June 3-4: When problems arise, they never come as one big - BOOM- problem. They always start as one little incident hat leads to another that leads to another (each progressively larger) that eventually comes to the big problem. And more often than not, the starting incident happens in town.

In my case, the inciting incident was forgetting my hiker Waller in Adams car. Then I had to spend extra time in Kennedy Meadows. Where the port-o-potties were overflowing. And there was only one water faucet. And lots of people in the vortex. Drinking beer. Passing around bags of chips. Sharing pizza.

So day two back on he trail, I started not feeling so well.

It started out nicely enough- hiking out on the early morning just as the sun was coming up.

Climbing up to 10,000 feet and the trees.

Playing leapfrog with. wallaby and Pine Stick, and enjoying not having to carry so much water. At a water stop around 2, I ran into Minotaur and Spike, who I had not seen since Mt Laguna. They had jumped ahead and were south bounding this section of trail. I ended up taking a long break here- this is when things started going south. I was just exhausted! I felt nauseous, headachy, stomachache. I figured it was the elevation. This is the first time we had been above 10,000 feet. While many people at the spring wee talking about going another 7 miles, I wa planning on 2. Tops.

Playing leapfrog with. wallaby and Pine Stick, and enjoying not having to carry so much water. At a water stop around 2, I ran into Minotaur and Spike, who I had not seen since Mt Laguna. They had jumped ahead and were south bounding this section of trail. I ended up taking a long break here- this is when things started going south. I was just exhausted! I felt nauseous, headachy, stomachache. I figured it was the elevation. This is the first time we had been above 10,000 feet. While many people at the spring wee talking about going another 7 miles, I wa planning on 2. Tops.

I got 1 1/2 miles in. Then I just had to stop. I was just so tired and feeling horrible. I set up my tent, forced myself to eat something, and was asleep by 5. The thing with elevation sickness is that if you sleep, you wake up feeling better.

I woke up feeling worse.

His was not elevation sickness. This was the result of the domino effect. Too any days with dirty bathrooms and only one water faucet. It was 14 miles to the next town, Lone Pine, whereI had not been planning on stopping. I was now.

Ok- so I know that on Facebook, people like to exaggerate for comic purposes, especially when they have a bad day or get stuck in traffic, or get sick. If you are one of those people, the next time you are tempted to complain about how horrible it was to lie on the couch and binge watch Netflix between trips to the bathroom while you were sick, just remember-I win. I bikes 30 miles at 10,000 feet with a backpack, digging a hole every 45 minutes and carrying out the used TP in a ziplock. Be grateful you had Game of Thrones.

And granted, I had this:

But I wa too miserable to appreciate it. Fortunately, there was Lone Pine.

June 2: My awaited package with my life in it arrived around 11:30 am, so I had one last cheeseburger, paid my tab, and set out chasing Wallaby, Pine Stick, and Secret. It was so good to beoving, after aosr 3 days of sitting and waiting. And as I walked, the theme song to Orange is the New Black played in my head:

(Come on everyone, with me!)

"Taking steps is easy, standing still is hard. And you've got TIIII-IIII-IIIIME!!"

Started out with a shoe road walk, followed by a flat, dry stretch for about 2 miles.

Then I hit the campground - where I ran into Secret and got water and a rest with her - and we started to climb.

Finally! It felt we were going into the mountains! Leaving the desert! A bit rockier,ore rugged and steeper. And rivers! There were rivers!

I cut across several rivers, actually hiked into some trees, and climbed upwards in elevation.

I finished up with 15 miles in a half day of hiking! Camped near Wallaby and Pine Stick by a river and a bridge.

And was rewarded by this spectacular moon when the sun went down!

May 30- June 1: we all left the campsite early in the morning, before sunrise. It was weird- kind of chilly, but as we climbed the hills, we'd go through warm spots, sort of like when you go swimming in a pond. Overall, it was an easy, fast walk.

I'm not sure what I was looking forward to more- getting to Kennedy Meadows (the official end of the desert) or the swimming hole e passed on the way. I can tell you this- the swimming hole sure felt wonderful! We hung out there for almost 2 hours before moving on.

