Quick Update! (Mile 1049-907)

I have just about 200 miles left of my journey! I probably won’t be making it to town until I finish, so here is a quick update from trail.

Sheltering from the Storm

The storm with high gusts of winds that blew me away forced myself and my tramily to take shelter for 2 full days. We spent that time as hermits, hiding in a hotel room with piles of food all around us watching Netflix. Some ‘zeros’ (a day where you walk zero miles) are just best spent being a coach potato in the company of friends. When we got back on trail I felt well rested and ready to take on the Sierras.

Yosemite

After just a few days on trail, we decided to take another zero in Yosemite Valley. We got a hitch from Squishy, a PCT hiker from 2018, who generously took us on a mini tour as we got closer into the valley. We spent the day in Yosemite mostly sitting watching climbers on El Capitan, a world-famous granite slab that is a prominent feature of the valley. After watching for a while, we decided to go closer to the base of El Cap to have a look.

We ran into Roadkill, another PCT hiker from 2015. He had a top rope climb set up on El Cap and was kind enough to belay all four of us on the wall! We had a great time and made our way back to the backpackers’ camp in the valley.

Thousand Islands

The day after Yosemite did not disappoint. We climbed over Donohue Pass and were plopped right by Thousand Islands Lake for a gorgeous sunset. The Sierras definitely do not disappoint.

Fully Ferral

I haven’t showered in about 2 weeks and haven’t done laundry in 2.5 weeks. I’m aware I don’t smell good, but to be honest I can’t smell myself and everyone around me has the same lifestyle. However, when we stopped in Yosemite, we were made painfully aware of how bad we smelled.

My tramily and I would take the shuttle in the valley and all sit next to each other. I quickly realized that the families around us were holding their noses and trying to subtly point at us. This happened each time we would take the shuttle. As bad as I felt for these families, I was more amused than anything. We have arrived at a level of smell that one trail angel referred to as ‘animal’. To me, folks in town smell waaaayyy stronger than we do. Strong perfumes, soap, and lotions fill the air once we get closer to society. Whereas we smell like nature: natural, neutral, and if you get to close a bit feral.