NEW!!! Final Journal Entry: The End of The Trail 9/17/05
I did it. I'm done. I walked from the Border of Mexico to the border of Canada without skipping a step. On Monday Oct. 10th at 2:30 in the afternoon, I stepped across the border into Canada. I stood alone in silence staring at the Monument that marked the northen terminus of the PCT. Five and a half months of brilliant memories existed all in that same moment like matter condensing in a black hole. I touched my cheek to the monument. It was real. "H" soon appeared and we wept together. Words were irrelavant. Even now, as I sit comfortably at home before my computer, the words do not come. I feel like if I were to try to confine that feeling to human language, I would destroy it. It was a moment in my life that will always live in a world beyond words. A beautiful unexplained place that needs no explanation. That is where it belongs, and there it will nurture my soul forever. Soon Bloody Knuckles, with whom we hiked the last 200 miles, joined us and there was much rejoicing (yaaay!). We all read and signed the final register and spent a couple of hours on the border relishing our victory. It was still an 8 mile hike down to the closest civilization, but before we left, I got an overwheling desire to yell at the top of my lungs. To see us yelling there, one would think that we had lost touch with reality. Well maybe we had, but I was only aware of reaching into the depths of my soul and pulling up every emotion that existed within me and letting it out though my vocal chords. I yelled in every direction and stopped only when my throat hurt too much to continue. And that was it. We walked into town, met my incredible parents who drove to Canada to pick me up, and feasted like royalty in the Manning Park Lodge. So I guess I achieved my goal. But on the final days of my trek through the beautiful North Cascades, it became clear that the goal of getting to Canada served me best by teaching me to meet my daily goals. Those are the ones that count. They are the goals ofÊ every present moment. To learn how to take pleasrure in the simple things of life. To get dirty and not care. To let go of needless worry and knock down the walls within that interrupt personal growth. To walk 40 miles in 13 hours. To find peace and a personal refuge to which I can always return. To surround myself with strong, loving people. To walk through snow and freezing rain, to shiver in a wet bag all night, to put on frozen shoes in the morning before the sun is up and find the strength from within to keep going. And now I am home with a brand new set of challenges before me. I am ready for them. Hardship is an inevitable part of life, and to darken my time here with the fear of such experiences would be robbing myself of the beauty that this place has to offer. Plus, it seems to me that there is no better teacher than pain anyway. So here's to life. May it bring us all closer to our goals. Thank you all for following me and supporting me along this journey. You have helped me more than you know. -Whistler PS.Ê Thus far, this project has raised over $25,000, and we will be accepting donations through the end of this year. Thankyou.
NEW!!!Journal Entry: Skykomish, WA. 9/01/05
Hello to all,
So sorry about the lengthy delay of journal updates. There have been some technical difficulties, but rest assured,I am still walking...all day everyday. This trail is monsterous. I started walking over five months ago, and I still haven't finished... but I am oh so close.
If all goes well, I should be done in 7 days on the 7th of October. However, I was just informed that the forcast is looking rather grim. The next week holds nothing but rain and flood warnings.I had a feeling this was going to happen. The trail won't be satisfied until it has pushed me to my mental and physical limit. Bring it on.
So just to catch you all up, I hiked all of Oregon alone and loved it. It was a time of intense introspection and reflection. Particularly in a bone chilling 3 day snow storm during which I averaged 35 miles per day. It was too cold to stop moving.I retreated to the warmth of my core and put my body on auto
pilot.
During this experience, I realized something that shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. There is a distinct twisted part of me that really enjoys pain. I admit it. I get some sort of primal thrill or satisfaction from teasing my human limitations and seeing how far I can distance my mind from my body. This trip has highlighted the distinction between my mind and body, and I have my mind which has often been frustrated by the short comings of my body. Luckily I was blessed with a body that generally puts up with the tyranny of my mind...uh oh,I got lost in thought...back to the story.
