Monday, August 31, 2009

Wow.

DAY ONE-FOURTEEN, August 31, 0 Miles
At mile 2476.3
Here I am at Hiker Haven (http://dinsmoreshikerhaven.com/). Last zero, second last town stop, 190 miles to go. Back on trail tomorrow, so utterly sick of being on this computer updating this journal so I'll write a bunch when I'm done.

And then. I fell. Over.

DAY ONE-THIRTEEN, August 30, 30.5 Miles
At mile 2476.3
It was hard, I was tired, but I got to the highway by 5pm. Barely had to raise my thumb to get a hitch. Down to the Dinsmores Hikers Haven. It is one of the greatest places on or off the trail. Finally caught that no-zero taking Gantz character.

Mr! You're on fire! Oh! I feel a theme coming on...

DAY ONE-TWELVE, August 29, 21.6 Miles (plus 13 on detour)
At mile 2445.8
The detour, despite being extra miles, was very cruisy. Particularly the well graded Pete's Lake Trail, worked out by lunch that I could still probably make Stevens by late Sunday afternoon so that's the plan. Curse me. Very smoky and on the other side of the range the smoke and clouds spill over the low points like waterfalls. So amazing. These rangers are friendly, and conversations are time consuming. But I love it.

No dancing, fire opened the door again! again! again!

DAY ONE-ELEVEN, August 28, 20.8 Miles (plus 8 on detour)
At mile 2417 (sort of)
Rushed down to Snoqualmie Pass through trashy snowless ski runs desperate for the cover of fresh white. The pass is a ski resort on an Interstate all of an hour from Seattle, so it'll be rather busy in just a few short months. Everyone there was ultra friendly, picked up my resupply and had a mighty breakfast which included my first cup of coffee ever (mostly sugar and milk). Topped off with some fried chicken and Dr Pepper (not making that mistake again) and I was ready to enter one of the best sections of the trail. Stopped of at the beyond friendly USFS office to learn about a small re-route around a fire, no problem. Big climb off the Interstate was cruisy on the awesome power of Dr Pepper. Heaps of other hikers about, it's a justifiably popular area, massive views of Rainier and where I'd just been and the imposing peaks in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. This is the Washington I was expecting and I love it. Then I came across the re-route. The new, improved re-route. Seems the fire had exploded during the afternoon and the only way around was a couple of trails and roads, 22 miles in all, only 7 miles of trail are currently closed. That makes my already slightly pushing it plan to make Stevens Pass on Sunday afternoon very difficult. Walked the first part down the overgrown but well used Mineral Creek Trail and a couple of miles of road before I decided it wasn't worth pushing and set up camp. Things change on the trail, so be it. It's blowy outside.

Lord of the Conchords.

DAY ONE-TEN, August 27, 36.2 Miles
At mile 2396.2
Hot sun, hidden climbs and a never ending switch between the square mile of old growth and square mile of clear cut. As I approached the realm of overnighters I spent half my time picking up trash. Shame.

Flight of the Rings.

DAY ONE-OH-NINE, August 26, 32.7 Miles
At mile 2360
Slow morning to the impressive Chinok Pass area, over the highway past another Sheep Lake (I swear, there's been 46 of them) and up to the view filled Sourdough Gap. Passed perhaps the biggest ski area yet, Crystal Mountain, still erie and I still love these ghost town, snowless ski resorts in the summer. Trail tread is wicked sandy at the moment, and the many holes in my shoes, socks and gaiters make matters worse (I usually wear these items until they're completely falling apart. Completely. John VonHof would cry if he saw what I wear) add to that the equestrian, packer and elk hooves tearing it up, no fun. Currently in a part of Washington covered in dirt roads, clear cuts and wildfire scars. At least the Huckleberries like it.

Washington, or my love of the big, awkward, uselessly informative signs.

