Maddie.lite - Pacific Crest Trail Journal - 2011

Thanks

To all the people who have helped us along the way, a million thanks. (This list is ongoing.)

Mom and Dad: For storing my stuff while I'm gone, letting me leave my piles of gear lying around, sending me supplies ane yummy goodies along the way, and for not freaking out that I'm doing this.

Kyle: For driving us to the Mexican Border and taking part in the kickoff of this grand adventure, and for photographing the inagural shotgun.

Trail Angels: Those wonderful people who feed, house, and drive us. Mike Herrera; those guys with the camper and the chili dogs by Barrel Springs; Sugar Moma and the beer under the Highway 10 overpass; Dr. Sole and Boomer for tacos and beer at Pines-to-Palms; Laurence the Spring Guy; Richard, Grayson, and Breana at the Big Bear Hostel who held a BBQ for all the hiker guests; Rodger who brought us sodas at the bridge by the aqueduct; Moab Momma (Vicky) and Screamin' Jay Hawkins for the Trail Magic at Walker Pass; Team Friendly Fire, who shared their fire with us after we crossed Bubbs Creek and had frozen feet and were borderig on hypothermia: Eric, Chris, Micah, Dave, and Mark. That was true trail magic. Have fun at your bachelor party in South Lake Tahoe!; Brent in Death Canyon for sharing your campfire and your Alaska stories... Hope your 'Blubber Run' goes well; Tom of Tom's Place, plus Steve Climber; Bob Mayon and Richard Skaggs for keeping Hiker Town, and Jeff for telling some of the best stories we've heard in a long time; Mary in Wrightwood who let us use her shower, laundry and bed and then thanked US for bringing good spirits to bless her home; Joe and Terri Anderson for the great home videos and the pacakes, sorry we missed the chocolate syrup wrestling; all the amazing trail angels at Hiker Heaven: Jim and Donna Saufley, John Deere, Sugar Moma, iPod, Burrrito, Mendo Rider, the people who brought us the catered dinner, and all the others who we didn't meet; Scott, a friend of a friend who lives in Mammoth and let us stay in his condo when he wasn't home, without even meeting us

Hitchhikes: Cindy from the Paradise Cafe; Brett in the big black truck in Idyllwild; Janice in the new blue Forester out of Idyllwild; Ron the runner in the blue ford focus from Highway 18 to Sizzler in Big Bear; Amy in the beater black truck to Vons (I hope you made it to your boys' baseball game, and that your beaks hold up); Ally in the white Golf who left her engine running while she filled up on gas and who managed to smoke a bowl while driving; 'Bear', who not only had the most intricate cigarette holder/ashtray I have ever seen, but who also gave us tons of advice about the weather and then dropped us off on entirely the wrong highway; Evan in the rav4 who corrected Bear's mistake and brought us back to the correct highway junction; and Ron #2 who wasn't sure if he had enough gas to take us where we needed to go; Ben in Wrightwood with the most amazing Fu Man Chu mustache I've seen in a while; Kim and Willy in the Volvo in Wrightwood; Mary in Wrightwood; Mendo Rider, who insisted on driving us and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer; Burrrito; Katie on San Francisquito road for helping us find Casa De Luna without any directions; Terri Anderson; Tommy for picking us up on busy Highway 58 and taking us straight to Denny's; Bart for grabbing your big van and driving all four of us to the Dollar Tree... I hope your knee, back, and elbow heal so you can hike again; Mike for flagging us down in the Don Perico's Mexican restaurant and offering us a ride in the back of your truck back to Cameron Road exit on Highway 58; Dave and Joann from the Bishop Piute reservation for squeezing all four of us into the back seat of your truck; Uber Bitch for picking us up at the Onion Valley trailhead when I was feeling really sick; Ray for bringing us to your motel; Matt in the Outback, enjoy climbing and newly single life in Bishop and the Buddhist retreat; Pedro and Marco for picking us up in your semi truck, have a safe drive hauling scrap metal to LA; Curt who jammed all 4 of us into his pickup with 3 of us in the cab with him and Colin under the camper shell with all four of our packs and two wolf dogs... That was a full load!; Terri from Reds Meadow; Tyrus and your dog Picachu in Mammoth

Ned Tibbits and Mountain Education: for teaching us the ways of safe snow travel, for scouting out the Sierra snow conditions ahead of our arrival, and for believing in us. I felt more prepared than most because of your course, and safer in the Sierras because of your report.

Patty at Sizzler in Big Bear: for providing us with two extra plates for the buffet, without us even asking.

My online readers: who keep motivated to write every night and update my journal posts and photos at every Internet opportunity.

Jim, Brad, Owen and Molly: for skiing backcountry with me this winter

Teague, Bjorn and Dickerson: for getting me into backcountry skiing in the first place

Crew 37 and Troop 321: for getting me into backpacking in the first place

Bob, Ben, Erin, and Maddie Barth: who let me ship packages to their houses and helped mail us gear

The other Shotgun Sister, Molly: of course, for being an awesome partner, setting a good pace, keeping my butt moving when I'd rather nap longer, feeding me when I get crazy hungry, doing a lot of the book planning, making good decisions, making sure we have fun, and for coming up with this idea in the first place.

Val: for making those Crazy Shorts that keep my view interesting when I walk behind Molly

Mother Earth: for making the west coast so damn beautiful

Entry 2 of 164
First  :: Previous  :: Next  :: Last