I took a quick break in Portland and enjoyed the company of friends and family,and "H" rejoined me as I entered Washington. What a beautiful state. Especially with all of the Fall colors. At the moment,I am warm, dry and fed...life really doesn't get much better. I am spending the night in the home of some lovely trail angels here in Skykomish,WA. "H" and I got here this evening after a few rough days in the rain, and we head on tomorrow. It is time to put this trail to bed.I am ready. -Whistler
NEW!!!Journal Entry: Crater Lake 8/30/05 Hello from the rim of Crater Lake. What a sweet place... but cold. What is up
with that? A week ago it was sweltering hot at this elevation, and this morning
I woke up with ice on my bag. I had better get a move on if I am going to make
it to Canada before I freeze...brrrr.
So I am still walking. Four months have come and gone, and I think my body has
finally become entirely accustomed to this life. I feel good. I am rarely
sore, my feet don't bother me, all of my muscles have been reshaped...and the
best part of all, I still love it. The trail is my home and I am comfortable
here.
However, not much can beat the homecoming celebration event that took place in
Vogel Plaza on the 12th. So many people put so much work into making it a
success. Particularly Conceicao and Charlie, the Founders of the REACH Family
institute. They have bent over backwards to make this project what it is. Thus
far, we have raised about $24,000, and there is much more on the way.
Senator Bates shared a few words, I blubbered a through several words,Charlie
spoke and there was fun had by all. Face painting and games for the kids, some
great prizes and T-shirt give aways. Two TV stations came to the event and
before hand, I gave interviews with three different radio stations.It was a
busy but fun homecoming.When all was said and done, we raised several thousand
dollars and a large amount of awareness of the REACH Family Institute.
So I made it through California...Finally.That is is huge state with lots of
ups and downs, and I feel very proud to say that I walked across it... the long
way.One down, two to go, and a month and a half before the snow starts to
fall.Southern Oregon has been... flat. I love it. The miles fly by.Plus, I had
the pleasure of hiking with several loved ones for a day.
You know how I was just saying how comfortable I felt out here? Well there are
still a few things that will ruffle the bug in my rug.
After I said goodbye to the friends and family who had joined me on the trail
and resumed hiking alone. I stopped and made dinner as I usually do and then
hiked for several more miles. As it got dark, I started to look for a flat spot
to sleep, but the trail was surrounded with dense folliage. I have gotten used
to night hiking in California, but this was different. The trees and bushes
were so tight and overgrown that not even any of the light from the stars
penetrated to ground level. I had my head lamp on, but everything beyond my
little bubble of light was pitch black and silent. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a small reflected light. I turned toward
it... and it turned toward me. A cold shiver exploded down my spine and I
froze.It seemed to be about 20 feet away. I could see nothing more than two
bright, large, yellowish green eyes, and they were fixed on me. Those eyes will forever be frozen in my mind. Their intensity was overwhelming
and awsome. This was easily one of the most exciting and frightening moments of
the hike.
I yelled and clanked my poles together, and at first it didn't react. Eventually, the eyes disappeared, and I heard a few twigs snap as it headed on
its way. It was too dark to ever see a silohuette of the creature, so I will
never know what it was. I like to think that it was a jaberwocky, and I
narrowly escaped with my life due to the intimidation of my roar, and the
strategic clank of my hiking poles.
OK, that's enough story telling for tonight... sleep well, and don't worry about
the jaberwocky. He only attacks when he smells fear...
