizard was sitting in the restaurant the whole time. Jammer is back on trail as well! and he came into the restaurant. My mom and I went to the lobby of the motel, got a couple of rooms for the five of us to share, then my mom and Barb bid their farewells (after dropping off the supplies). After sitting in the restaurant for a little while longer, Forager, Dr. Dirtbag and Princess Magic Hands (PMH) showed up, and are going to crash in our rooms. I was getting concerned that we didn't know where Bert was, but I was fairly confident he would show up, which he did, but got his own room.

After a bit I decided to go into the hot tub, which was nice. It's been raining, and the temperature is dropping, and I can feel it in my knees (ACL replacement = royally suck!) We then had one last dinner, to which I felt like I was going to almost throw up. The smell of the celery in my salad just turned my stomach, which is odd since that had never happened before. I've never cared for celery anyway.

Got back to the room I would be staying in, watched a movie on t.v., then tried to sleep (it was midnight at this point). Our rooms were conjoined, so there were eight people in two rooms, six of them milling about. I was trying to sleep and was getting nowhere, so I jumped out of bed, and went to Bert's room. I asked if I could bunk with him, which he was cool with. We watched some reruns of Almost Live and did a crossword together, then it was time for me to pass out.

Zero Day 38 - Silverdale

So I'm back in my home town of Silverdale recovering at my parents' place. I slept all morning, which felt great, considering I was up all night with the runs. Never a good feeling to be woken up in the middle of night after you've just about shat yourself.

I got into my car and drove to the Prompt Care Doctor's Clinic in East Bremerton. They took a blood sample and found nothing. So they wanted a stool sample, which they handed me a kit for and said to bring it back whenever. Well hell, I'm not going to drive home, only to drive all the way back, especially when I can barely keep it in (did they not remember that they're treating diarrhea here?). I know it sounds gross, but I took that kit and went into their shared restroom, did what had to be done, then handed off the little brown bag to the nurse (I'm so sorry to whomever went in there afterwards, but hey, I can't help it.) I was told by the doctor to avoid sugar and dairy, the two very things I crave when I'm in town. Not fair!

I got a prescription, dropped it off at Walgreen's, then decided to head over to the Humane Society. Oh my god! If I had the money, I would probably adopt every cat and dog in there. There was one in particular that I really wanted; and blue and white pitbull terrier. Her name was baby and she was sooooo sweet! Her papers said she took a while to get used to people, but as soon as I saw her, she got up and pushed her body against the door of the cage. I reached my hand in and rubbed her head and her little tail slowly wagged. One of the volunteers came by and said she had been acting depressed as of that morning, and that she doesn't normally come to the door. Oh man! If I had the money and place to keep her, I would totally adopt her!

I eventually pulled myself away from there, picked up my prescription, then lounged around the rest of the evening. My appetite has been waning, which isn't good, and my body is starting to feel weak, which is even worse. But, I'm hoping a good nights' sleep will do me good. I also need to be better about drinking a lot of water.

By the way, I've uploaded as many pictures as Flickr allowed me to this month. When my trip is over, I'll upload the rest!

Day 104 - Pain: "Oh no, not again."

I got a full nights sleep, but my tummy hurts like hell. Went to the "bathroom" and got a nasty surprise. This is not going to be a good day. I had hoped that it was just something I had eaten, but it may be worst than that.

I started walking, and went real slow. My stomach felt like one giant knot. I pushed on to the next water source, where Edelweiss and Mr. President were waiting, set down my pack and almost fell asleep. I just didn't feel well. I let them know what was going on, and told them I was going to nap at the Urich Camp when we got there for lunch. Bert and Fire Wizard caught up, so we all left for the shelter. Bert was behind me somewhere, while the others were well ahead. I was all over the trail. I couldn't walk a straight line if my life depended on it. And I was sweating profusely, and there wasn't much of a climb (in fact, it was downhill). I knew I was in trouble.

