Lmmalone - Pacific Crest Trail Journal - 2011

Heading north once more in the Cascades!

Good morning from Medford and PCT mile 1726.6! Gabriel and I will be
getting back on the trail in a few hours to hike the remaining ~430 or so
miles of Oregon. If all goes according to plan, we hope to be drinking beer
milkshakes at McMenamins around Labor Day.

We are excited to be north bound once more and hiking through familiar
country with the perspective of having travelled many miles by foot to get
there. We're also excited that when we look at our maps, we'll know what
mileage we're at! Instead of having to do a little math (though math is
awesome) to figure out our trail miles. No longer do I need to think:

790.2 (Kearsarge Pass) + 1726.6 (Ashland) - X mile where ever we are now =
Total PCT miles we've hiked. Now it's just: Oh, we're at mile 1859, great,
that's how far we've hiked.

Time for a waffel and to finish packing up. Will eventually post all the
notes, stories and photos that are collected on our days as we walk. The
world of the PCT really is special and I'm constantly amazed at the
serendipity it evokes. "Chance encounters" with people you've connected
with on the trail or in non-trail life occur more often than one would
think.

As one delightful hiker/retired school teacher told me: det er godt og
vakkert. That's, "It is good and beautiful" in Norwegian. The teacher was
refering to the view of Round Mountain rising above the valley below and the
hillside of abundant wildflowers we were all walking through at the time on
a blue skyed day in early August. He was one of 30-some hikers from the
Hightown Hikers a group out of Placerville, CA. The hikers ranged from 55
to 80+ years in age and they were hiking the PCT in the vicinity of Carson
Pass to admire the beautiful wildflowers and volcanic mountains that stretch
through this part of the Sierras. So inspiring and delightful to have met
this group of hikers who get out every Thursday. And I have to agree, the
trail and life on it, is good and beautiful.

Photos, edits and more posts to come.
--
But plans are one thing and fate another. When they coincide, success
results. Yet success mustn?t be considered the absolute. It is
questionable, for that matter, whether success is an adequate response to
life. Success can eliminate as many options as failure.
-Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
--
But plans are one thing and fate another. When they coincide, success
results. Yet success mustn?t be considered the absolute. It is
questionable, for that matter, whether success is an adequate response to
life. Success can eliminate as many options as failure.
-Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

Entry 51 of 51
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