Further North

Andy’s dad and his wife drive us further north. So I get to sit a bit more in this enormously gigantic car and be very comfortably driven all the way up.

It is Andy’s Birthday today! He says that he normally goes hiking on his Birthday,

“but this year, all I want to do on my Birthday is NOT to hike!”

Haha! I can’t blame him!

So we drive up even further north on this wonderfully scenic road. I look out of the car window and see more snowy Sierra mountains (!)

Andy’s dad likes rocks! He suddenly stops the car, gets out and picks up a rock, puts it in the back of the car, next to a pile of other rocks he had picked up earlier, and we drive on.

We stop in Mammoth for lunch and Andy gets to enjoy some birthday-after-breakfast-before-lunch beer. He loves to buy these little test beers where he can taste different locally brewed flavours. This always puts a huge smile on his face!

The drive up to Chester is long (I try to imagine how many weeks it would have taken us to hike these miles and how it would have been up there in the mountains, how many adventures we would have experienced, what we would have seen and gone through. But it is good just how it is. How can I possibly be sad about not getting to see the Sierras and not getting the chance to completely truhike the PCT, when I am so lucky to hike with the best trail family I can possibly imagine. I am the most lucky and happy person, so there is absolutely nothing to be sad about.)

Everything is good just how it is!

We stop for the night in an adorable little old town. We find this super nice little old creaky hotel which seems to have preserved the times of the early settlers. The furniture is really old, but in an antique and picturesque, museum kind of old way. We are delighted to hear that they have a room available and the smile on Felix’s face gets even brighter than it is anyway.

How wonderful!

Andy gets the biggest bed with the red curtains on the front, as it is still his birthday today.

We all sleep well. Except Felix perhaps who is still coughing.

We drive out in the morning and pass through Reno! What a contrast to the PCT!!

Felix realizes that there is a REI in Reno, so we stop, as I need new boots and the guys also want to play around with cool outdoor stuff.

My beloved boots are falling apart. They have lasted me more than 1200 km and have been very faithful companions. It was never their fault that I got blisters! I tried to glue them together back in Agua Dulce, but that did not work.

So I am going to buy the EXACT same model (Merrell Moab mid) again but perhaps just half a size larger. It is I believe for every thru hiker totally nerve racking to replace good old faithful shoes… Boots are oh so very important, and nobody wants to buy new ones and discover on the trail that they are not perfect… So wish me luck!

So that was relatively easy, now comes the really challenging part:

Resupply!

I find it tougher to go into one of these enormous US supermarkets to run around and try to find hiker food than hiking the PCT on a hot day in the desert.

And today I need to buy a lot. Not only do I need to fill my bear bag with food worth of six days, I also need to make two resupply packages and send them ahead.

Oh my! What a challenge!

After checkout I am wasted. Totally exhausted and stressed out.

Andy picks up my vibes:

“Oh poor Heidi, do you need a hug?”

“Yes”.

He gives me a big hug and I feel better.
Oh how wonderful these two guys are!

We climb into the car and drive direction trailhead. One more night and we will be on the trail again.

I give dinner a miss tonight as I need time to get the food packages ready for posting.

We get up early-ish today as we need to get coffee, breakfast, go to the post office and as we have to drive about another hour to the trail.

We drive through the woods and I get super excited, soon I will be hiking in those woods!!!

We arrive at the trailhead. My heart is pounding: “oh these wonderful trees!!”
I am thrilled. Thrilled. Thrilled!

We get our packs ready …

and say goodbye to Andy’s dad and his wife:

“Thank you so so so very much for welcoming me and driving me up here and being amazing Trailangels!”

I am super grateful! (As I am so often on the PCT).

It is “group selfy” time! (Or “wey” time, as Felix would say!)

Andy’s dad hikes a little bit together with us on the PCT, just as Felix’s dad had done earlier. It makes me a little sad, as I am thinking of my own dad.

But it is BEAUTIFUL out here in the woods! So green, and alive! And there is plenty of water!

I am very very happy!

 

We camp at a huge river tonight.
I find it very poetic to camp at a river again here on our first night in the woods just like on our last night in the desert:

“Dear Desert,

you have been beautiful, interesting, surprising, gorgeous and awesome in many ways, you have taught me to be grateful for what I have, you have taught me to be tough and not to give up but endure heat, exhaustion and pain. You have given me many super happy days and weeks and you have showed me how grand you are. But I think I am ready to move on to other places now. Thank you desert! So long and good bye!”

We have a late start today as it rains and none of us really is ready yet to leave the dry shelter and go hiking.

We are finally ready and get going into more woods!

Awesome!

We don’t make many miles today so we are not too tired in the evening. Felix takes the opportunity and lights a fire! It’s difficult with the wet wood, but he is patient enough and does a great job! So nice to sit around the flames and warm up.

On our third day in the woods we seem to encounter snow. Lots of it!

Snow covers the whole trail. Buries the trail.

“Hell! Where did the bloody trail go? I can’t see it anymore!”

We are in the middle of the woods in the Lassen Volcanic National Park and can’t find the trail! He is gone, buried under a ton of snow!

“This sucks, right Andy?”

We strap on our gaiters and Kathoola microspikes and navigate through the deep forest with our phone GPS. We search, posthole, slip and slide and it is very exhausting.

I hear water… Lots of it….

“What?!” Do we really have to cross this river?! How on earth… ?!”

The guys see two huge logs over the water and think it is a brilliant idea to cross the beast via the logs….

Felix, who loves these kind of challenges, goes first. Good job! Then there goes Andy. Good job! Hmm, I guess it is my turn now…

I pull myself together and crawl over the log on my hands and knees with my big pack still strapped to my back. I can feel the adrenaline pumping. The raging water beneath me.

“You can do this Heidi! YOU CAN DO THIS!!”

[this image is taken by Felix]

Done! I am on the other side of the river. Phiuu! We high-five each other.

OK, I survived, now off to more ploughing through the snow. Felix takes the lead and does a fantastic job navigating us through this labyrinth.

“Thank you Felix! Great job!”

I AM SO GLAD THAT I AM NOT ALONE OUT HERE. I WOULD TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY FREAK OUT.

Exhausted, we arrive at a spot between two frozen lakes, where we find a dry place to camp.

Quick dinner and I go horizontal in my sleeping bag. It is oh so cold tonight!

I hear the frogs at night and wonder how they can possibly survive in this freezing cold water with ice in it.

Oh man it is cold! I wake up at 2am and have to do my usual “poo at 2am in the night” thing.

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BLOODY NIGHT, every night!

I don’t understand why my body is doing this to me. Perhaps it is my body’s personal revenge to pay back for all the hiking I make him do?
BRRRR! It is the coldest night so far… No surprise, there is snow all around me and I sleep next to a frozen lake!

It is morning and I am glad to get up and out of the this cold tent! I need to move!

We have no idea how much snow there is on the trail, so we hope for the best. Luckily we seem to have reached the highest elevation so the trail goes down and we can leave the snow behind us (for now at least!).

The trail leads us through a burn area once more. Spooky… But this is nature.

Forrests come and go.

Guess we all just come and go…