Destination: Second Lake
Starting Location: Onion Valley Road (off trail)
Today’s Miles: 2.00
Trip Miles: 792.50
6/17/06
Onion Valley Road Trailhead (9200) to Second Lake (10,400) ascent (1201), descent (49)Nero
The Mt Williamson Motel turned out to be a fantastic lay over & resupply spot. In the morning we were served scrambled eggs, Italian sausage, hash browns, toast (with homemade preserves), juice & coffee. The owners told me they are committed to having the best motel in Independence & given what I saw they likely have a good shot at it. And why? Because they love what they are doing. I keep hearing that lesson.
Sugar Daddy found an unsecured WiFI connection after we discovered the library connection was not working. I was able to spend a few minutes reading messages on my trail journal site & want to thank everyone for the support, kind words, and offers for providing assistance. After being away for nearly 2 months, I can’t express how wonderful it is to hear from family, old friends & new friends who have discovered my journal.
Wonderful surprise this morning as Lucky Liz found me via my dad’s cell phone. I miss her a great deal & while I am having an experience of a lifetime I truly wish we could be sharing it together. It is sometimes difficult to explain to Lucky what I am seeing & experiencing because I believe you can only truly understand if you participate yourself. I have read nearly every book on the PCT, watched countless videos & slide shows, followed many trail journals, and nothing prepared me for the emotional highs, the tough periods, & the experience of trying to thru-hike the PCT. This trail is changing my life. I can not explain how & in what ways but I feel it. It is a strong feeling & a good one.
Saw many hikers in town today. Some had skipped ahead to here & many had, like us, hiked in. We saw: Pro Deal & Jeremy, Sunny & Tadpole, Twisted Sister, Lawn Ornament, Leprechaun, ?, Chuckie V (Funnybone). Yesterday we saw T-minus, Chance & Billy goat who were going to Kennedy Meadows for Ray’s memorial service. We will miss the service but we think of him often.
Left the trailhead at 3:00 pm & went a few miles to gain back some altitude & set up for hitting the snow early. We have received word via a southbound section hiker that Glen Pass (our next crossing) is holding a huge amount of snow & we want to cross as much as possible when the snow is firm.
Rita decided to skip this section & likely get back on trail in Mammoth in about 10 days. We are going to miss hiking with her. We do still have our crazy Swiss friends to keep us laughing. Every time we think we have seen every luxury item, they pull out yet another. We are so envious but our backs are so grateful. They are younger for sure and very strong.
Thank you Zis (Berkley) for the advice on the plantar fasciitis. I have been stretching regularly & ironically I think the cold snow crossings & the even colder stream crossings have helped. It now looks like it is under control. My dropped metatarsal is stable. It hurts some if I think about it, but I have gotten used to the new baseline so in a way it now feels like it always feels. The mind & body working together . . . amazing.
I am actually a bit worried about bears tonight. We are close to a campground, bears are known for the area, & I do not have all of my food in my bear canister. I tried, & I will be eating crumbs for the next week as a result, but it would not all fit. I truly support the bear can requirement & believe we can coexist if humans act responsible & do not habituate bears to human food. And I don’t want to lose my food. And as Scotty would say “I am giving it all she got Jim, but it won’t fit”. Tomorrow we can get to a bear can & the problem will be mitigated. After that, the food I eat will make enough room for the remainder. Tonight I have food out & I plan to defend it . . . within reason.
Another difficult conservation issue I have negatively participated in is the physical impact to the trail. More accurately the areas near the trail. These impacts occur as a result of early season hikers getting off the actual trail because of water or snow on the trail. This may seem minor but I now believe that “most” cutting switch back problems on the Sierra section of the PCT can be attributed to early season (mostly thru) hikers. This unintentional & necessary behavior does cause significant impacts. I have seen the impacts first hand and they include erosion, vegetation trampling, visual (from Kearsarge Pass you can see multiple social paths that early season hikers have created), and attractive nuisances for later hikers to follow. What to do? I propose, because I do not possess any solutions. Instead I commit to do some more maintenance work on the PCT to help repair or restore areas negatively impacted by me or others because we choose to hike early.
