Melinda and Bodie do Desolation

Melinda and our son Bodie decided to do a second Tune-up cruise while Liz worked on healing her injured knee. (Maybe Liz will write more about that on the "LMEA" blog.)

Bodie and Melinda's track on the left. Part of Liz and Melinda on the right.

Their original plan was to:

1. Enter at Wrights lake and go to Lake Schmidell via the Red Peak Stock trail the first day
2. Go to the Rubicon Reservior on day 2.
3. Take the Rubicon trail to Doris Lake on day 3.
4. Exit via Rock Bound pass on day 4.

Day 1 went exactly as planned, except that they were hit by an usual summer storm. They hemmed and hawed at the trail head but finally decided to go for it. They got a lot of rain and had some tough trail spotting as Red Peak Stock Trail is unmaintained and crosses some wide expanses of solid granite, marked only by "Ducks" (Called Cairns by some... small stacks of rocks that mark the trail).

Day 2 started out soggy, then cleared, then every time they got motivated to take off, it went soggy again. During one of these respites from the rain, Melinda packed her tent just before the rain started up again. She dove into Bodie's tent, and there they stayed all day... 2 not so small people packed into a single person backpacking tent. Bodie mostly slept (That's what teenage boys do) and Melinda read.

Day 3 dawned brighter, so they decided to head out. They thought that the Rubicon reservoir might be a bit of a stretch given their lost day, so they changed their plans and did the McConnell Lakes loop, which goes by several lovely lakes and returns you to the Rubicon river. This went well, with the exception of a bit of a detour. When they reached the Rubicon River, they somehow ended up on a trail that took them back to the last lake they visited, Four Q's Lake. Once they sorted that out and made it back to the Rubicon, they were losing daylight, son they went south on the Rubicon trail to China Flat and camped there for the night. During the night, there was huge crashing sound that Melinda was sure was a bear climbing a tree to get their food. The next morning though, their food was untouched. They did find a tree that had very recently been gnawed through by a beaver, so they think the falling tree is what made the racket.

On day 4, they got up and headed out on the Rockbound trail without further incident.

Altogether, it was a very successful trip in spite of the blisters Melinda got from her new "Guaranteed blisterproof" boots.

The first training trip

The ladies decided to do a training trip on the PCT (their first) over the 4th of July weekend.

They had hoped to cover the distance from Highway 50 at Echo Lake (near South Lake Tahoe) to Donner lake, on Highway 80. The total distance is about 60 miles, requiring a pace of 20 miles per day, about what they need to average next year. They came up well short and I'll let them say their own bit, but  here are my guesses as to why:

1. Altitude. They left sea level at about 9:00 AM in an exhausting 5.25 hour drive up to 5,000 feet where they slept on my sister's hard deck before heading out the next morning. So with about 18 hours at about 5000 feet, they drove up to Echo Lake at 7,500 feet and climbed to 9000 feet the same day. I've heard recommendations of 3 days to 2 weeks to adjust to exercise at altitude, and they clearly didn't have that. This likely led to their limited energy and sense of "getting their butt kicked" on that first day of 13 miles. This obviously won't be an issue on the "real" hike. They start in the desert and gradually climb over time.
2. Heat. Even at altitude, it was hot over the weekend. It was easily in the 80s and much of their walk was over exposed solid granite, which reflects light but absorbs and re-releases heat. They were above the tree line for much of the hike, so there wasn't a lot of shade to be had. It was hot!
3. Dog. They took our hound along for the trip. While the ladies are hesitant to blame the dog for not making their goal, I'm sure he slowed them a bit and he was clearly shot by the end of the day.
4. Training. They have been walking wherever they can, but neither of them has done more than about 15 miles or so in a single stretch at sea level. 20 miles per day for 3 consecutive days was quite ambitious.
5. Terrain. Looking at the entire section of the PCT, they climbed from a low point to very nearly the highest point in a single day. Once they crossed Dicks pass, it would have been pretty much downhill or level (with some up and down of course) for the rest of the 60 miles. But by the time they stopped, they were shot.

I think they definitely made the right choice to cut the trip short, especially given the spent dog. They hiked out to Emerald Bay the following day about 7 or 8 miles.

I think they learned a lot, everyone (including the dog) has recovered and most importantly; their spirit is unbroken.

Tech on the trail - how much is enough and how much is too much?

I'm an engineer.

If you know or love one, that's probably enough said. :-)

If not, suffice it to say I love electronic gadgets and can't get enough. My wife? Not so much... Therefore, I'm taking on the role of tech adviser for Liz and Melinda's excellent adventure.

We've come a long way from the time when being in the wilderness meant being cut off from civilization. Walkie Talkies, Handheld HAM radios, cell phones plus satellite communicators and phones are all available to help you stay in touch. But people who enjoy through hiking don't generally do it as a social exercise. It's about being self sufficient, strong, smart and resourceful enough to persevere through months on the trail. People who are good at that tend to be individualists and nature lovers who probably don't want a magnificent sunset vista on a remote mountaintop ruined by a squawking "you've got mail!" alert from some electronic device.

Some also say that use of tech on the trail might lead folks to make unwise decisions, fording a torrent or crossing a slippery slope that they might otherwise avoid if they didn't have a helicopter on speed dial. The trouble with relying on a rescue is that if there's a cliff at the bottom of that slope, the helicopter will only be able to pick up the pieces.

However, I think most people who would even consider a trip like this have the outdoor skills and good judgment to use tech appropriately. And the peace of mind that it can give participants and their families can't be underestimated.

After a lot of research, I suggested that L & M each take a smart phone and together take one satellite communicator. Of course these gadgets need juice, so an efficient solar charger with a USB connector is also required.

Stay tuned for future posts about my current thinking on the right devices and how I decided on them.

What's this all about?

My wife Melinda and good friend Liz are off on an adventure.

They plan to hike the entire length of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), Mexico to Canada, 2,660 miles, between April and September of 2015.

Yes; they are nuts.

I started this blog as a way to practice for setting up thier blog, which is linked on the right.

I hope to keep at it, chronicling what's it's like to help them get prepared, send them off, and switch to single parenthood (We have a 16 year old son) for 4-5 months.

Stay tuned for more....