Oh the Places We Go

So here we are, its been over 500 miles since our last post and so much has happened. To start my trail name has changed several times. It went from Grimace to Thundercat and then to Candyface. But now we have found a name that has stuck, Sambo. So now for where and what we have been up to. When we last left you we were at mile 455 and we hiked out from there with Clint and Cheesesnake on a very hot day in the desert. We didn't have far to go to our next stop at Casa de Luna which was one of our favorite trail angel stops. The Anderson's, who opened there wonderfully huge backyard to hikers, fed us taco salad for dinner and pancakes for breakfast! They even stocked the best water cache on trail that was shortly before their house.

While we took some rest and relaxation time at their house, Josh's mom Karen met up with us to join the adventure. The three of us set out to hike the stretch along the aqueduct with sun shinning down on us. Karen had a beast mode first day on trail hiking 18 miles! We walked through the wind farm and enjoyed the new company of Karen on trail with us. The next night was intensely windy, the tent wouldn't even stay up. Luckily Karen spotted a bush that we all were able to cowboy camp behind and catch some shut eye.

The next day we woke with excitement as we were hiking into town. We were greeted at the road by the trail angel Coppertone and he was making root beer floats! After hitching into Tehachapi we got a hotel room with our friend Nick and the four of us settled in for a zero. Unfortunately Karen got wicked blisters, some under her toe nails , so she had to leave us and the trail. After our goodbyes Nick, Josh and I got a ride back to the trail and then we were on our last stretch of the southern California section.

It was so lovely walking through the wind mills and we started listening to Game of Thrones audio book which made the miles go by fast. The walking was easy and the weather was perfect over the next few days. I even had the pleasure of celebrating my 23rd birthday on trail! Nick gave me a hot chocolate for my birthday and we discussed how the trail should airdrop one present on your birthday. I decided that I wanted a Capri Sun.

We struck some luck the next day with trail magic! A couple that had just stocked a huge water cache in the middle of the 36 mile dry section had hummus, Gatorade, carrots and grapes for us. They told us to take advantage of the cache so we didn't have to carry 6-7 liters of water at once. The three of us started back up the trail and no more then ten minutes later we hit another bit of trail magic...a cooler full of Capri Sun!!!

After all the lovely magic we hiked on and camped off trail after scrambling down some boulders to get to water. We then set out to get to Walker Pass and were all filled with excitement as we wrapped up our walk in the desert. Coming down the hill to Walker Pass we saw a big canopy tent set up and looked at each other with disbelief. More trail magic!! This time the trail celebrity Yogi had set up a hikers paradise and it was wonderful. We rinsed off, drank cold sodas and munched on some burritos. We had to get back to the trail though because we were itching to get into the Sierra.

The transition from the desert to the Sierra was breathtaking. We got into Kennedy Meadows and couldn't believe that we had made it 702 miles! Our hiking buddy Nick was meeting up with one of his hiking buddies at Kennedy so our 3 man group became 4 once more. It turned out that it happened to be Joe Anderson who ran Casa De Luna. He drove up to Kennedy so we had the opportunity to drive up to the next town, Lone Pine, and make a resupply box. Joe had the great idea to stage our resupply boxes with eta dates in the bear boxes at the campground we would hike into the next week. So after chores and seeing the mountains we would be hiking over we headed back up to Kennedy Meadows. Unfortunately when we got there one of our package from Karen hadn't arrived so we had to have them forward it, it was Saturday and we didn't want to wait that long to hike.

We were so excited when we got back on trail, it was time for the High Sierra! Hiking with Joe was really fun. He knew so much about the Sierra it was great to hear it all. Over the next few days we saw amazing cliffs, mountains in the distance, lakes and marmot. Joe left the trail eventually and it was the three of us again. We arrived at Crabtree Meadow and downsized our packs (utilizing the bear boxes) to do a side trail to summit Mount Whitney. The trail up to the summit was ridiculous, lake after lake and views for miles. The summit was so exciting we had made it to the tallest mountain in the continental United States! After calling our families from the summit we headed down and a light hail storm followed us.

