Two-Heel Drive, a Hiking Blog

Barbara Egbert’s fourth and final missive on planning a through-hike is posted at Trailspace.

This time she talks to trail angels who have seen hundreds of hikers — and all their follies — in the course of giving them rides to trailheads and places to bed down and recover from trail traumas. Says Donna Saufley: ““It’s amazing to me how many people plan a four- or five-month walk but don’t get physically prepared for it ahead of time. Walking all day, every day, is a lot to ask your body — and your poor feet — to do, and without conditioning you risk all types of physical breakdowns and the premature end of the journey.”

Links to the rest of the series:

• Part 1: tips on choosing a trail, gear, training, and resources.
• Part 2: What am I doing out here? And what am I going to eat and drink?
• Part 3: advice from Triple Crown through-hikers.

Start hanging around at Postholer.com, of course. Postholer gives TrailJournals a serious run for its money, especially with cool ditties like this Google Map of the entire Pacific Crest Trail. Here’s a priceless entry from Ellie Thomas, currently northbound on the Continental Divide Trail:

On a side note, and among my many early hike ailments, I have a new one to add to my lengthy resume. Last night I spent an hour and a half sewing two patchs on the butt of my shorts with my handy dandy dental floss. Well, the shorts again ripped as I slid into the tarp, so I applied a piece of duct tape to the outside, and also to the inside so it would not stick to my delicate skin. As I sat journaling, it appears my body heat caused the tape adhesive to leech through the tape and adhere to my skin. Upon removing my shorts before bed, I almost fainted as I also removed a large strip of flesh. I could not sleep on my back, nor let the sleeping back touch the sore spot. This morning I shoved the user’s guide for my camera down the back of my shorts so my shorts would not stick to my fanny. So now, 6 large blisters, 3 pack sores, 1 spider bite, 2 black toenails, 1 sliced finger, had half a fanny cheek later, the trail has once again put me in my place.

Side note: I interviewed Ellie in my profile of ULA-Equipment at Trailspace.com.

Postholer has an easy-to-use journal search function. Here’s everybody on the Pacific Crest Trail, in order of recent posts. Journals have little bio-boxes that let the writers enter their hometowns. I went scanning for NorCal hiker types and found a few:

Matthew Edwards says he’s from the “Santa Cruz Mountains,” local enough for me.

I have had this same reoccuring dream ocasionally for the past year.

I am being chased by a large angry bear.

I run into an old farmhouse with the bear at my heels the whole way.

I reach the kitchen and open the door to the pantry and close myself inside just in time.

The bear claws and sniffs, growling at the crack between the door and floor.

Just days before I set off on this PCT trek I had that dream.

Only that time I simply opened the door and though the bear was every bit as big, and it’s claws were just as sharp, it took on the aspect of a Labrador dog.

I reached out and felt the fur on top of it’s head. Though I still dream of it, that was the last time the bear chased me

Giggles is a hiker guy from Sunnyvale.

Back on the trail today. A little sore still from Friday’s walk and a little hungover from last night’s debauchery. Saw one tiny rattlesnake, a ton of lizards. Fortunately I didn’t volunteer for the lizard count. Hiked to small campground that has plenty of water but no promised shower. Met lots of fascinating folks and am now camped with Kung fu although she has yet to accept the name. Went a little slow today. Will continue to do so until I feel like going faster.

The most-read journaler on the PCT this season is Katalina from Minneapolis.

After the Picnic Area at Mt. Laguna there is NOTHING until Pioneer Trail TrailHead (mile 53) and that place is super windy. I last saw BabyFace there, all bundled up at a picnic table trying to stay warm. We moved on after filling up at the water cache there. And– did I mention the wind? There was another 6 miles of just brutal, cold wind and we were hoping to find respite at Sunrise Trailhead at mile 59. But when we got here around 6:30ish- we found out it’s at the top of this saddle and it’s WINDY!! We had 3 options: (1) Walk all night in the wind (camping wasn’t an option because we wouldn’t be warm in the wind) (2) Sleep in the nasty, rat poop infested pit tiolets at Sunrise Trailhead, or (3) Hitch to Julian from the road we were on. No brainer: Option 3 won out…that is until we sat there in the wind (45 degrees out with 30-40 mph wind) and no car came by. The sun was going down (7:30 pm)- so we went to the pit toilets and did some spring cleaning. Yes, we slept in the rat-poop infested pit toilet with poop on the toilet- yum….but, at least, it was warm & not windy.

She’s hiking with one of those SPOT satellite messengers; there’s a link on her sidebar that shows where she last checked in.

Postholer is pretty groovy, though photo albums are much easier to find on TrailJournals. In any case the competition should make both sites better.

Barb Egbert, my through-hiking former co-worker, has a couple more bookstore events coming up (like a twit I missed one the other day in Fremont) focusing on “Zero Days,” her book about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in 2004 with her husband and 10-year-old daughter.

