AND.....HE'S BACK AT IT AGAIN!!

Hi there, One to continuously teach me determination and perseverance, my dad has done it again. He started his hike on another portion of the Pacific Crest Trail on Monday, June 4th. He warned me of the fact that I would not be hearing from him too much the next few weeks and he was right. I found myself a couple of times wanting to just pick up my cell phone and call him to see how he was doing; part worry and part curiosity! On Saturday, June 9th he left a voicemail on my cell phone that said "Hi Kim, sorry I missed ya. I'm standing up on top of Mt Whitney, 14,494 feet. Doing pretty good, sorry I couldn't reach ya. Talk to you later. Bye." When I listened to the message I cried. My dad, standing on top of Mt. Whitney, the tallest peak in the continental United States and what does he do? He calls me. Boy I love him and am oh, so proud of what he's doing. He's doing it for him, but you know how kids are (even old ones)...they are proud of their dads and what they can do. That desire to not only begin, but to continue is so strong. I'm so thankful that he feels this way not only on this natural walk, but spiritually also. Today, June 20th, I received an email from him sent this afternoon at 1:37 PM! I was so excited to read it as it had been a week and a half since last hearing from him. This is what it read: "Just a quick note from the Vermillion Valley Resort. We arrived here yesterday (6/19) after 14 days on the trail. Needless to say we were glad to be at some place where we could shower and get laundry done. The trip has been. Good and no special problems, we have climbed the highest mountain in the continental United states, and also crossed the highest pass on the trail. We have gone over a dozen passes and forded many streams. They have not been past the knees so have not presented any problems. We are staying here for two days. And then on to Mammoth Lakes (which is almost straight east of Modesto, CA) where we will be for a couple days. I plan to retrieve my car from there as it is still in Lone Pine. The folks that I am with are really super to be with, although one had to leave the trail with an ankle injury. I retrieved a box of stuff a couple days back at Meier Trail ranch. I had been eating top Ramon noodles for 12 days, so a change in the menu was much appreciated. My shoes are coming apart so will have to get a new pair when I can and if I am able to continue, have covered about 200 miles. I will be glad to get to where I can make a call. Haven't had any service yet. All in all the trip has been good but very difficult trail. I had an eye infection for a couple of days so only had the use of one eye. Anyway I finally put some neo sporting (Neosporin) cream I had in my pack, and it seemed to do the trick. It is fine now. Got some real sun burn on my face coming off Mt Whitney, but it is starting to heal. Only have one blister to contend with so has been good. I am still the old man on the trail. Have really appreciated the hymns as I walk along the trail. Blessed footprints of my savior have come to mind many times. I wonder, do we really appreciate all he did for us? I will let this be all for now and will call when I can." Love dad So that's the latest info I have for this post. I will be adding more as I receive it. I'd love to be able to find his Dr. who did both of his knee replacements and let him know what his "patient" is doing. He'd be proud too, I'm sure. I'll try and do a better job of keeping this current this time. I apologize the last post (8/11) kind of just stopped. I didn't realize dad was off the trail until about 3 weeks later. He had fallen and got scraped up (but of course, didn't want to tell me that.) Dads... Until next time . . .

A few pictures of the trail....

I APOLOGIZE...I'M A LITTLE BEHIND AND DAD IS WAY AHEAD ON THE TRAIL...

Hi there....

What a busy summer this has been, however that is absolutely no excuse for not updating dad's Blog in a timely manner! Shame on me...(slaps wrist). Ok...

I can't even remember exactly when/where dad joined the trail again (that's so bad!), but he is back on it and is progressing well!! To make it a little easier, I'm going to "insert" his email to me recently, which explains his doings/goings as of recent. The weather has been warm but I'm feeling at ease with the fact that he reminds me (and I remind him, if he DOESN'T remind me) that he is listening to his body and takes a ZERO day when he feels the need. He hasn't been able to share too many pictures but has said that he's taken numerous with his phone.

Here is the email that dad sent about a week ago on the 8th of August...

"I'll just give you a summary of thr last couple of weeks, Have hiked over 250 miles and over some rough country. Left the Castle craig area the first stop was Etna Mount Shasta continued to dominate the horizon, as I left interstate 5 and climb to the crest; where the terrain is more rocky and sparsely treed, the expansive views were incredible as i wound along the route changing directions often, finally reaching Etna summit. The Town is 15 miles NE but got to the road and a couple was just getting ready to head down the mountain and gave me a ride so diden't have to wait at all. I was glad for the day and 1/2 that I spent there, as i had twisted my ankle and needed some down time. There is a place there that the hikers meet so was glad to hear some of the stories, and also an update on the trail and snow conditions. I had slipped going around some snow and tore my britches and shirt, so got some dental floss at the store to use for thread on the britches, but the shirt I had to use duct tape to hold it together, I have been pretty much alone as the couple I was going to hike with never showed up or were out of sync with the schedule.