The next day we took it slow and even got a tour of the new Crabtree Ranger Station which was beautifully crafted. We made it to Big Horn plateau and the panoramic view was jaw dropping. The next day we went over Forester Pass, the highest elevation on the PCT. The other side provided lots of snow and our first opportunity to glisade. The same day we went up another pass to get to the campground we had staged our food at, Onion Valley. We met some fellow thru hikers atop Kearsarge Pass who gave us the option of one Snickers bar or two, so we each trotted down to the campground with a candy in each hand.

We caught a ride down the mountain with a nice local named Dave who drove us down to Subway and drove us back up the  mountain. After getting chores done at the campground we hit the trail again. The walking was filled with mountains all around and lakes. The next several days we went over lots of snowy passes. First was Glen Pass. On the way up our views were filled with crystal clear lakes and on the way down we scrambled in the snow. We enjoyed a sunny lunch at Rae Lakes. Shortly after we reached mile 800 and had a deer stroll through our camp that night.

The next pass was Pinchot which was lovely both up and down. On the evening part of the day another storm rolled in and we set up camp to escape the rain. Luckily it didn't last long and the next day we headed up Mather Pass. After an icy decent and scrambling down the rocks we set up camp. For the second time of the trip we had deer stroll through our camp. This time they pranced around and then licked up our pee off the ground. The next day we headed up Muir Pass and again all the snow.

The afternoon was filled with post-holing in the snow and wet feet but we eventually made it to the top of the pass and the Muir hut that sat atop. We came down the pass to see Evolution Lake and shortly after we had our first wild onions of the trip. After a few days of fording rivers and a beautiful hike on the side trail to Vermillion Valley Resort we had another break. Josh got to catch up on the World Cup and we stuffed ourselves with pie and burgers. Plus we got our first showers in 329 miles! We smelled just a little bit.

On the trail again we went over a few more smaller passes and passed tons of lakes. We passed by Devils Postpile National Monument and snagged a great view of hit then jumped on the John Muir Trail that connected up with the PCT to go by even more lakes and wonderful meadows. Unfortunately that brought many mosquitoes as well. We connected back up with the PCT at Thousand Island Lake and then entered Yosemite National Park. We got into Tuolumne Meadows and were in awe of the domes that scattered Yosemite. The next day we hopped on the park shuttle to a trail-head that went to the top of Clouds Rest. We got to look down on the valley and Half Dome! After having many burgers at the grill we hit the trail again. We stopped to fish in a creek with an amazing view. I even caught two fish that we had with dinner!

I took a fall after dinner while we were hiking but only got a few scrapes, not the hardest fall of the handful I have had. The next few days were tough, the elevation change of the Sierra was not over. We unfortunately got split up from Nick after over 400 miles. Josh and I decided we needed a zero day to rest up and planned to head into Bridgeport. We hit mile 1000 after a wonderful lunch at Dorthy Lake with our friends Paka and Luna. After a raining night and a freezing walk in the high wind and drizzle we made it to the highway to hitch into Bridgeport. After I snagged a ride for a nice Australian hiker heading to the opposite town Josh and I got a ride into town from a nice guy on vacation.

Josh and I have enjoyed resting in town and the views of the Sierra in the distance has been wonderful. Tomorrow we hit the trail again towards Tahoe and further north! Adventure on.

Coming through the wind farm in southern California

Looking at the Sierra from Independence, CA

Josh having fun!

A lake on our side trip to Mount Whitney.

Our view coming up the Mount Whitney trail.

On the summit of Mount Whitney!

The hail storm brewing

Josh's sock drying method

A wonderful campsite before ascent up Forester Pass

Josh looking at the climb to come.

Our snowy decent. 

Sammy at the highest elevation on the PCT!

Wonderfully magical views in the Sierra

Deer in our camp

Sammy on the flooded trail up Muir Pass.

Muir hut on top of Muir Pass

Favorite photo of the trip!

Josh, Sammy and Nick. 

Coming into Yosemite National Park

From atop of Clouds Rest, our side trip in Yosemite

Still loving life, the trail and each other.

The wonderful beauty in Yosemite. 

