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Paul Mitchell is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail for Haiti!Casa de Luna Vortex"Long journal entry! Check it out at trailjournals: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=315994"
Paul Mitchell - Potential 178 Hike JournalCasa de Luna Vortex"Long journal entry! Check it out at trailjournals: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=315994"
Paul Mitchell - Potential 178 Gluttony in Big Bear"Five nights in Big Bear! We’re spending about as much time in town as on the trail so far – have covered about 1/10th of the trail miles in about 1/5th of our available time. It’s not entirely uncalculated – there’s so much snow this year, not much sense in rushing to Kennedy Meadows, but the reality is that if we want to finish by late September or early October, we now need to start averaging 20 miles a day. I’ve hiked more than 2500 miles on the PCT, I mostly feel pretty fit this year, but I still find 20 miles a day, day after day, a little too much to enjoy – at least with my current level of motivation, which is a fair bit lower than last time I was trying to thru-hike. Maggie starts to get a little cranky around the 15 mile mark and is worried about her ability to pull off consecutive 20s. Our sandals have treated us really well in terms of support – no foot & knee pain, but sometimes I wonder if people in shoes don’t have a little more spring in their step. Anyway, we’re heading out from Big Bear in a couple of hours and we’re going to push ourselves a little harder between here and Wrightwood to see how we feel. Ultimately, I’m feeling very unconcerned about the outcome of the hike this time around. I’m just down here to have a good experience with Maggie. I have a lot of projects on the go back home, some that I was feeling quite passionate about, so I’m not as content out here as I was in previous years. If our hike gets cut short, that’s fine by me. Maggie is feeling more motivated to try to complete the whole trail ... so, we’ll see how it goes! As for our first month on the trail, it’s been a great adventure so far & we’ve made some great new friends. The class of 2010 is full of great characters! The one really sad thing about going slow is falling behind them all! We’ve hung out a bunch with Salami and Fugitive, a couple who definitely prioritize fun on the trail over mileage. Poor Salami busted a tooth here in Big Bear & now his service dog Egor has to pre-chew all his food for him. They’re off trail for a while, but we’re hoping to see them ahead. We’re big fans of Ariel & Asaf, aka Big Brother and Fly Boy – so named after Arial lost track of Asaf in White-water Canyon & the result was Asaf getting a search & rescue helicopter ride back to the old Fish Farm. We befriended Jackie & Ryan, a couple that picked us up on our second bail-out off of San Jacinto and then hung with us a bit in Idyllwild. We had some great chats with Yeti, one of several Israelis on the trail this year. We briefly met, but quickly connected with Shroomer under the I-10. Tie-die and her dad Gray Eagle were both great characters & we’re hoping to catch up with them somewhere ahead. Deacon from 07, our friends from Scout & Frodo’s ... really, too many great people to list – sorry to those I haven’t! Some highlights so far have included: bailing from San Jacinto on an unmarked trail & discovering the Zen Mountain Center ... great few hours with a bunch of hikers under the I-10 followed by a crappy side-trip to Cabazon – don’t go there ... microwave & frozen goodies at the Black Mesa Wind Farm & Portal Research Facility (thank you for helping us help you help yourself) ... zero day at the old fish farm with Salami & Fugitive (including a few glorious hours playing in the stream – building a dam) ... best breakfasts ever at Grizzlies in big-bear ... dinner with Deacon, Jenny & a whole bunch of Israelites at Warner Springs (Thanks Deacon!) ... amazing evening on a saddle on the San Jacinto spine, clouds pouring right over our heads ... food, food, food and more food, but still losing weight! It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s been a lot of fun. Well, I’d intended to take some time to write a really good entry this time, but even though we spent five days here I managed to do this last minute & now we’re late to check out of the Robin-Hood, which has to be the friendliest hotel I’ve ever encountered on the PCT! We’re off again ... after this much time off it’ll feel like we never hiked before for the first couple of days back on the trail. Not super stoked about this next stretch, but looking forward to an afternoon at the Deep Creek hot-springs. Aiming to hit Wrightwood in six days."
Paul Mitchell - Potential 178 Fuller Ridge attempt"We tried, but the snow on the San Jacinto ridges was a little too intimidating. We'd hoped to find some patches safe enough to practice self arrest on, and generally gain some confidence on, but the first few patches we hit were steep and frozen solid late in the morning. We then met a couple who had turned around after a scary slide themselves and they informed us the patches ahead were even sketchier than what we'd been through, so after some deliberaation we made the wise but dissapointing decision to turn back and skip Fuller Ridge. We'll miss about fifteen miles of trail, though with all our hiking up and down off the mountain we've more than made up for the miles. We really wanted a continuous hike, but we're not equipped for ice on steep ridges, and we're not going to walk miles of windy mountain highways on narrow shoulders, so unfortunately we're joining the ranks of skippers for this stretch. We really did give it a shot though, and confirmed for ourselves the conditions up there, so we're confident it was the right choice for us and we're still determined to keep the rest of our hike continuous - if possible. We've heard the re-route around last year's big fire involves something like forty miles of road walk, so we'll have to find out a little more about that. So, back in Idyllwild to hemorrhage some more money, walking up Black Mountain Road in a few hours to reconnect with the trail after the snowy stretch. Made some great new friends on our way back to town, and had a fantastic evening socializing over dinner. It's been a full week since we first arrived in idyllwild & I'm very much looking forward to being past Fuller & making some forward progress again. Next update from Big Bear in five or so days."
