In this chapter of my grand adventure there is double the trouble, in more ways than one.  Triple the trouble!!

I say this because as I have left the desert and entered the high sierra, I have also gained a companion—an 18 year old girl.  My sister Kackie has joined me for the famous John Muir Trail—going from mile 752-934 with the additions of Kearsarge pass, Mt. Whitney, and Lake Edison.

Hiking with someone else is different than hiking alone, routines change or are interrupted, tent sites must be big enough for more than 1, hitch hiking is now for 2 seats, and now someone hears all your conversations with the trees and gnomes and such.  

It is remarkable how quickly unsocialized you can become, not that I have been alone or antisocial but I have adjusted to being a solo entity, largely without regard for others. It’s like returning home from college to your familiar house when both you and your mother have forgotten how you fit into that same house cohesively.  Deciding when to stop, our what pace to go, which water to collect, which route to take or where to camp are no longer so simply whatever I want—I have to be part of a team/family/society again.  

Luckily Kackie is very patient with me as I am re-socialized and she is also very tough and flexible.  

Anyways, the past week has been unbelievably good in so many ways….

(Also, there are so many more pictures I want to include that I just can’t load in this one that will have to come later)

Day 37 [N/A] I took my first zero day of the trail and waited in Lone Pine for Kackie to arrive.  I spent more time in the library and then once she did we bought our food and did a tapas tour (went between the Mexican trucks, Hot Dog Stand, and Ice Cream Store).  -The Mexican was top tier.  -The hot dog guy is awesome and travels around the country doing pop up specialty hotdogs? Bacon wrapped, Brats, vegan, with homemade toppings (inc queso) @worldwideweiner

Day 38 [752-767.5] Me and Kackie got bagels, then took a shuttle with some British brothers I have befriended (I have dubbed them publicly Fish&Chips).  We pushed a long day of 20 miles to get to the campsite at the bottom of Mt.  Whitney.  I also took one of my favorite pictures of the trail.

Day 39 [Whitney] Our plan to wake up at 4:30 to beat any weather failed when we slept till 7:30 and then ate breakfast and coffee till 8:30.  Nonetheless once we got going we were flying up the trail, and because the summit was off the PCT, Kackie left her pack behind and I carried mine with only layers and snacks.  

-Many hikers were already coming down as we were ascending but it was fine because it was a blue sky day with no storms.  

At the top we saw Fish&Chips and I even gave them  “fags” to smoke with me in celebration.  

—> Up here I can say that I am higher up than any other person in Continental America standing on ground (14,505ft)

Day 40 [767-787] Today was a long and beautiful slog.  I say slog because there were 3 different river crossings were most people have to take their shoes off to wade across.  It was absolutely beautiful and we had a great time.  

After the river crossings we also had Forrester pass (13,200ft) the highest point on the PCT!

Coming down was some pretty sketchy ice but after some teaching Kackie’s ice sliding/hiking abilities improved exponentially.  By the end of the day we were exhausted and non-verbal.  We were happy and chatty again after eating some food.

^someone’s turned a bit treeish

Day 41 [787-789.6] Today we woke up early, hiked to the Kearsarge Pass junction and set up the tent where we left all of our stuff and Kackie’s pack.  Then we hiked 7.5 miles over Kearsarge pass which was (like everything here) beautiful.  We did this all so that we could do a 1 day resupply and not have to spend a night in town.  

—When we got to the trailhead from which we were going to hitch we saw the most beautiful sight a hiker can ever see—a tent with logos doing trail magic.  Durston, Zpacks, Mountain House Meals, and garage grown gear, amongst others had paid and given food and supplies to “Mac” to have at a tent where he gave it all away as “trail magic”.  For those who don’t know, Mac is like the president of the thru-hiking community, his blog/website www.halfwayanywhere.com is the #1 place for gear and trail info for the major thru hikes because he runs the hiker surveys.  So that was awesome!  At this trail magic we each got 3 mountain house meals ($15+ each) countless snacks, and more.  Kackie got a new titanium spoon, I got a new pair of gaiters.  

Then we got a biker to give us a hitch into town where we could top off our food resupply for the 5 day stretch where we hit the gas station for food and snacks and the mexican truck for some hot lunch.  

