posting update

not great wifi thru oregon, so my next update will be in sisters, or, probably three days from now. i have lots to update on! love ya all!

tribhu


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pct days 74-77 - 07/18-07/21/13

a large group of us all left the hostel in etna and hit the trail for some awesome views. here is a video from a pass as i stopped to enjoy the views . . .

it was a blissful rest of the day as i decided to speed ahead at my usual quick pace for some hermit time. i think we can all agree that this time is sometimes just needed. here are some cows adding some lovely flavor to the water i had just collected . . .




here is a view of the marbles right at the lake where we spent the night . . .




from paradise lake it was a long hot haul in to seiad valley. upon reaching the tiny, yet very sufficiently stocked local store, we discovered it was 103 degrees! marie and i also caught up with longlegs and jorge! yay! we all decided to hike out later in the evening and enjoyed this sunset on the climb up from the valley . . .




it was a perfect night camping up on an old fire lookout and then on towards oregon the next day. we made it 27 miles the next day, having a blast in our reunion with longlegs and jorge and stopped just 5 miles short of the oregon border.
the next morning was quite momentous! 1700 miles before entering a new state. here is the four of us at the oregon border crossing . . .








not long after our hike in to the beautiful and friendly state of oregon, we met this amazing group of hikers, forming quite a lovely family. they showered us with love and great food. from left to right, thank you laurel, stu, kat, sadie lu, trace, duane, liza, and pete for such a warm and welcoming entrance in to oregon!




it was a great first day in oregon and a smooth 28 miles to just before the awesome town of ashland. we are all looking forward to some r and r in ashland tomorrow.
my lessons are abound in this last section. i have been meditating quite a bit on the idea that i tend to hide my light from truly shining thru at any given moment. in some cases i am sure it is because i do not feel safe but in other cases i wonder if it is only habitual. i have come to a point in my evolution that it feels disingenuous. thru the bonds the friendships i have formed i have discovered i want to be a better being by shining as brightly as possible with time i have been given. thank you to my new friends for this very important awakening and lesson. ;)
115 miles over 4 days. 1722 miles total.
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pct days 71-73 - 07/15/13-07/17/13

just days of perfection on our way to etna. here are some pics . . .

oh, and i saw a bear. look at the upper right hand corner . . .

lunch . . .




we made it to sawyers bar rd and got a hitch from the first car that pulled up. chris gave us a ride in to etna and then unbeknownst to us picked up some of our bill at the local etna restaurant. thank you so much chris!!! it was great to meet you and please do make contact thru the blog. also, you left your sunglasses at the restaurant. i left them under your name.

91 miles in three days. 1607 miles total.

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pct day 70 - 07/14/13

we woke up in the middle of the night to this entertaining moment . . .

we were up by 02:00 to start our climb. it was very challenging. one step forward, two steps back sort of thing. we made it to hidden valley where we discovered the trail abruptly ended. we wandered around a bit without success and then decided to just scale one of the ridges. we made it up to the ridgeline, which was sketchy, to say the least, and discovered it was so steep we were essentially trapped. here is a pic from the rdigeline . . .



here is us trying not to look disappointed . . .


here is me with the sunrise in the background . . .



we made our way down the mountain after our gallant and epic failure and hooligan got a ride to seattle, which is great, but it was sad to say goodbye. he feels like a brother and i am sure i will see him again.

after a healthy lunch, marie and i made our way back on the trail where we hiked all of ten miles before we decided to chill for the night.

10 miles from highway 5 to a campsite. 1516 miles total.