Destination: Second Lake
Starting Location: Onion Valley Road (off trail)
Today’s Miles: 2.00
Trip Miles: 792.50
6/17/06
Onion Valley Road Trailhead (9200) to Second Lake (10,400) ascent (1201), descent (49)Nero
The Mt Williamson Motel turned out to be a fantastic lay over & resupply spot. In the morning we were served scrambled eggs, Italian sausage, hash browns, toast (with homemade preserves), juice & coffee. The owners told me they are committed to having the best motel in Independence & given what I saw they likely have a good shot at it. And why? Because they love what they are doing. I keep hearing that lesson.
Sugar Daddy found an unsecured WiFI connection after we discovered the library connection was not working. I was able to spend a few minutes reading messages on my trail journal site & want to thank everyone for the support, kind words, and offers for providing assistance. After being away for nearly 2 months, I can’t express how wonderful it is to hear from family, old friends & new friends who have discovered my journal.
Wonderful surprise this morning as Lucky Liz found me via my dad’s cell phone. I miss her a great deal & while I am having an experience of a lifetime I truly wish we could be sharing it together. It is sometimes difficult to explain to Lucky what I am seeing & experiencing because I believe you can only truly understand if you participate yourself. I have read nearly every book on the PCT, watched countless videos & slide shows, followed many trail journals, and nothing prepared me for the emotional highs, the tough periods, & the experience of trying to thru-hike the PCT. This trail is changing my life. I can not explain how & in what ways but I feel it. It is a strong feeling & a good one.
Saw many hikers in town today. Some had skipped ahead to here & many had, like us, hiked in. We saw: Pro Deal & Jeremy, Sunny & Tadpole, Twisted Sister, Lawn Ornament, Leprechaun, ?, Chuckie V (Funnybone). Yesterday we saw T-minus, Chance & Billy goat who were going to Kennedy Meadows for Ray’s memorial service. We will miss the service but we think of him often.
Left the trailhead at 3:00 pm & went a few miles to gain back some altitude & set up for hitting the snow early. We have received word via a southbound section hiker that Glen Pass (our next crossing) is holding a huge amount of snow & we want to cross as much as possible when the snow is firm.
Rita decided to skip this section & likely get back on trail in Mammoth in about 10 days. We are going to miss hiking with her. We do still have our crazy Swiss friends to keep us laughing. Every time we think we have seen every luxury item, they pull out yet another. We are so envious but our backs are so grateful. They are younger for sure and very strong.
Thank you Zis (Berkley) for the advice on the plantar fasciitis. I have been stretching regularly & ironically I think the cold snow crossings & the even colder stream crossings have helped. It now looks like it is under control. My dropped metatarsal is stable. It hurts some if I think about it, but I have gotten used to the new baseline so in a way it now feels like it always feels. The mind & body working together . . . amazing.
I am actually a bit worried about bears tonight. We are close to a campground, bears are known for the area, & I do not have all of my food in my bear canister. I tried, & I will be eating crumbs for the next week as a result, but it would not all fit. I truly support the bear can requirement & believe we can coexist if humans act responsible & do not habituate bears to human food. And I don’t want to lose my food. And as Scotty would say “I am giving it all she got Jim, but it won’t fit”. Tomorrow we can get to a bear can & the problem will be mitigated. After that, the food I eat will make enough room for the remainder. Tonight I have food out & I plan to defend it . . . within reason.
Another difficult conservation issue I have negatively participated in is the physical impact to the trail. More accurately the areas near the trail. These impacts occur as a result of early season hikers getting off the actual trail because of water or snow on the trail. This may seem minor but I now believe that “most” cutting switch back problems on the Sierra section of the PCT can be attributed to early season (mostly thru) hikers. This unintentional & necessary behavior does cause significant impacts. I have seen the impacts first hand and they include erosion, vegetation trampling, visual (from Kearsarge Pass you can see multiple social paths that early season hikers have created), and attractive nuisances for later hikers to follow. What to do? I propose, because I do not possess any solutions. Instead I commit to do some more maintenance work on the PCT to help repair or restore areas negatively impacted by me or others because we choose to hike early.
