Sunday, 31 October 2010
Latest photos.
Natural hair jel - I did warn you.
Knifes edge ridge.
Trooper does lunch.
Another pass conquered.
Stehekin.
Cutthroat Pass and the first sign we were in trouble.
This was the light stuff!
The ascent of Glacier Pass
Filtering water.
Lakeview Ridge. The final difficult stretch.
Fu . . . I mean shattered!
Where were my shoe laces, I saw them earlier?
Troopers proud moment - an official PCT thru-hiker at Monument 78.
My entry in the PCT register.
Monument 78.
The ceremonial smoking of the stogie.
Current statistics.
Location: Seattle, WA. On my way back to Cascade Locks to complete my final 330 mile section to Crater Lake.
Miles walked: 2328.4
Miles left to finish: 321.6
Estimated finish: 16th November
Next update: From Sisters, Oregon in around a week.
Miles walked: 2328.4
Miles left to finish: 321.6
Estimated finish: 16th November
Next update: From Sisters, Oregon in around a week.
Sunday, 24 October 2010
Latest update
Current location: Stehekin, the last trail town before Canada.
Miles walked: 2252.8.
Miles left to Canada and the official PCT finish: 81.8
Miles left to complete from Cascade Locks to Crater Lake in Oregon (skipped section): 321.6
Weather: Rain below 4000 feet, snow and freezing conditions above. This final section is all above 5000 feet, a lot of it between 6000 and 7000 feet.
Frame of mind: Good. I have, and will be cold and wet for the next few days but am holding it together. Oregon is at a lower elevation and has a slightly kinder climate.
Next update from Manning Park in Canada around 30th October. Plenty of photos and video coming, have not been able to download because of poor Internet access.
Don't forget to stay tuned!
Miles walked: 2252.8.
Miles left to Canada and the official PCT finish: 81.8
Miles left to complete from Cascade Locks to Crater Lake in Oregon (skipped section): 321.6
Weather: Rain below 4000 feet, snow and freezing conditions above. This final section is all above 5000 feet, a lot of it between 6000 and 7000 feet.
Frame of mind: Good. I have, and will be cold and wet for the next few days but am holding it together. Oregon is at a lower elevation and has a slightly kinder climate.
Next update from Manning Park in Canada around 30th October. Plenty of photos and video coming, have not been able to download because of poor Internet access.
Don't forget to stay tuned!
Natural hair gel.
I stink. No, I mean I really stink bad. I smell something like a mix of week old socks, the odour that hits you when you open a rubbish bin after a heatwave and mouldy cheddar. I didn't think it was actually possible to smell this bad. The wall of stench that assaults me when I take my boots off in the evening should be illegal.
We get strange looks in restaurants when we get to town. The smell, unkempt hair, dirty clothes and straggly beards gives people the impression we are vagrants, homeless. I am past caring about how people label me now. To be frank, it's them that smell bad. The odors that waft around my nose make me close my eyes. A cocktail of deodorants, hair products, after shave and perfume makes me gag in a sea of offensive chemicals. It's everyone else that stinks, not me.
I carry a toothbrush, toothpaste and soap, that's it. It's all I need. Deodorant carries a weight penalty and it doesn't work out here. After 2 hours hiking it screams 'Ok, I give up'! Hair products? What's the point? I don't use them back home and there is no call for them here either.
That said, after 2 days hiking, the mix of sweat, dust, grit and filth that accumulates acts as a natural hair gel anywhere. My hair sculpts into all sorts of weird shapes. I scare myself when I see what peers back at me when I reach town and look hesitantly in the mirror.
We get strange looks in restaurants when we get to town. The smell, unkempt hair, dirty clothes and straggly beards gives people the impression we are vagrants, homeless. I am past caring about how people label me now. To be frank, it's them that smell bad. The odors that waft around my nose make me close my eyes. A cocktail of deodorants, hair products, after shave and perfume makes me gag in a sea of offensive chemicals. It's everyone else that stinks, not me.
I carry a toothbrush, toothpaste and soap, that's it. It's all I need. Deodorant carries a weight penalty and it doesn't work out here. After 2 hours hiking it screams 'Ok, I give up'! Hair products? What's the point? I don't use them back home and there is no call for them here either.