Tuolumne Falls

Lakeside view at one of our lunch spots.

MIILESTONE 1000! Only 1,668 more miles. 

                                  

Rattlers, Roadwalks and Poodle Dog oh my!

Mt. Baden Powell summit

Last we left you we had just finished our town chores in Big Bear Lake, much has happened since then. We hitched out of Big Bear with a very nice gentleman, hitching with great people who are truly enjoyable to talk to is always wonderful. We took a slow start out of Big Bear but it was well worth it. The day started out with humor as I told our friend Cheesesnake not to forget his water filter at our snack spot, but of course he did. We took a break in the shade of some trees while he hiked back 2 miles to get it

The rest of the day was very scenic. Starring at the lake while walking during the afternoon made us all want to run down the hill and jump in but we hiked on. We had joined with our new friend Rubix at this point, Josh and him powered through the afternoon quickly while I strolled behind taking tons of pictures. We got to camp fairly early and finally used the playing cards we had been carrying for 20 days but hadn't used till earlier that morning at the filter incident break.

We arrived at the hot springs a few days later and spent almost all day there. What a relaxing way to spend 8 hours of a day instead of hiking. Sunbathing, eating, napping, soaking in the hot spring, more eating, more soaking and finally leaving to put some more miles in on the trail. The hike out was truly gorgeous as we winded across the hill towards the sunset.

The next day was also scenic with another lake! If it hadn't been so windy we would have jumped in but a nice mid day lunch spot was good enough for us.  We pushed on and arrived at another picnic area to find a hiker who had met up with his family. They were find enough to let us eat some fresh fruit and sip down some Gatorade. Clint, Cheesesnake, Josh and I made plans to hike on but the idea of camping in such a nice spot with our good friends Tuck and Molly enticed us to stay. We also had the great idea of trying to get pizza delivered and it was a success!

Pizza on trail!

We went to bed with full tummies and awoke to the goal of reaching McDonald's for lunch. Hiking along the trail at a good pace we came to a halt with a rattlesnake on the trail. It wouldn't move, it was frozen soaking in the sun and we thought it might be dead. Josh nudged it with his trekking pole, nothing. So he moved it off trail with his trekking pole, it rattled as soon as he set it down. We looked at each other then the snake. Molly came around the corner and we all waited. Eventually we passed when another hiker, Dan, breezed through with no harm. McDonald's bound we were again.

We arrived at Cajon Pass to fill our bellies with warm food. After tons of calories we got a little claustrophobic from sitting in a building and decided to grab some snacks from the convenience store and push on to a shady spot for a mid day break. After a nice break we hiked to the base of the large hike we had in front of us the next day. We started the day going up, and up and up. We also got to experience with poodle dog bush on the trail. If you don't know what this is google it, nasty stuff.

Anyway it was easy enough to get around, we just had to really focus on that short stretch. The goal was to reach the highway to get us into Wrightwood and we finally did at about 9:30pm, well past hiker midnight. We made a poor decision to sleep on the concrete by the info center, needless to say we all woke up early. We had to put a couple miles on the road but we finally got a hitch from a great local who gave us the tour of the town and dropped us off at breakfast. The only sad part of town was the new shoes I had ordered to replace my pair that was breaking didn't arrive, I was bummed but got over it and got them shipped to the next town.

We did all the normal town stuff in Wrightwood and even got the luxury of crashing on our friends motel room floor. The next day we set out of town to do the climb of Mt. Baden-Powell. While tiring we made it to the top and were rewarded with a view. The next day we got the do some road walking for a trail detour for an endangered frog. We left Cheesesnake in the morning and when we took a break for lunch we still hadn't seen him. Another hiker passed and said we were the first hikers he had seen all day and he started from the base of the mountain, we knew Cheesesnake went wrong somewhere.

Eventually we camped in a wonderful spot that made us forget we were in southern California with multiple stream, large trees and tons of green all around. We set up camp and a few hours later Cheesesnake came rolling by, come to find out he had been off trail twice that day but he made his way back. We all decided to put two big days in to get us closer to Agua Dulce.

