Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Day 46 - What next?

This post is gonna be a long one as much that has been going on inside my head has remained there, unclear and unspoken. At least here on this blog. Let me see, where to start...

First off TC, DG and I are not hiking together at this point. I last saw them yesterday morning, having camped the night before a couple miles before their spot, and it seems clear that my natural pace is slower than theirs. Or possibly that they are interested in doing more daily miles than I can do, or am interested in doing. This is probably a good thing as I don't like feeling like I'm holding people back, even though the feeling is probably all in my head. Manufactured by yours truly. So I am now free to decide for myself the miles I want to do each day, based on my own needs and wishes. 

I'm looking forward to this new experience even as I know I will miss TC's good temperament and fun ways as well as DG's crazy acts, among other things. Ask her to do her German impersonation sometime. Amazing. They are a good team and should be successful in their quest to finish this year. 

For myself I've been trying to decide what to do going forward. The Sierras are close and most reports say the amount of snow isn't too bad but it is alternately icy in the morning and afternoon/evening and there seems to be quite a bit of post holing mid day. BTW, this refers to stepping on snow and sinking into the snow with each step. Like a post being driven into the ground. It makes for slow going, hard hiking and fewer miles. I have to ask myself if I will use up too much energy getting through and will I have enough for the rest of the trail. 

So I am thinking I'm going to go back to the trail at Walker Pass, walk to Kennedy Meadows then to Trail Pass at which point I'll exit the Sierras to the east side. I'll pick up my stuff from Lone Pine, get a bus to Lake Tahoe and resume hiking north from there. This is beneficial in a few ways. I get to bypass the difficulty and energy drain of early season in the Sierras, move way ahead of the hordes coming along behind me and hopefully, still have access to the scarce water resources up ahead. The later the season gets the less natural water there is out there, which of course means more water to carry. Plus, it will be easier for people to reach me for visits once I'm north of Tahoe. That part I like a lot!

So the plan is to walk north until I reach Canada and if I have it in me to continue I'll drop back down to Tahoe and walk south to Tuolumne Meadows, thereby completing the trail. If I have lots and lots of energy, and the snows haven't started up yet, I can walk on through the Sierras in fall, ending up at Trail Pass. Kind of backwards but I think this will give me the best hope for getting to Canada this year. Not the complete "thru hike" but a completion of the trail. 

So this is what's been swirling about in my peaked little brain for the past week or so. I certainly hope I'm making the right decision about all of this but I reckon only time will tell. 

3 comments:

  1. Maybe just figure whatever your decision is....it is the right one for you : )
    Safe journeys, julie o.

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  2. Sounds perfect,creative, fulfilling and happy... Way to go!

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  3. I think it is a GREAT idea! Ya gotta Hike Your Own Hike!

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