Week 19

 The two nights in South Lake Tahoe gave Darrell much rest and encouragement.  There was a campground with an area specifically designated for  PCT hikers.  There were showers and most importantly large camp areas for people to have big family reunions and other kinds of celebrations.  The PCT hikers were the grateful recipients of the leftovers from these literal fiestas...platefuls of  enchiladas and rice and beans they were invited to eat.  In the mornings the local campers brought over huge breakfasts with sausage, bacon, eggs, and potatoes for the hikers.  I don't think Darrell is the only PCT hiker who talks incessantly about the food they devour when in towns...real food does not go unappreciated or unconsumed by people living on instant mashed potatoes, instant rice, and various other "add boiling water only" foods. Some of the backpackers don't even boil the water for their meals; they "cold soak" them, which is adding cold water to the dried food at lunch and hiking all afternoon with them soaking in hopes that they will be digestible by dinner time without having to boil water.  One young man we gave a ride to from the trail to a nearby town has the trail name of Sixty Cent because he stocks his pack with the cheapest frozen burritos he can find and hikes with them and eats them cold as they thaw over the days.

This is a picture of the camping area PCT hikers' in Tahoe (affectionately known as "hiker trash"). Here, as on the trail, the tents are so close they hear more than they want to hear from their neighbors.  Darrell might have made some enemies one morning on the trail because he got up to "use the restroom" before his alarm went off early in the morning and while he was out, unbeknownst to him, his phone alarm went off and rang incessantly until he got back. One night he was in his sleeping bag in his tent wrapped up in his mummy bag talking to me on the phone about how to start the lawn mower and the next day some random person he encountered on the trail asked him if his wife was able to finally get the mower started.

This is the cage provided at the Tahoe campground for hikers and campers to put their food and anything else scented, like toothpaste or deodorant (the deodorant is a joke--have you smelled these guys?), in to keep the bears from getting it.  Also, around it you can see bear canisters that the hikers carry on the trail for the same purpose because there is nothing along the trails to keep the bears out.  They are designed so that the bears cannot break through them nor grip them nor get their mouths around them.  The hikers leave them several feet away from their tents at night so if a bear does smell it and try to get it, they are not too close to the tents.  Darrell told me that the canisters in this picture were neatly stacked around the cage before they went to bed, but bears came at night and strew them about trying to get at the food inside them.  Hopefully, a hiker will not be near a ledge or downhill slope where the canister can get pushed down the mountain.  While he was here at Tahoe, several bears came down both during the day and night to get at the food.  During the day the campers made lots of noise to scare them away.  They are advised not to chase them because it can train the bears to become aggressive.  Also, shout out to Nancy and Shawn Turner for picking him up and driving him around and taking him to lunch one day while he was here.

Remember the story in my last post about the screaming lady and the Search and Rescue people?  The last night Darrell was here at this camp in Tahoe, the lady hiked in to this place!  Here is the rest of the story:  As it turns out, she was hiking alone and had set up camp and noticed she was being stalked by a mountain lion.  She spent three hours on high alert, always facing toward the cat as he circled around through the trees, sometimes in her line of sight and sometimes not.  If he got too close, she would cry out loudly to scare him off (hence the question by Search and Rescue "have you heard a lady screaming?"). She was able to send an SOS on her satellite device before the battery went dead.  It turns out she was less than a mile away from where Darrell was cowboy camping, far enough away for Darrell not to have heard her crying out, yet pretty close in my estimation.  I'm so glad she was safe and knew how to handle herself in such a dangerous situation.  I also question why the Search and Rescue people didn't warn Darrell since he was sleeping alone without a tent with a mountain lion in the vicinity.  It got me to thinking about grizzly bears being in Canada and Yellowstone and how I'm pretty sure they aren't aware of national and state boundary lines--what's to keep them from coming in to Washington?  