We hiked roughly a 24 mile day to get to a fire station where we spent a sandy and windy night sleeping under the bright moon, it lit up the sky like a spot light. From there we pushed out a 25 mile day, a lot of which involved road walking. Again this section was covered in poodle dog bush but it was everywhere. At one point in my mind I was comparing the view to that of a scary movie. Burnt trees loomed overhead and poodle dog pushed surrounded the hill side reaching into the trial every now and then. The bush may not bark like the dog but we didn't want to experience its bite.

Road walking allowed us to get to the same destination but avoid the next fields of the nasty plant. Some road was paved other sections we were lucky enough for it to be dirt. We made it to our destination and camped by a creek just 10 miles from Agua Dulce. Josh and I got up early, for once, and decided to put "10 by 10" in. A lot of hiker around us use this term as getting 10 miles done by 10am but usually we don't break camp until 8am so it's usually hard to do. But today we were successful and treated greatly for it.

View from one of our road walks. 

We arrived at Hiker Heaven which is the perfect oasis in the heat this week. We got to shower, do laundry, ride bikes to town to get supplies and the people that run the place are incredibly nice. Josh and I got to lunch today and a local even bought our food to show some trial magic even though they remained anonymous. We set out tomorrow on the trail again! Oh also I got my new shoes and just in time as mine were on their last thread, literally. Josh's mom Karen will be joining us soon as we hike north. Look for a post soon and adventure on!

-Grimace

Rattle snake on the trail, motionless.

Mad rattler! 

 

Grimace in a tree. 

Grimace on a tree. 

The gang by a 1500 year old tree. 

Teabag in the wind

Am I right? Am I left? (silly trail joke)

Looking back at what we have crossed so far.

Hello All!  It seems like the last update in Warner Springs was much longer than two weeks ago but the trail has a way of distorting one's sense of time. Coming out of Warner Springs it was a fairly short stretch into Idyllwild with pretty easy terrain so it kind of flew by.We hit some trail magic at Mikes house which was much needed and a solid moral boost. We had sloppy joes, soda and beer. Then we hit the trail again to camp atop a ridge and star gaze. We hit some more magic down the way in the way of a water cache (water that is set out on the trail by people wanting to help us hiker trash). These are always nice to hit but we never rely on them.

We also stayed a night at a really cool campground that was surrounded by large boulders and great people. Luckily we have managed to stay with a group of people for most of the trip, and one fellow since we met at the airport. Cheesesnake, or Omaha Cheesesnake is our friend that we have been with the longest and he sure is a hoot. The day doesn't seem right if we don't get our random Cheesesnake fact of the day. We are also still with Clint who is an extremely knowledgeable young lad. We have been hiking with those two every day since Warner Springs and the good times keep rolling. We keep bouncing around with Tuck, Molly, Kyle, Sky, Baggins and Jeff but we can't seem to get the whole group together for two long as the trail pulls us in different paces.

So back to the trail and all that grand stuff. We hiked down the hill and hit Paradise Valley Cafe which was some delicious food! We got there for breakfast and chowed that down then waited the 2 hours for the lunch menu to open so we could get burgers and it was well worth the wait! We hit Idyllwild on the perfect day because a storm rolled through the night we got there.

We set up at the state campground and stood around the campfire sharing good times with great people before climbing into our tents to hunker down as the storm hit. It was sure a breezy and snowy night. We awoke to frost covering the ground and we all shuffled over to a diner called the Red Kettle to chow down and escape the cold. After taking our first zero (no hiking) we jetted out of town to start the climb and saw that the San Jacinto peak was only a side trail to summit the mountain so we went for it.

It was a steep and snowy climb but totally worth it. We made it to the summit, with only one rolled ankle, and found an awesome stone emergency shelter to eat dinner in. Cheesesnake, Clint, Teabag (Josh) and myself all snuggled up in our sleeping bags and had many great laughs. I also got my trail name here, Grimace. In my sleeping bag, which is purple, I look like the McDonald's character Grimace, there is a picture below. Anyway we left the shelter to find a nice spot to hike on and find a nice place to camp.