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pct day 68 and 69 - 07/12 and 07/13/13

two zero days in shasta! we decided to spend as much time with hooligan as possible as he is getting off trail to renew his visa. we had a great day of relaxing and errands and then we all got a hotel room for the evening. six thru hikers in one room can get rather stinky!

the next day we said goodbye to longlegs and jorge and marie, hooligan savage, and i went to the fifth season outfitters to inquire about climbing mt. shasta. we found out that because of the lack of snow the conditions are actually at their most challenging simply because the entire face of the volcano is all ash. instead of renting mountaineering gear, we opted to attempt an easier side trail with less snow. the plan is to camp at 7000ft at bunny flat and then make the climb at 02:00 tomorrow morning. the owner and employees of the fifth season were so nice they actually drove us up to bunny flat! incredible!

marie's friend drew joined us and spoiled us with dinner at our campsite. thanx so much drew and it was truly great to meet you. here is a pic of drew . . .



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pct day 67 - 07/11/13

so i woke up in the middle of the night, cowboy camping cuz it is so dry and beautiful, to something large licking my arm. of course i jumped up with my heart pounding and turned on my headlamp to discover bambi staring back at me. lol. very cute, but a little frightening at 02:00! here is mt. shasta from about 30 miles south . . .



we hiked thru the morning and early afternoon and found a swimming hole around 14:00 where we enjoyed a swim and some lunch. realizing that we had an additional 16 miles to castella, the idea of getting to town was starting to seem out of reach. the dream team, myself, marie, and hooligan met up at a spring at around 17:45 with only 6 miles left. we decided to book it to castella to make it to the store before a 21:00 close because we were all completely out of food and we left a note for longlegs and erin, now going by jorge.

the three of us made it to castella by 19:30 and got a ride from the first passerby. amazing. then we are at the chevron, the only place to get food, and three amazing souls come up to us offering refreshments and place to stay for the night. we were brought home to adrian's mom's house where we were totally spoiled with refreshments, a huge bonfire right on the river, and yummy food. my heart always opens so much at the generosity shower of us. here is a pic of adrian and his mom . . .


thanx so much for your generosity and hospitality - unbelievable, really. tomorrow we plan to zero in mt. shasta and possibly climb that magical mountain!

my lesson for today is the beauty in completely surrendering to the flow. as we all know, even dead fish go with the flow and in the words of lao-tzu: "Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like."

going with the flow this evening resulted in a fantastically magical night . . .

27 miles from flitzhugh gulch to castella. 1505 miles total.

- tribhu (tree-boo)

pct day 66 - 07/10/13

team shasta hiked on thru another stretch of no water, though only 15 miles this time. at our lunch break i incorrectly read the map and got everyone's hope up for a river and potential swim in only another 5 miles. ya, 9 miles later, oops, we came to the river. it was a little late for a dip, but we ran in to chad, a gentleman from washington down to perform the trail magic of trail maintenance. he magically offered us some cold drinks, which totally made our day after by map reading blunder. here is the crew, minus hooligan cuz he is taking the pic, with our trail magic friend chad. thanx chad!


we did a little speed hike on just another 2 miles to a camp site. 25 miles from moosehead spring to flitzhugh gulch. 1478 miles total.

- tribhu (tree-boo)

pct day 65 - 07/09/13

great day with team shasta! the dream team has joined with longlegs and erin and when we came to this spot with an amazing view of shasta . . .


we all agreed to try and climb shasta. we shall see . . .

here is longlegs along the hike . . . lol


we agreed to hike on to a camp site at mile 1453 to cook dinner and then move on, but we all agreed to just spend the night once we got comfy. of course, there was a lot of laughing involved. here are some pics . . .



the difference in our heights proven in sleeping mat choices.


yes we are warming our bums by the fire . . . great times.

20 miles from screwdriver spring to moosehead spring. 1453 miles total.

