“Life is a journey not a destination”

 “Strider” and Mary from the Mt. Williamson Motel in Independence, CA. picked us up from the Onion Valley road end parking lot at 12:30 pm as pre-arranged.  Emily and I were eager to go off the trail and into town hoping to satisfy our hunger for fresh food and the longing for a warm, comfy bed and a long, hot shower.  We could not stop dreaming or talking about homemade Mexican food. Homemade Guacamole and Chips!  The thought of them brought smiles to our faces.

Upon arrival, we received free beer or ice cold drinks as well as the keys to our room,  breakfast serving time, and offers to wash all our laundry (for a small fee).  Mary had hung special battery opperated colorful lanterns on our window in honor of my recovery from breast cancer and to welcome us.  Amazing!  We were given anything else we needed: hair shampoo and conditioner, razors, and clothes to wear while all our filthy clothes were washed.  We were happy motel dwellers.  Content.  The rooms were very clean and felt like a guest house in a home rather than a motel.  We loved this sweet oasis that nurtured our zero days and freedom from hiking with a spirit of excellence.  Who Knows? Maybe Doug and will buy this property someday or run a hiking hostel of our own someday?  We could hike to the John Muir Trail from here and back every day.  Zero Days are designed for resting and dreaming.  My dreams are waking up and I am feeling rested.

( photo courtesy of Emily E. Hundley)

Emily and I discovered a Taco Truck parked in front of an abandoned gas station and ordered amazing vegetarian burritos and Street Tacos.  Sadly, they had no guacamole. the cost of avocados just too pricey.  The storm seemed to follow us here and while sitting outside eating our lunch it began to thunder while lightning struck and flashed all around as the rain fell in torrents.

We took our lunch inside the abandoned gas station turned into dining room and enjoyed our first meal with the sounds of the storm surrounding us bringing the outdoors in through open doors and windows.

I celebrated the goodness and kindness of God.  We were strong, healthy,  safe, fed, warm, and comfortable.  We were able to rest and relax easily.  Mt. Williamson Motel and the staff there were wonderful.  Breakfast was simple, good fare: eggs, bacon, coffee, toast and they provided garden fresh peaches and homemade jam.  Doug arrived on day two, after our second lunch at the Taco Truck (yummy).  He brought enough resupplies of food and essentials to cover the three of us for our final ten days of hiking out of the Sierras via The High Sierra Trail.  Doug  will join us as we complete our hike. Doug’s support through resupply, driving, taking care of our pets and home has been invaluable. We could not have done what we did without him.  He is “THE BEST”!

For our final ten days, our plan was to continue our journey back up and over  Kearsarge Pass.  There we would retrace our steps back to the John Muir Trail and detour onto the High Sierra Trail. A few days later we would exit to our car parked at the road end near Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park.

Emily would be going ahead of her older parents to freely hike with her swift unstoppable hiking legs and flying feet.  She planned to Climb Mt. Whitney and/or go to Lake South America and then backtrack to Kern Hot Springs for some zero days  while waiting for her parents to catch up to her.

A Side Note about transition.  Transitions are so hard for me.  I struggle with change. Transition.  I feel like I am in one now with Emily no longer hiking closely with me.  I leaned on her much in previous days for  encouragement and support.  She has been amazingly patient and I feel so thankful to have had her beside me.  She championed me to go beyond what I believed I could do.  I learned a lot from her enthusiasm and love for the wilderness.  I am already missing our girlie, silly, and fun times.  In her place,  my husband, Doug is hiking with me and leading the way as he usually does and this is good and fun but definitely different.

I am hiking back up Kearsarge Pass falling behind Doug on the trail and lost in my thoughts- daydreaming.  I miss the trail juncture and find myself hiking up, up, up, toward a waterfall that is off the designated trail.  Doug is far ahead waiting for me to show up, a little worried now that it is taking me so long to catch up to him.

I call out for Doug, scream for Doug,  and then have a melt down when I don’t hear him respond.  I am now crying and losing all my fight and strength on the trail and wondering why I did not just drive my car home instead of leaving it parked at the Mt. Williamson Motel?  I’m  not really lost and I can still see the parking lot below from my vantage point,  but I feel tired and like my purpose for this hike is fuzzy now. Zero days are now a thing of the past.

I am feeling embarrassed and mad at myself for doing all this extra, non-necessary, strenuous, uphill hiking.   I begin to backtrack downhill undoing my climb in minutes.