• 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 8, at the REI in Concord,
• 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 10, at Books Inc., 1344 Park Street, Alameda.

These are always worth a stop if it’s in your neighborhood.

Dave and Cindy Peters have already logged their first 100 miles from the wall at Campo on the U.S.-Mexico border. They’re now calling themselves Zelda and Tarzan. How Dave got dubbed:

At Scissors Crossing we stopped to rest and make a decision whether to proceed up a hot dry stretch through the San Felipe Hills or to wait it out until early morning when it is cool.

While here at Scissors Crossing another hiker named Zoner gave David his trail name. David was dubbed Tarzan because of the Cheetah gaiters he wears along with his jungle shirt and hat. I don’t want to be Jane because David would have an excuse to drag me around so we’ll wait to see what comes about for me.

Cindy did the wise thing: chose one before some embarrassing trail faux pas did the deed for her:

Last night we had several hikers congratulate us on our 24 mile day as we came into camp at Barrel Springs. Nomad, who is a two-time AT thru-hiker, suggested that my trail name should be Wonder Woman or Super Woman, but neither one hit the spot for me. The next morning the name Zelda pop into mind, which I thought was consistent with the other names mentioned. My sons both love the game, The Legend of Zelda. I ran it by some other hikers and they thought it was perfect. I love it too!

So, Tarzan and Zelda made it to Warner Springs resort and it is paradise. The soap smells so good. And a thru hiker that lives near here named Warner Springs Monty heard about my blisters through trail talk and brought me some Epsom salts to our room. What a great trail angel!

As long as I’m on the subject of local through-hikers, I’ve been meaning to mention one I found last week: JJ, a Bay Area guy who says he used to weigh 400 pounds (down to 290 at last count, as I recall). A briefing from his first day out:

Knees good. Tired. It is much further from Hauser Creek this year than four years ago. And more bicycles. I counted 12 between Campo and Hauser Creek.

Lots of people already on the trail. I’m off for a shower after a
quart of chocolate milk and a quart of cranberry juice.

More later.

Lots of good stuff at JJ’s web site, Old Man Walking, which won’t have many updates for the next few months while he’s working his way north (the The Trail Journals link above should have them, though).

Jellybean, from Mile 43 of the Pacific Crest trail:

I was sitting on a rock out cropping yesterday to air my feet and eat a snack. I could see down into the valley and interstate 8. I was thinking Wow! Its so much better to be sitting here looking at the trucks go by than it is to be in a truck watching the mountains go by!

Priceless because Jellybean Jean is a long-haul trucker half the year, and a through-hiker the rest. Previous Jellybean journals: 2002 PCT | 2005 AT | 2006 AT | 2007 AT

Sgt. Rock says there’s only one plausible reason for duct tape on the ceiling:

It snowed all night best as I could tell. It also turned out the shelter roof leaks. I woke up at about 0330 to a bag soaked through from a drip on the ceiling. It leaked in a few spots which left stalagmites of ice on the floor but the one over me just soaked through my down bag. Now I understand why there was duct tape on the inside of the shelter on the ceiling as some previous hiker must have tried to stop a leak on himself as well.

Sarge was over 500 miles up the trail at Damascus, Va, on the 27th of February, so he’s making excellent progress. A few hardy through-hikers start out in the winter every year to experience hiking in the snow and having the trail to themselves, and to get as far north as possible before the summer heat hits. Little close to the edge for my taste, but I’m not exactly a Medal of Honor winner in the courage department.

(Yes, it looks like I’m well on my way to falling off the wagon and getting re-addicted to Trail Journals. Only takes one cigarette to get somebody smoking again, same concept.)

I went trolling for interesting candidates to follow for this hiking season. I was hoping to find some Bay Area types who are doing the trail this year (I did, but I’ll get back to that) but one journal stopped me in my tracks. It belongs to Paul Sandall, whose daughter, Emily Sandall, died on Half Dome at Yosemite on Nov. 8, 2006 (my birthday, no less). From Paul’s first entry:

Years ago I bought Ray Jardine’s book, The Pacific Crest Trail Hiker’s Handbook (2nd edition, 1996). It sat on the bookshelf and my oldest daughter, Emily, borrowed it. She was working at Voyager Outward Bound in Red Lodge, MT, at the time, otherwise living in Missoula, MT. She wanted to hike it someday with a friend, preferably male, certainly not her father. But, yes, I had always, or at least since 1996 or so, been intrigued with the trail myself.

I come to the trail now, out of need, out of hope, looking for some measure of healing, some measure of community with people like Emily, looking for strength, wisdom, but mostly hope.

You see, Emily died in a hiking accident in Yosemite, November, 2006 at the age of 25 and our world has since been turned asunder. So the trail is a thread on which to start mending the rip, or perhaps find some temporary patch.