DAY ONE-OH-EIGHT, August 25, 28.1 Miles
At mile 2327.3
Cruised down to White Pass to pick up my resupply box. It is amazing. Almost too much food in it, I fear it may be the food intended for Stehekin but for the moment I am happy with my Ashland-self. Plenty of junky food at the store, some wonderful, some instantly regretted, completely forgot to get some Dr Pepper or Ice-cream! Oh my! About ten thru-hikers there most were going into Packwood, the nearest town, so as quickly as I got into a cluster of thru-hikers, I'm right back out on my own again. I am almost starting to prefer the extended periods of solitude and I always end up coming across someone during my day. The trail head was ultra confusing and wasted my precious time. The start of this section takes you through lake littered, flat forest. Beautiful, but almost identical to previous sections. Although Sand Lake did captivate me momentarily. As I made a big, slow climb, the trail brought me out of the forest and up into a sub-alpine wonderland. I guess "best/most beautiful/favourite so far" are overused to the point of meaningless but, well. This trail is amazing. The clouds playing around Rainier in the afternoon sun was a joy to see. Ran out of time, and camped before my planned destination at a very nice spot.
To slow down or not. An almost universal thru-hiker dilemma. I can do these miles I'm doing, I can finish early September, under four months, a nice tick in that goal box. Or I could slow my pace, relax, take an extra couple of days. Or weeks. But I like hiking at this pace, and thru-hiking, for me at least, is different to, say, an overnight. My body is so very accustomed to this, and I enjoy the daily physical challenge. And it's so big, too big, to "appreciate" everything. I hate the idea of "appreciating" anyway, it's almost as though you're trying to hard to enjoy what is simply enjoyable. Being here is enough.

There's no goats in Goat Rocks Wilderness.

DAY ONE-OH-SEVEN, August 24, 31.7 Miles
At mile 2299.2
Well, I didn't see any. Coldest night since the high Sierra last night, saw my first Elk this morning, they're almost hilariously skittish. Spent the day in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, one of the best parts of the trail yet. Huge, endless, glacier carved valleys, narrow ridges and aggressive peaks, waterfalls and wildflowers, completely amazingly wonderful terrain. Above treeline for the first time in ages, only once more above 7000ft on the trail. Finally caught the big group that has been ahead of me, put some faces to names I knew from the registers. The trail after lunch took me across the top of a glacier, then up and down the incredible Knife Ridge. I had spotted a big snow slope on they way down. Glissade potential. And there was no evidence of a previous user. Pioneer!! Although, I then had to slog down through snowgrass to get back to the trail. Didn't really save any time, fun all the same. And then I started to get that feeling that I wasn't on the PCT. I hate that feeling. Turns out I was where I needed to be and hiked till near dark when I set up camp right on trail. With mosquito's. The last climb of the day put me high on the crest with ridiculous views of Goat Rocks and Adams, down and out to the West, North to Rainier and a massive smile on my face. Don't even remotely care that my camera is currently refusing to work. There's a fire to the East...

Oh, how you distract me.

DAY ONE-OH-SIX, August 23, 35 Miles
At mile 2267.5
Loads of climbing this morning up to the baseish of Mt Adams, then skirting around the West side. Probably could have carried a bit more food out of Cascade. Either that or my appetite has increased dramatically. Pretty busy with hikers and horsers around the Adams area. Hiked the evening with Dryfoot, and English guy who hiked the CDT last year, many questions were asked.

Or, I could just eat it all.

DAY ONE-OH-FIVE, August 22, 31 Miles
At mile 2232.5
Seems a mid-thirty day in Washington is not quite as easy as it was in Oregon. Quite tired after yesterday. Came across a bucket full of candy and treats at a road, very well timed. Chatted to Mountain Lion, a flip-flopper (part of the trail north, part south), and found myself repeatedly distracted by Huckleberries. Nice, very well graded trail, lightly summery day, early camp, all is well as usual.

8500ft? Really?

DAY ONE-OH-FOUR, August 21, 34.2 Miles
At mile 2201.5
Something crashed in, then very quickly back out of our camp last night. Then this morning a bug flew into my eye. Right in, the inside corner, and my instinctual blink forced it further in. Yeah, that's every bit as awful feeling as you think it is. Luckily, its squirming struggle for life was outward, not inward and after a few panicky seconds from both parties, we parted ways. I signed the trail register jeans walked up some hills, and that's pretty much all that happened today. Spent the afternoon listening to Fleet Foxes, sunning my beard in the Pacific Northwestern sun, wandering the woods, all very appropriate.

