Friday, May 28, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Big Bear Lake
Moosie and I arrived at Hwy 18 and hitched a ride down to Big Bear Adventure Hostel. We didn't quite make it by the weekend as we have been keeping the mileage down to make sure our bodies and joints get acclimated to the abuse that we've been putting on them, but as of this post we've been making great miles and feeling strong. After a fantastic meal at a restaurant called the Himalayan (authentic Nepalese food), we are about to go resupply at a supermarket and head back out on the trail. It was nice to sleep in a bed for a night but we're meeting Steiner and Emily on the evening of June 2nd and it's time to make some miles.
Since the last post, we've been through a little bit. We eventually climbed out of the desert and into the San Jacinto Wilderness, which gave us our first snow and ice, along with a few rattlesnakes (you can see more in our pictures). Though we packed crampons and ice axes, there were no sections that really required their usage. We lost the trail at both Little Tahquitz Meadow and Fuller Ridge but in both cases, a topographical map and altimeter were all we needed to bushwhack our way back to the trail. There's just so many use trails that footprints go all over the place and in certain sections, the trail actually lies on steeper parts of the slope so it's smarter to stay on a flatter section and make your way down.
After passing San Jacinto, we had a fun time descending 16.2 miles on the slowest switchbacks of all time into Snow Creek Canyon, then crossed the San Gorgonio Wash and the I-10. Then we climbed out into the San Gorgonio Wilderness, which I really had no idea was so incredibly beautiful. Passing a wind farm along the way was certainly surreal, and we headed into the Whitewater Preserve to meet Dave, Val and Leila for some trail magic of beers and steak fajitas, as well as a breakfast at a diner courtesy of Leila the next morning. After a slow start, we headed up Mission Creek and had a very Appalachian Trail-ish experience of constantly following a creek up and fording/crossing it multiple times. Really fun and beautiful.
After the very long ascent in and out of the canyons of the San Gorgonio Wilderness, we've made our way to Big Bear Lake and will tackle the Bernardinos and the Angeles Crest next. VERY excited to have Steiner and Emily come out and join our trail family. Kevin Lee (Pete's son and my boss) is also coming out for a weekend at the beginning of June for 2-3 days to hike some miles with us and that's going to be fun - he's had a lot of experience in this neck of the woods due to his ultra-marathoning days out here. Hopefully he doesn't leave us in the dust and just decide to meet us in Canada.
More pictures are up at the usual location.
New photos start with this one (please note that I hike with that face 99% of the time).
Much love and thanks to those who have dropped me an email or a text. It means a lot to have messages waiting for me.
Our next spot that we can receive a USPS shipment at is:
Shian Sung or Nicole Donnelly
c/o The Saufley's
11861 Darling Road
Agua Dulce, CA 91390
We will be there Sunday, June 6th. Please remember to ship USPS Priority Mail and that it will take 3-5 BUSINESS days to get there, depending on where you are shipping from.
Anyways, things are going GREAT and we've had a lot of fun so far. It's just getting started!
-Barrel Roll
PS One fun thing is that I got my jury duty notice. I sent a long letter back explaining why I can't serve this very moment. Hopefully the California government understands my predicament and will let me postpone til later this year : )
Since the last post, we've been through a little bit. We eventually climbed out of the desert and into the San Jacinto Wilderness, which gave us our first snow and ice, along with a few rattlesnakes (you can see more in our pictures). Though we packed crampons and ice axes, there were no sections that really required their usage. We lost the trail at both Little Tahquitz Meadow and Fuller Ridge but in both cases, a topographical map and altimeter were all we needed to bushwhack our way back to the trail. There's just so many use trails that footprints go all over the place and in certain sections, the trail actually lies on steeper parts of the slope so it's smarter to stay on a flatter section and make your way down.
After passing San Jacinto, we had a fun time descending 16.2 miles on the slowest switchbacks of all time into Snow Creek Canyon, then crossed the San Gorgonio Wash and the I-10. Then we climbed out into the San Gorgonio Wilderness, which I really had no idea was so incredibly beautiful. Passing a wind farm along the way was certainly surreal, and we headed into the Whitewater Preserve to meet Dave, Val and Leila for some trail magic of beers and steak fajitas, as well as a breakfast at a diner courtesy of Leila the next morning. After a slow start, we headed up Mission Creek and had a very Appalachian Trail-ish experience of constantly following a creek up and fording/crossing it multiple times. Really fun and beautiful.
After the very long ascent in and out of the canyons of the San Gorgonio Wilderness, we've made our way to Big Bear Lake and will tackle the Bernardinos and the Angeles Crest next. VERY excited to have Steiner and Emily come out and join our trail family. Kevin Lee (Pete's son and my boss) is also coming out for a weekend at the beginning of June for 2-3 days to hike some miles with us and that's going to be fun - he's had a lot of experience in this neck of the woods due to his ultra-marathoning days out here. Hopefully he doesn't leave us in the dust and just decide to meet us in Canada.
