Tuesday, September 23, 2014
11.0 PCT Trail Miles
Pear Lake to Union Gap
PCT Mile 2494 to 2483 (+2 miles to Smithbrook TH) 13 Total Trail Miles
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| The "Old Version" of the PCT Marker |
I hear Cathleen get up and go pee. Boy, that had to be uncomfortable; she had obviously been holding that for a while, lol. I roll over onto my back, raise my arms up, put my hands behind my head, and just laid in my tent feeling extremely content. Last evening I was ready to not even set up my tent, but to turn right around and walk the 13 miles back out; even if I had to use my headlamp the last eight miles. My pesky friend Loneliness was in great form yesterday and caused me quite a bit of mental turmoil. He had really gotten into my psyche, that's for sure. In my defense, I was at a pretty low point anyway with the GI issues and lack of sleep, I was fighting on my way in.
Just laying here listening to Cathleen starting her day, was
simply comforting. Even if it's something as basic as taking a pee. While we were talking last night, I shared with her my
concerns about the Loneliness factor. She was so understanding and
sympathetic. She told me she hates camping alone too and looks for fellow
hikers to camp with when she gets to whatever her destination is for the day.
At Lake Valhalla, where she stayed last night, she had to camp alone.
She says she just sleeps more soundly when others are in camp; otherwise,
every little noise disturbs her sleep, as she is more on-guard. Makes
sense to me. I asked her how many nights she thought she had spent alone
over the trip and she said only about a dozen. Huh, that's not bad
really; now is it? That's manageable, I think to myself. I listen as
Cathleen gets back into her tent after her morning pit stop and gets her stove
lit. She had told me one of her favorite treats is to have coffee and
breakfast in bed in the mornings. This makes me smile to myself. I
really like this young woman, and wish I could get to know her better; however,
I know that in a matter of just a couple of hours, we would bid each other farewell, as she heads North and I head back South. At 5:30 I crawl out of my tent and head for the pit toilet. Out here, a pit toilet is such a luxury. Given the problem I was having yesterday, I was ecstatic to discover there was one. I always have a packet of antiseptic purell wipes with me when I hike. Good hand hygiene is your number one defense against disease transmission. When I read thru hiker blogs and someone is talking about GI problems, my first inclination is to think they had gotten into some bad water and didn't treat it properly. Often this is the case, but I suspect that a good percentage of those were associated with hand to hand contact, or sharing food, etc. I file this thought away for my hike. I'll keep a bottle of Purell in my pack hip pocket. About 4 ounces of cheap insurance. Shake a hand, purell, use the toilet, purell, getting ready to eat, purell.
Now that health class is over, I bid Cathleen a good morning and fire up my jetboil stove. I had filled up the water bag last night, so I had plenty for breakfast and to fill my water bottles for the walk out.
-Things Going Bump In The Night-
Cathleen apologizes if her getting up so early woke me up. I tell her I was awake anyway plus I will be meeting my good friend, Bob, at Lake Janus so need to get moving. I have mountain house scrambled eggs with ham plus instant oatmeal for breakfast, along with two cups of coffee. Cathleen and I talk as we get our chores done. I told her about my little visitor in the night last night. She laughed and said she had heard the little scrimmage going on in my tent last night. She asked me if I heard some hikers come by last night. As she said this, I then remembered that I did hear them last night too. Huh??, I wonder where they went? It was late and dark. I can't imagine they would have gone very far. It had also rained last night. I remember waking up and listening to it for a few minutes before I just rolled over and went back to sleep. As I was falling asleep, I was thinking how dreadful the walk back up to the top of Grizzly Mountain would be in a poring rain. Uggg.