Well, they probably did...

DAY ONE-OH-THREE, August 20, 12.3 Miles
At mile 2167.3
Found it pretty difficult to drag myself away from the comforts of Cascade Locks. Actually, if I had the time again I may have hitched up to Hood River, as Cascade didn't quite fill all my needs. Really good pizza though, and the friendliest library in the world, all the Brett Favre news has left me excited for football season, apparently. As I currently very much regret, I simply could not bring myself to buy five days worth of food in the form of cheese and pop-tarts, and as I've sent food to the remaining resupply points, the one-meal challenge shall remain unattempted (is that a fail? is that a word??). Left the lowest point on the PCT, crossed the amazing Bridge Of The Gods over the Columbia River and entered Washington. Basically up, of course, and as seems to be the way coming out of towns, pretty well disinterested in everything. Wandering in and out of nice views of Hood and apparently the upcoming Mt Adams (I don't remember, but I wrote it down...) I caught up to Unbreakable and No Trace, chatted and about half a mile later we camped together, the first time in a while I've camped with other thru-hikers.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Hear that.

DAY ONE-OH-TWO, August 19, 0 Miles
At mile 2155
Perhaps my last zero, and maybe my last internet for a while. Next time you hear from me I may well be done. Onward! Washington!

The doors are gonna fly open.

DAY ONE-OH-ONE, August 18, 9.1 Miles
At mile 2155
The Eagle Creek trail was amazing, very glad I went that way (seems it's only not official PCT because horses couldn't do it). Waterfalls all over the place, including a pointless, yet still well awesome tunnel-behind-the-waterfall deal. The walk into Cascade Locks town is along a magical old section of the old Columbia River Highway, sandwiched between a lush forest and the Interstate. Then you cross under the Interstate and are presented with more Blackberries than you could ever hope to eat. Deliciousness! Cascade is nice enough. The Charburgers portion sizes are impressive and my hotel room, disappointing from the outside, is quite nice. The lack of TV channels however... Cannot stop eating.

You're deceptive.

DAY ONE-OH-OH, August 17, 38.3 Miles
At mile 2145.9
Not sure that I actually walked that far, although it sure felt like it. All sorts of alternate routes, old/new PCT, detours, hiker/horse PCT and so on, alls I know is I'm 9.1 miles from Cascade Locks on the Eagle Creek Alternate. Mt Hood was incredible to walk around, massive gorges carved down it's sides by glaciers, unbelievably massive in fact. Indeed. The Ramona Falls alternate was very worth it. The falls themselves are second only to Crater Lake as far as completely amazingly beautiful things on the PCT go. Had a chat with two of last years thrus who gave me some good advice and good ideas, so my plans in Northern Washington may have been altered slightly. The walk along the creek from the falls was about the nicest piece of trail so far (official PCT or not). Much more up and down than the rest of Oregon has been, although nothing compares to the brutal shortcut I took down to the Eagle Creek Trail, it was, however, very much worth it. Crazy amount of little black flies around that are ridiculously easy to kill. Met Sage, perhaps the last in a very small group who are thru-hiking south this year.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Mankinds Inalienable Rights.

DAY NINETY-NINE, August 16, 35.9 Miles
At mile 2107.6
Easy, quiet morning, loads of horsey folk around. Took a long time too warm up, summer is ending and I'm getting further north. Up, up, up all afternoon to Timberline Lodge, a ski resort on Mt Hood, open year round (I think?). Pretty busy up here, but no thru-hikers around. Huge sunset right now.

I love when people warn me about Bears and Cougars. It's somewhat wasted "advice", considering. Like the woman in Seiad who told me I was going to get attacked, then mentioned that if I got hungry I could kill and eat a bear. With what? My mosquito net and spork? Come on. The knife I carry is dangerous to little more than fruit and cheese. Then the two I came across today, something disturbing about a seven year old kid carrying a gun, telling me about Cougars with a murderous look in his eye (I actually can't remember if he was carrying, but the man sure was. But there definitely was hatred in his voice).

People. Rhythm. Miles. Think.