Anyway after a good rest and some good meals the next stop was the little town of Seiad Valley, This section makes a beeline north through the Marble Mountain wilderness with only minoe elevation gain and loss in the beginning followed by a dramatic decent to the Klamath River and Hwy 96 Then you go west through the town famous for it's 5 poung pancake challenge. This is also the last town in California that the trail goes through. The next section follows Hwy 96 briefly before clombing steeply to complete the final leg of the Calif PCT. You are soon in Oregon. The route turns east and finally reaches I-5 12 miles from Ashland at Siskiyou Summit.

In summary the hike has been good. Very steep and long climbs made it difficult to make really good time. I have been getting som 20 plus mile days but hike about 12 hours to do it. A funny experience, I use that foil wrapped Tuna Fish as a suppliment to my top ramon noodles, anyway I didn't use the whole package so put the rest in a zip lock bag. Well, it leaked all ove my pack and got all over the tent, Not a problem, except we are in bear country, My understanding is bears like fish. So I thought maybe I could put the remaining fish in the creek and it would wash downstream and fool the bears. Well it just sank, so i took some rubbing ointment and rubbed on the tent, thinking that may fool them, anyway I didn't get much sleep but my sinuses were clear in the morning.

I have been a couple of days with Dell and Janel (my Cousins here in Medford) and will depart in the morning headed for Crater Lake 107 miles North, Want to get as far as possible as will leave the trail for convention at Boring, and looking forward to that.

Will keep you posted..."

So, there you have it! I will attempt to post a couple of pictures that dad has emailed me, however, 3 of them are from his hike in May. The most recent is title "The Trail". Again, thank you for following dad on this journey. He sounds great when I talk to him and know that he will continue to do good as long as he "listens to his body".

Tootle-doo until next time!!

Sunday, May 29th - Winds blowing at 50-60 knots and rain.

Dad called this afternoon and said that he was back in Tehachapi...what? That's backwards. Well, here's the story. They left Tehachapi on Saturday and got about 6-7 miles out (approx. 4500' level) and decided to put up for the night right there. There were winter warnings and gale force winds (approx. 50-60 knots, he said) and he couldn't even set up his tent, so laid his sleeping bag right out on the ground and crawled in. At about 2 am it started to rain. Not what a hiker wants when the wind is already blowing ferociously!! He put on every article of clothing he had and put a garbage bag around the bottom of his sleeping bag to try and keep partially dry. At around 6 am he decided that he'd just get up and walk on ahead to see if he could reach a wind break. So on ahead he went to approx. the 6200' level (by himself, mind you). At this point the wind was blowing so hard that he could literally push his body forward and not fall down. He did come around a ledge however, and the wind got him and knocked him down. His reaction was "Well, this is nuts". So he got up and decided that it wasn't probably the safest thing to continue on by himself. So back down he headed. He reached the other party that had gone as far as the night before with him - still in their tents (smart people). Dad decided since the wind was still howling and he was drenched to the skin and his sleeping bag was sopping wet, that he'd head back to Tehachapi to dry out and warm up.

He found/called a trail angel to see if he could get a ride into town and she said she'd be there in 15 minutes. Sure enough!! She took him into Tehachapi where he decided to forego the typical Best Western for a po-dunk hotel. Po-dunk was right. It had no heat and no towels in the bathroom, which he didn't discover until he'd already taken the last layer off. Needless to say, it all ended up ok. He took the longest, hottest shower he could stand, got something to eat and was ready to wait the weather out until it decided to let up; wind and rain.

To be continued....

Saturday, May 28th - Tehachapi!!

Dad called briefly this morning and said that he reached Tehachapi. They were gearing up to start out on their next 80 miles. There is some rugged terrain to maneuver as they are getting up into the mountains. Please be careful dad!!

I have 120 miles behind me now!!

Dad left me a voicemail on Thursday evening, May 26th and said that he now had 120 miles behind him. He didn't mention "where" he was, but my guess was out in the middle of no where. He was having a ZERO day that day and would hit the trail again in the morning. Goal is still to reach Tehachapi by Saturday.

I've got 75 miles behind me!!

On Tuesday, May 24th dad called and said that he'd put in 3 16+ mile days so far and had approx. 75 miles behind him. He was getting ready to settle into a little hostel in a "hiker town" in the middle of the dessert (possibly called Lonepine-sorry, can't remember). At one point he needed to write something down and said "wait a second sis, I need to go and put my head lamp on so I can see." :) Somewhere along the way, he managed to find/talk to someone that coincidentally was heading up to Kennedy Meadows, exactly where he wanted to meet his car at the end of this leg. So now he doesn't have to worry about his car getting to where he hopes to end up; but now just needs to focus on getting to his car! Dad said that according to weather reports, they are about a week ahead of the heat which is perfect for the desert walk ahead this week.

Dad sounded good and said the hike was going really well. He hopes to reach Tehachapi by Saturday, the 28th. I'll keep you posted...