Transition.  The worst in me always comes out when I am in transition.  My focus gets disrupted and it seems like a fight to keep on living in Peace.  I feel lost. I was lost. No longer. I am seen. Found.  I breathe.  Focus.  My eyes…my heart…my soul…my voice… my mind set on peace again. Thankfullness washes over me like a fresh breeze.  I hike forward towards the new journey that awaits me with pleasure and anticipation.  Forgetting what is behind and moving forward sight unseen with a new garment of faith,  knowing, trusting that it will be good. One step in front of the other leaving transition and the anxiety caused by it behind me now. 

Doug and I meet up and hike up over Kearsarge pass and then camp at the lovely Kearsarge Lakes.

 

Clouds threaten to storm again but break up and blow away before the sun sets. Doug and I imagine that  Emily is probably camping close to Forrester Pass.  We know she is miles ahead of us on the trail. We wonder about what choices she will make on her journey.  It is good to be alone again with my husband and catch up on life in this beautiful place.  Memories of all our past hiking journeys come back to us and it is fun to reminisce about previous adventures on this trail.

 (At the Finish line of the John Muir Trail 1984)

(Family John Muir Trail Hike 2006)

The next day we hike as close to Forrester pass as we can.  We want to hike up passes in the early morning and this is officially our last pass on the John Muir Trail.  We made a decision to skip Mt. Whitney this year and adventure into new territory.  We camped in the same location we camped at last year.

 

Last year, Doug carried most of my pack weight up Forrester Pass when he resupplied me and hiked with me for a few days on my solo trip.  Unfortunately this year, I would be carrying my entire fully weighted pack. I am pretty certain it is over 35 pounds.

When we awaken early, it is still dark. We begin our hike up Forrester with our headlamps on.  The coolness of the morning helps keep our pace steady.   We reach a steep, 100 foot snowfield on the trail. We were told that we could go around the  snow on a very sketchy, slippery trail created by people attempting to avoid the snow.  Doug makes the decision as others have to travel up  the snow

(This photo is courtesy of Emily E. Hundley)

I am not at all happy about this decision.  I actually hated every single step I made on this part of the trek.  It took all my strength, determination, and courage  to walk and keep on walking up this snow field carefully placing one foot and then the other foot into the boot prints of those who had hiked up this long field before me.  I walked past the large vacant black hole that went down deep  through the snow.  I secretly hoped my foot would not enter or make such a hole as I trudged heavily uphill with a fast beating heart and loud breaths.

I walked past the perfect large dragonfly that lay dead before me on the snow, while wishing I had my camera in hand to take a photo to capture that brief moment of beauty.  I shouted up to Doug way ahead of me now,  “Are we almost to the top?”  “NO…Keep going” he said in response.  The snow went on and on, forever it seemed.  I had to climb up impossible boulders at the end while on top of the world. This was the only way to get off the snow and back onto the trail. Not fun!

(This photo is courtesy of Emily E. Hundley)

Finally, we made it to the top of Forrester Pass.  I was not a happy hiker but was relieved that climbing was over. 

 

Exhausted now, we climbed down the pass trying to move fast to avoid the storm we could see approaching. 

Rain pelted us and we looked for a place to camp and found a place next to a barren mountain lake.  It was windy and rained all night making the air very cold and wet.  I slept little.  I lost my appetite for food and barely nibbled on a tortilla for breakfast. Eating olives alone was not much fun.  Saying goodbye to my beloved John Muir Trail was hard to do but I knew as I hiked that morning my heart was ready to part ways and I was already anticipating the new adventure that lay ahead.

We hiked to Tyndall Creek planning to go to the Kern Hot Springs to meet Emily via Wallace Creek which was still miles ahead. At the last minute, we decided to skip crossing the creek, and instead go back to the trail fork that led off the John Muir Trail and to less crowded trails.  We headed toward Lake South America and the Kern River.

After about two miles we saw two male hikers who reminded us of ancient mountain climbers hiking toward us.  We spoke to them briefly and they said they were “just wandering around exploring the area”.  The land looked brand new and views were spectacular. and untouched.  We headed toward the Kern River planning to meet Emily the following day at Kern Hot Springs on the High Sierra Trail.

After hiking many hours,  the trail brought us to a cattle gate that opened directly into Tyndall Creek again, only this was a wide and sketchy crossing that emptied into the Kern River.  I did not feel safe or comfortable crossing here.  Of Course, Doug  thought it was doable.   I was happy to talk him out of it because I saw a friendly deer that I thought was directing us to another crossing.

Yes! We found a safer crossing pointed out by the deer.  We were able to cross the creek and not slip into a waterfall that led into the wild, dangerous Kern River.