DAY NINETY-EIGHT, August 15, 37.6 Miles
At mile 2071.7
Cloud lifted this morning and I finally got to see Mt Jefferson, the most glaciated peak I've seen yet over here. Jefferson Park, a flat, extremely popular lake filled basin at the base of the peak was nice. Plenty of "No Camping, Rehab Site" signs, which means people just camp elsewhere, spreading the impact and damage of tent sites and fire rings. I don't see why the Forest Service does this, established campsites should be like trails, accept the fact they are a scar on the land, but if that is the only scar the damage is minimal. Got a first glimpse of Mt Hood, my next destination, then back down into the forest. Pretty busy out, got some amazing cookies from friendly folk. Walked two miles further than I planned to find a campsite, so I carried water for nothing.

Prove to me it exists then.

DAY NINETY-SEVEN, August 14, 27.2 Miles
At mile 2034.1
Got a hitch back to the trail and spent an hour walking with some friendly day-hikers who gave me loads of berry-related advice. And oh, how I do love a good trail-side berry. Cloudy and misty all day, but no rain to speak of. Couldn't see any of the mountains though. Most of the forest around here was severely burnt a couple of years ago, you could see just how massive the fire was from the ridge-tops. Pretty busy around Shale Lake, but fairly quiet everywhere else.

Everyone was a what of what?

DAY NINETY-SIX, August 13, 7.4 miles
At mile 2006.9
Rainy morning, but it cleared as I got to the highway. So does a wet bearded man get picked up in the middle of nowhere when the sun's out? Apparently only when the Appalachian Mountain Club is in town. They were so nice, helpful and full of conversation. Town chores, some excellent pizza and was about to head out when I came across Bernie and Stacey who were staying with some trail angels and assured me I would be welcome also. Magic indeed. Jim and Jane are awesome and they have one hell of a view, so I finally was able to see the Sisters. Stayed up all night watching Eureka, a new favourite. Sisters, the town, is close to my favourite yet. Oh, Oregon.

2000!!

A demise so carefully constructed.

DAY NINETY-FIVE, August 12, 29.9 Miles
At mile 1999.5
Shame it was such a gloomy morning, couldn't see anything. Pretty slow today, and despite the volcanic surroundings being close to my favourite area so far, the trail itself was a pain. Walked through some lava fields and scrambled to the summit of Little Belknap Crater. Mt Washington has appeared and is very imposing, trail took me to its base and skirted its western ridges. Camped at the climbers base camp. Supposed to be a meteor shower tonight, damn clouds.

99.94 means not even perfection is perfect.

DAY NINETY-FOUR, August 11, 50 Miles!
At mile 1969.6
Dang....................................................................................

Yes, that's right, eighty whole kilometres. That hurt. Started 5am, which just so happens to be a completely beautiful time of the day to walk. Continued walking all day, till a little after 9. I was walking longer than the sun was up, lazy sun. Passed some old friends, Iceaxe, Day Late, Birdman and Lake, bad timing on my part as I was trying not to stop. Not too much up or down, typical Oregon and vital to my success. The Three Sisters Wilderness is amazing, the actual Sisters (mountains) are beautiful and had cloud rolling over them as I walked through the huge volcanic meadow at their base. Actually feel pretty good and enjoyed the challenge. But not looking for a repeat any time soon. Another challenge falls. Cursed pancakes.

The ball is in your court now, Shit Monkey. Deep. Make your move...

When I'm silent I'm listening, not abandoning (foiled again!!).

DAY NINETY-THREE, August 10, 35.1 Miles
At mile 1919.6
You know those days where nothing seems to go right. Exactly. In the wonderful Maiden Peak Hut with Billygoat, most excellent. Think I'll go for 50 tomorrow, best to get it over and done with. Three months on trail.

They said you wouldn't be here...

DAY NINETY-TWO, August 9, 40.8 Miles
At mile 1884.5
Got up super early and threw 40, fun is not the word. Although Mt Thielsen was very tempting, what a pointy peak you are. Mosquito's.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Hands.