Honeystick and I (the short, slower ones) walked the last 4 miles across the dry, sandy expanse to the road to KM.

When you reach the Kennedy Meadows general store, you are applauded as you walk in. That is a great feeling. Not as great as jumping in a swimming hole, but almost as good as a soda and ice cream after a 25 mile walk! And they let me open a tab even though my credit card was not on me.

There was nothing to do now but wait for my mail. And eat. I quickly found out that I was not the only one in this boat. There were many people hanging out waiting for packages in the mail. And several more people hanging out just for the heck of it. We were all hanging out together in the vortex.

In the previous week, I had been pulling big miles to get to Walker Pass in time for the concert. Now, as I hung out in KM, many of the people I had pulled ahead of arrived. It was like a reunion! I saw Silver, Beer Goddess, Fancy Feet, Wallaby, and Lauren(who was now Fainting Goat). And I ate ice cream, chips. Cheeseburgers, pizza, and pancakes.

Finally, after 2 1/2 days, my hiker-wallet arrived! I paid my (BIG) tab and headed out😊

Peace love and trail magic!

• May 29: today was an endless search for cellphone coverage. I HAD to find a place where I got some bars so I could get in touch with Adam. For last night, when I was setting up camp, I realized that I had left something very important in the car. While I was organizing my food from the resupply, I moved my hiker-wallet to a pocket on the passenger side door- and left it there! Yes- I had no money, no ID, no credit card. Aw, crap.
• I spent the morning checking the phone and leapfrogging with Mowgli and Cardboard (who I hadn't seen since Wrightwood) Honeystick (who I hadn't seen since Ziggy and the Bear's) and Starfish (who I just met). We also had the unique experience of meeting Preacher, who took long breaks to scream to 10 commandments at the top of his lungs. Or something close to the 10 commandments. He often added his own embellishments.

Right after noon, we reached Jimminy Creek Campground, the next water source. What the guidebooks did not show is that after you walked the .3 miles to the campground, it was then another 1.5 miles to the water faucet! Fortunately for us, Shutterbug's dad, Nomad Max had set up a water cache on the trail, and trail magic at his campsite- the first one inside the campground. So we all took a long break at the campsite (where I ran into Kilty, who I hadn't seen since Lake Isabella).

Shortly, Shutterbug arrived, and then, Max. He refilled the water in the cache (driving to the faucet) and then asked if there was anything anybody needed.

"Ok, this is gonna sound really weird" I said "but what I need is cellphone coverage"

"No problem" he said "we are driving into Ridgecrest this evening. I'll give you a ride."

So I was lucky enough to get to cell coverage! I got in touch with Adam (whose first words were: "I found your little Baggie!") and we agree he'd mail it to Kennedy Meadows. Success!

Then I had burritos with Shutterbug and Max.

The group I had hiked in with spent the night at the campsite and Max slack packed us all to Kennedy Meadows the next day.

Peace, love, and trail magic!

Water. After hiking 700 miles through the desert, I've become obsessed with it. Water is life. Water is everything. My days are planned around getting fro one water source to the next, carrying enough to not get dehydrated, and filtering. Water is what it's all about.

Last year, when most of social media was filled with people dumping buckets of water over their heads, there was another, less known challenge going on, as well. It's called the 4 liter challenge. The idea is to live as those who live in extreme poverty do- on 4 liters of water a day. That's not just to drink. That's for everything: washing, cleaning, cooking, and drinking. Four liters of water is not a lot. Just ask Shuffle.

People who do not have access to water, like those in Haiti, often have to walk for miles to get to a wate source and then carry what they collect back to their homes for use. Let me tell you: water is heavy! (I actually think 4 liters is a pretty generous estimate. Four liters weighs 12 pounds, roughly. Try carrying 12 pounds of water 3-4 miles when you are really tired and hungry. I'd guess most people in poverty live on less)

Then there's the question of cleanliness. It's ine thing to carry 4 liters of water home to use. It's another to carry 4 liters of contaminated water home for use- and having everyone get sick! Not just water- clean water is life!

On the trail, I have 2 ways of purifying water: I have a lightweight filter, and I have a backup system of Aquamira tablets if the filter gets clogged. If the water source looks particularly sketchy, I double treat.