- tribhu (tree-boo)

pct day 64 - 07/08/13

after a grueling day thru hat creek rim, today was so nice a relaxing. only ten miles until burney state park, where there was cold drinks, food, and yummy soft serve ice cream. sooooo good. here is a pic of the sign at burney falls state park . . .



it is a little mournful to be over halfway finished, but there is still lots of trail and amazing adventures ahead.

we took off from burney state park and on the way up the climb hooligan caught up with us!!! the threesome, which i call my pct dream team, is back together. so great. we didn't think we would get to see hooligan again before he gets off the trail to renew his visa. we made it to a spring with a perfect little spring. we were then joined by another hiking threesome made up of walk-a-while, the lorax, and zen, and then we were joined by longlegs and erin. it was such a great night, especially since we continued by bday celebration.

shankara, if you read this, truly thank you so much. the quote by Thich Nhat Hanh of which you reminded me has had such a deep impact. here it is again: "When I walk, I don’t hurry to arrive. Why? Because I arrive every moment. I have already arrived. We should train in that. I have arrived, I am home, In the here and in the now. I am solid, I am free, In the ultimate I dwell."

my goal this hike was always to surrender to the kharma of what comes up, especially in my interactions with others. like we all do, sometimes i forget and get lost in my own ego, which was wrapped up in the extreme physicality of moving beyond my own body. that was the first third of this little walk-a-about. now i am in the bliss of this beautiful little trail family i have found . . .

21 miles from the crystal lake state fish hatchery to screwdriver spring and campsite. 1433 miles total.

- tribhu (tree-boo)

pct day 63 - 07/07/13

one of the reasons for stopping at the subway caves last night was because there was water and today was a particularly dry and hot hike. there were a couple caches along the way to help out, but it is basically 33 miles with no natural water. one of the caches even had a fresh watermelon on ice - amazing! the landscape was so incredible with large rivers of lava flow throughout the valley. not sure why i didn't take any pictures. maybe it was the scorching sun that kept me moving. you can barely see it in the background, but here is our first view of mt. shasta . . .


challenging, but a great day with great new friends. it was a wonderful 35th birthday and thank you all for the birthday wishes.

30 miles from subway caves to the crystal lake state fish hatchery. 1412 miles total.

- tribhu (tree-boo)

pct day 62 - 07/06/13

we left drakesbad for a lovely hike and climb in some cold temps. we really wanted to go for a swim in upper twin lake, but it was too cold . . .



after being chased out by some very unhappy ants, we made our way on to old station. here we found hooligan's old boots hanging on a post . . .



no hooligan, but some cold drinks, food, and ice cream really hit the spot. we caught up with some other hikers we saw in beldon, longlegs and his sister erin, and then we all camped at these caves just a few miles out of old station. this whole area including tomorrow's hike is all lava fields, so there are lots of caves in the area. we all enjoyed a fun and slightly spooky evening tour of the caves before bed.

28 miles from drakesbad to subway caves. 1382 miles total.

- tribhu (tree-boo)

pct day 61 - 07/05/13

marie and i left chester after a big breakfast and a resupply. on our way out we ran in to some guys who are section-riding the pct on horseback. they have been working on this goal since the early 90s. i find this to be so much more impressive than thru hiking simply because it takes so much mental perseverance and planning. can you imagine going over the passes i hiked over on horseback? unbelievable! here are the three guys on horses with their two pack mules . . .



we have been missing hooligan. we somehow lost him on the way in to beldan and haven't seen him since. hopefully we will catch him soon.

we continued on and got the terminal geyser. here is a video of the geyser in action . . .

we made it to the drakesbad ranch and hot springs by evening and had a wonderful swim in the hot springs pool. we then camped just a short way down the trail where these rv campers gave us a huge pile of homegrown pluots . . .


19 miles from chester to drakesbad ranch. 1354 miles total.

