Very quick stop in Belden. The pct is closed due to a fire so we are now going on our own alternate route. We are hoping to be in civilization tomorrow. Worst come to worst we have not yet pushed the button on the sos box, so that is still an option. We will try to update tomorrow.

We were welcomed to Belden with a wildfire just north of town. Sounds of helicopters and chainsaws surrounded us as we descended down the mountain, but we're currently safe and eating yet another cheeseburger. Unfortunately, the next section of the PCT is closed so we'll have to take a detour around the halfway point of the trail.

We made it to the Red Moose Inn in Sierra City and the sign says it all. The city is only about 2 blocks long and consists of a store, 3 restaurants, a couple of hotels, and 3 bars. Upon arriving at the Inn we were told by Margaret that our jobs were to rest, eat, and drink beer. There are about a dozen hikers here and half of them planned on leaving a couple days ago. Apparently one of the bars has ladies night almost every night and they are yet to catch one so ladies if you want to drink for free come to Sierra City and drink free for eternity. This place is a vortex that is only made more powerful by the fact that the trail immediately ascends 3000 feet. We are leaving today mark my words. We just want to eat one more Gut Buster first.

Despite the sign indicating it unwise to climb, the giant blue bike held up nicely. South Lake Tahoe sucked us in for a couple days but I have to admit I wasn't sad to leave all the insanity of tourists, casinos and scantily dressed women. Whew. Now I'm back safe in the woods.

Our first Sierra thunderstorms came early this week. We have been walking for almost 3 months with only blue skies and then we woke up to lightning,thunder, rain, and last but not least hail. We were hailed on 4 times that day. As Brittany, I will not say her trail name here as it is not family friendly, said you have to have these kind of days to be grateful for the beautiful ones.

Wandering along through Granite Chief Wilderness we had two ridge walks. The first was 4 miles long and at times the ridge was only as wide as the trail that means just under 2 feet. Turtle has pictures of those spots as my main concern was keeping my underwear clean for the paramedics.

Here is a picture of us leaving the space ship to come back to earth. Ok so really this is the tunnel you go through to travel under I-80.

We made it over Donner Pass without resorting to cannibalism but we made friends with a few other hikers just in case we had to eat anyone. The main thing that kept us going the 100 miles from Tahoe to Sierra City was this 1lb burger "The Gut Buster." Turtle took down this bad boy and then ate a bag of chips and then a pint of Ben and Jerry's. I was so proud.

The ultimate Hiker Trash Vacation. We have made it to South Lake Tahoe the home of the all you can eat casino buffet, a halfway decent bus system, and a gorgeous crystal clear lake surrounded by ski worthy mountains. What more could two town food starved weary hikers ask for? As my father figured out we were able to eat at the Harrah's buffet for only 6 dollars per hour ($2 per pound of food)which seems like a great deal to me and now we are just wandering around town waiting on the next buffet to start. We currently have 15 minutes and then we get to dine for 7 hours for only $12 which is less than $2 an hour. That seems unbeatable. Now if we can just learn to count cards.

One thousand miles. One does not truly understand the magnitude of this.distance until you attempt to travel it on foot. I can remember watching this number pass several times on my car's odometer and never throwing a party or reminiscing over the time that had passed but when you see 1000 pass by and you are traveling on 30+ year old legs you take notice. We hit this mark a few days ago after passing through the wilderness of Yosemite. After sitting on our couch in Austin looking at maps and thinking about what it would be like to walk 1000 miles I have to say I was nowhere close to understanding. My eyes have seen sights that I did not realize existed and for that we wake up daily with feet that are numb. Sounds like a fair price to me. We still have an extremely long way to go. The current number stands at 1647 miles to Canada a daunting number when stared at head on, but when you
place that number in front of two of the more stubborn or if we use politically correct terms, determined individuals it becomes a number that can be reached.

It will not be reached today though as this message is being written from the dorm room above the Northern Kennedy Meadows Resort and pack station below Sonora Pass. This is an interesting location where the worlds of cowboys, "city folk", and hikers collide. We were waiting on a supply package that would never come as the nearest Post Office is 57 miles away on winding mountain roads. We were able to resupply at the store, but our feet won't hit the trail until tomorrow morning. From here we head to Tahoe, but tonight we get to sit back eat a hearty family meal and rejoice in the fact that we just walked 5,280,000 feet in about two and a half months. Can you say chili cheeseburger please?

