Friday, June 20, 2008

Let It Burn!

Wow.....so much has happened since I last blogged but I will try to keep it short! I got to hiker town in the middle of the Mojave desert to discover it was simply a combination of trailers with now electricity and an outdoor shower that ran off a garden hose. After hiking a 40 mile day I didn't care and took a shower in the cold night air. I did get a good night's rest in the bunkhouse style hostel and the next morning I was joined by Adrian "Walkeaze" Baird to do another 48 miles through the Mojave to Tehachapi. We had a great hike and he shared coffee and other great trail foods with me. His "Trail Grit" has revolutionized my diet out here. It consists of several grains and oats and can be mixed with spices, jellies, or bacon bits to add flavor. We hit the 1st annual chilli cook off upon reaching Tehachapi and even got to see a reinactment of a wild west shoot out on the downtown square. I went back out on the trail that day to finish the final section leading in to the High Sierra's. That section included some more 100 degree days and another 40 mile day before I finally reached Kennedy Meadows where a fledgling forest fire awaited me. The fire wasn't close enough to the trail to cause a problem, but the forestry service was closely monitoring the containment. I met up with about 10 other hikers at the general store and we spent the first day resting and enjoying hot food. The best way to describe Kennedy Meadows is to say it is the only place on the trail where the locals are grittier than the hikers! I got up this morning ready to hike on and my backpack got a huge tear in it as I packed it. At first I questioned why this had happened. I packed the bag the same way I had for hundreds of miles and all of a sudden it got a catastophic tear. Fortunately there was another hiker with me that is an expert at sewing and he even made his own backpack. After a few hours of sewing on new materials my pack was as good as new. The only problem was that I had lost a day waiting. I decided to hike out with the group tomorrow and then it became clear. The forestry service called the general store and informed them the next section of the trail was now closed because of a flare up that caused the fire to spread and cross the Pacific Crest Trail. Had I hiked out this morning I could have been caught in the fire.....thank you God for protecting me yet again! Tomorrow we will be hiking out on a side trail that avoids the fire and we will be entering the High Sierra's. In a couple of days I will be standing on top of Mt. Whitney at the highest point in the main 48 states......I like to call it God's front yard!
Until next time..............
Love,
Forager

2 comments:

Rena' Smith said...

Hope you had a Happy 4th! I've been doing Orlando style nature observing. :) Your trip has encouraged many of my friends. Have a wonderful day!

Rena' Smith said...

Hello! Where are you now? Please contact me at 407-927-6605, would love to hear from you!,
Rena'Smith :)