-Whistler
Journal Entry: Castella, CA. and HomeComing 8/10/05 Home again home again. Here I sit at my computer wondering if it was all a dream, but as soon as I get back to the trail on Saturday, this is the place that will seem like the dream. Or more like a bubble that I popped in and out of and it will float away into my into my ever expanding bank of surreal memories. Yes, this is quite surreal. People, cars, radio interviews, music, luxuries, needless worries, good friends... Everything looks different than it did before, like my perspective has moved two notches to one side and I have to search for that new equilibrium. I guess this is the "real world". Well either way, I like it. Now all I have to do is find a way to transfer the peace I have found on the trail to this hectic life. I think I can do it, but we will just have to wait and see. Well enough of my idealistic jibba jabba. On with the saga. So yes I am at home, but I actually got picked up in Castella near Castle Crags where the PCT crosses I-5. I am here for the next couple of days doing radio interviews and presentations, and Friday is the big homecoming event in Vogel Plaza. It should be quite the party. Charlie and Conceicao have turned their lives upside down to make this project a success, and the community support has been fantastic. It makes me proud to live here and I sincerely thank all who are involved. The trail has been treating me very well... better than most in fact. The majority of hikers that I have encountered are pretty sick right now. We came down in elevation from the Sierras where all the water was fresh and free of bacteria, and we got complacent with our purification practices. I think I just lucked out, because I was drinking out of the same streams as everybody else, and I feel great. Unfortunately, one of the people who was effected most harshly was "H" my trusty hiking companion. He lost his appetite and began to show the symptoms of giardia. A few days later, when we were out in the middle of nowhere, he went down on the trail, and started to vomit. He was unable to continue. I set him up on his pad in the shade with enough food and water for a couple of days and started to hike out a deserted logging road to find help. After about 12 miles, I came to a trailer where I woke up a friendly logger named Tom. He was happy to help, so we hopped into his 4-wheel drive pick up and made our way back up to where "H" was. on the way up, several trees had fallen across the trail, so Tom pulled out his chain saw, and we cut out way through. It could not have worked out better. We got to within 200 yards of him, but with my help, it still took us about 10 minutes to get down to the truck. His energy was zapped. His folks drove down from Medford and picked him up immediately. We parted ways, and I returned to the trail alone. I have hiked solo since he left a week and a half ago. It has been surprisingly good. Our society does not place due value on time spent alone. It is a very healthy thing. "H" is still sick but he is dying to get back out on the trail. The hiking has been hot, but the trail angels have been fantastic. They take us in, feed us, wash our disgusting, clothes let us use their showers and internet, and leave water caches for us on the long dry sections. Not too many crazy events recently. I just keep plugging along. I generally do about 30 miles per day. There have been quite a few bears along the trail, but no problems thus far. However, I was pirate camping on the lawn of the church in the quaint mountain town of Sierra City, and a bear ambled by a couple of times. He woke me up, but I went right back to sleep. But that's not all. You see, I thought that I had the sprinkler system figured out and it wasn't going to get me wet. I thought wrong. Around 2:00am, I woke up to a full blast of water in the face. Oh wasn't that just delightful. I was out of my bag and had all of my gear off of the lawn in under 3 seconds. I wish I had that on tape, but even so I would be nothing more than a fuzzy blur of chaos on the screen. I had to laugh. That's all for now. Thanks again for reading. -Whistler Journal Entry: Kennedy Meadows, CA. 7/15/05 Hello from Kennedy Meadows, What a sweet little place. If you ever have the time, this little pack station is a great kick off point for some incredible backpacking. What a wild couple of weeks it has been. Miles and miles of snow through some of the most majestic, harsh terrain in the lower 48. As I stood on one of the final passes if the high Sierra range, looking back at the mountains that I had just traversed, I was almost pulled to tears. It is so beautiful, and I was lucky enough to spend the last couple of weeks in the middle of it all. It has been hard work to get through all the