Coming down Mt San Jacinto with a great view

The next day and a half was a steep climb down from the mountain but the views were incredible. We also woke up with some scorpions in our campsite which was interesting to wake up to especially since I felt something crawling between the floor of out tent and the footprint that sits underneath it. We made it to the bottom of the mountain and hiked across the flat section before Ziggy and Bears which was another wonderful spot of trail magic.

They had it all there: showers, foot baths, food, water, etc. We only did a pit stop there to get a few liters of water and a couple extra things of food but we were happy to see other hikers and the wonderful magic in action. We hiked on a few miles to the Mesa Wind Farm and stopped for lunch. They had cold bottled water for us, bathrooms, outlets, ice cream sandwiches and a A/C room to escape the heat. Again another magical place there to help us.

Grimace, Teabag, Clint and Cheesesnake at the Mesa Wind Farm

From there we had a beautiful climb but it was sure tough. Some parts seems fairly easy but the close we got to Big Bear the harder things got. My ankle was still pretty stiff but I tapped it up and it is doing better now but it made for a couple of slower days. Also one of the days Josh was feeling a little ill in the tummy so our 20 mile day was shortened but we took a wonderful break by a creek with paradise like shade and again amazing people.

The last day and a half into Big Bear was draining physically and mentally but we had to push on, it was time to resupply! We ran into a wonderful trail magic spot close to Big Bear before our last night that had a couch, soda and water that we stopped at for dinner. We got up the next morning and busted out a quick 10 miles to the highway by Big Bear and got picked up by Paul who helps out at the Big Bear Hostile. We decided to stay there to get cleaned up and do some laundry, oh and sleep in a real bed! It was great.

The guy who runs the hostile is super friendly and even worked with some of the businesses in town to get us discounts on food, yay pizza, ice cream and candy!!!! We also had dinner at a really cool sports bar called Sandy's where we ate way to much, had some great beer and cider and played pool. We are now about to resupply our food stock, grab some lunch and hit the trail again. What the trail has taught us so far is take things slow and soak it all in. It isn't about putting in big miles everyday, it is about the journey we have along the way. Look for another post to come soon! Adventure on!

-Sammy (Grimace)

Again photos are below....

Grimace by some sweet boulders

  

Teabag in the heat

Paradise Valley Cafe Burger

Teabag and Cheesesnake

Grimace on San Jacinto Peak

Outside the stone shelter

Sammy being Grimace

Hello all!! We have really enjoyed our hike thus far, so many great things have happened. The people on and off the trail are incredible. Lets see what we can update you on. On day one we hiked into Lake Morena which was 19.5 miles it was a intense first day. Started out pretty strong, it was surreal actually being on the trail. Plus we got showers at the end of the first day which was super awesome!

Day two we had a little off trail adventure which was fun and tiring all in one. Josh and I ended up on a horse trail only to realize we were not on the PCT. We used the Halfmile app to navigate ourselves back to the trail. It took us on a trail for a while but the we had a 1/4 mile left and had to navigate through bushes. We got a little cut up and lost one sock plus my sun umbrella but we came out of it alive, on the trail and in good spirits.

After that adventure we stayed on the trail and found our first group of friends. Kyle, Sky, Tuck, Molly, Mr. Blister, Omaha Cheesesnake, Mark and Stephen. We all met at lunch at a campground and made plans to stay together and the fun hasn't stopped since. Also at lunch Josh got his trail name..... Teabag. I asked for the bag of tea and he chucked a used bag at my face, everyone thought ti was pretty funny.

After lunch we went hiking on and ran into our first trail magic. David (photo at the bottom) was awesome! We met him on the top of a ridge where the trail crossed a road. He had fruit, cold salami, wine, beer and cold water! It was such a great morale boost and he was super duper nice! TRAIL MAGIC IS THE BEST!!!!

After that we made it into another campground for the evening, only after our buddy Mark got a little sick from heat exhaustion. We had way to many laughs in the campground and Josh and I snagged some bacon bits from Kyle which made our potatoes super yum!