This is Shapes.  He hiked with Darrell for several days before they got into Tahoe.  He was going to hike out with Darrell as they left camp and headed north toward Sierra City.  They shared a ride with a trail angel back up to the trailhead where there was a small store that also mailed packages for hikers on their way out.  Shapes had a package to mail there, but when they arrived they were no longer mailing packages.  Shapes then had to catch a ride back to town and mail his package and would join Darrell later on the trail.  As it turns out, the smoke that was making its way over the mountains became too much for Shapes, and he ended up having to jump ahead further up north to avoid the smoke and breathe easier.  Darrell will be looking out for him and Father as well as he hikes north in  hopes of meeting up with them again.  It is not too often that he comes upon someone who walks the same pace as he does.  I know the companionship means so much to him and makes the going a little easier.

There are so many interesting signs along the way.  Some are mile markers, some are welcoming hikers to new forests, some are warnings, and some tell wonderful histories, but they all bring hope and mark progress and give a sense of accomplishment.

I love the signs that tell a little history.  I can't imagine coming over these mountains in covered wagons.  Our German friends have commented about a sign post about the Donner Party, which we grew up learning about, but they like to tell this new story to their families about that fateful group and their "series of bad decisions".

This is at the top of Dick's Pass, a dreaded pass to climb a few thousand feet in elevation over a relatively short distance in the Desolation Wilderness.  This was also part of the trail we hiked when we did the Tahoe Rim Trail a few years back.

The smoke from the fire near Yosemite is spreading out all over northern California.  Many hikers are circumventing this part of the trail and will come back later in the season in hopes of clearer air.

This hike hasn't turned out to look the way Darrell had envisioned when he first started out.  With the snow and COVID he has had to skip ahead and circle back and detour in ways he hadn't planned.  I've made more trips to move him around and he's had more down time than we had expected, but he has finally come full circle and has covered all the trail down south of Dunsmuir and is now back on the trail at the point furthest north that he hiked.  Hopefully, from here on out it's North to Canada.  This is where I dropped him off on Monday entering Castle Crags State Park.  He was dreading getting back on the trail with temperatures predicted to be in the low 100's over the next ten days.  He briefly entertained the idea of my dropping him off at the ending point in Canada and his heading back down to end here to avoid these extreme temperatures.  He didn't have his passport, there is still snow on the mountains in Washington, and other logistical stuff helped him make the decision to continue to move forward from here.  He'll need to carry lots of water, get up before dark and head out on the trail in the cooler part of the day, take longer breaks during the heat, and  hike a little more in the evenings.

I have posted more pictures below showing the diversity of landscape he has encountered as he walked so many miles across this large area of California surrounding Lake Tahoe.  Before I posted them I wanted to once again give the link to his donation page for World Vision.  He has set a goal of raising $100,000 for clean water projects around the world through Team World Vision.  So far, our friends and family and even many strangers have donated $52,510 dollars.  Isn't that  incredible?  Thank you so much!  I guess that leaves $47,490 to go.  Darrell has hiked 1,535 miles with 1,115 to go!  Thank you for supporting him on his journey by giving, praying, and following his progress.

https://www.teamworldvision.org/participant/pctwaterboy

Week 17

As most of you know, Darrell and I were exposed to COVID in Yosemite during a brief layover for Darrell about two weeks ago.  We did not know this until two days after he hit the trail, and he didn't develop symptoms until two days after that.  So, after 57 miles from where I dropped him off, he developed sinus issues, followed the next day by difficulty breathing, sore throat and diarrhea.  Our wonderful long-time  friends Steve and Shirley Davidson, who live in Clovis, were set to meet him and bring him a food box and moral support at Sonora Pass 45 miles further along the trail in three days.  As his symptoms progressed, he struggled forward with limited daily mileage.  I was in close contact with Steve and Shirley, and we decided that because of his possible COVID and their trip to their grandson's wedding in the next week or so, that it would be best for me to meet him rather than risk their exposure.  Darrell started feeling  a little better after another day, so his mileage picked up and he told me he would be at the trailhead at Sonora Pass a day earlier than expected.  I threw everything in my car and took off.  Steve and Shirley met me at Starbucks right off the highway in Fresno and gave me the package I had mailed to them a few days earlier, and I headed up to Sonora Pass to meet Darrell.  I parked at the trailhead and was told by some hikers that Waterboy was waiting on the side of the road up the trail a few hundred feet.  I walked over a small rise and saw Darrell sitting on the side of the road with his pack next to him. I  waved at him and signaled for him to walk back to the car with me.  He groaned and asked me to please walk back and pull the car up next to him because he did not want to carry the pack that far!  The other hikers laughed about that but understood completely how he was feeling.  I walked back to my car and drove around to where he was.  He hopped into the car and we drove down to a motel.  We tested him first thing, and yes, he was positive for COVID.  We ended up staying four days in town for him to completely recover before heading back out.  Once again, we are so grateful to our friends Steve and Shirley who were looking forward to providing support along the trail for Darrell's hike.  And, we are so glad about the decision for them  not to meet him.

