Friday 62/Saturday 63

5/25-5/26

This was yesterday (Friday’s) afternoon photo of the clouds lingering. This morning (Saturday) things have looked so much better. Justin just ran into Seeker, Heidi, Nutz, Grover and Pacecar at the gear store. Hooray! So happy to hear they are safe and all together. We may be having dinner with them to hear their stories.

I’m pretty much packed and ready to go for a departure tomorrow. I think yesterday I was getting a bit stir crazy as there wasn’t much to do. I did get some reading done and some good downtime by the fireplace this morning. I’m getting that notorious little tickle in my throat from being inside too much. I went to sleep as early as possible last night with the help of a few allergy meds in hopes to kick this thing in the butt and not let it get worse. It’s still hanging on tho. I’m thinking positive and hoping it’s just all the stale air that I’ve been ingesting indoors.

We are all hesitant in one or another for the next round of weather that comes behind us. From Mammoth we will be rejoin the PCT at mile 906 or 914. I don’t think that’s been decided yet. Tuolumne Meadows is at mile 942 in just a few days. From there we could be in Kennedy Meadows North (mile 1016) by this time next Saturday or Sunday–which is my hope. I mailed a resupply box there which contains another 6 days of food that would take us into South Lake Tahoe for our next resupply. Don’t bother looking at those dates on my planner for now, clearly I’m in limbo with this past weather that came through so the days and timing will be wacky for now. If you are able to meetup somewhere, contacting me on the Garmin is best so I’ll have a heads up.

As far as my spirits as a few of you have asked, the fact that I have missed the high Sierra section for now is a bummer. I always knew it could happen and depending on how the rest of the time goes from here, there’s always a chance that I can come back to Kearsarge and tackle those 180 miles that I had to bypass. And if not this year, there’s always next. For now, I will hope that pushing northbound from here will be less dangerous and back to the rewarding adventure it first started out as. I have had time to reflect on ideas for the further (after the trail) and I’ll leave those ideas out of here for now, but let’s just say I’ve already been inspired to conquer some new challenges in life. For now, I feel good. Today was the first day my knees haven’t felt completely sore going up and down the stairs of the hotel. My feet are antsy to get back in those Altras and my back is starting to wonder where all that weight has gone. I miss my backpack 🙂

So for now, it’s Saturday afternoon and as I rest up before we have dinner in a few hours, I wish you all well. I’ve chatted with a few friends today and caught up on life happenings outside of this trail. So much I have missed. I love you all, have a great holiday weekend!