Paul Mitchell - Potential 178 Idyllwild"Double-zero here in Idyllwild - taking some time to rest our abused feet, socialize with some of our trail friends, and generally hemorrhage money. We came down a little early from Fobes Saddle & we're not super enthused about the hike back up to the trail and the snow that follows. The buzz about the snow has been pretty hilarious - listen to some of the gossip and you'd conclude that to hike this stretch would mean certain death. After some more reliable reports we're confident we can make it through without dying twice daily, but we're still not looking forward to dragging our sandal-clad feet through miles of snow. Anyway, we're doing well, taking our time - no rush to get to the sierras. I'll send a more detailed update from Big Bear in six or seven days."
Paul Mitchell - Potential 178 Warner Springs-first zero vortex"Had hoped to take some time for a more thorough update, but the time got away from us. No big rush to get out except that this place is a steady drain on the wallet. They haven’t been mentioning to hikers that there’s a $10 “resort fee” on top of the room charge – that’s setting a slightly less hospitable tone than I recall from previous years. Plenty of hikers hobbling around here, and a few that we’ve gotten friendly with, but I’ve been very lazy this year about remembering names. I think I’m feeling like waiting until the crowd thins out a little more and seeing which hikers we connect with long term. Weather was pretty miserable the last day out of the San Felipe hills – which provided great motivation to get here. We did the first 10 miles in four hours on rainy, windy ridges – and then completed the next nine in slightly more than three hours, and we’re not feeling too rough for it, so that’s been very encouraging for both of us, particularly for Maggie who had no idea before we started this that these were things she was capable of. I had no doubts she could do it, but she had no frame of reference so wasn’t so sure herself. Now she knows she can bang out ten miles before lunch, and can walk 20 miles in a day and live to talk about it! Our Chacos have chewed up our feet fairly nicely, but nothing we can’t cope with. Maggie has discovered how quickly a zero day can move by, and how it can not feel like a zero at all after a few hours of laundry and chores. At home when it’s 6:00PM we still have a good eight hours before bed-time, but out here we run out of steam at hiker midnight (9:00 PM) so the end of day yesterday snuck up on us. This weekend there’s a big party at Mike Harrera’s place (I think that’s his name) which is about 19 miles further along the trail, quite literally in the middle of no-where. We’re trying to get out of here today, and will aim to get there by lunch tomorrow. I vividly remember having a fantastic nap on his porch in 07 almost three years ago to the day with SunWalker (I mean SunWalker was there, not that we napped together ;-) - and some water hoarding section hikers. It was a great little oasis and it’ll be nice to actually meet the man who provides it this time. So, anyway, wish that I could take more time to say a little about the hikers we’ve been hanging with but there’s been quite a few and the names just aren’t sticking for me yet. More in a few days from Idylwild. Oh, some very sad news, the Paradise Cafe at Palm-to-Pines highway is apparently closed ... boourns. :-( All the buzz here is of course about Fuller Ridge and the snowy patches leading up to it. Hoping that by the time we get there it’ll be passable – apparently someone had to self arrest with a Leatherman. If its sketchy we’ll be turning back and hiking around – not taking any unnecessary risks, but my guess is that by the time we arrive in a few days it won’t be so scary. So, feeling great, spirits high, packs loaded – happy with most of our gear, heading out. Cheers – Potential 178 & Maggie (Tentative trail name – ThruCry)"
Paul Mitchell - Potential 178 Snowy Laguna"Just a quick update from Mt Laguna - we're doing great, but our package didn't arrive and the PO doesn't open 'til noon Monday, so we're hitting the store and heading out. More detailed update in four days from Warner. Wish the jukebox in my head would play a little less Gowan."
Paul Mitchell - Potential 178 Morena Day Two"Stuck in Morena - reeeaaaaly nice weather! Heavy winds, rain & hail made for an overnight adventure in our cuben fiber shelter. The kind of night where the water finds a way in even if it has to bounce up off the ground to do it. I slept well but Maggie had a rough night. Nothing to do now but wait it out. A couple of hikers who tried to hike out turned back about three miles out. We certainly weren't expecting to take two zero days already but plans don't mean much out here. They opened the pavilion for us so it's a cozy little refugee camp in here. Hope to get out of here later today or first thing tomorrow. It's been an adventure already and we're enjoying whatever comes our way, but really eager to get moving. Sandals and snow in about 13 miles, we'll see how that works out!"
Paul Mitchell - Potential 178 Morena"Great couple days to Morena, where we've been treated to a night of heavy rain and strong winds. A bit too miserable out there to leave and Maggie is treating a nice collection of blisters so taking an unplanned zero. Lots of other hikers here to keep us company. First 20 miles were really beautiful this year. Lots of flowers, flowing water, and unusually lush green dessert. Great way to start. Next update from Laguna in a couple days. Oh yeah, quote of the day: Maggie in the tent last night, "I definitely want to finish, no matter how miserable I get, or how miserable I make you.""
Paul Mitchell - Potential 178 We're off!"Wow, it's been a busy year, and particularly so leading up to this hike, but in about six hours things are going to become distinctly less busy for Maggie and I. I'll be in touch in two days from Lake Morena."
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