That said, after 2 days hiking, the mix of sweat, dust, grit and filth that accumulates acts as a natural hair gel anywhere. My hair sculpts into all sorts of weird shapes. I scare myself when I see what peers back at me when I reach town and look hesitantly in the mirror.
Stehekin, snow and Canada.
I'm writing this from a cabin overlooking the lake at Stehekin, the last chance to get of trail and re-supply before Canada.
Supping on a cup of Earl Grey (an Englishman must have his tea), I look at what lies above me. There is a clear snow line down to 4000 feet, the tops of the mountains dusted with a fine layer before the clouds obscure the upper elevations. Spectres of fine mist float across the lake and geese call to me to move. The hill flanks are coated in the greens of pine trees, the uniformity broken by the occasional gold of a maple. It is eerily quiet save for the occasional rustle of leaves as a weak breeze plays with them.
I think about how far I have come, and how far I have still to go. The last two weeks with Trooper have been amazing, he's a fine walking companion. Tommorow he leaves at 7am for the final 89 mile stretch where he finishes his 2010 Pacific Crest Trail thru hike. I will wait for Pockets who is in Chelan, a 3 hour ferry trip down the lake. Pockets has confirmed ecoli and has been told by the doctor to get off trail. He is ignoring this advice saying to me 'You can't keep Pockets down'. We will leave around mid-day and hopefully catch Trooper up by evening camp.
Supping on a cup of Earl Grey (an Englishman must have his tea), I look at what lies above me. There is a clear snow line down to 4000 feet, the tops of the mountains dusted with a fine layer before the clouds obscure the upper elevations. Spectres of fine mist float across the lake and geese call to me to move. The hill flanks are coated in the greens of pine trees, the uniformity broken by the occasional gold of a maple. It is eerily quiet save for the occasional rustle of leaves as a weak breeze plays with them.
I think about how far I have come, and how far I have still to go. The last two weeks with Trooper have been amazing, he's a fine walking companion. Tommorow he leaves at 7am for the final 89 mile stretch where he finishes his 2010 Pacific Crest Trail thru hike. I will wait for Pockets who is in Chelan, a 3 hour ferry trip down the lake. Pockets has confirmed ecoli and has been told by the doctor to get off trail. He is ignoring this advice saying to me 'You can't keep Pockets down'. We will leave around mid-day and hopefully catch Trooper up by evening camp.
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
The latest.
Apologies for the lack of communication of late. I am walking with Trooper, we are on the final 190 mile stretch to the official finish point in Canada, about 10 days walking. After that I have to flip back down to Cascade Locks and walk a final 330 mile section to finish at Crater Lake some point mid November.
We have Ben walking through remote wilderness and will be for the next 10 days. Hence no blog updates (I am sitting outside a closed library picking up wifi on my iPod to write this). Next update in Canada where I should plenty of video, photos and text.
Weather freezing but I am holding it together and looking forward to getting home to my warm girlfriend. Thanks everyone for the messages and keep tuner in for an update from Canada and then subsequent news from the final stretch in Oregon.
Fozzie x
We have Ben walking through remote wilderness and will be for the next 10 days. Hence no blog updates (I am sitting outside a closed library picking up wifi on my iPod to write this). Next update in Canada where I should plenty of video, photos and text.
Weather freezing but I am holding it together and looking forward to getting home to my warm girlfriend. Thanks everyone for the messages and keep tuner in for an update from Canada and then subsequent news from the final stretch in Oregon.
Fozzie x
Friday, 8 October 2010
One Pan Wonders
Many thanks to Teresa Dicentra Black at One Pan Wonders (see the link over on the right). I met her during my first week on trail in California where she extolled her idea.
I have just recieved a parcel from Dicentra stocked full of her own home cooked and dehydrated food, plus a few goodies. Dicentra has a simple idea in that it is possible to eat well on the trail and her book 'One Pan Wonders' shows how easy this can be. Alternatively, you can do what I did and exchange a yummy food parcel for a little blog advertising space!
I'm eating well on the trail for the week or so!
I have just recieved a parcel from Dicentra stocked full of her own home cooked and dehydrated food, plus a few goodies. Dicentra has a simple idea in that it is possible to eat well on the trail and her book 'One Pan Wonders' shows how easy this can be. Alternatively, you can do what I did and exchange a yummy food parcel for a little blog advertising space!
I'm eating well on the trail for the week or so!
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Western Mountaineering - thanks.