snow and across all the river fords and through the swarming mosquitos, but I plan on doing that section again in years to come. It is just too beautiful to only do once. One day, I was on my way up to a pass with my friends "H", Writer Man and Good To Go across a wide snow field. Suddenly, I heard the sound of rushing water beneath my feet, but it was too late to react. I fell straight through about 4 feet of snow into the freezing creek. Good times. Since then, I have done the same thing several times, and I went about a week and a half without ever having dry shoes... at least my feet were clean for once. There was also a rough crossing at a river called Evolution Creek... No, it definitely did not fit in the creek category. About half way across, I was up to my chest in the snow melt water, and the boyancy of my backpack lifted my feet off of the river floor. Swimming with a backpack and hiking poles is about as hard as it sounds. By the time I got to the other side, my entire body felt like it was being poked by little needles. It was quite the little adventure. My leg is finally starting to feel better. I am on another kind of antibiotic that treats bone infections, and it seems to be doing the job thankfully. I will be coming through Medford on the 10th, and we have set up a great REACH Quest Homecoming celebration at Vogel Park in front of Ginger Rogers Theatre. There will be face painting and games and tasty treats and information about the REACH Family Institute. Bring the whole family if you are in town. I am so excited for it. The event starts around 11:00 on the 12th. I hope to see you there. And now it is on to the next section. I hope all is well. bye for now. -Whistler Journal Entry: Bishop,CA. 6/30/05 Hello, So much to say, so little time. I am about to hit the trail again after being stuck here in Bishop for a couple days due to a leg problem. About one month ago, I was having a rough day, and as I was hiking, I got a stick stuck into my shin, and a peice broke off inside. I spent about a half hour digging it out with my knife, but apparently, I didn't get all of it. It healed over but I could still feel the bump. About a week ago, it started to cause a lot of pain and the last 40 miles were difficult. I went to the emergency room, and they were reluctant to cut it out, so they just tried draining it with an 18 guage needle. (I hate needles) So now I have a large prescription of antibiotics and vicadin, and I am hoping for the best. I climbed Mt. Whitney with my friend "H" last week, and it was incredible. Snow covered mountains as far as I could see. The next day, we crossed the highest pass on the PCT at over 13,000 feet. It was covered in snow which made it pretty tough, but we have ice axes and crampons, so we made it through. However, we didn't plan it very well. We ended up summiting after the sun went down. It was an incredible sunset and we danced little jig on top to celebrate, but the dark descent was a bit hairy. It was steep and covered in snow. We rarely found the trail, and there were some pretty intense river fords. It took us 6 hours to get down, and we finally flopped into our bags around 1:30 am. I am not conveying the intensity of this situation very well because I am in a hurry, but it was one of the most challenging, frightening and exciting experiences of my life. My next stop is at Vermillion Valley Resort in about a week, and I will get back to y'all then. By the way, I would like to thank all of those who have written to me out here on the trail. I have gotten so many encouraging notes from people who I have never even met. I love hearing that this project is positively affecting lives beyond those of the children. If you want to write me, I would love to hear from you. My address out here is gabesho@pocketmail.com Thanks again for all of your support. bye for now. -Whistler Journal Entry: Kennedy Meadows 6/14/2005 The Jury is in, and it looks like I am going straight through the snow ratherthan flip-flopping up to Canada with the majority of the hikers. The streamcrossings will be the most technically difficult part, but I am a member of aparty of six. It is a rowdy crew of wilderfolk, but we are planning on takingit safe and slow. If we hit a river that is too rough to ford, we can alwaysjust camp there and wait for the morning when the snow isn't melting so fast. I arrived here in Kennedy meadows yesterday, and I am settling in nicely. 