In Yogi’s guide, one of the biggest regrets from thru hikers was not taking more zero days on trail, so being so close to Sierra City, I allowed myself a slow morning.

The more time I spend on my own, the crazier I seem to become. I’m now so comfortable with talking to myself out loud that I don’t even look around anymore to check if anybody’s in hearing distance. I also feel that if I have the video running I’m not really talking to myself, right?

Just before I actually hit the trail I heard the click of hiking poles coming down the switchbacks and peered out my tent to see Werewolf and Marijke and their dog ‘What’s up dog’ coming along. I hadn’t seen them since I was hiking Sobo to rescue UB when he hurt his knee near Lone Pine! This trail sometimes feels like being in high school, followed by weekly high school reunions with people you haven’t seen in over a month, all whilst hiking through the wilderness. Totally bizarre!

I was buzzing along with so many happy thoughts in my head for the first three miles until I bumped into three people taking a short day hike. This encounter put me on an even greater high after their amazement of the hike, the fact I am doing it solo, and their eagerness to check out the blog! They were having a huge family reunion in Sierra City with 60 relatives coming together. Insane!

The five miles to the trail head felt longer than expected, probably because I was thinking about all the good things a town provides: food, rest (well some), shower, laundry, more food! I also didn’t factor in the additional miles to get to town from Highway 49 which I figured would be an easy hitch… ’twas not so.

I waved at every car that drove past and got such a good response I knew even before I arrived in Sierra City that it would be a welcoming place.

Are we in Canada already?

My first stop was the Red Moose which is run by trail angels Bill and Margaret, who offer free camping to thru hikers in their backyard! They usually offer showers too but because their two rooms were already rented, Margaret told me the river was a great alternative. With the amount of filth I’d built up over the last 100 miles I knew this option wasn’t going to fly, so I headed into town looking like true blue ‘hiker trash’.

I hit the general store, put on a load of washing and used the store’s phone to call UB as there’s NO AT&T reception in town! Crazy! I heard the post office actually closes at 2pm so I raced there at 1:45pm to grab my packages. I had my resupply box and two packages from Dirty Girl! When they handed over my resupply box they told me it was the first one they received back in April, and couldn’t believe it arrived so early. It had become part of the PO furniture!

As I was still getting about town in my filth, when I bumped into one of the three people I met on the trail this morning, part of their family offered me a shower in their cottage close by! Brad took me over to where they were staying and I met his wife Debbie, his daughter and another couple who all listened to me babble about trail stories until they found me a clean towel.

It felt so good to be clean again! At this point I was soooo hungry and was on a mission to find food, but I bumped into Carrot back at the Red Moose so we chatted and laughed at the random goodies Dirty Girl had sent to me including a fly swatter, bug gummy candy, and barbie tissue packets! She also sent me some life saving items including new insoles, knee braces and coffee!!!!

THEN, I went to get a gut buster burger from the general store while Fuller finalised his calculations of the PCT puzzle. We were honestly in fits of giggles at the comments you guys left on that post! Unbelievable!

With so much excitement going on in town I was literally exhausted by 7pm but still had to sort through my food for the next seven days and reorder my pack! I also had a huge list of ‘to do’s’ including responding to emails, charging iPod, Steri Pen, and camera, ordering new shoes and a few other bits and pieces I ran out of time to do.

SOOO, this morning I picked up where I left off! I won’t be making 25 miles today, but I will be hitting the trail shortly. I just had to ensure I was adequately fuelled up on pancakes and coffee before I left town!

I’ve been mentally preparing for my goal to hike 25 miles a day from Sierra City onwards. Instead of waiting to begin, I thought I’d take the old legs for a test run today, and figured if I can push to 30 miles, then 25 will be a breeze, right?

I had breakfast and coffee around 5am and made sure I left by 6. No more flouncing around in the mornings, I’m out here for the challenge, and if my feet aren’t hurting after 20 miles then it’s time to do more! This is of course easier said than done, and despite the gentle grade of the trail today it wasn’t just my feet that were hurting at the end of the day, all the joints had their own individual arguments to address.