Thanks to Gary Peterson at Western Mountaineering for the loan of their Summerlite sleeping bag that has given me some cosy nights over the past couple of months. I have now switched to their Ultralite model (good to -7c / 25f) as the nights are much colder. See their excellent products at http://westernmountaineering.com/
Cold nights and staying warm.
It was 8pm just before the ascent to Goat Rocks Wilderness and a knife edge ridge walk. There was no way I was going to attempt this in the dark, especially with some ominous clouds rolling in. A little light from the moon bounced around my camp, not enough to see so I switched on my head torch and carried on supping on some hot chocolate.
My torch began to pick out something falling around me, its beam reflecting thousands of particles. I assumed it was some light rain but then noticed that they weren't 'falling', more 'floating'. It was the first snowfall and whilst not heavy, it only deposited a light dusting, it was a sure fire sign that the Washington winter was beginning.
The mornings and nights are cold, the days chilly. I wake to ice on the tent and on the trail, my boots crunching on the frozen dirt as they break through the crust. Ice protrudes horizontally from bushes where the wind has forced it sideways. I unscrewed my water bottle to take a drink but instead of water flowing out, I was met with a clunk as a block of ice slid down and hit the bottle neck. Time to start sleeping with it in my sleeping bag - that will be cozy.
My feet are in bad shape. Not blisters but areas that are red and tender, painful to walk on and I don't understand what is causing them. Possibly grit from the trail working it's way into my boots and rubbing those areas, I have been forced to stop in Packwood for a day to try and start some sort of healing process.
A quick gear sorting as well as I send back my summer sleeping bag (a down bag on loan from Gary Peterson at Western Mountaineering - thanks Gary!). I have also picked up my down jacket, got new socks and my beloved neck buff knitted by my girlfriend Cherry back home (the best piece of kit!). My Terra Nova tent is also past it's best so I now have a Tarptent Contrail model which is 33% lighter and offers me a lot more internal space.
Low temperatures are the name of the game now and I have to be prepared for it to get a lot colder.
My torch began to pick out something falling around me, its beam reflecting thousands of particles. I assumed it was some light rain but then noticed that they weren't 'falling', more 'floating'. It was the first snowfall and whilst not heavy, it only deposited a light dusting, it was a sure fire sign that the Washington winter was beginning.
The mornings and nights are cold, the days chilly. I wake to ice on the tent and on the trail, my boots crunching on the frozen dirt as they break through the crust. Ice protrudes horizontally from bushes where the wind has forced it sideways. I unscrewed my water bottle to take a drink but instead of water flowing out, I was met with a clunk as a block of ice slid down and hit the bottle neck. Time to start sleeping with it in my sleeping bag - that will be cozy.
My feet are in bad shape. Not blisters but areas that are red and tender, painful to walk on and I don't understand what is causing them. Possibly grit from the trail working it's way into my boots and rubbing those areas, I have been forced to stop in Packwood for a day to try and start some sort of healing process.
A quick gear sorting as well as I send back my summer sleeping bag (a down bag on loan from Gary Peterson at Western Mountaineering - thanks Gary!). I have also picked up my down jacket, got new socks and my beloved neck buff knitted by my girlfriend Cherry back home (the best piece of kit!). My Terra Nova tent is also past it's best so I now have a Tarptent Contrail model which is 33% lighter and offers me a lot more internal space.
Low temperatures are the name of the game now and I have to be prepared for it to get a lot colder.
Latest Statistic.
Current Location: Packwood, WA.
Miles walked: I am at mile 2304.2 here with 345.8 miles left in Washington. However, I still have a 400 mile section to go back and complete in Oregon.
Miles walked: I am at mile 2304.2 here with 345.8 miles left in Washington. However, I still have a 400 mile section to go back and complete in Oregon.
Latest shots.
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| Uncle Gary with locals Mile & Murray at Trout Lake store |
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| Knifes Edge Ridge - Goat Rocks Wilderness |
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| The approach to Cispus Pass (6450 feet) |
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| Mountain Lake near Goat Rock Wilderness |
Saturday, 2 October 2010
Red foliage and Chanterelles.
The bears know when its time. So do the mountain lions, the squirrels and the snakes. They sense when the snows are coming and they prepare for the winter. I can see the obvious signs like the leaves displaying reds, oranges and yellows and when the wind catches the trees we walk through thousands of them cascade down, floating from side to side like a mother cradling her baby. The mornings are colder, frost clinging to our tents as we watch a cloud of warm mist rise up as we exhale. Gaggles of Geese fly over us calling out, almost warning us of what to expect.