DAY NINETY-ONE, August 8, 18.3 Miles
At mile 1843.7
Quickest five miles I've ever hiked into Crater Lake's Mazama Village. Breakfast Buffet was the plan, and oh how I got my moneys worth. Five heaped plates of bacon, egg, ham, fruit, sausage, french toast, pastries and yogurt. Outstanding. Picked up my box, maybe a 177 mile resupply wasn't the best idea, that plus 25 miles of water makes for a heavy pack. Hiked Crater Lake with Wild Child, being a Saturday the lake was ultra busy, but if it isn't the most beautiful place... It's so blue, a blue you've never seen before, it's almost overwhelming. 1932 feet deep, the deepest lake in America and seventh in the world, it was formed in the aftermath of the apparently massive eruption of Mt Mazama. Wizard Island, a small volcano in the lake is so awesome looking and probably where I could hermit out my days. The trail around the lake is awful, but so so worth it. Mosquito's have made a reappearance in a big way. Dang. Great day.

Volcano, I'm Still Excited!!

DAY NINETY, August 7, 36.4 Miles
At mile 1825.4
Awoke to rain and mist. That was my day. Very cold, but beautiful and a nice change. I assume I missed some nice views of the Sky Lakes, I would love to return here some day. In fact Oregon will definitely be seeing me again. Walked through an area that was burnt extensively last year, in silence and the mist, which was amazing. Descended to the 'Oregon Desert' where the mist lifted, then rolled back down along behind me. Creepy. Hopefully it clears tomorrow for Crater Lake.

And your next reliable on-route water is a (feat. ludicrous) 48.5 miles away...

DAY EIGHTY-NINE, August 6, 36.3 Miles
At mile 1789
Very moist today. The small tent is actually quite cosy and homely once you get used to it, and so much less billowy. Ended up carrying far too much water (still long waterless stretches). Nice temperature all day, and beautiful, forested trail. As I neared camp it rained a wee bit and the clouds came down and around me through the trees. Which was magic. Camped in a dry pond, clever.

Who are we? The Wildcats! Who're we gonna beat? The Wildcats!

DAY EIGHTY-EIGHT, August 5, 26.1 Miles
At mile 1752.7
Got started about eight, seems like Oregon is as flat as I was told it would be (it's not flat flat, just comparatively so). Caught up to Atlas and spent the rest of the day with him, didn't get the expected storm but it cooled off nicely in the afternoon. Mt Shasta is still my companion, it has been 400 miles but these may well have been my last on-trail views of her. Camped above Hyatt Lake in my small new tent. New book too, The Population Bomb. It's brilliant for so many reasons, despite how outdated it is.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Ashland! Ashland!

DAY EIGHTY-SEVEN, August 4, 0 Miles
At mile 1726.6
Spent some time wandering aimlessly around this beautiful city, could spend a lot more time doing the same. Saw loads of hikers in our usual haunts, posted about seven boxes and have a replacement tent. Far too many good bookstores, not buying anything was painful, and I didn't even get to the Metaphysical Library. Had planned on seeing Macbeth as part of the almost year-round Shakespeare Festival, but $78 is a bit out of my budget at present. Watched a couple of guys pay homage to Robert Burns instead, which was an absolute pleasure. Ashland will be very hard to beat as my favorite trail town, and is the first place (other than perhaps Shasta City) I really could see myself living if I were to move to the U.S. An endless thankyou to Ben and Sally for all they've done for me over the last couple of days. It will be hard to leave, but I'm just as keen to get back on the trail.

Ashland!

DAY EIGHTY-SIX, August 3, 0 Miles
At mile 1726.6
Super relaxing day, went into town and bumped into Atlas, devastated the AYCE Indian together. Doing most of my resupply for the rest of the trail from here, most of the towns in Oregon and, especially, Washington aren't much so it's easier to send myself food. Had the greatest shopping cart of all time, snickers, pop-tarts and instant mash. Children were staring lustily into my cart, their mothers had much different looks. Organising the food, and the rest of the trail took all afternoon. I now have some sort of itinerary, not the way I like to do things, but somewhat necessary for food planning.

Four eyes and that road again.