—As we were hiking back up moved the pass to where we left our stuff, some ominous clouds obscured the top of the mountain…uh oh.  That in addition to my vastly heavier pack on the way back up slowed us down.  But sometimes foolish confidence works well enough and we made it up and past the clouds without getting struck by lightning or rained on.  {it did snow/hail that night}

Day 42 [789-809] I woke up to a slushy but sunny morning and sat by the creek and read my bible and worked on my poem memorizing while Kackie slept in. Then we got going and did Glen pass.  We had a bit of trouble mid day and we realized that Kaxckie was dehydrated (Bad leadership @treebeard).   After getting Kackie hydrated we actually had a very good afternoon and made it to just below Pinchot pass.  At this point we learned what happens when too immature egos collide.  We probably should have stopped for the day but neither would admit they were tired, and despite supposedly being the more mature older brother I did not concede.  So with 35 minutes to sunset 1.1 miles to the top I bolted off at top speed.  (Definitely seeming like I had ditched my little sister in the dark, in the wilkderness) and made it up in 15 minutes where I dropped my pack before the summit, ran down and grabbed Kackie’s, and ran back up with it.  We both summited together just as the sun was setting, it was beautiful and we both apologized and enjoyed the sunsets.  

Day 43 [809.5-826] I cowboy camped and woke up well rested but covered in frost.  Then throughout the day I hiked through King’s canyon up to Mather pass.  It was beautiful walking.   It has been cool to watch Kackie as she gets much better at river crossings and drinking water and tent site selection and everything else which is cool to see.  We did have to descend the famous Golden Staircase, we icy is a long steep downhill and that cooked our knees.  Today we took a 2 or 3 hour break where we swam, washed our clothes and slowed down to enjoy the scenery.  It is hard to describe how bad I smelled before…

Day 44 [826-846] Today was mostly the long ascent to the famous Muir Pass.  This is an ascent that just keeps on going, but its hard to complain with views like these.   At the top of Muir pass is the famous Muir hut where we took our break.  Sadly, some dark clouds also made it up and we didn’t stay for long.  On the way down we were entranced by a beautiful lake and were “forced” to stay there for an hour or so while I swam.  Today I convinced Kackie to cowboy camp with me (no tent) and it was a great choice.  This was the most beautiful day on trail yet.  

Day 45 [8467-866] I woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the mountain valley and I didn’t even b have to leave my bag to watch it.  Now that I have essentially retired from tent life (except for storms) my mornings usually begin with Bible and poems and sunrise for the first hour where its too cold to get out of my bag.  An absolute joy.  By the end of the day we made it to the summit of Selden Pass where we camped!!! It was an even better view and coolest campsite ever.

Day 46 [866-881] As we woke up it felt like the swarm descended, bugs were in every breath and even on the summit there was no wind to blow them away.  We were fired up for cheeseburgers at VVR and were moving fast except for the 2 river crossings.  Somewhere along the way Kackie’s knee started hurting and only got worse.  By the end it was pretty bad and I was carrying her pack.  With the help of the trail we ended the day with good fresh food, ice cold beers, and Toby Keith.  It seemed only me, Kackie, and the Chef knew Courtesy of The Red White and Blue but that only made us sing it louder and more often (we had the aux).  That and some Keystone light and I was a happy camper.  

Day 47 [881-886?] I am writing this day’s entry at lunch so I don’t know how tonight will go.  I am eating a large burger, I had a big breakfast, I am very happy.  Kackie has been stretching and icing and seems to be doing better so we are going to do 5 slow miles for rehab tonight. 

I’m not sure how brother-sister relationships are supposed to work.  All the brothers that hang out with sisters seem to do so with older sisters and are usually efeminized/socialized by them.  Aside from threatening to beat up their boyfriends in high school and eventually being the cool uncle there’s not much of an example set.  Because little sisters are still girls, but they’re also your sister.  What topics or behaviors are normal for brothers to little sisters?

I have no idea… So Kackie has been hearing lots of advice and a lot of farts from her big brother, but I am so carry heavy things for her and make her coffee.  This is the best i have figured out…

Koon thought of the week: iIf demons are real and inside of people then surely they must feed on attention.  But then, how does one fight something without giving it attention? 

-My best thoughts in this case are that against such foes we can use neither sword nor spear and that we instead turn our shields inside out like Archimedes and through prayer reflect that devastating divine light.  To use a strength which is entirely not ours. 

Love

-Treebeard