There was still snow on the trail but nothing like when he first attempted to pass through this area six weeks ago.

Instead of post holing through the snow, the path had been trampled on and melted so that passage was easier.

This was Darrell's attire when walking through the cold and sleet and snow and rain.  Father, his fellow hiker, told Darrell he looked like an actor in the movie "Outbreak" with his anti-contamination suit with his waterproof backpack cover and rain gear. 

You can cross the rivers by rock....

...or by log.

But mostly you can walk beside and enjoy the sight and the sound.

Yosemite is more than just the beautiful valley, it is a whole national park, and this is the part that most people never see.

I get the feeling from these pictures that there is something new and breathtaking around every corner.

Meadows ...

... and marmots (you have to look carefully at the top of the pointed rock).

And flora

Colorful lichens

He reached this mile marker on the trail, which is momentous and victorious, but you need to add on the 300 miles he has already hiked up north to get the true picture. 1300 miles plus, which is halfway!

This is how Darrell loads up when he comes upon a grocery store.  I try not to cringe with his diabetes because I know he needs the calories.

Trail story, and I quote:  "I slipped on a rock at 6:30 this morning and got my jacket, pant, shirt, shoes, and bottom of pack wet.  Everything is dry now except socks...I did not get hurt this time."

Another trail story:  He decided to cowboy camp last night because he reached his camp so late.  Late in the night he was awakened by headlamps approaching and whistles blowing  intermittently.  From afar two men identify themselves as Search and Rescue.  Darrell calls out from his sleeping bag, "I'm not who you are looking for."  They then ask him if he's heard a woman screaming, to which his reply was no.  They walk on then, continuing to blow their whistles.  A little while later they come back by with the woman and escorted her safely away.  Sorry, I have no punchline, no explanation.  It just happened.

Dropping him off back at the trailhead at Sonora Pass.  Next stop Echo Lake, near Lake Tahoe., where he will camp for two nights, do laundry, shower, load up on burgers and all sorts of junk food, and be met by my roommate from college, Nancy Turner and her husband, Shawn, once again.  They will meet him with the box of backpacking food I mailed to their home.

I need to let you know about the SUMMER SPLASH FOR MATCHING FUNDS this Tuesday, July 19.  SUMMER SPLASH is  a World Vision matching funds event where every donation received, up to $250,000 is DOUBLED!  Darrell's "God-sized" goal for this journey is $100,000.  Darrell uses none of the funds to assist with personal expenses for this endeavor so every dollar donated goes directly to World Vision for clean water projects around the world.  The only difficult thing about the matching funds event is that the $250,000 available for matching goes quickly!  Times for different time zones in the U.S. are:  5:00 am PT/7:00 am CT/ 8:00 am ET.  PRO TIP:  Pray about what you would like to donate and log onto the site about five minutes early and get ready to push the button right at the opening bell!  

If you are led to join in this journey, donate by visiting Darrell's World Vision page at https://www.teamworldvision.org/participant/pctwaterboy or be a prayer warrior for continued strength and safety on the trail, OR DO BOTH! 

Disclosure:  I plagiarized the last two paragraphs from Darrell's sister, Robin Hopper.  She said it way better than I could!  Thank you, Robin, for getting the word out there so well!

UPDATE ON FATHER:  Almost two weeks off the trail getting healthy, he got back on the trail on Wednesday.