DAY EIGHTY-FIVE, August 2, 26.6 Miles
At mile 1726.6
The first of last night's storms may have passed harmlessly over, but the next few didn't. Half asleep, woken by thunder and its lightning directly above me. Loud like you cannot imagine. Loud. Then the hail. Then the wind. Then the rain. Damn. Damn. In the end, it wasn't too bad and not enough to leak through, but at the time, with that storm above my head, not fun. Awoke to a very grey morning and a small lightning fire on the other side of the valley. Enough rain to get wet, not enough to justify a jacket, quite annoying. May or may not have been stalked by a Cougar, felt like I was and turns out a number of hikers saw one in the area over the last few days. Creepy. Then along the trail comes Ben, ultra-runner extraordinaire, basically the first person I'd seen on trail in 100 miles, other than a couple of firefighters. He's super nice, lets me know Atlas is only a short distance ahead and offers me a place to stay in Ashland. Wonderful. So with a meeting time and place arranged I charge onward through rain, overgrown trail, day hikers and hot, hot, sun to my old friend Interstate 5. Had to walk about a mile down it, which I did so on the concrete barrier, most excellent fun. Ben and Sally are wonderful people, Ashland is my favourite place in America and I have this outstanding Prefontaine shirt to wear. Met a guy who will run the PCT north from halfway point next year, then south the following year, his eightieth. Unbelievable. Big ultra running community, so I'm quizzing folk, as ultra running is where I see myself if long distance hiking gets out of my blood. Double zero.

We are the free.

DAY EIGHTY-FOUR, August 1, 34.9 Miles
At mile 1700
Curious day. High spirits this morning, big climb rewarded big views. The Marbles, Seiad Valley, Klamath River, and Shasta is back. No idea why I felt so good, but why question such things? Wasn't really expecting to see anybody today so was surprised to see three firefighters mopping up two lightning fires I wasn't even aware of. I was told to expect more storms, and sure enough a couple rolled over in the late afternoon. The wind was my ally though, and sent them north as I pushed on eastward (yeah, I know). My plan was to get to and camp at the California/Oregon border, only the border is on a switchback (the switchback immediately after the fake border, kudos to you fake-border-sign-putter-upper) so I did self portraits and continued onward.

Oregon. Finally. After 1698.8 miles of California, I am in another state. Of course, it's essentially the same as the previous couple hundred miles, what do you expect. But it feels different, it really does. It feels foreign and alien to me, like I'm not supposed to be here. The encroaching storms probably added to that. It's amazing how simply the knowledge that there is an imaginary line that I crossed, which has no real physical or geographical significance at this point, makes me feel this way. Campsite was the main thing on my mind though, it was getting late, and looked as though I was going to get a storm for sure. As usual, when most desperately needed, no adequate piece of flat ground presents itself. I also had the dilemma of tree cover or no tree cover. There's been a disturbing amount of tree fall about and I'd rather not have a branch on me, but my tent has holes, and rain has a habit of finding and exploiting holes. I pushed on, finding myself distracted by one incredible sunset and the beauty of the storm rolling over and above me. Eventually I just pitched right on the trail (literally on) and dove in for the night. Storm seems to have passed. Looking forward to Ashland tomorrow.

Monday, August 3, 2009

How three-and-a-half pounds of pancake left me empty and ashamed.