I kept slowing down and taking breaks. I did finally get to the shelter, rolled out my Thermarest, and just about passed out. I wasn't even hungry. I made some Gatorade, and tried to drink it, but even that made me queasy. I was listening to Edelweiss talk about the trail ahead, and she mentioned some parking areas up ahead. Ooh! I was going to try my luck and yogi a ride out. I got my stuff, bid everyone farewell, then set out. I got to the "parking area" and was disappointed to find that there wasn't much of anything here. So I pushed on, thinking I'll just stick out the pain. I was walking along and doubled over. My stomach was trying to kill me from the inside out. I kept going though, not really knowing what to do. I did eventually come to a dirt road, and I thought if I could get high enough, maybe I can get cell reception and call home. I started walking, watching my phone, and said a little prayer. I needed help, and a red truck came rolling around the bend. I stuck !
out my thumb, and two Native Americans of the Yakima Tribe gave me a lift. On our way down, we ran into Fire Wizard, to whom I said hi. I'm guessing he knew what was up, so we just kept going. They drove me down to highway 410, and dropped me off at the Whistlin' Jack Lodge, which is right down the road from where I was the night before! I called my mom, who called my brother, who then was on his way to pick me up. I went into the saloon, ordered a beer and nachos (I know, not the best thing for an upset stomach, but it sounded so good!) After a while, I got talking to some locals who then offered to buy me the buffet dinner, but then ended up paying my whole tab! I love trail magic!

My brother arrived, so it was time for me to go. I thanked my new friends and said goodbye, then headed home. I'm upset to be going home so soon, but I'll get back on the trail soon. I really hope so, anyway.

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Allow us to help those in need, sell back your spare PocketMail and make some extra pocket money.

Day 103 - Big Crow Basin

I woke up feeling wonderful. Except my stomach felt tight. I went downstairs with Edelweiss, then had to run to the bathroom. I had a total toilet explosion, and wasn't too pleased with that. I'm hoping that was a one time thing.

The owners were gone, but they left us a note explaining that we could make pancakes and eat pretty much anything else they had! Sweet! We had quite the feast, then kind of sat around the house for a few more hours. No one was really motivated to get back out on the trail. After I had showered, however, it was time to go. We left a long thank you note, then took their Land Cruiser back up to the pass (we had permission). We walked up towards Sheep Lake, and I had reception on the ridge, so I gave my mom a call. I told her how I was feeling, but she convinced me to just keep going. I'm so close... I kept walking then, and ran into Wheew. I haven't seen her since the Saufley's dow in So Cal! She noticed how much weight I had lost, and encouraged me to keep going. I know, I know, I'm going.

Got to Sheep Lake, then pushed the last few miles to where we would be camping. We saw some big horn sheep on the side of a ridge across the way. That was cool!

We found a great spot for camp, and made dinner. I had clam chowder (a powdered mix and a foil packet of baby clams; yum!), but it was too much for me to finish. Plus, my stomach started hurting again. I'm about to go to sleep, so I hope it doesn't keep me up.

Day 102 - Chinook Pass

I woke up feeling really down. Not really sure why, but my heart just isn't into hiking any more. I'm so close though, and I know I'll kick myself if I don't finish.

We started walking, and I got ahead of the other two. I needed some time to myself anyway. The walk was beautiful, with views of Mt. Rainier all day long. My mood started to perk up then. I stoped by a creek and took a break. Mr. President and Edelweiss caught up, so we had lunch. It was a niceplace to rest, and we all took off our shoes to soak our feet. It's always nice to cool your dogs off.

I pushed on ahead of the others, and started up this long climb. It was exposed and hot, but there was an abundance of blueberries that had a slight apple flavor to them. Delicious! I should have stashed a bunch in a bag.

I pushed on and found Bert at the top, resting. I rested with him. Then the two of us kept going. Anderson Lake was coming up, it sounded like good swimming, and after that long climb it sounded even better. We kept going, stopping every now and again to eat those blueberries. We got to the lake, and all thoughts of swimming left my head. I was too tired. The lake was beautiful though, a nice deep aqua color. The other two caught up, as did Fire Wizard. He told us the other three had gone less than a mile from where they camped and then decided to play poker. Oy! They'll never catch up at that rate.

We all kept going, passing Dewey Lake, which I've camped at before (for those who know, remember Camp Dork?) I had forgotten the climb out of that area, and for good reason. It was kind of harsh, especially at the end of the day. We all made it though. Come to find out that Mr. President knew some folks in the area, so we gave them a call and they offered to put us up for the night. The son, Jesse, came and picked us up. Dinner was waiting for us, a vegetarian curry and rice dish, two different soups, corn on the cob, and for dessert, ice cream sandwiches and these fruit sorbet thingies that were served in half of the fruit flavor that they were (so, half an orange rind for orange, half a pineapple for pineapple; you get it).

Afterwards, we were offered showers and beds. I was too exhausted to deal with showering, but I at least cleaned my feet, then crawled into bed. I'm pretty sure I'm going to pass out as soon as my head hits that pillow.