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I got back on the PCT around Lone Pine, CA, 20 or so miles south of the Mt Whitney side trail (PCT mile 749) and the scenery has been phenomenal! Mt Whitney had a gorgeous view (highest mountain in the lower 48 states) and all the mountain passes and valleys in between have been stunning (and mostly void of SNOW!).
The only snag so far is that I just learned Tuolumne Meadows, my next resupply, is closed already. D'oh! So my alternative is to see if I can bribe my Uncle Glenn in to coming out from Santa Cruz to take me to a store (hehe), hike/hitch 25 miles to Yosemite Valley (and back 25 miles), or get to Mammoth Lakes, CA and just carry an extra 2 days of food. I hate changing logistics. Blech.
Anyway, I'm paying for internet by the half hour, so it's time to log out. Sorry you have to wait a while longer for the next set of photos. :)
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It's Andrea-- I got the fabulous news yesterday that Ken made it into Canada. Today he's on his way to Vancouver, Sunday to Reno, and Monday to the southern Sierra's where he'll hike north to Truckee to finish the segment he skipped. Only a couple weeks more to go!
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Correction to my previous statement... I am apparently eating huckleberries, not blueberries. Turns out there are several varieties of huckleberry, ranging from very blueberry-like (although tart) to something shaped like a blueberry but is deep red in color (and delicious!). The huckleberry everyone buys in stores is the one I'm picking, while avoiding the tart blue variety.
Turns out I am also endulging in salmon berries! These look like raspberries the size of blackberries and are pink when ripe, orange when mostly ripe, yellow when edible but not quite ripe. I took a picture of one the size of a golf ball. Wild strawberries are also around, but I haven't found a ripe one yet.
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While the east coast is being hit with earthquakes and hurricanes this week, I too am facing complications... wild blueberries! Oh boy are they in season and EVERYWHERE! I can hardly walk more than 100 feet without stopping to eat a handful.
Ok, so it's hardly a complication, but it does slow me down. The past two nights have had pretty bad thunderstorms whip through the areas I'm hiking. Two nights ago I ran a mile to Breitenship Campground and JUST beat the rain and lightning by seconds - the campground has lean-tos for shelter. That storms reportedly set a few wildfires, and now that I'm above treeline ON Mt Hood (at Timberline Lodge) I can see two large plumes of smoke right near the PCT just north of Mt Jefferson. It's hard to tell exactly where they are since it's 50-60 miles away. Last night's storm woke me up with the boom of thunder long before the rain hit, so I was able to set up my tarp (first time since the desert!!!) in time AND dig a trench around me to channel the water away from me... turns out this was a very smart thing for me to do as the rain came fast and heavy.
And so, here I am at the Timberline Lodge during the start of the Hood to Coast relay race (tents, vendors, music, etc) and I have a great view of all around me. Mt Hood still has lots of snow on it and the snowcats are out plowing it to form a long chute for people to ski/sled down for the relay. The lodge was used for some of the exterior shots in the movie, The Shining (like when the little boy is shoved out the bathroom window to slide down a large bank of snow to "safety"). But, alas, there is no giant labrynth of bushes.
From Crater Lake to here, I have been passing volcano after volcano and walking through lava flows, boulder fields, dense forest, burned forest, exposed ridges, and passing many lakes. I have taken A LOT of photos in the past 200 miles. :)
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