Have you ever been watched by a bear while eating dinner? I had never had that experience either and while we are on the subject, it seems the appropriate time to say that it is quite unfair for nature to let the forces of mosquitoes and bears collide. At one point the mosquitoes were so bad that I considered dousing myself with cooking fuel and lighting myself on fire like a monk not to protest for peace but in hopes watching a few of the sons of bitches that had been living off my blood for days catch fire and go down in smoke. When that is happening the one place you want to eat is in your tent. This method of protection is not recommended in bear country though as this will invariably leave the smell of food on all your belongings and will apparently turn a bear into your own personal lap dog before he eats you.

Taking all of this into consideration Kristi and I decided to eat dinner outside and battle the mosquitoes in hand to hand combat. Just as we were finishing our meal I looked 50 feet behind us at the cliff pictured above and noticed a 400lb bear watching as I packed up our trash. He licked his lips and and turned around. Whether he was coming to visit or going wandering for another meal, we had no idea so I stayed awake with a sharpened pencil in one hand and a leatherman micra (blade length 1 inch) in the other awaiting combat. He must have sensed that his doom was near because he never resurfaced near our campsite. Just another night in the Yosemite Wilderness.

The view before Sonora Pass.

Someone told us that all of the jaw dropping sights were over after Mammoth Lakes. They apparently had not hiked here. This was by far one of the most beautiful views of our trip. The landscape changed dramatically from granite mountains to volcanic monuments. We learned soon after that these views come with a price as we hiked the next four miles which the guidebook states consists of constant lethal drops to the valley below. If that is not enough the trail was constructed almost entirely of rock slides and volcanic scree. If you would like to experience either of these wonders of nature, I suggest you go out and buy a slip n' slide and a barrel of marbles. Next lay the slip n' slide down a flight a stairs and douse it in olive oil. Now all you have to do is get a friend to pour the marbles down the stairs while you try to either climb or descend the stairs. It's loads fun either way
. Use your imagination to picture a fall of a few thousand feet below and you will have all the fun of the PCT in your own home...ths view really was pretty though.

The view from the trail after Tully Hole.

We are headed back to the woods today. I believe that the plan is to eat a huge lunch and the ride back to the trail. I believe this time we will be gone for 7-8 days as we head to Tuolomne and the Northern Kennedy Meadows. We have to start picking up the pace a bit as we are now almost a week behind after our new Sierra schedule so we both just sent home more gear to hopefully lighten our packs to pick up the speed.

This time out we actually fit all of our food into our bear vaults, of course we only have to take 3 days food before our next resupply, but I still claim that is progress. Thanks for reading we will talk to you all again soon.

The view from the trail above Tully Hole.

Snow Turtle and I have spent a lot of time discussing this and this picture shows the exact reason why if we ever get to come back as animals, I am thinking heavily about putting in a request to come back as a High Sierra Marmot. This guy has the life.

If your backpack needs modifications, I am your man. The only tools that I need are duct tape and parachute cord. Despite regularly eating sides of beef in town I have lost so much weight that my pack no longer fit so I had to cut a sleeping pad into pieces and then tape and strap said pad to my waist belt so that I could make it through the mountains. I am especially proud of this piece of work and it will be auctioned off along with the 3 pairs of socks that I wore for the first 900 miles of our trip to support the Drew Foundation a wonderful organization that helps Drew travel the world and experience the wilderness. For more information about these amazing souvenirs from our adventure or the charity please contact me directly.

While hiking a friend of ours, Navi, severely sprained her ankle and had to find a way off the trail which is no easy task in the Sierras as there are no roads so we hiked to Muir Ranch to look for help which is where we met Patt who is now my idol as she has been working at the ranch since the 80s. We became friends but not close enough friends that she would give me a piece of Mile High Chocolate Cake.

Going to this fully functioning horse ranch was like going back in time. All of their guests either have to hike in or rent a horse. There are no vehicles allowed as there are no roads. This is still a major resupply point for PCT and JMT hikers. You can mail yourself a package here, but it must be in a 5 gallon bucket as all packages are brought to the ranch via mule train through many river crossings.

This picture shows the exact reason why we decided to go slow through the Sierras. When we left our camp the morning of this picture we had the best intentions of hiking 15-18 miles but as soon as we crossed Silver Pass, I saw this lake,Big Chief Lake, and had to stop here. Not only did we have this view and this entire lake to oursleves but there was a pond thay this lake drained into that was teaming with trout. At dusk when the mosquitos hatched there were trout jumping everywhere. Turtle said it reminded her of Whack a Mole. This is another reason I must come back here with my fly rod next time.