DAY EIGHTY-THREE, July 31, 9.5 Miles
At mile 1665.1
Cruised my 6.5 miles of road walking to Seiad Valley. Done. 46 hours and 56 miles of nothing but Peanut MM's. And you know, I think I like them now more than I ever did before. Even after yesterday. Challenge one: SUCCESS. Challenge Two, The Seiad Valley Pancake Challenge: FAIL. Yep. Failed. Completely. But let me start near the beginning. Seiad is the nicest of the little towns in California for sure, it's also famous for it's pancake challenge. Five pancakes, five pounds, two hours, one stomach. If this sounds easy to you, go make a pancake that weighs a pound. Right now. Do it. THEY ARE HUGE. Now eat it. Now repeat. Four times. Exactly. Atlas told me about his failure the day before, Iceaxe warned me about their sheer mass, but I remained confident. Until she (I really wish I could remember her name, but she was awesome) poured out the batter on the hot-plate. At this point, all I feel is terror and a little uncomfortable. The plate they come on is huge, the stack is a good 10cm high. It's not going to happen. I'm not being pessimistic, I'm being realistic. My stomach is not that big. But I try, oh how I do try. The first one goes down well, and in twenty minutes. Two hours seemed like ample time, but I'm already eying the clock all too frequently. I learn from the first, it needs butter and syrup, lubrication, but only put where you're about to eat, otherwise the cake just absorbs it like it was never there. Number two goes down well, I still feel confident, unfortunately I also feel full. Number three takes a good half hour and is a struggle. Number four is embarrassing, I choke down two mouthfuls in the last fifteen minutes, spending most of the time staring into nothing. It doesn't help when Rick (former pancake chef and all round nice guy) comes in and scoffs the size of the pancakes. Number five remains perfect and untouched. Laughing at me from the plate. Three-and-a-half. I threw in the towel there, after my two hours. I conceded defeat. I took little comfort in the fact that it was the best effort of the year. I needed to lie down. Luckily the RV park is ultra hiker friendly and I spent a couple of hours there watching movies. Then I started to feel bad. Only one-and-a-half left I thought. I could have eaten that. Why didn't I try harder. Forced them down. I returned to take down one of the over-generous burgers to show the world I was still a man. Left town about 6:30 to hike some miles before dark. Still feels like I have unfinished business there, perhaps I'm making too much of this. Camped a couple of thousand feet above Seiad, ridiculously hot and ridiculously mosquitoey. Ate some MM's for dinner, not that hungry and I crave MM's now for some disturbing reason.

Today I consumed at least 8000 calories, perhaps as much as 10,000. Consider that the normal dietary requirement for an adult is 2000-2500. That's a good half week of food. Go me. How many billion are starving right now?

Until my own photos are put up:
http://i.abcnews.com/Business/SmallBiz/Story?id=6353125&page=4
http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Food/Food-Too-Big-to-Finish-Extreme-Eating-Feats.html

Less than 1000 miles left. Oh oh oh.

Always fun!..

DAY EIGHTY-TWO, July 30, 30.4 Miles
At mile 1655.6
Seems the fire I neglected to mention I saw yesterday was nothing more than a controlled burn-off. I slept with the exaggerated fear of waking up surrounded by flames for nothing. Got started late, no hurry today. Not that MM's help matters much, I get about half an hour on these things then need to sit down, especially on the uphills. Thankfully, most of the day was down. The downside to all that down, down, with my down sleeping bag. Down. Point is, it was about twenty degrees hotter (that's Fahrenheit degrees, sorry) and at least 50% higher humidity by the time I got to the valley floor in the late afternoon. Hot. Had two half hour breaks in the last six miles because I felt horrible. A full day on nothing but Peanut MM's, a dream of many, is not so much fun. Not seeing anybody at the moment. Big story of the day: the roll of toilet paper I purchased in India (sometime mid-January) has finally been exhausted. And to think, at the time I thought it was a rip-off.

The daytime... of the night!

DAY EIGHTY-ONE, July 29, 18.9 Miles
At mile 1625.2
I am fairly certain that the 29th of July, 2009 was part of a CIA experiment to see if people notice when a 24 hour day is, in fact 34 hours long. No? Today was all awkward, long and disjointed anyway. Got my last remaining town chores done, which included a sad (it really was) farewell to my battered, 1100 mile old New Balance 812's. They were good to me, and could have gone further. Back to the 904's and their infinity symbol print that sticks out on the trail like a sponge at a rag convention (!!). An hour after first sticking out my still purple thumb, with my shade disappearing very quickly, I got a ride up to Etna Summit (seems nobody goes up there) from Eric The Red's Mum. Ambled along most of the afternoon, quite disinterested. Rain, hail, thunder, hail, hail, hail, rain, Yellowjacket sting (oh! how so very much painful. Schmidt Sting Pain Index, you are either very wrong, or very, very frightening), stumble, mutter, hike, hike, hike. Climbed up to a notchy pass, decided I'd rather rock climb for a while, and was rewarded with quite a view. The Marble Mountain Wilderness is very beautiful. Day one of the Peanut MM challenge, kind of feel like something savoury already, oh no.

He realised now, that it was completely lacking in cohesion and sense. And was hardly informative. He smiled.