With so much phone signal I’ve also become aware of how much time I’m spending blogging from the trail, and needed assurance I could upkeep both the posts and the miles. After spending two full hours blogging from the trail today I know it can be done! It’s the writing at night which is taking it’s toll on how much sleep I’m getting. How is it already 10pm!?

So after my bipolar episode this morning I found a gorgeous rock overlooking the valley for my first hour-long break. I had filled up water at the creek 6 miles from where I camped, and then there was a 12 mile stretch until the next source. There were a few muddy streams in between but nothing drinkable with a Steri Pen. What there were plenty of was tree trunks fallen over the trail. I felt like I was running in the steeplechase with long flat stretches and then suddenly the need to hurdle giant tree branches (sometimes with a muddy stream on the other side).

Just before lunch my mind turned back to the conversation I was having with Reno Dave yesterday about when and where UB and I would cross paths on the trail. He made a joke about having to use algebra to figure out the solution, hence the idea of the PCT puzzle. These are the sorts of things your mind thinks of when you hike everyday for over two months.

I’d done 16 miles by the time I stopped for lunch and figured I would cook up one of my pasta dinners as I was going to be stopping for some time. There wasn’t a whole lot of water through this section compared to the abundance through the Sierras so the next source I came across involved scaling down a pretty steep embankment to reach the creek. I had extreme difficulty getting back up with 2.5 litres of water in my hands!

At the stream I checked Halfmile’s app which said I was 11 miles from the next water source which had campsites and happened to be exactly at the 30 mile mark. It was around 4:30pm and I was surprised I’d already done 19 miles with so many breaks in between. The grade of the trail was relatively flat but after a couple of miles my feet really started to ache. It reminded me of the first few weeks on the trail and made me realise just how far I’d come since then and also how good my previous shoes must have been. I need to get my hands on a new pair of Brooks Cascadias ASAP which I’ll work on when I get to Sierra City (I should have been a LOT more proactive in getting new Cascadias before the others fell apart – another lesson learned!)

Just as I hit a road and had to wander down the bitumen to reach the trail head about 200 feet away, I decided it was time to stop and rub my aching feet. When I reached the trail head I saw another hiker with his feet up on his pack who obviously had the same idea, and coincidently it was Fuller. I was so happy to see him having only seen one other hiker that morning. I told him about the puzzle I posted on my blog and he said he was determined to solve it!

6 more miles to camp! I put on my top rated mix of iPod tunes and started the last two hours on a sugar high of starburst jelly beans and chewy lollies. The first 3 miles were bearable, the last 3 were painful, heading into a valley across numerous switchbacks with big spiky stones digging into my feet. I was determined not to stop and didn’t really have a choice once I began descending down the mountain.

When I finally arrived just after 8pm, Ninja Tank and two fellows named Scott and Warren were sitting around camp eating Doritos and animal cookies. Scott and Warren had started at Echo Lake and were finishing at Sierra City. They had many questions regarding thru hiking and I had a great time telling them all kinds of stories until my blood sugar levels finally dropped and I desperately needed to set up my tent and get food into my body.

Once in my tent Fuller arrived bursting with excitement as he’d figured out the answer to my puzzle. He talked me through his calculations and I was simply blown away that he had not only solved it without pen and paper whilst hiking down painful switchbacks, but he had also figured out the locations where we’d be closest too, places to stay and public transport to bigger towns etc. It blew my mind!

I had a tin of sardines for dinner as I was too tired to cook and am now ready to float off into dream land!

View the video for Fuller’s mathematical assessment of your responses to the PCT Puzzle:

And here’s how he came to this conclusion…

Keep your bets on the future meeting place coming in… Although my current itinerary is spot on for my arrival in Sierra City, I’m not sure even Chris with his fancy graphs can predict actual trail future!

(Inspired by Reno Dave – don’t you wish you paid more attention during algebra class?)

PCT Puzzle:

Hiker A starts walking north from Sierra City, mile 1197.6, on Saturday 13 July, averaging 25 miles a day with 1 day off each week.

Hiker B starts walking south from the Canadian border, mile 2660.0, on Monday 15 July, averaging 30 miles a day with 0.5 days off each week.

At what mile and on what day will the two hikers meet?

For bonus points, what is the closest trail town to that mile?

You must show all workings of how you reached your answer.

