PCT Day 16: Storms a Comin

Day 16  6-3-2015   Sleep 2130-330
Miles 718 – 763

Good Morning!
            There was fog all around and I was cold.  I started moving fast and the uphill got my body warm in no time.  As I cruised along a ridge, the sun started to rise and the moon set.  There was a fog settled in the valley’s.   Surely, I have died and gone to heaven.  I have thought this numerous times now.  Does heaven have days? Some better and some worse? No way.  Can’t wait to meet God.  No wait, Joey, you are a Buddhist.  At best you have been reincarnated into a hiking machine with a super sense for beauty.  Okay, I’ll accept that too.  So the machine was doing all the work and I was enjoying the ride.  Until the sun got higher in the sky.  I entered a fog, my mind was just a haze.  Could I still be sleep deprived?  I had two good nights of sleep though.  I trudged on for a bit but my pace was slowing.  Finally I remembered, “when you are slowing down and things are speeding round, you must first stop and regain the ground, then and only then will stability be found”  -Me.  Yup, I am making up rhyming quotes, to quote to myself to not lose it.  That is how you know it is good.  So I nap for 30 minutes. 
Wish I had a real camera.  Doesn't even begin to portray

What wonders the nap did.  I was feeling good, happy and moving well.  This continued on for quite awhile.  Until I talked to a south bound JMTer.  He asked me, “how far to the lake” and in return I asked “how exposed is the ridge you just crossed” as there were some darker looking clouds in the air.  He told me I would be fine, it is the storm on Saturday that I have to worry about.  What storm? “there is a big storm coming, Saturday, at least that is what the guy at camp with a satellite radio said.” Oh geez.  Not this again.  I totally freaked out on the AT when the rumors of flash flood were flying.  So my mission is to not freak out, but come up with a plan.  Okay, after thirty minutes I come up with this.  If it is truly a big storm; I am guessing three feet of snow.  I can find a shelter or build one, have a fire and wait it out.  I can ration food, no problem.  When the storm clears I can get lost in the three feet of snow not being able to follow the trail.  Okay, I got this, not a worry.  I started day dreaming of how emaciated I would look after stretching two days worth of food out over five or six days.  Awesome.  But that is two days away and then the storm survival.  So why don’t you just focus and hike.  After making it into the dark I settled down under a perfect “tree shelter” and decided I was impressed with my handling the news about a “big” storm.  It was probably nothing and the weathermen are always wrong.  Admittedly though, I was starting to worry.  I know how serious a storm at 11,000 feet can be.  
That is about how far I have to hike

"Sittin' around, waiting for an airplane,
Don't know how to fly, but that's okay"
Airplane - Widespread Panic

Darkness coming

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nolans 41

Image
It was early February and things seemed honky dory.   We had the perfect season going, zero to 60 and it just kept right on snowing.   350” from November 20 th until February 6 th .   Pow was plentiful, turns were deep, and life was how its suppose to be.   But then I felt it.   A shudder.   A glitch in matrix.   Disturbance in the force.   Well, okay.   I had seen a news report of a “bad virus” wreaking havoc in China and that it was expected to become a pandemic.   And then an atmospheric river hit.   6.5” of water in 60 hours and with a lot of wind.   We were interlodged for 53 hours(not allowed to go outside).   That was bizarre.   But no biggie.   Back to life.   But the snow stopped.   And the rumors grew.   We are a large ski lodge that has guests from all over the world crammed into tight quarters.   I was worried about an outbreak.   Finally, there were rumors of closing, I wa...
Read more

WURL, And I think to myself...

Image
              9 years ago I moved to Alta.  Ever since, Ive stared up at these ridgelines in awe of mother earth.  Isnt she lovely?  I tried to run and scramble on as much of these rocks as I could.  By the end of the summer 2012, I realized I had done much of the route I had just recently heard of (The WURL).  In 2013, it was my goal to do the route in its entirety.  One weekend, I set off from Fergy and crested over sugarloaf and descended home.   Next morning, hiked up Baldy and finished the route.  Total time something like 36 hours with sleeping 8 hours in the middle.  I repeated a similar outing in 2015, “getting more comfortable with the route” I told myself.  But all out efforts on the AT, PCT, and a big ole bike tour, hindered feeling 100% in other years.  So last summer 2018, with no hinderances, I tried. Lots of ridges, Lots of Lonely time             ...
Read more

Utah Thirteeners

This summer has been a struggle for sure. After spending 3.5 days in the hospital running every test possible, the doctors still did not know what was wrong with me. It was clear that I had had Myocarditis, but that had since cleared up. At first I thought I was on my way to healing up, but then I relapsed and became ill again. I spent a lot of time thinking about what it could be and what I could do. I figured since it felt like Lyme and it would be no harm, I ordered up my herbal remedies for Lyme from before. It worked, not great, but they cleared up my joint pain, swelling, and even made my mental state better. However; the deep fatigue I had been feeling was very slow to improve. I figured I was trying to push through illness, which would additionally stress my already weakened body. I emphasized rest and sleep, but still slow progress. I often thought, “Is this it?” “Is my life over?” “What am I going to do with limited energy and time?” “Am I dying?” It sucked. It...
Read more