The Devoted to Children Home in Haiti uses a filtering system similar to the one I use on the trail. D2C has also provided filters to neighboring homes on the area. And one of the organizations D2C has partnered with, Surf Haiti, has a mission to provide homes with locally manufactured filter for clean water.

Clean water is everything. Clean water is life.

My filter.

To learn more about Devoted to Childrensnd their projects, to to Devoted2children.org.

To donate to my hike for charity, click on the causes tab.

May 28: After a great day in LA and a great concert, it was time to get back on the trail. Adam and I had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, hit the ATM, and did a resupply at a grocery store en route to Walker Pass. In all the curfufall of getting to LA, I had forgotten how long and windy the journey was. I had plenty of time to get all my food out of the packages and packed into my food bag, and repack the backpack as we snaked around an endless series of twists and turns. Poor Adam! That drive was a bit more than he had planned on. But hey, at least he got to see the scenic town of Lake Isabella on the way!

Back at Walker Pass, it wa hot and brutally sunny. I chose to hang out until the afternoon breeze kicked in and cold things off a bit. Happily, while I did so, I got to encounter my favorite thing: trail magic!

A former thru hiker had his Airstream parked near the trailhead and had sodas and peanut biter and banana sandwiches for hikers. I hung out in the shade and reconnected with Mowgli and Cardbord, who I hadn't seen since Wrightwood, and Starfish and Honeystick, who I met at Ziggy and the Bear's.

Around 3, I felt what I was waiting for: the afternoon breeze kicking up. I headed out a bit before the rest of the crew, hiking up and over the exposed ridge and then into the pine trees. Found a nice little campsite under a nice tree. It wasn't until I was setting up camp that I noticed my BIG MISTAKE!

May 27: When I woke up in Bakersfield, I was - thankfully- significantly less cranky than I had been the night before. I took another shower (so decadent), did laundry, and made enough return trips to the breakfast buffet for everyone else to start looking at me uncomfortably. Then Adam showed up and saved me from my purgatory. That Adam is a-ok!!

We reconnected and chatted on the drive back to LA as well as stared in awe at the geology of Southern Calofornia. I mean, it totally LOOKS like an earthquake waiting to happen. Which, I guess, it is.

Once back inLA, we dumped my stuff at the hotel and went to meet Ad's friend for lunch. She works at the Burbank Studios, which are responsible for approximately 1 million different TV shows. We had lunch at a great little restaurant and then went to an outdoor outfitter for some supplies. I had been getting a bit nervous about all the late season snowstorms and wanted to pick up some more cold weather gear, which I had not been diligent about packing.

I will say this about LA- the traffic is astounding! Everywhere we went there were cars galore. And the slowest route anywhere as the freeway! At least we got to talk and catch up in the traffic- and I admit, I dozed off a bit, since if I'm not hiking or eating, I pretty much fall instantly asleep.

And then we went to the concert! I have seen U2 before in a big stadium. (They were spectacular) This time was a smaller venue with a completely different style of show. And still spectacular. Lots of story telling thru the music, special effects, moving around the stage. And, of course, Bono being Bono. Bono makes me want to be a better person. Do more with my life than hiking. Maybe save all the tweakers. Later. Right now I have to finish this hike.

Peace, love, trail magic, and ONE LOVE

May 26: I got up early , excited to hike today. Because today I was headed into town. My friend, Adam, had take a road trip from Washington to LA and was originally going to drive out to meet me at the trail for food and fun and friendship. But several days before, I received a text from him about a change in plans: he had an extra ticket to see U2 in LA! I was headed off trail to LA to hang with Adam, Bono, and the rest of the boys.

The hike into Walker Pass was nicer than yesterday. More trees. Less dust. Still no water. But less mileage to cover before the next source.

At one point, I saw a snake crossing the trail, so I slowed down to let it pass. As I got closer, I noticed the rattle on its tail- a baby rattlesnake! Careful around these guys/ they tend to be skittish, which could be dangerous. As I passed, I found out that he was indeed, skittish, as he cooled up and rattled like the dickens. But he seemed way more interested I getting away from me than anything else!

