Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Getting the Trail Down on Paper

July 3, 2013 (transcribed)

From the Journal:  June 16, 2013
We are huddled in the tent in the rain.  There was dry trail for the first part of the day and then we had to drop into this snow covered bowl approaching Woody Pass.  It was a lot of traversing on steep snow slopes, which is mentally and physically exhausting.  We stopped for dinner just before the pass and then continued on our way.  The trail showed up intermittenly, but much of our travel has been on snow, which definitely slows the pace.  Today we made it 15 miles.  We stopped just short of another bowl, which we will navigate through tomorrow.

Highlights of the day:  We crossed paths with our first fellow thru-hikers, a couple heading south from Manning Park.  The wildflowers are just popping out and it is beautiful to see life arriving in these snow covered landscapes.  The glacier lilies are especially beautiful. 

Sometimes it's really defeating like when you're walking off trail, uphill, with thunder and pouring rain.  The best and worst moments are transient.

"In the presence of eternity, mountains are as transcient as the clouds."

Note from Mom - there will not be as many photos until we set up a system for Rachel to send me the pictures she takes.  But, as "luck" would have it I snapped a photo of glacier lilies which were brilliant at the trail head.



June 17, 2013
Today was an incredible day!  We woke up in a white out and had to make a steep snow descent right off the bat.  Luckily, by the time we gained the next ridge line the cloud layer was rising and the sun was starting to come out.  We had to descend a snow arm to reach Hopkins Lake basin below us.  I took a sweet fall and crashed into a grove of trees, but I wasn't hurt AND I was wearing the GoPro at the time!  We did finally get to actually walk on trail for the last 4-5 miles to the border.  It was surreal to be at the Northern Terminus.  I have seen it in so many pictures and videos it is weird to actually be there.  According to the trail register, there is another twosome heading south that flip-flopped from Walker Pass.  We missed them somehow.  Actually, today is the first day that Ben is the only other person I've seen.  So, we are officially heading south!

We saw a porcupine near the Canadian border.  He let us take good video and camera footage, but refused to vacate the trail, so we had to move around one of the few easy parts of the trail.

We walked until 10 tonight and the sunset was unbelievable!  The moon was rising just as we made camp.  Today was a long day - 15.5 hours, 19 miles.  I think it is definitely a job well done in these conditions.  My feet are killing me.  I have four blisters that Benny just bandaged for me.  We shared a Flexeril and are headed to bed.  The plan is 19 miles to Hart's Pass tomorrow.

June 18, 2013
"Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional."

I have been in pain all day, and I've been trying to figure out - am I suffering?  The honest answer is probably - at least a little.  The bottoms of both of my feet are wrinkled and blistered beyond recognition.  It literally feels like my skin is being ripped off everytime I start walking.  In spite of that we managed to hike (or hobble in my case) 16 miles - so we are three miles from Hart's Pass.  I had to throw the towel in, I think if I had to cross one more steep snow covered traverse I would just catapault myself down the mountain.

I'm very discouraged today.  We did make it past Woody Pass safely, which was a bit of a terrifying experience.  1,100 vertical feet of steep snow, definitely a "no fall" zone. It felt a hell of a lot more like climbing than hiking.  Ben made a deal with God that if we got up safely it could rain all day.  It rained much of the day but definitely worth it for safe passage. 

Both times we were in that area we heard a raptor calling.  And there was a large bird of prey circling over us.  It would appear that BJ is watching over us as well.  We will be in new territory tomorrow continuing south.



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