Twig Adventures

September 17th, 2018 Asa Lake mm 1041.5 to Sonora pass mm 1017 Distance: 24.5 miles 0630 – 1630 It was a very quiet and uneventful night. I woke up at one point thinking that a headlight was shining into my tent but it was just the moon setting. I was on trail fairly early and quickly caught up to a SOBO couple, Fish and Fairytale. They had skipped a lot of sections to get ahead. I think many are starting to skip in order to get the Sierra done in time. Just before lunch, I also caught up to Fancy Mac, another SOBO that was skipping ahead. She had previously been hiking with Spatz and Skybird, so it was nice[…]

September 16th, 2018 Lost Lakes mm 1070 to Asa Lake mm 1041.5 Distance: 28.5 miles 0640 – 1800 I slept so good overnight, except for one interruption. It’s still a little unclear how it all went down but I seemed to wake up in automatic mode yelling “Get, get!” and later it materialized that there were dogs sniffing around my tent. Then I heard someone say, “it’s ok, it’s just huskies.” Whip had at first thought they were wolves when he saw their dark figures running through the trees. Apparently the partiers down at the lake were letting their dogs run around loose all night. I must have woken up thinking it was a bear, at first. You’d think this[…]

September 15th, 2018 HWY 50 mm 1091 to Lost Lakes mm 1070 Distance: 21 miles, 1000 – 1730 I about had a mental breakdown early in the morning, trying to fit everything into my backpack. I finally settled on strapping my tent to the outside of my pack and putting the bear canister at the bottom. Doug made us all zucchini waffles with real whipped cream and blackberries on top. They were delicious. I also ate a few slices of leftover pizza. Doug then drove Whip and me back up to the trailhead. I can’t thank the family enough for all the kind things they did for me. They all had such intersting passions and stories, I hope I may[…]

September 14th, 2018 Zero day Distance: 8 or so walking and riding around town I won’t bore everyone with all the details of my ‘day-off’, which was spent running around all day. I had to make several visits to the PO and buy enough food for 12 days (300 miles worth of travel through the Sierra). I decided to ship a food box to Tuolumne Meadows. New shoes! Speaking of food, I was able to weigh myself and disturbed to find that I was down to 122 lbs. That is probably the lightest I’ve been since high school. Not good. On the other hand, all the weight I’m adding to my pack (bear canister=2 lbs, plus extra quilt weight and[…]

September 13th, 2018 Middle Velma Lake mm 1110 to HWY 50 mm 1091, then hitch to South Lake Tahoe Distance: 19 miles, plus another 8 or so walking and riding around town 0600 – way too late It didn’t get down to freezing and the wind did subside quite a bit overnight. But it was still cold, with the occasional gust of biting air. I had to put my puffy on by midnight. I am really a wimp when it comes to the cold and I’m afraid I’m in for a rough September. I was on the trail early, just in time to catch some alpinglow glow at Lake Fontanillis. It was a gorgeous morning and all the wind, rock[…]

September 12th, 2018 Five Lakes Creek mm 1136 to Middle Velma Lake mm 1110 Distance: 26 miles 0630-1700 It was much warmer overnight than I anticipated. The wind continued to blow all night but I was snug as a bug. It was still hard to get up and go. For the first time in the hike, I started out wearing my puffy, in addition to my other 3 layers. I quickly got too hot and had to shed it. Then I got up on the ridgeline and was blasted by the chill wind. The trailed followed the ridge for 6 miles. All that time, I was working hard to stay upright and to keep warm. I had to put my[…]

September 11th, 2018 White Rock Creek mm 1167 to Five Lakes Creek mm 1136 Distance: 31 miles 0645-1830 I am really scratching by on this leg. As mentioned before, I have just enough food…or maybe not. I’m also carrying 2 nearly-empty fuel canisters. The one has lasted me since Etna (16 days) and the other Taylor gave me. My last pair of socks are starting to get holes and my shoes are done after more than 800 miles. Last night, I noted that my headlamp batteries were dying…they made it more than halfway! Then again, I barely used my headlamp for the first month, because of the long days. My quilt is also just barely cutting it. It was very[…]

September 10th, 2018 HWY 49 mm 1195.5 to White Rock Creek mm 1167 Distance: 28.5 miles plus 1.5 miles walk from town. 0800-1800 I woke up and packed early, as usual. I slept really well, despite all the company and intersting surroundings. I went back down to the picnic table at the store to make coffee and breakfast, plus use the wifi and electricity. It took me awhile to get a blog posted, as I was having technical errors. By then, the coffee shop had opened, and I couldn’t help but indulge in a real coffee. I was very cold from sitting around all morning. There were no cars on the road so I walked the 1.5 miles back to[…]

September 9th, 2018 Mm 1216 to HWY 49 mm 1195.5, then hitch to Sierra City. Distance: 20.5 miles 0630-1400 As I figured I might, I woke up cold around 1 am. My quilt has vertical baffles, which allows the down to shift to the footbox. I don’t like the design and can’t wait to get my warmer quilt. I put my puffy on and cinched things up tight. I was able to sleep the rest of the night but it was hard getting on the trail early. I had anticipated an easy 18 miles into Sierra City, this according to my Halfmile app (A great, FREE app). What I didn’t know was that in between my location and town, a[…]

September 8th, 2018 Middle Fork Feather River mm 1250 to mm 1216 Distance: 34 miles 0615-1900 Twist and I got a jump on all the guys by getting started early, as usual. We had to climb a lot today. In fact, I think I set a personal best in total elevation gained in one day: 9500′! That is a massive amount and I still did 34 miles before dark. In the morning, I caught up to 3 more SOBOs: Later Gator, Oh Well, and Bella. We played hopscotch the rest of the day. The trail wound around a lot of peaks and there were many good views. The sky has been so clear, with amazing cirrus cloud displays for days[…]