700miles down and 1,958 miles to go... but I am not moving an inch until the 21st. That's right, a 9 day break. My body is burnt toast. This last section hasbeen a doosy. For example... About one week ago, I was descending into the western corner ofthe Mojave Desert out of the San Gabriel mountains with a trusty bunch. We bushwacked the last bit, making a B-line for Gil's Country store... where they sellpints of Ben & jerry's. We stayed on their shaded back porch for about 8 hoursand stuffed ourselves with junk food. Around 8:00pm, we hit the trail whichruns atop the California aquaduct for 16 miles. It was a perfectly clear moonless night, and the shooting stars never ceased. We didn't use our head lamps because the path was so flat and wide. For about 5miles, the aquaduct leads due north. It was an eye oppening experience to hikewhile staring unwaveringly at the north star. I felt like I was sailing, butmost of all, I felt like I wasn't going anywhere at all. It was a lesson inspace. I thought I was hiking a long way, but when I hiked while only lookingout into space, my persective never changed. I wasn't moving at all. It was agood relative reality check. We hiked until dawn and stopped on a hill to watch the sun rise over the Mojave. There are few things that I enjoy more than watching the sun go down and thencome back up without ever sleeping. It launched us into a state of contenteddelerium. It was windy, so we each found a bush to stuff ourselves under. The heat of the sun got us up a couple of hours later and we hit the trailagain. By 8:00pm that night, we had gone 40 miles from Gil's Country store. Wehit Willow Springs Road, called a hotel in Mojave, they picked us up and we allslept like the dead in an over priced, dingy motel room. It was a thing ofbeauty. Since then, we have been doing 25 to 30 mile days. Within about 40 miles ofKennedy Meadows, "H" and I both started to experience sharp pains in our shinmuscles. We hobbled up to the general store with no fuel and no food other thandried milk. We sat down and each devoured a pint of Ben & Jerry's and a beer. Miller Genuine Draft has never tasted so good. It was a glorious moment... andthe moment continues as I sit here next to the South fork of the Kern River inthe shade of a healthy Juniper Tree. ...side note: Though my body is taking a good thrashing out here, let there beno mistaking that I still love every bit of it. I think I might actually bedeveloping an addiction to the high amount of endorphins that constantly streamthrough my brain as a result of this lifestyle. I have never been so canstantlyhappy and content for such and extended period of time. From here, I might just blather on for a bit because I haven't written in for awhile, so if you have something important to do, you should probably go do itnow because who knows what I might spend the next 20 minutes writing about. I was thinking about this on line journal entry thing the other day. If I werereading somebody elses journal from the trail, I would enjoy the stories, but toget a real feel for what they were going through, I would want to get insidetheir head a little. I like to know those tiny, insignificant details that makeup the day. I am not going to bore you with all off them, but here is a thoughtthat was running through my mind as I was bumbling along the other day that Iwill share with you. Hiking all day long, my mind tends to wander quite a bit, but sometimes I haveto create little games to entertain myself. When I am at home, immersed in mydaily routine, I never make time to sit back and think about my past. I haveled a very full and eventful life filled with colorful people and places. Onthe trail, I have all the time in the world to think back about all of thewonderful things that I have experienced, and I have grown to love it. Isometimes find myself bursting into laughter on the trail because I rememberedsomething stupid that I had done... My hiking companions stopped asking questions a while ago. So this is how it works. At home, memories are just bigblurry chunks of my life that I don't take time to examine individually. So,for example, out here, I will picture the face of someone who has played a rolein my life until I see the exact lines of their facial expressions. Then Ifollow them to whatever experience the thought of them draws me to and I try to re-live that experience as vividly as possible. It ismore rewarding than I originally would have thought. If you have some freetime, I highly recommend it. Not only does it reinforce those memories in mymind, but it can give pretty obvious clues as to why I am the way I am. Well, I could really go on for way too long, so I will end it here. Thanksagain for reading, and remember, we still have quite a ways to go before we meetthe $60,000 goal of REACH Quest. So if you have already donated, please talk tofriends or family about this opportunity to help developmentally challengedchildren. Fund raising from the trail is difficult, and Charlie and Conceicaoare hard at work with the families of the children that this project isbenefitting. We need all the help