The first correct response will receive a pair of Dirty Girl Gaiters provided by the one and only Dirty Girl, Xy!

Responses will be assessed on a peer judgement basis, as my trail brain already malfunctions calculating distances between water sources!

If maths ain’t your thang, feel free to take a guess at where UB and I will cross paths on the trail!

In the 10 miles I hiked before 10am this morning, I experienced the full spectrum of emotions. Here is a small taste…

From irrational anger:

To inspiration from this song which you must listen to before viewing the next video. Those who experienced the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics will understand why I cried tears of joy listening to it, but I think anyone can appreciate the beauty of this tune.

http://vimeo.com/m/9765502

This song now has so many new meanings for me out on the trail.

Transformation to pure happiness and tears of joy:

What a roller coaster!

These were two of the most unexpected items I found in the hiker box at Donner Pass today. Unfortunately the box of fortune cookies was empty and at present I don’t have a use for the candles. The best surprise at the pass after hearing the lodge nearby was actually closed, was meeting Dave the trail angel who coincidently has read my blog through UB’s.

Today was a random one indeed. I woke early but broke camp later than the boys because once again I was ‘blogging’ (cell signal = less miles hiked). When I did hit the trail though it was like a lightning bolt, I had so much energy from breakfast and coffee that I flew through the first 5 miles and caught up to Leaky and Moonshine sitting at the top of a ridge overlooking the valley.

Once again the trail and the scenery were magnificent. We crossed some amazing ridges where the wind was a little pushy, but after Tehachapi this felt like a slight breeze.

I pretty much had signal the entire morning, but because of the issues I was having with posting videos, I wasn’t making much ground. I’m not sure if it’s a WordPress thing or not, but hopefully the viewing problems were isolated to today. Thanks for your feedback as it helped me try and rectify the issue by reposting it three different times until it finally worked.

On a complete side note I’m writing this from my sleeping bag where one die hard mosquito has been dive bombing my face for the last half hour and a deer just stumbled upon my bed, realised I was alive and darted off into the bushes.

Being so close to major roads and trailheads today I met some amazing day hikers along the way. Most notably were three wonderful women named Marilyn, Karen and Shirley (I’m terrible with names ladies so please correct me if I’m wrong). We got chatting about the trail, the book Wild and the mosquitos in Yosemite. When I told them I didn’t have a long sleeved shirt to keep the mosquitos from biting my arms, Karen dug into her bag and whipped out a beautiful bright blue shirt which she insisted I take. It fit and felt perfect, and the colour matches the blue from Muk Muk’s beenie, it was meant to be. The three ladies were enjoying a girls only trip in the woods, hiking, kayaking and eating good food. They told me they were desperately missing their husbands though (wink wink). Such amazing women, thank you so much for your gift and encouragement!

Despite all the chit chat down the trail I did bump into Leaky and Moonshine again sitting on a huge rock on the side of the trail, but by the time I made it to Hwy 40 I heard from Fuller they had hitched into Truckee. It will be interesting to see if our paths cross again. The trail is amazing in that way, you can be two hours ahead or behind someone and not see them for weeks, or you can bump into people on numerous occasions in a single day. The trail seems to determine this fate.

When I bumped into trail angel Dave he pulled out a chair for me to sit on and offered me a beer. We talked about the events of the trail, UB’s new venture south bound and hiking in general. During our conversation a car pulled up to drop off Ninja Tank (JT) back to the trail from Truckee. He’d been there a while waiting for new shoes to arrive. Then Fuller popped up out of nowhere so we all chilled drinking beer and soda and eating bagels and cream cheese left by trail angels.

After leaving the comfort of Donna Pass I started to experience something I term PTB (Post trail-magic blues). I’d been on such an incredible high all day that I started to crash a little. This was of course until I went through the Hwy 80 underpass and discovered more trail magic in coolers on the other side. Another soda and a choc chip muffin was all I needed to get me going again.

Not far up the trail I was heading to the I-80 rest stop when I bumped into Fuller again. We had another great chat about the mysteries of the trail and it’s healing powers. He told me he has learned not to fight the trail, to let it crush you when it chooses and to let it lift you when you’re down. He’s absolutely right, ride the highs and overcome the lows.