Destination: Second Lake
Starting Location: Onion Valley Road (off trail)
Today’s Miles: 2.00
Trip Miles: 792.50
6/17/06
Onion Valley Road Trailhead (9200) to Second Lake (10,400) ascent (1201), descent (49)Nero
The Mt Williamson Motel turned out to be a fantastic lay over & resupply spot. In the morning we were served scrambled eggs, Italian sausage, hash browns, toast (with homemade preserves), juice & coffee. The owners told me they are committed to having the best motel in Independence & given what I saw they likely have a good shot at it. And why? Because they love what they are doing. I keep hearing that lesson.
Sugar Daddy found an unsecured WiFI connection after we discovered the library connection was not working. I was able to spend a few minutes reading messages on my trail journal site & want to thank everyone for the support, kind words, and offers for providing assistance. After being away for nearly 2 months, I can’t express how wonderful it is to hear from family, old friends & new friends who have discovered my journal.
Wonderful surprise this morning as Lucky Liz found me via my dad’s cell phone. I miss her a great deal & while I am having an experience of a lifetime I truly wish we could be sharing it together. It is sometimes difficult to explain to Lucky what I am seeing & experiencing because I believe you can only truly understand if you participate yourself. I have read nearly every book on the PCT, watched countless videos & slide shows, followed many trail journals, and nothing prepared me for the emotional highs, the tough periods, & the experience of trying to thru-hike the PCT. This trail is changing my life. I can not explain how & in what ways but I feel it. It is a strong feeling & a good one.
Saw many hikers in town today. Some had skipped ahead to here & many had, like us, hiked in. We saw: Pro Deal & Jeremy, Sunny & Tadpole, Twisted Sister, Lawn Ornament, Leprechaun, ?, Chuckie V (Funnybone). Yesterday we saw T-minus, Chance & Billy goat who were going to Kennedy Meadows for Ray’s memorial service. We will miss the service but we think of him often.
Left the trailhead at 3:00 pm & went a few miles to gain back some altitude & set up for hitting the snow early. We have received word via a southbound section hiker that Glen Pass (our next crossing) is holding a huge amount of snow & we want to cross as much as possible when the snow is firm.
Rita decided to skip this section & likely get back on trail in Mammoth in about 10 days. We are going to miss hiking with her. We do still have our crazy Swiss friends to keep us laughing. Every time we think we have seen every luxury item, they pull out yet another. We are so envious but our backs are so grateful. They are younger for sure and very strong.
Thank you Zis (Berkley) for the advice on the plantar fasciitis. I have been stretching regularly & ironically I think the cold snow crossings & the even colder stream crossings have helped. It now looks like it is under control. My dropped metatarsal is stable. It hurts some if I think about it, but I have gotten used to the new baseline so in a way it now feels like it always feels. The mind & body working together . . . amazing.
I am actually a bit worried about bears tonight. We are close to a campground, bears are known for the area, & I do not have all of my food in my bear canister. I tried, & I will be eating crumbs for the next week as a result, but it would not all fit. I truly support the bear can requirement & believe we can coexist if humans act responsible & do not habituate bears to human food. And I don’t want to lose my food. And as Scotty would say “I am giving it all she got Jim, but it won’t fit”. Tomorrow we can get to a bear can & the problem will be mitigated. After that, the food I eat will make enough room for the remainder. Tonight I have food out & I plan to defend it . . . within reason.
Another difficult conservation issue I have negatively participated in is the physical impact to the trail. More accurately the areas near the trail. These impacts occur as a result of early season hikers getting off the actual trail because of water or snow on the trail. This may seem minor but I now believe that “most” cutting switch back problems on the Sierra section of the PCT can be attributed to early season (mostly thru) hikers. This unintentional & necessary behavior does cause significant impacts. I have seen the impacts first hand and they include erosion, vegetation trampling, visual (from Kearsarge Pass you can see multiple social paths that early season hikers have created), and attractive nuisances for later hikers to follow. What to do? I propose, because I do not possess any solutions. Instead I commit to do some more maintenance work on the PCT to help repair or restore areas negatively impacted by me or others because we choose to hike early.
Robert Francisco 