Sunday, April 23, 2006
After years of dreaming and months of preparation we headed for the southern terminus this morning. My parents (Bob & Peggy) are providing shuttle service with style in their motor home. Traveling south we are “camped” at Saddle Back State Park (near Mojave) for the evening. In a days worth of driving, a months worth of hiking miles were logged. Reviewing the distance traveled today is difficult to comprehend walking.
As we traveled past Tehachapi we spotted the PCT crossing Highway 58 just east of town. In the morning we will cross the PCT again near Silverwood Lake as it passed under Interstate 15 headed to Wrightwood.
Before leaving home this morning I got on the bathroom scale and weighed in at 192.5 lbs. That is up about 8 lbs from a month ago. The weight gain was both intentional and a bit of defiance on my part. I knew that carrying some weight on the hoof would be shed soon enough. And I had had it with dealing with a stomach ailment that had been threatening my hike since Thanksgiving.
After months of serious diet restrictions, ultra sounds, CT scans, complex cyst and talk of benign or malignent diagnosis, I said the hell with it. And funny thing, here I am heading for the border. Ultimately, after some excellent medical care the docs generally agree that more tests will only result in more red herring concerns. So I am without a definitive diagnosis but we did rule out some really unpleasant (like cancer) concerns. I feel well enough to give a thru-hike a serious effort. I am really happy to be saying that and I would like to thank Doctors Sunita, Jeff, Dina, Heidi and the incredible Doctor Delphine for helping me get here.
Mom just served up fresh strawberries over angel food cade with whipped cream for dessert. Now this is how to start a trip.
After years of dreaming and months of preparation we headed for the southern terminus this morning. My parents (Bob & Peggy) are providing shuttle service with style in their motor home. Traveling south we are “camped” at Saddle Back State Park (near Mojave) for the evening. In a days worth of driving, a months worth of hiking miles were logged. Reviewing the distance traveled today is difficult to comprehend walking.
As we traveled past Tehachapi we spotted the PCT crossing Highway 58 just east of town. In the morning we will cross the PCT again near Silverwood Lake as it passed under Interstate 15 headed to Wrightwood.
Before leaving home this morning I got on the bathroom scale and weighed in at 192.5 lbs. That is up about 8 lbs from a month ago. The weight gain was both intentional and a bit of defiance on my part. I knew that carrying some weight on the hoof would be shed soon enough. And I had had it with dealing with a stomach ailment that had been threatening my hike since Thanksgiving.
After months of serious diet restrictions, ultra sounds, CT scans, complex cyst and talk of benign or malignent diagnosis, I said the hell with it. And funny thing, here I am heading for the border. Ultimately, after some excellent medical care the docs generally agree that more tests will only result in more red herring concerns. So I am without a definitive diagnosis but we did rule out some really unpleasant (like cancer) concerns. I feel well enough to give a thru-hike a serious effort. I am really happy to be saying that and I would like to thank Doctors Sunita, Jeff, Dina, Heidi and the incredible Doctor Delphine for helping me get here.
Mom just served up fresh strawberries over angel food cade with whipped cream for dessert. Now this is how to start a trip.
Robert Francisco 
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