More pictures are up at the usual location.
New photos start with this one (please note that I hike with that face 99% of the time).
Much love and thanks to those who have dropped me an email or a text. It means a lot to have messages waiting for me.
Our next spot that we can receive a USPS shipment at is:
Shian Sung or Nicole Donnelly
c/o The Saufley's
11861 Darling Road
Agua Dulce, CA 91390
We will be there Sunday, June 6th. Please remember to ship USPS Priority Mail and that it will take 3-5 BUSINESS days to get there, depending on where you are shipping from.
Anyways, things are going GREAT and we've had a lot of fun so far. It's just getting started!
-Barrel Roll
PS One fun thing is that I got my jury duty notice. I sent a long letter back explaining why I can't serve this very moment. Hopefully the California government understands my predicament and will let me postpone til later this year : )
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Beginning
I graduated on Sunday, moved out on Monday, and fly out on Tuesday (today).
I'm headed to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro, and then will fly to L.A. to begin hiking the PCT. This may be one of my last long posts for a while.
Oh, and speaking of, if anyone wants to transcribe my blog entries, let me know. I'll write them out and mail them to you.
Happy trails to MC and BR. Can't wait to see you
I'm headed to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro, and then will fly to L.A. to begin hiking the PCT. This may be one of my last long posts for a while.
Oh, and speaking of, if anyone wants to transcribe my blog entries, let me know. I'll write them out and mail them to you.
Happy trails to MC and BR. Can't wait to see you
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Introduction #2: More questions
What's a flip flop?
A “flip flop” hike is a hike that begins in the middle of an end-to-end trail, going in one direction, and ending in the other. Typically, long distance hikes are undertaken from one terminus to the other. The reasons people undertake these hikes usually has to do with weather or timing.
For example, on the Appalachian Trail, flip-floppers would start in Virginia and typically go North. The advantage is that the flip-floppers would build up stamina (“trail legs”) during the relatively flat middle portion of the trail. By the time they reached the more challenging New England section, they would be in trail shape.
Though I would have preferred a straight end-to-end hike of the PCT, I will be flip flopping the trail because of scheduling concerns. The traditional start period of the trail is late-April to early May. Because of my trip to Kilimanjaro and my graduation, I won’t be able to start until early June. As a result, I will be flip flopping,
beginning about 400-500 miles into the PCT.
What's a trail name? (i.e., why do you sign off with 'Steiner', 'Barrel Roll', 'Moose Charmer', and '[insert Emily's trail name here]'?
According to wikipedia, a trail name is a 'psuedonym'. Trail names are psuedonyms, but a particular kind of pseudonym. They usually refer to an important or memorable experience on a custom on long distance hikes, such as the AT or PCT. Hikers will introduce themselves, and refer to each other by their trail names. The custom is so ingrained that on the AT, hikers will sign registers (e.g., notebooks) with their trail names, instead of their given names.
There isn't always a lot of agreement on trail names. Here are some of my general rules on trail names. My rules are by no means universal.
- Trail names are used on the trail, always preferred to real names
- Trail names cannot be chosen by the hiker, they must be given. However they can be rejected if deemed unsuitable
- Trail names can be rejected
Earning a trail name is one of the rites of passage of long distance hiking. We all wear ours with pride, ridiculous as they are.
What are some other trail names?
One of our best friends from the AT, Bouie, had the nickname from his mom. Frogger was incredible at river crossings. Sock lost a sock while rinsing in river one day. It wasn't a memorable experience, but I think the hiker community had decided that he had gone too long without a name, and it was high time he had one.
One of my favorite trail names from the '05 AT Northbounders is "Celine Dion Sanders". I still don't know the story behind it. If anyone knows, feel free to post.
I have no idea what Emily's trail name will be yet. She may have an inkling. I certainly have some ideas, but she does have veto power. We will keep you posted.
A “flip flop” hike is a hike that begins in the middle of an end-to-end trail, going in one direction, and ending in the other. Typically, long distance hikes are undertaken from one terminus to the other. The reasons people undertake these hikes usually has to do with weather or timing.
For example, on the Appalachian Trail, flip-floppers would start in Virginia and typically go North. The advantage is that the flip-floppers would build up stamina (“trail legs”) during the relatively flat middle portion of the trail. By the time they reached the more challenging New England section, they would be in trail shape.
Though I would have preferred a straight end-to-end hike of the PCT, I will be flip flopping the trail because of scheduling concerns. The traditional start period of the trail is late-April to early May. Because of my trip to Kilimanjaro and my graduation, I won’t be able to start until early June. As a result, I will be flip flopping,
beginning about 400-500 miles into the PCT.