Cathleen was packed and ready to head out at 7:00. I tell her what a pleasure it was to meet her and to have this opportunity to talk. I also congratulate her on her completion of a thru hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. She only has a mere 10 days to go; wow, that is so very cool. I feel so happy for her. She tells me to go for it next April and that she hopes to see my name on the register for the Class of 2015. Well, we'll see.... At 7:15, I swung my pack onto my back, tightened the hip strap, adjusted the shoulder straps, and started walking back down the trail. I quickly dropped the 600 feet back down to Wenatchee Pass where the trail junction for Top Lake is. I paused briefly to take a picture.
Wenatchee. I absolutely love the name Wenatchee. The very first time I ever heard the name Wenatchee, was in 1975, in Duncanville, Texas. The name, just had a ring to it, an unusualness that I tend to gravitate toward. My Mother was telling me all about my Uncle Charles, who teaches Spanish at the College in Wenatchee, Washington. She also told me about my Aunt Sue and my four Cousins; Susan, John, LeAnn, and Rick. 1975 was the year of earth shaking change for me. I was 18 years old, graduating from High School at the end of May, and my family, as I had know it for the last eighteen years, was getting ready to come to an abrupt end. My Father had gone to Washington DC in January, found another woman, told my Mother they were getting divorced, and promptly feel off the face of the planet. I helped my Mom pack up the house, have a huge garage sale and sell off just about everything. My older brother was in college in Oklahoma and my younger brother was a freshman in High School and so was still living with us at home. I graduated from High School on May 25th and the house sold and would close on June 1st. Eighteen years of my life had unraveled in a mere five months. I had already helped my Mother and younger brother move to an apartment just a couple of miles away. I would be leaving June 2nd to go to my Summer job as a counselor at a camp for the Mentally Retarded and Physically Handicapped. It was in Argyle, Texas and was called Camp Soroptimist. This gave me five whole days alone in the house I had grown up in, before the new owners would take possession on the 1st. There was now only one piece of furniture in the whole house and that was a couch; perfect, I had a place to sleep. It just felt good that I would be able to live in my families house right up to the point at which I would have left anyway. Seemed fitting in some way. Then; June through August at Camp Soroptimist and on August 25th drive North to Wenatchee for the start of Fall Quarter at Wenatchee Valley Community College. I had a plan...
The walk back up to the top of Grizzly Peak was dry thank God. I passed six thru hikers along the way. I chatted briefly with all of them and told them Cathleen had camped with me last night. I'm always amazed, and comforted by, the community that develops out here on the trail. As I was walking the five miles from Grizzly Peak to Lake Janus, it started to rain, but fortunately just a drizzle. Enough that I stopped to put the pack cover on and to have 2nd breakfast before heading on down. I passed a half dozen more thru hikers before I got back to Lake Janus. Passed another solo woman hiker just as I was getting to the lake. She had a big hiking skirt on along with a pair of shoes that reminded me of the old PF Flyer High Tops I used to wear as a kid. What struck me about this young lady was the brilliantly bright and beaming smile she had. She was moving at an unbelievable rate and without a care in the world. We extended greetings as we passed each other and I was literally warmed by her glow of energy. Thank you!
I got back to Lake Janus about 11:30. About four hours to go 9 miles; that's 2.25 miles per hour; Not bad. My buddy Bob got to the lake about 15 minutes after I did. Talk about timing. We had lunch and talked about our usual stuff. We were at the lake for about an hour and a half then headed on out. It seemed like the 700ft up to Union Gap was a killer for some reason, but once there we turned off of the PCT and meandered on down Smithbrook Trail to the trail head and the point at which I started yesterday. Things the trail spoke to me about and taught me along the way:
- When your not physically feeling good, fears become amplified a hundred fold
- When your not physically feeling good, you can go on a lot longer than you think you can
- There will be other hikers as lonely as you looking for someone to camp with for the night and talk
- There are many fears besides Loneliness and all of them will visit you from time to time along the way
- The trail will mysteriously send you Angels with messages, when and where you least expect them
- And to remember that it's got to always be about the journey and not the destination
- There are people back home who love you, are behind you, are rooting for you, and you will go back to
- EVERYTHING is temporary
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