The view from Pinchot Pass. I almost convinced another hiker this was named for Bronson Pinchot who was Balki Bartokomous from Perfect Strangers another wonderful piece of information that my brain filed away from my youth.

Camping below Lake Wanda at an unnamed alpine lake that we had entirely to ourselves.

The view of Lake Wanda, named for another of Muir's daughters, on the way over the pass.

The view of Lake Helen, named for one of Muir's daughters, on the way up the pass.

The view from the inside of the Muir Hut with Waffles. I am not sure he ever understood why Turtle was laying on the floor taking pictures. Crazy Americans.

The view of the Muir Hut on top of Muir Pass. This was without a doubt my favorite pass that we have gone over so far. The route to the top was 11 miles. You go over a few false summits, miles of unforgiving rock, and this pass even held some snow to climb over in this low snow year but it was all worth it to experience the valleys, high alpine lakes, boulder fields, waterfalls that stretch hundreds of feet down the mountainside, and at times the greenest most plush grass that is being overtaken by mountain wildflowers.

This pass was obviously named for John Muir who is one of the main reasons that all this land has been set aside untouched for man to pass through and just be. For this stretch of the trail, the PCT merges with the John Muir Trail or JMT for roughly 197 miles of the JMT's 212 miles. Throughout this stretch we have become more accustomed to seeing others on "our" trail as the JMT hikers are coming in from Yosemite headed south to Whitney. As one of my friends who we were hiking with said, the JMTers are easy to spot their beards are only a week or two old.

Nonetheless, I am sure they are out here for the same reasons we are and if you cannot find peace and serenity here, it may be impossible for you to find. This stretch of trail is the most wild and beautiful place that I have been. You can literally go 100s of miles without seeing a road if you want. If anyone out there is looking for a trail to hike where you don't have to leave the real world for months, I am not sure if you can find a better one than the JMT. It is a difficult trail to hike but if wasn't so challenging, it would probably be littered with McDonald's cups. If you have the opportunity or desire to hike this, don't pass it up.

The view from Glen Pass with the snow field we crossed on the right.

So sometimes you deal with boulders blocking the path, sometimes you deal with snow. This picture shows Turtle facing her Kryptonite on Glen Pass and trust me when I went over this patch all you could hear in my mind was look where you want to go, not where you don't want to go because the view to the immediate left was amazing, it was just a couple of thousand feet below you.

The "trail" going up Mather with Snow Turtle in the distance. Sometimes you just have to improvise.

We are back in civilization whether they want us here or not. Mammoth Lakes, CA is our new destination of choice. We came into town a few days ago. We are in love. It is a ski town that is about 15miles away from the PCT and right around the corner from Yosemite. They have every outdoor activity in the world available from riding your mointain bike down ski slopes in the summer to some of the best trout fishing on the planet and the food is unreal. I am still recovering from the 36oz Porterhouse that was sacrificed last night. Oh yeah and I didn't even mention the Sierras can be seen from just about anywhere in town. This place is amazing if anyone knows anyone that needs help on Mammoth Mountain just let us know. Other than that I will keep pointing out ever elderly person to Kristi and wagering that they need her help.

Back to hiking now...since Kennedy Meadows we have climbed Whitney and then followed that up with crossing 6 mountain passes (Forester 13200, Glen 11798, Pinchot 12050, Mather 12087, Muir 11976, and Selden 10887) and climbing a total of 33,612 ft in the last 200 miles. My new mantra is, "Look where you want to go, not where you don't want to go." due to the fact that my kryptonite is heights. That probably leaves you wondering what the hell are you doing out there climbing some of the highest mountains around? Trust me when you have as much time to think as we do, I have asked myself the same question many times and the only sensible answer that I can come up with is that climbing the mountains is the only way to get the views so I continue to climb.

This picture is of Mather Pass which as you can see is nothing more than a rock slide that lies in between two valleys. This is the view looking up from about 3/4 of the way up. As you can see there is no visible trail which leads you to ask do I just scramble up these rocks to clear the pass? The answer is of course, yes sometimes that is what you have to do to make it to the next valley.

We finally made it out of the Sierra Mountains and into the town of Mammoth Lakes. We meandered slowly thru the last section mainly due to lunch spots like the one pictured above. I wish pictures could actually bring the beauty of the Sierras to you, but there really is no comparison. You'll just have to come out to see yourself. Both Drew and I have fallen in love with this area so any ideas of how to earn a living here are appreciated. Maybe advertising for nutella? Though I'm ashamed to admit it's on my no-thank you list, along w snickers, pb and poptarts. Dreaming about "town" food has become a painful pastime on the trail.

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