So here I am at the Peter Grubb Hut (aka Blair Witch film set). I’m very low on water as the source is a mucky little stream close by. I didn’t have enough water to cook dinner so I ate two tortillas with Nutella which will hopefully hold me until tomorrow morning. Halfmile says I’m 6 miles from the next source so it’s going to be a thirsty morning. I plan to be up early so I should make it before the sun creates too much heat tomorrow. I’m camped in eyesight of the hut and heard the creek of the toilet door a couple of times as the sun went down. I’m curious to know if anyone’s actually sleeping inside!

Super creepy, don’t watch before bedtime. If you don’t hear from me tomorrow send a search party!

WordPress is definitely wigging out today, hopefully this video works…

(PS – I think it’s a bit cheeky that WordPress makes you pay to take adds off the videos when you pay for the function to upload them. That’s my little gripe!)

When I woke up this morning and took the bandana off from over my eyes, I was shocked to see how light the world was outside my tent. I reached for my watch which told me it was already 7am. I think this was one of the longest sleeps I’ve had since my first few days on the trail. I decided with the amount of mosquitos about that I’d just eat a pop tart and hit the trail. It still took me an hour to break camp so it was already 8am when I took my first stiff steps over the creek and up the mountain.

When I hit the Barker Pass PCT trailhead I’d already listened to my Missy Higgins album and was wondering how I was going to pass away the remaining 18 miles for the day. As I crossed the road I figured I may have signal and sure enough I did. It was then I received a text from UB telling me about his new south bound challenge. Feeling low on inspiration, motivation and calories most likely, I burst into tears. The realisation that I would really have to hike the rest of the trail alone hit me all at once, and at that moment it was all too much to bare.


I called UB immediately and through my choked up spluttering managed to at least say hello and ask what his plans were. I understood his reasoning completely. From the day I met him and ever since, the 90 day challenge has been haunting him. As much as I’ve witnessed UB enjoy the trail, the people and the surroundings, I always knew he felt he had failed in achieving what he really set out to do. Hearing that he was going to start fresh from the border of Canada and head south made me both proud and excited, because the determination and passion in his voice made me realise he had made the right, courageous decision.

When I hit the trail again I felt like it was a new beginning. I felt inspired, empowered and excited to be in the driver’s seat of a hike that will take me all the way to my second home, Canada. Not only did I draw on UB’s energy, but I also had so many wonderful comments from those following my blog that I spent the next 2 hours walking and digesting it all. I’ve honestly never received such praise and support before, especially from people I’ve never had the chance to meet, and yet feel I already know. Sometimes it feels like a dream.

The scenery today was a stand out! The views back at Lake Tahoe were breathtaking, and walking along the ridges covered with windflowers was magical. The drastic change of mood meant I wasn’t counting miles, I was rather thinking ahead to the next section and mentally preparing for a fresh new hike. I know I need to challenge myself to stay motivated, so I’m going to aim for 25 mile days from Sierra City and see how my body feels. I know it’s achievable, especially if I get an early start in the mornings!


When I was crossing one of the ridges I was surprised to bump into Leaky and Moonshine, considering how much time I’d taken on the phone, blogging and making a late breakfast at 11am. They had just finished lunch and were about to head off when I realised I had phone service again! More comments were flooding in and I had to fight the urge to walk and write as I have a hard enough time staying upright with shoes three sizes too big for me as it is.


At 3:30pm I stopped for lunch at a creek where the boys were resting and Fuller had just completed rinsing his clothes. I rehydrated some bean, rice and mince mix from UB but was so hungry most of the ingredients were still crunchy because I didn’t let it soak long enough. Tasted good anyway! I also soaked my feet in the cool stream as I have two giant mosquito bites on them the size of quarters which hurt like crazy.

I was a little sluggish after lunch but enjoyed the 3 miles of climbing above Squaw Valley where the Winter Olympics were held in 1960. The ski lifts were so close there were even high voltage warnings along the trail. At 6:30pm I caught up to the boys again and we found an awesome campsite with a fire pit half a mile up the trail next to a little stream. Such a contrast to where we slept last night. I combined two dinners of cous cous and mash potato, drank a hot chocolate and had a chunky Kit Kat for desert. No hunger pains for me tonight!