we can get. Thank you. -Whistler Journal Entry: Somewhere after Idyllwild 5/29/2005 One month and 450 miles down. 2,200 miles left to hike. I am so happy that there I am still only at the beginning. Maybe I was a nomad in some past life. I feel so at home in each place that I camp. The simplicity of this lifestyle has enticed me. It highlights the raw elements of life and the distracting banter of la vida cotidiana becomes an after thought. Well what's new... I broke my third trekking pole pole hiking up Baden Powell the other day, but it was worth it. The view from the 9,400ft peak was quite revealing... there is a big dry desert that lies directly in my path. The brown Mojave desert streched north for miles to where I could see the foot hills of the forboding Sierra range. The speculation about how to tackle those snowy monstrosities is insatiable. However despite all of the discouraging statistics, I find contentment in the fact that this year is set apart from other years in terms of difficulty. If I make it straight though this year (as I plan to do) I will have an even stronger sense of accomplishment. ... What else... The snakes continue to punctuate the hot days, the bugs are growing in numbers but I have only inhaled 3, I counted 54 varieties of wild flowers in one day about a week ago, I still haven't gotten a blister, did a few sketches, watched a little league baseball game (the Cubs finally beat the Yankees) and so on. The surprises are endless. A few trail headlines for you: John Donovan, an older thru hiker went missing around Idyllwild about 15 days ago but people are still searching for him. An elderly woman was evacuated by helicopter from the trail after injuring her knee near Idyllwild. Yosemite is closed due to flooding. The snow in the Sierras is melting fast. There is poison oak everywhere! A downed personal airplane was discovered near the trail by a thru hiker in the mountains south of Big Bear City and was reported to local authorities. Many hikers have gotten off of the trail. Some were injured and others left for personal reasons. Several bob cats have been spotted, but no bears or mountain lions as of yet. No reported snake bites, but a rattler struck the hiking pole of Whoop Ass as she passed. And of course, the Cubs beat the Yankees in Wrightwood. Now I am going to change gears and talk about something that is very close to my heart. Though I may be living in a different world at the moment, my love and appreciation for my family and friends has grown. And so it is with concern and faith that I am using this entry to ask for your help. My mother, Laurie Shonerd was diagnosed with breast cancer six years ago. She has shown incredible resilience and strength and I feel confident that she will pull out of this, but I am asking for your thoughts and prayers. I recently learned that she has returned to Argentina for an experimental treatment with hopes for a full remission. I believe strongly in the effects of positive energy, so if you could just send a little bit her way, it would be deeply appreciated. Thank you. Thanks for reading. Hope to see you next week on Whistler's Trail Tales where I will hopefully be telling you about the nice cool breezes and the abundance of water sources in the mojave Desert. Bye for now. -Whistler Journal Entry:Warner Springs to Big Bear City 5/17/2005 Dear everyone,Where do I begin... I am at mile 280 right now in the sweet little town of BigBear. I had to jump off the trial for a couple days to go to my cousin Julie'sbeautiful wedding in Palo Alto. It was quite the culture shock being around somany people and cars and neon lights. I can't wait to get back onto the trail. The weather has been decent in general, but I woke up with a couple inches ofsnow on my tent the other day. Hiking in the snow is slow going. Especiallybecause you can't see the trail. I still don't know if I will be able to makeit through the Sierras on schedule, but I hear they are having some floodingright now which is a good sign. I have to tell you about my camp site the other night. I think I was in heaven. I had hiked all day through pretty dense fog. We were rising in elevation andat one point I mentioned to Bliss and Chunky... "wouldn't it be nice to getabove this muck and look down on it like a big bowl of soup?" Sure enough, whenwe hit about 8,000ft. the sky cleared. We looked out from the saddle, and itwas more like a white sea... A fluffy white sea with the sun shining down uponit. Words cannot describe the immensity of this experience. I have never in mylife seen a sunset that compared to this one. The colors were not extremelybright, but you could see every color in the spectrum being chased away by theblack of the night. I am beggining to teach myself how to be aware of