When I arrived inWalker Pass Campground, I was met with what j had been hoping for all yesterday: trail magic! A local guy dropped off water, snacks,!fruit, hand sanitizer. He arrived back an hour or two later to refill the water and give people a ride into town- Lake Isabella. I gladly accepted that ride.

Lake Isabella: from here, I would get a bus to Bakersfield, and from Bakersfield, get a bus to LA. Lake Isabella: sounds beautiful, doesn't it? I couldn't wait to see the lovely town of Lake Isabella. I forgot one portent thing: the drought. Lake Isabella, the lake, is dried up. Very sad, actually. Lake Isabella, the town, even sadder. It is essentially Mojave, without the wind turbines. It was a very uncomfortable 3 hour wait for the bus.

My view waiting for the bus.

The bus ride was pretty non eventful. Efficient, fast, direct. I have no complaints about the bus ride. Bakersfield, on the other hand.....

I could not get out of Bakersfield. Apparently, every single bus and train from Bakersfield to LA for the next, oh, 127 hours was completely booked. Or so I surmised from the ticketing agents' unclear explanations. I could be wrong. They may have just decided that they didn't want to sell tickets that day, extend to holiday weekend or something. It was all very confusing. All I knew is that I was stuck in a town that was essentially a giant Mojave with more buildings and -again- good pizza. I was starting to feel like I had a recurring role on Breaking Bad.

Anyway, I was finally able to get a hotel room and a shower. Adam said he would drive into Bakersfield to pick me up he next day. And the hotel had both laundry and continental breakfast. I was safe from the tweakers. For now.

May 25: When you are on the trail, things like holiday weekends often go unnoticed. I heard that many hikers were stranded in town, waiting to collect mailed packages. I remembered that it was Memorial Day when checking mileage on a break, and I thought back to my AT hike 2 years ago: we got trail magic 3 times on Memorial Day! I secretly harbored the hope that we'd encounter some trail magic on the PCT, too. No such luck. Sigh.

As I said earlier, this was our longest waterless stretch- 44 miles. There are several ways of dealing with this situation. Firstly, you have to carry enough water. Slim Chance loaded up with 9 liters of water at the last water source. Impressive, but I cannot physically carry 9 liters of water. I'd keel over from exhaustion. So I implement other strategies. Like getting up before sunrise and hiking when it's cooler. And resting mid-day when it's hot. And sometimes night hiking. So I need to drink less. And carry less. Some hikers do not plan as well as Slim and I.

Hiking before sunrise has other advantages besides water conservation. You get to see things like this:

And if there does happen to be a water cache, you hit it early when there is still water available. I hit a cache 6 miles in. I didn't take any more watt with me, but I did drink about a half liter right at the cache. (So maybe there was a bit of trail magic after all) Five miles later, there was a road crossing with a picnic table. I sat down with a bunch of other hikers for a break and a snack. A little while later, Shuffle arrived in a panic. "does anyone have extra water?" We asked if he had seen the cache 5 miles back. He replied that he did, but didn't stop for watt because he thought there would be another cache further on. So now he was stuck with 2 1/2 liters for 30 miles!!

We all analyzed our water situation and another hiker and I each gave Shuffle a little more than a half liter. (I always try to arrive at a water source with 1/2 to 1 liter of water. I gave Shuffle my reserve.)

The next 8 miles were very dry and very sandy. Essentially, we were hiking through sand dunes in a recreational area for ATVs. It was sort of like walking through kitty litter. Not fun. Especially when the hiking trail was near the bike trails and you are stuck breathing on dust. I mean seriously- if you are gonna blow by me and cover me with dust on your quad, the least you could do is bring a case of water or a bag of oranges on the back!! No such luck. Sigh.

Eight miles past the picnic table, there was another road crossing with another possible cache. Unfortunately, this cache had nothing but empty bottles. So I just found some shade and rested for a couple hours. Just before I headed out, who comes up, but Shuffle, again asking if anyone has extra water!! Not a good planner, that Shuffle. ( there was a place 7 miles further on where you could dig a do a seep for water- so he'd be fine)

Peace, love, and trail magic!

Happy birthday to the coolest 5 year old I know!!