I hike to honor my daughter, to do something she was not able to do herself, to look for her spirit in the wilderness, to hear her joyful laugh in the wind, to meet her again.

Paul is of retirement age so he’s packing in the work and planning to head up from Campo in early May. His family has set up a foundation for Emily, who sounds like one of those people the outdoors universe could least afford to lose. So, good luck, Paul. This online discussion thread has more on Emily’s accident.

As to local folks, David and Cindy Peters are gearing up for the big walk. Jeff Singewald, Elevator from ‘06, is their transcriber. If you know of anybody other locals planning a through-hike, let me know.

Sgt. Rock, keeper of the Hiking HQ discussion board, has retired after 22 years in the Army and is heading north on the Appalachian Trail. I started thumbing through his trail journal when this part from a post in early January stopped me in my tracks:

The plan was to get up early to make up some miles I missed yesterday. So I went to bed early and set an alarm for 0700. But something happened. This morning at about 0200 I heard a rifle shot really close. As I lay there thinking that was too damn close I heard two more with the crack that comes when a bullet gets close to you. Then there were large explosions and I looked into the draw I was beside where a low hanging smoke was drifting. I could see helmets of soldiers in the smoke and moonlight and heard voices yelling at soldiers. Then machine gun fire and someone saying “Up there on the trail”. I was worried it was me so I tried to get out of my hammock as a machine gun opened up. I couldn’t move or speak. I was getting in a panic trying to get out of that hammock so I could hug the ground. Finally I bolted straight up.

All was quiet. There was no smoke or soldiers. No gunfire or explosions. Just a quiet night. I lay there sweating, my heart pounding away. I realized it was just a nightmare and tried to go back to sleep. I lay there for hours playing it over in my mind. It seemed so real – I could actually smell the smoke and hear a radio plus what sounded like voices talking in Arabic. I finally passed back out at 0400, but I ended up sleeping through my alarm and getting up late.

I used to hang around at the Sarge’s site a lot more but had gotten a bit out of the habit … I never realized all the while he was keeping his site and helping out with Whiteblaze.net that he had never actually hiked the AT all the way — though it makes sense, it’s hard to get six months off to go hiking when your employer is the Pentagon, which has better plans for you in exotic climes.

So anyway, here’s to the Sarge living his dream. And hoping the sleeping gets better.

His Trail Journal is here.

He never says anything to provoke cutting remarks from the snark-o-sphere (must drive the poor kids at GoBlog batty). Here’s another interview with him in his hometown paper, the Boulder Daily Camera. Earnest, honest, straightforward, and even though I’ve never met the guy, I’m tempted to say: probably somebody you’d want to hike with (if you could keep up with his 30-mile-a-day pace). What’s next for National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year?

I don’t have any specific plans right now, and I say right now because I’m sure I will. I have been looking over some maps and trying to plan some things. This summer I could definitely see myself going to Alaska. I would love to go to Scotland for two weeks. For the most part I’m done with mega trips in the lower 48. I’ve seen most of what I want to see, but there are certainly places I want to get back to, like the Wind River Range, the Cascades and the Weminuche (Wilderness Area).

There’s a video at the bottom of the interview. More NatGeo honorees here.

Not to be confused with the Pacific Crest Trail, the Pacific Northwest Trail runs for nearly 1,200 miles from the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean. Two-Heel Drive reader and blogger Greg Seitz interviewed a friend of his who hiked all those miles over two months this past summer. The hiker is Sam Haraldson. From Part 4 of the interview:

Although not formally educated as such I feel as though I found Zen while walking in the woods. Life reduced to its simplest parts, sustenance and shelter being your only concerns one is forced to grasp life at its minimum. Stripping away the intricacies of society the mind far better grasps the relationships not of one person to another but rather one person to the world. Kicking your foot mid step knocks over a plant which ultimately rots into compost making way for new life. A pebble thrown into a pond creates ripples of water which send ripples into the air and so on and so forth.

This rippling effect followed me back into society and strengthened my beliefs in the interconnectedness of all things. It boosted my beliefs that people must be good to each other as the ripples arenít just in the water, but in the conversations we have with others as well. As my sister-in-law loves to quote, ìLive well, laugh often and love much.î

Sam’s an ultra-lighter, so of course there’s a discourse on gear.

All the gear I brought I hold in the highest regard but a few items stand out as being very superb. As the year comes to an end and I determine my 2007 favorites I predict the list will be topped by two items. One being the Bushbuddy Ultra backpacking wood stove and second being the Montbell Thermawrap jacket. These two pieces of gear packed the highest value per ounce of anything I carried with me.

Hey, I have one of those Thermawraps — handy to have around, even on day hikes near civilization.

The interview starts here.

Sam’s hiking pages start here. His photo album is here.

Sounds to me like the PNT is an excellent alternative to the PCT, particularly if you haven’t got a free six months to spend hiking.