the motion of the earth withrelation to the sun and the moon and some of the planets. It is a hard thing todo when I am at home and inside so much of the time... well, it's not exctlyeasy out here either, but it is possible, and I plan on becoming quite adept atit. Here's a good one... I am not sure which planet it is, but it is the brightestplanet in the sky right now. Maybe somebody could write and tell me. It is justa little bit east of it's zenith at about 9:00pm, and if you keep track of itnightly... or weekly if you would rather, you can see its southwestwardmovement. The way I keep trak of it is with the 3 stars above it. When I firststarted keeping track of it, it looked like a necklace on display with theplanet as the hanging jewel from the triangle of stars above it. Now the jewelhas swung to one side and it doesn't really look like a necklace anymore, butyou get the idea. Can you tell I am a visual learner? Anyway, it feels good tofinally start to get a better idea of where we sit in our precious little solarsystem. OK, just to wrap things up, I have seen many more rattle snakes, no bears yetand a bazillion more wild flowers. I have only been averaging about 17 milesper day, but that will change as soon as I get past the Sierras. There is lotsmore to say, but it is already 9:00am and I am dying to hit the trail. I willbe in touch soon. love to you all. -Whistler Journal Entry:Mexican Border to Warner Springs 5/3/2005 Hi everybody, First I just want to say thank you to everyone who has made REACH Quest such a success. We still have a ways to go, but if it were not for all of your support, none of this would be possible. Sorry I took so long to write. I just received my pocket mail with my first drop in Warner Springs. Well I finally made it. Months of preparation and fund raising and now all I have to do is hike... It is may 3rd today and in the last nine days, I hiked 150 miles.
What a trip it has been, and this is only the beginning. The desert flowers are stunning. There is so much color out here. Life is simple. I get up in the morning when the sun wakes me up, make granola breakfast, break camp and hit the trail. I generally hike between 7 and 10 hours per day, breaks included. Then I make dinner, set up camp, read and write and go to sleep around 9:00. I don't ever remember feeling so good all the time. I guess this is what happens when you excercise all day, breathe clean air and eat healthy food that your mom helped you prepare (thanks mom). However, my feet have been rebelling against me and I am not having it! This is a dictatorial regime and I rule with an iron fist. They will do as I say. Mind over matter baby.
The rattle snakes around here are sneaky little critters. They blend in with the granite and they like to wait until you are about 2 feet away before they scare you out of your wits with their unmistakable rattle. Today I was cruising along, off in my own little world, and I planted my foot about 6 inches from a large rattle snake. We both spang in opposite directions at the same time, him rattling and me shouting... oh dear goodness! For the rest of the day every stick on the trail looked like a snake.
I have camped in some great spots. My favorite was the second night. It was the end of the day and the battle between me and my feet was raging. I looked across the valley and saw my spot. I put in another hour of hiking, and it was all worth it. I found a small nook just large enough for one person to lie down right on the edge of a cliff. It is called Garnet Peak and it overlooks an immense valley 3,000 feet below. The wind was ripping overhead, but I was sheltered with large rocks on all sides. I played my harmonica to the valley, stretched out and fell asleep under the stars. Seconds after openning my eyes at 5:30am, I shouted... oh gosh! The clouds were flailing over my head, into the valley at about 60 miles per hour. I looked down along the ridge line and there was a sea of dense cloud pouring over the crest into the ravines like giant white tenticles.
I made a cup of vanilla caramel tea, watched the sun rise and sucked it all in. It is an experience that I will never forget. Today, I had my first radio interwiew. It was with Rosemary and Garth on KCNA. It was great. I had to climb a mountain to get reception and crank my side winder through the whole conversation to keep my phone charged. If you want to tune in, I will be be giving short updates on their show at 8:35 every couple of mornings. I will also be on the weekend edition on Jefferson Public Radio, but I am not sure exactly when they air that program. Oh, by the way, I have been dubbed "Whistler" as my trail name... go figure. OK, that's all for now, but I will get back to you again soon. Thanks for reading.
-Whistler | 
