September 17, 2008 Pacific Crest Trail

Destination: Dolly Camp, Vista Ridge
Miles: 20

Adrian: We finally caught Doc! We actually caught up to him at White Pass at the Cracker Barrel Store, but I wanted to mention this because hiking with Doc and especially Lorenzo reminds me of what it was like hiking with my father years ago. I don't have many regrets since my father passed away but I really do wish he and I could have done more backpacking and climbing together. It's something we both loved to do. At least he's with me in spirit. It's strange, but if I hike behind Lorenzo from a fair distance and can only make out his big backpack, blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up showing slender, brown, slightly hairy arms, he almost looks like my Dad. It's funny the things you think of on such a long trail.

Today we hiked 20 miles and it felt like 30. I think the overall elevation we climbed today was about 5,200 feet including about 3,000 feet of descent. Glacier Peak is the dominant mountain around here and is the namesake of the wilderness that we are now hiking through. The landscape consists of spruce and other conifers along with brilliant red ground cover in the form of blueberry shrubs. The fall colors are really starting to pop.

Due to the large snow pack from last winter, the berries are late this year and almost absent in the lower elevations. Why am I telling you this? Because bears need berries for food and they normally would be in lower elevations eating them. However, now they are seeking berries higher up and that's why we saw two today about 30 yards from the trail. We've heard from hunters the bears are all around and today we finally saw some. They were quite large and perfectly content munching away on sweet berries while we watched and took pictures. They look pretty cute from far away.

We're currently hiking with and around Landshark, Caterpillar, Hoffa, Clearwater, Jesse, Don't Panic, Nathan, High Octane, Lorenzo and Bill (a thru-hiker we just met today). We are camped at a nice site high on a ridge with awesome views to the north and east, which should afford us a great sunrise. In camp are Lorenzo and Bill. It's dark out and there is a brilliant, huge, orange moon rising.

Walk good...

Kirsten: I am torn these days. Torn between happiness and a deep sadness to be finishing. Three weeks ago I was ready to be done. Today - after completing one of my toughest days of hiking on the PCT - I'm not so sure.

Here's the tricky part. I can't hike forever. Well, I could. But I can't recreate my PCT 2008 thru-hike. Even if I came back next year and the year after that it would never be like this one. Maybe it would be better. It would certainly be different. I guess I finally understand why some people thru-hike year after year.

The Fun Train Express or Hoffa's Mob, as Don't Panic recently deemed us, is beginning to break up. Don't Panic and Nick are way ahead and I expect they'll get to Stehekin late Thursday. Tonight we're camping about 0.7 mile north of Hoffa, Clearwater, Jesse, Landshark and Caterpillar. Lorenzo is with us and High Octane and Nathan are probably two miles ahead. Moonpie is a whole day behind us. I expect we'll spend time with everyone in Stehekin with the exception of Don't Panic and Nick, who seem to be gunning for the border.