Twig Adventures

September 24th, 2018Sallie Keyes Lakes mm 864 to Muir Pass mm 838.5Distance: 25.5 miles0645 – 1830 Today was so-so until the end, and then it was one of the best days EVER. More Mountain Magic. To start, I got rolling downhill for a short 4 miles to the turnoff for Muir Trail Ranch. It’s another resort along the way and has a legendary hiker box. Hikers ship resupplies there for a $50 flat fee because it all has to be packed in by mules. That fee gets you one bucket, so might as well fill it. Hence, there ends up being a lot of extra stuff…as in Mountain Houses, Alcohol, etc. I was in need of some extra calories, especially[…]

September 23rd, 2018Purple Lake mm 894 to Sallie Keyes Lakes mm 864Distance: 30 miles0630 – 1830 Today I tackled 2 passes, Silver and Selden, both at 11,000′. A common antidote is that JMT hikers do one pass a day and PCT’ers do 2. So I set out to live up to this standard. I guess I was most impressed that I could still pull a 30 mile day in the Sierra. It came at the cost of having only one break all day, though. I was surprised to find no condensation on my tent in the early morning. I was next to a stream and lake but just being a little under the pines makes all the difference. I felt[…]

September 22nd, 2018Agnew Meadows mm 915 to Purple Lake mm 894Distance: 21 miles0630 – 1830 It was relatively warm at my spot overnight…maybe only in the 40’s. I was even sweating in my quilt. I walked about 100 meters down the trail and the temperature dropped 10 or 20 degrees in the meadow and near the river. It just goes to show how important site selection is. It was a short 6 mile hike to a tourist feature called the Devil’s Postpile. It’ss an exposed cliff of columnar basalt. The columns were formed when a lava lake cooled. I thought I was leaving the volcanic features behind at Lassen, but these mountains still have tons of evidence of volcanic history…just[…]

September 21st, 2018Tuolumne Meadows mm 942 to Agnew Meadows mm 915Distance: 27 miles0650 – 1930 I enjoyed one of News Feed’s extra breakfasts in the morning…a gruel made of chia seeds, high-fat milk powder (Nido), nuts and fruit. He said it was about 500 calories. It was so filling and delicious that I didn’t feel the need to snack all morning. I was also a bit full from stuffing my face the day before. But the feeling wouldn’t last. I noted that my companions were a lot more conscientious about the caloric content and nutritional value of their foods. It also helped that they spent a lot of time planning and pre-making good stuff at home, shipping boxes along the[…]

September 20th, 2018Wilson Creek mm 965 to Tuolumne Meadows mm 942Distance: 23 miles0620 – 1600 I slept a bit cold overnight. It was probably a combination of being tired from the exertion the day before, being low on calories, and that it dipped into the 20’s. Taylor experienced the same. We were so glad we didn’t go a further 2 miles to camp, since it was even colder down the valley. To attest to the cold, there was a lake that had amazing ice tubules/crystals formed along the shore. They had sprouted like grass from the sand and some were a few inches long. What a natural wonder. I had never seen anything like it. It’s called Hoar frost. It[…]

September 19th, 2018 Mm 992 to Wilson Creek mm 965 Distance: 27 miles 0640 – 1800 Well, New Feed’s thermometer reached just below 30 degrees overnight. My water bottles were not yet frozen when I woke up but they started forming ice once I started hiking. It was strange. I hiked for over an hour in all my layers, including my puffy. A guy passed me and commented on my rainbow of colors. None of my clothing matches, partially because some of it was either donated or received for testing. I take whatever colors I get and could give a big F if I match or not. It was all downhill, so it took awhile to warm up. I walked[…]

September 18th, 2018 Sonora pass mm 1017 to mm 992 Distance: 25 miles 0930 – 1830 I was packed early as usual then decided to wait around to see if the guy was serious about free bacon and eggs. I could at least play on the internet while I waited and the sun was hitting the pass, warming things up. There was a breeze overnight and it got very cold. Poor Dorothy had to move his  cowboy camp behind a log in the middle of the night. News Feed and I stayed, while Dorothy wisely got moving at 7 am. When 9 am rolled around and the guy still hadn’t appeared, we decided to call it a loss. I talked[…]

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, bolt upright yelling “Get, get!” and seconds or minutes 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 revelers down at the lake were letting their dogs run around loose all night. I must have woken up thinking it was a bear,[…]

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. After having everything exactly so for thousands of miles (this is my first major gear shake-up since before I started the TA), it was stressful to have to find a new place for everything. To ease my anxiety, 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.[…]