However, the feeling of Autumn encroaching and the signals run deeper to something that is hard to explain. Its more than just visual signals, as mesmerising as they are. This is my favourite time of year, the temperature is perfect for hiking, the sunsets magical and sitting in camp with a blazing fire is comforting. Something in my body makes me aware that Summer has ended, it's more than the smell of musty leaves, goes deeper than the mist banks swirling around me with beams of sunlight splicing through.
Pockets and I have been joined by Uncle Gary. Hailing from Petaluma, north of San Fransisco, he sports an impressive beard. 26 years old and studying outdoor education and research, he is an interesting guy to walk with. A powerful hiker with thighs like tree trunks, he walks a good, but not quick pace and reels of a series of jokes. Many times he has stopped to study fungi poking through the soil and we have feasted on the forests bountiful supply. His knowledge in this area is impressive and has supplemented my meagre memory banks of edible shrooms. Our food stocks have been well supplemented by the likes of Cauliflower Fungus, Boletes, Chanterelles and White Matsutake. Throw in some leftover bacon, fresh garlic and possibly some 'past its best parsley' and the finest restaurants would struggle to come up with anything that tastes this good.
Washington is proving great walking. Heavily forested, we meander through pine trees towering above us so high that we struggle to see the tops. The trail has been dampened with occasional rain which cushions our steps and has put a stop to the clouds of dust we normally kick up. Occasionally we glimpse valleys below us, lakes peek through the gaps and peaks such as Mt Adams and Mt Hood tower impressively above us, capped with fresh snow. Tough going after our brief Oregon entree, this state is back to the dips and crests we had become used to in California. Climbs of 3000 feet plus and 4 hour ascents make our thighs and calves scream. This 500 odd mile section will see us reach the Canadian border and trek a further 12 miles to the official finishing point in Manning Park before Pockets and I return to Cascade Locks on the Washington / Oregon border to walk south to our finish at Crater lake where we skipped up a few days ago. Having stopped a few miles short of Crater Lake, we never saw the magnificence that so many PCT's had been raving about. It should prove an amazing finale.
However, the feeling of Autumn encroaching and the signals run deeper to something that is hard to explain. Its more than just visual signals, as mesmerising as they are. This is my favourite time of year, the temperature is perfect for hiking, the sunsets magical and sitting in camp with a blazing fire is comforting. Something in my body makes me aware that Summer has ended, it's more than the smell of musty leaves, goes deeper than the mist banks swirling around me with beams of sunlight splicing through.
Pockets and I have been joined by Uncle Gary. Hailing from Petaluma, north of San Fransisco, he sports an impressive beard. 26 years old and studying outdoor education and research, he is an interesting guy to walk with. A powerful hiker with thighs like tree trunks, he walks a good, but not quick pace and reels of a series of jokes. Many times he has stopped to study fungi poking through the soil and we have feasted on the forests bountiful supply. His knowledge in this area is impressive and has supplemented my meagre memory banks of edible shrooms. Our food stocks have been well supplemented by the likes of Cauliflower Fungus, Boletes, Chanterelles and White Matsutake. Throw in some leftover bacon, fresh garlic and possibly some 'past its best parsley' and the finest restaurants would struggle to come up with anything that tastes this good.
Washington is proving great walking. Heavily forested, we meander through pine trees towering above us so high that we struggle to see the tops. The trail has been dampened with occasional rain which cushions our steps and has put a stop to the clouds of dust we normally kick up. Occasionally we glimpse valleys below us, lakes peek through the gaps and peaks such as Mt Adams and Mt Hood tower impressively above us, capped with fresh snow. Tough going after our brief Oregon entree, this state is back to the dips and crests we had become used to in California. Climbs of 3000 feet plus and 4 hour ascents make our thighs and calves scream. This 500 odd mile section will see us reach the Canadian border and trek a further 12 miles to the official finishing point in Manning Park before Pockets and I return to Cascade Locks on the Washington / Oregon border to walk south to our finish at Crater lake where we skipped up a few days ago. Having stopped a few miles short of Crater Lake, we never saw the magnificence that so many PCT's had been raving about. It should prove an amazing finale.
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
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