Today was both an end and a beginning. We are now officially without any tramily around us or without anyone we even know on the trail any longer. We spent the morning with Cliff Hanger and Daniel until they couldn’t put off leaving any longer. They both stuck with us until almost 1p. We will, more than likely, see Daniel again at Trail Days in Cascade Locks. Cliff Hanger didn’t know if she’d make it there, or not.
We have made a decision on where we are headed next. We are going to Disneyland. Wait a minute, we didn’t win a Super Bowl. I guess that means Disney is out and Old Station is in. We are taking Devil Fish’s advice and jumping just north of Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California.
We have made contact with all the members of our original tramily and are aware of their plans. Each of them will probably pass us somewhere in Washington since they travel so much faster than us old farts. Kevin (Blue’s Clues) has headed to his grandparents place in Pasadena to spend a month with them before resuming the trail north at Walker Pass. Dave (Wolf) has gone back home to Florida for a month and then plans to pick the trail back up at Old Station. I imagine he’ll catch up with us by mid-July since we will have to get off trail for a week to attend Bunny’s son’s graduation from Army Basic Training.
Ivy was the most interesting. We did talk to her this evening. She has officially parted ways with the Air Force and even returned back to the trail in Beldon, CA where we had all thought of going next. She was completely alone on the trail (as we will probably be) except she was walking in snow with lots of evidence of avalanches having occurred in the area. The snow is melting, but she didn’t feel it was safe or smart to be hiking alone (we agreed on both points). Instead, she has gone back to Alaska and is going to WOOF (Work On an Organic Farm) for 6 weeks to allow the snow to melt. She’s going to check with people then to decide where she’s going to pick back up.
Also, we have had a brush with trail greatness. Or maybe a sideswipe of being noticed. You make the call. We got a little blurb in Backpacker Magazine about hitting the trails. We owe a big thank you to Patrice and Justin La Vigne for getting us the exposure. I met them at an REI talk about the Te Araroa trail in New Zealand (yes, it’s on our list for probably 2021). They are writers for Backpacker Magazine, former Ambassadors for the magazine, as well as Leave No Trace master educators (for which they spent a year educating visitors to National Parks out west). They gave up the “normal” lives when they were in their late 20s and have been making a living doing what they love for well over a decade now. Luckily, they have coattails which we are trying to grab hold of.
One of the maintenance workers at the KOA gave us a ride into Acton this evening so we could eat town food. He drove us around town before he dropped us off (literally, a 10 second tour). He showed us where to pick up a ride to hitch back. We hit the spot and got 2 offers for rides, but they had to make a stop first. We didn’t put our thumbs back up but a third car stopped and picked us up before either of the other two returned. Unfortunately, she took us to the wrong campground. Once she realized the mistake, she did drive us to the correct one.
We have a car reserved for tomorrow and we plan on taking the scenic route through eastern California on our way to Redding to return the car. We haven’t got all the details worked out yet, but we know the trail will put us where we are supposed to be. I’m a little sad. I feel like we are starting all over even though we are over 650 miles into the trail. We’ll go slow until the snow melts and people catch up with us once again. I know the first people we meet up north will all be “redshirts” because they will probably have gone through the Sierra to get there. Or maybe we’ll get stopped by snow until slow movers jump up to where we are. Or maybe Bunny will forget I don’t have life insurance and try to kill me again. Her memory is about as reliable as her hip.
EFG
Here is episode #10 of our PCT experience. If you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to our YouTube Channel when you watch it. The 1 millionth subscriber will get a $100 prize. Don’t wait too long, we already have almost 200 subscribers.
Hey celebs!!! Can I get my hiking poles autographed? Great fun- loved the explanations of your names! Love blue bunny too! Hope to see you sometime soon!
I wanted to mention you in that clip about the names since I was eating a gu. It was you that introduced us to them in CO. White out signatures on the poles!
Hi
The drive up from Lone Pine to Bishop and Lee Vining is nice. Stop, if you have time, at Manzanar, the Japanese-American internment camp. We stayed at a Comfort Inn in Bishop that is right across the street from a pretty good pizza place with beer. Lee Vining is a rubber tomahawk kind of place but Mono Lake is nice – it’s the eastern gateway to Yosemite.
Be safe
Sue
That’s the way we are planning to head up. Thanks for the ideas. We’ve got the car for two days. Are you getting excited about your Europe trip?
Hello Bunny and EFG
We have just finished reading your AT blogg and since you starten we are now following you on the PCT. Great what you are doing, you have our respect!
Your blogg has become our favorite lecture so keep on hiking and keep on writing, it is very interesting and also entertining! Good luck and be carefull. Mara and Gilbert from Grenchen / Switzerland (Nonna and Freeman from the AT)
I trust you have Freeman back in hiking condition. Are you two planning on coming back to hike more of the AT? We are still planning on coming back to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc again and we hope you’ll join our party.
I love the way you mentioned you savor the trail! More people need to do that!
I’ve been reading a lot of articles and listening to podcasts with our extra downtime and that’s definitely missing from what people say. If you don’t like it, why are you out here?