The remainder of the day was lovely. We saw a 4 point deer,a doe and her two fawns.  We ate lunch at a beautiful lake/pond. It was quiet bliss. Doug and I felt like we were truly lost and alone in the woods.  We camped for the night next to the Kern River where the ground was covered with a blanket of pine needles.  A sacred space.

On our way to the junction the next morning we passed a historical cabin in the woods. 

As we arrived at the sign for the High Sierra Trail we noticed a note left by Emily duck-taped to the sign.

After reading her note, I was convinced that she did not go to Mt. Whitney but decided to coincidently  go on the same trail we did.  She mentioned I would be happy to know she was alive and made it over the sketchy creek.  The note was dated two days before we arrived.  Did Emily cross the same sketchy creek we did?

I am eager to meet up with Emily and am already imagining her having zero days while safe and sound at Kern Hot Springs.  I can’t wait to hear about her adventures.

We crossed Wallace Creek.  It was the first crossing of more than five other hard crossings before we would reach Kern Hot Springs.

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Doug and I continued on to Junction Meadow and received another encouraging note from Emily.  After crossing five more challenging fast and overflowing creeks we made it to Kern Hot Springs.  A final note from Emily directed us to her campsite.  We were exhausted but thankful to have a place to set up camp, eat dinner together, and share olives again.  After 17 miles, we could not wait to soak our tired bones in the hot springs.  Doug and I ran off to the popular hot springs as soon as they were emptied of other hikers.   Heavenly sleep awaited us tonight.

Catching up with Emily was delightful, we learned that she also chose to hike up the snowfield on her way up Forrester pass and she asked me “Did you see the dead dragonfly in the snow?”  I answered “Yes…did you get a photo?”  Yes…she got a photo!  I love dragonflies and really wanted the picture of that beautiful moment on my hardest hike.  When I delight in beauty, I always enjoy life more.

Emily said  she hiked to Lake South America.  She left us a note there that we never saw because we did not actually detour to the lake.  Emily met the same ancient looking men we spoke to near Lake South America,  only at the time, she was “lost”.  They helped her get back on the trail and had a lengthy conversation about climbing.  They were old school climbers who encouraged her interest and gave her advice about the best climbs in the area.  They pointed out Shepherd’s Pass and told Emily she had to climb it someday as it was the best in the area.    We found out that the   sketchy creek she spoke of in her note and crossed  was the very same one we crossed but she crossed it right at the gate in what looked like the most dangerous spot.  OMG! 

She told us she tentatively tested it out and put much thought into whether or not to cross and looked for better places to cross but did not find one.  In the end, using  a balance of courage and caution, she made it safely across.  I am thankful we did not come across her injured on our hike and that she made it safely to Kern Hot Springs for some zero days while waiting for her parents.   It was fun to compare notes and catch  up.  The next day we headed up and over Kaweah Gap.

For the remainder of our journey, Emily went ahead and scouted out our campgrounds   and made sure to save a spot for our tent as well as hers. We camped at Big Arroyo Junction, Hamilton Lakes, and Mehrten Creek.

We stopped for lunch at Bearpaw Meadow (a High Sierra Camp with a small store) and were able to purchase homemade chicken sandwiches and lemonade.  They were delicious and fueled the rest of our hiking day.

Finally, we headed out of the wilderness and High Sierra Trail at Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park.

This walk in the Sierras was a wonderful journey that grew me wildly in endurance.  Through all the joyous adventures and through the painful, difficult times,  I persevered, healed and survived.  I am leaving this seven week hike sensing that every day was abundant with teachable moments and that I have grown tremendously.

During these past weeks, I experienced personal and deep knowledge that God is not only with me and around me  but lives inside me.  I realized how much I am loved and cared for by the  Good Shepherd.   I have gained far more than I have lost. My heart and soul are more open to receive and release love, life, thankfulness, and hope.

This may be called the end of the trail but in many ways it is just the beginning.  I am going home with greater vision and will intentionally seek and hike forward into a hopeful future knowing it is going to be a good life.  I am holding on to LIFE with a tighter, loving, trusting, and grateful embrace.

It has been over two weeks now since I have returned home.  I have been resting and unpacking and rejoining life slowly.  Today I came across the one “art prayer card” that was never designated to anyone on the trail as I hiked.   I now believe it was meant for me.  It is really amazing to me  that as I post this blog,  this card just happens to come   into my hand again.  As I post both the front and back of this found art prayer card created  before I took my first step on this journey, I know I am blessed and I step out again.