Next day we hiked into Mount Laguna which was pretty fun, Josh's blisters were still being annoying at that point. Luckily my blisters had started to callous which was surprising and awesome! We went into Mount Laguna to try and get Josh new shoes, but the outfitters was closed for the day so we headed to a campground with the group. At the campground we struck another bit of magic! Todd was camping next to us and his girlfriend had gotten sick so couldn't join him. He had three days worth of food so cooked us all up some burgers, hot dogs, a steak, a baked potato and smores! If you haven't noticed we love free food.

We got up the next day and started to hike back into town to go to the outfitters which started out as a road walk. Luckily we snagged a ride thus completing our first hitch. The guy had a cat under the front seat of his car which was pretty fun, Josh thought it was a seat massage. We got into the store but didn't have any luck on the shoes for Josh. We also managed to snag another hitch back to the campground (photo below). We then managed to bust out a 14 mile hike in a little under seven hours to meet back up with the group in the most beautiful spot, it kind of looked like it belonged to prehistoric times.

The next day we hiked on some more, I know it's shocking. Josh and I found a solid hiking pace and cruised throughout the day. We made it to Scissors Crossing which was a wonderful cache. They had water, soda and beer. Josh got a beer and I got a Cactus Cooler which was a super yummy orange pineapple soda. Thank you trail angels for keeping that stocked. We hiked up the hill a little after we ate diner and did out first cowboy camping (just in a sleeping bag under the stars). It is incredible how clear the skies are out on the trail.

The next day we got up and put 14 miles in. It was rough for me but Josh did great! We stopped at another water cache and were going to be done for the day but our friend Sky motivated us to keep going. She is super awesome also! She managed to get us to hike another 10 miles and we did most of it under the stars which was a great time as well. Also Baggins joined our hiking family.

We got up this morning and but it our last 8 miles or so to get to Warner Springs. As soon as we got here we woofed down some double cheeseburgers, showered, got mail and tomorrow we get to do some laundry. Life has been great on the trail. When we have bad moments they are followed with many many good moments. I know I keep saying it but all the people out here are amazing! So much generosity from hikers and trail angels alike. Keep checking back for updates and adventure on!

-Sammy

I couldn't figure out how to label the pictures so here is the titles below. 

1. Our starting group

2. Me at mile one 

3. Josh being happy

4.David and all the trail magic

5. Cool trail

6. One clean leg and one dirty

7. Yummy cactus cooler soda!!!

8. Pretty flowers 

9. Lizard

10.The group at mile 100

11. Mile 100 :)

12. Barrel Springs 

13. Josh aka Teabag

The final countdown

So the big day has finally arrived, in less than twelve hours we will be on the trail beginning our hike. Today was an early day, starting at four this morning and we get a nice reprieve  tomorrow when we have to be up at 5. It really has been pretty amazing down here. Staying at Scout and Frodo's has been awesome, great food and hospitality... And around twenty other people starting tomorrow. Surprisingly for me at least, the nerves pretty much died down when we got to San Diego and I'm just ready to get on the trail... Or I just have yet to realize what we're about to do. Either way, it begins tomorrow at the border. Thanks to everyone for your support and hopefully we'll keep this up to date.

-porter

As for me nothing has felt real in the last day or so. As soon as we got our packs fully loaded I was calmed. Now the excitement has kicked in, luckily I'm full from all the amazing food (one of our fellow hikers is a chef, bomb curry!) so I'm ready to close my eyes and awake to the adventure of a lifetime. Thank you all for the support and love so far. Huge thanks to all the individuals at Scout and Frodo's. Josh and I get to challenge ourselves in ways we have never imagined, and with that thought we lay our heads on our last comfy bed for awhile. Adventure on.

-Sammy

The traveling has begun, sort of. We have officially moved out of Ellensburg, packed all our belonging up and now its see our friends and family time. We are so excited to hit the trail in two weeks! The last month has been a blur but everything is falling into place and this trip is becoming more and more real each day. Soon we will fly down to California to see Josh's mom, Karen, for a week and she will be our caretaker on the trail. After a week with her will fly down to San Diego on April 14th and meet our first set of trail angels, who will be making sure we get to the trail head safe and sound. The it is the big day! April 15th we hit the trail. Stay tuned for more updates and adventure on!