What's a trail name? (i.e., why do you sign off with 'Steiner', 'Barrel Roll', 'Moose Charmer', and '[insert Emily's trail name here]'?
According to wikipedia, a trail name is a 'psuedonym'. Trail names are psuedonyms, but a particular kind of pseudonym. They usually refer to an important or memorable experience on a custom on long distance hikes, such as the AT or PCT. Hikers will introduce themselves, and refer to each other by their trail names. The custom is so ingrained that on the AT, hikers will sign registers (e.g., notebooks) with their trail names, instead of their given names.
There isn't always a lot of agreement on trail names. Here are some of my general rules on trail names. My rules are by no means universal.
- Trail names are used on the trail, always preferred to real names
- Trail names cannot be chosen by the hiker, they must be given. However they can be rejected if deemed unsuitable
- Trail names can be rejected
Earning a trail name is one of the rites of passage of long distance hiking. We all wear ours with pride, ridiculous as they are.
What are some other trail names?
One of our best friends from the AT, Bouie, had the nickname from his mom. Frogger was incredible at river crossings. Sock lost a sock while rinsing in river one day. It wasn't a memorable experience, but I think the hiker community had decided that he had gone too long without a name, and it was high time he had one.
One of my favorite trail names from the '05 AT Northbounders is "Celine Dion Sanders". I still don't know the story behind it. If anyone knows, feel free to post.
I have no idea what Emily's trail name will be yet. She may have an inkling. I certainly have some ideas, but she does have veto power. We will keep you posted.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Zero Day!
Today is our first zero day (zero day = day in which zero miles are hiked) after ~100 miles! Sorely needed as our bodies are in need of some R&R&R&R (rest, relaxation, resupply, refuel). The trail has been fantastic but it's always nice to take a little time off to let our bodies heal up a little and get used to the miles (little do our bodies suspect the pain and suffering that lays ahead...).
Our zero day comes courtesy of trail angel Pete Lee (Kevin Lee's dad for those who know him), who picked us up at Lost Valley Truck Road and took us back to his incredible house which is filled with all kinds of incredible stuff (comes with being the director of 3 major museums along with a lifetime of awesome experiences). After a tasty pasta dinner last night, we got a great night sleep on a bed, laundry, and are just lounging around. Did I mention the shower?! Nothing is better than the shower after a week on the trail. Especially since there haven't been a ton of streams or lakes to jump in. Actually, water hasn't been a huge issue due to the heavy snow and rain we had in the spring, and every seasonal source has been running. The longest stretch without water was approximately 14 miles and we just carried more water to compensate.
I've posted a bunch of new pictures up at my public album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/shian.sung/SobohobosOnThePCT
Check it out and enjoy : ). I've added the capability to post to the blog via text messages so we'll try to get more regular updates up here via short text messages but it will depend on phone service and inclination to dig through my pack to get my phone out at opportune times. Whenever I get internet i'll try to put more pictures up!
Anyways, a comfortable chair and a cold beer are calling my name, so for now we'll leave it at this. Going into town later today to pick up food for the next week. We hope to be near Big Bear by next weekend, and a week and a half after that Steiner and Emily join us. Can't wait!
-BR
PS Anyone who wants to contact me, i'll have my cell phone on so feel free to give me a call today.
Our zero day comes courtesy of trail angel Pete Lee (Kevin Lee's dad for those who know him), who picked us up at Lost Valley Truck Road and took us back to his incredible house which is filled with all kinds of incredible stuff (comes with being the director of 3 major museums along with a lifetime of awesome experiences). After a tasty pasta dinner last night, we got a great night sleep on a bed, laundry, and are just lounging around. Did I mention the shower?! Nothing is better than the shower after a week on the trail. Especially since there haven't been a ton of streams or lakes to jump in. Actually, water hasn't been a huge issue due to the heavy snow and rain we had in the spring, and every seasonal source has been running. The longest stretch without water was approximately 14 miles and we just carried more water to compensate.
I've posted a bunch of new pictures up at my public album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/shian.sung/SobohobosOnThePCT
Check it out and enjoy : ). I've added the capability to post to the blog via text messages so we'll try to get more regular updates up here via short text messages but it will depend on phone service and inclination to dig through my pack to get my phone out at opportune times. Whenever I get internet i'll try to put more pictures up!
Anyways, a comfortable chair and a cold beer are calling my name, so for now we'll leave it at this. Going into town later today to pick up food for the next week. We hope to be near Big Bear by next weekend, and a week and a half after that Steiner and Emily join us. Can't wait!
-BR
PS Anyone who wants to contact me, i'll have my cell phone on so feel free to give me a call today.
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