- tribhu (tree-boo)

pct days 56 - 60 - 06/30/13 thru 07/04/13

i decided to group these five days simply because they have been like one long unbelievably great day.

day 56 - from deer lake it was a long day of hiking thru the woods. i actually found it to be quite wonderful as it reminded me so much of the east coast. after 30 miles, we found an interesting camp spot, and a multitude of bumblebees not abiding by personal space requirements. we also experienced a scary moment when my stove malfunctioned and i almost started a forest fire. quick reaction time by marie saved the day. we got in our tents and then hooligan rolled up and extended the night with an excellent camp fire. 30 miles from deer lake to just past bald mtn trail. 1240 miles total.

day 57 - such an awesome day! it was a long down hill to the middle fork of the feather river. such an incredible swimming spot. here is me from the bridge up above . . .



from there, and i was very, very, very tempted to stay, we climbed for nearly 14 miles. i decided to go really fast and it was great to have hooligan right behind me, pushing me forward. we made it up to lookout rock - here is a pic of the three of us . . .



here is me on the edge . . .



on the way up we passed a sign posted by some trail angels and decided to call. nancy and terry turned out to be the most welcoming trail angels i have met thus far on the trail. they offered the most amazing meal, great company, a shower, laundry and then an incredible breakfast. such generosity of spirit really opened my heart. i totally felt like i was home. here is terry and nancy and then all of us in the morning before we left . . .






25 miles from bald mtn trail to bucks lake road. 1265 miles total.

day 58 - we have had some crazy climbs recently. we keep dropping to 2000 ft and then climbing back up to 7000! this was one of those days, but it was so great cuz the company was wonderful. skeeter, the woman on the right in the photo above, joined us for the hike. we climbed down in to the town of beldon just as a major thunderstorm rolled in. btw, beldon is super creepy. unfortunately there has been a history of raves and major drug use and there is just a darkness to the town. beldon has now become my substitute adjective for creepy. we had a quick swim because it has been incredibly humid and then ate dinner. then we called some local trail angels and they picked us up and we spent a nice dry evening at their house. there were three other thru hikers there and it was great to meet them. 25 miles from bucks lake road to beldon at highway 70.

day 59 - from beldon it was another 5000 ft climb up. i hiked with longlegs, his sister, and tr and had a great lunch. there really are amazing souls that i get to meet every day. after lunch marie and i decided to do more miles so that the next day would be easy in to town. we hiked thru a thunderstorm, which we discovered dropped some moth ball sized hail just ahead of where we were. it was a great lesson in not letting one's fear get the best of you. it was easier, of course, to have a hiking partner to check in with. 31 miles from beldon to carter meadow trailhead. 1621 miles total.

day 60 - the halfway point. the actual halfway is roughly the town of chester, where we are resuppling, but there is also a monument. here is the monument . . .

and here is marie and i at the monument . . .



here is my halfway journal entry. thank you pct for reminding me of this and thank you shankara for the lesson . . .



we got in to chester by noon and found ourselves in the midst of quite a contrast to the trail as the 4th of july parade was happening. whoa! happy 4th all. 14 miles from carter trail to highway 36. 1335 miles total.

- tribhu (tree-boo)

pct day 55 - 06/29/13

holy incredible day, batman! marie and i left the red moose inn around noon and started an eleven mile climb. here is a pic on the way up . . .

after a lunch break 6 miles in to the climb, we saw hooligan heading towards us coming southbound. we asked what was up and he informed us that he was heading up a jeep road to go to a fire tower. so we tagged along.
the climb proved to be really steep and i decided to give myself a work out, so asked marie if i could carry her backpack. then, about halfway up i decided i really wanted to try three and took hooligans as well. i love the opportunity to move beyond my body. here are the videos . . .


this tower is so amazing. it is perched up in this impossibly steep peak. here are some views from the top and a short video of the walk down . . .

as if the fire tower was not enough, after a short little walk down the jeep road, we met rita and barry who gave us a ride back down to the trail as well as some tasty potato chips. thanx guys! the ride made me realize that it was quite a long walk. here is rita and barry . . .

here is a pic of the fire tower as we hiked onward . . .



after a short hike we encountered four guys driving by on another jeep road and they stopped and offered us some cold drinks. here are the guys whose names we unfortunately did not get . . .

we hiked on and had a great night by deer lake . . . epic day.
11 miles from highway 49 to deer lake. 1210 miles total.
- tribhu (tree-boo)