Day 23

Woods Creek to Rae Lakes

The night passed with a lot of dreams and memories. Perhaps the fall and the need for comfort stirred up a lot of them that had been settled like sediment at the bottom of my mind.

As I woke I was thinking about Kaitlin Scheff.

This was a girl that when I was in middle school was worried about my self talk. She drew me a story book to teach me how I should talk about myself. That book is still one of my most prized possessions. The kindness that she showed me then … is something that still comes to mind when I think about loving friends well.

I woke up in a better mood than when I went to bed. I checked my knee, foot and head. There is a slight bruise on my head but it just looks like dirt.

My heel is bothering me too. I was in my tent, pondering how to stretch it out when I caught a wiff of something really foul. What is that smell!?

I moved my sleeping bag around and began trying to track it down. I was thinking it was maybe a dead animal or rancid food… but the source turned out to be my socks.

I supposed hiking 13 days since my last shower…

I grabbed them, stuffed them into a zip lock bag and put them outside of the tent.

I’ve been washing my socks and underwear every day, but I suppose my shoes are the real reason why my socks smell so foul.

I suppose this is the stink they talk about with thru-hikers.

Smelling like a rotting animal… That’s definitely not something I ever want to get used to.

I opened my phone up to check my route today. Since I stopped early, I think I am about 8 miles from Rae lakes. My phone told me 2 miles away.

That’s not right.

I rebooted the phone.

11 miles.

That’s definitely not where I am on the map.

My phone GPS was obviously having an issue. I suppose I need to do it the old fashioned way.

I got out my paper maps and using a piece of floss and the increment side of my compass manually counted it out. About 8 miles.

Not having my phone GPS was going to be inconvenient. I really like to check my progress (particularly uphill). I decided to put on my Christmas wish-list an altimeter watch. That way I would at least know my elevation and could compare it to the paper maps.

I packed up and checked my food for the rest of my time.

Today was the 14th.

I had 3 more days until I made it to the Williamson Hotel.

14th at Rae lakes

15th there too (zero day)

16th over Glenn Pass

17th down Kearsarge to meet the hotel shuttle. Hopefully they had French Fries at the hotel.

My food looked to be enough. I would be eating a few more Lara bars than I would have wished, but I would survive.

I finished up packing and started hiking.

Around a turn and I was struck by how beautiful the mountains were being in the morning light.

“Wow God Wow. That view… if I could see that every day.”

Then a silly thought popped in my head.

“With some French Fries if you please.”

I began giggling at the absurdity of asking God to provide me both with spectacular views and backcountry fries.

“I love you God. That you welcome all of me. The serious, the sad, the petulant, the good and especially the silly.”

That thought helped me keep smiling for a while.

There is something meditative about hiking that helps me think. The body being in motion sets my brain free to begin to work. It’s almost like my intuition is free to roam while my body is occupied.

I started thinking about the people I needed to pray for and who I missed.

I started to think a lot about how everyone’s lives must be and what stories I hope I get to catch up on when I return.

Then, I arrived at the infamous Paradise Junction suspension bridge. It’s a wire suspension bridge that only allows one person on at a time. Probably one of the strangest sensations to walk across. It’s like a bouncy castle suspended over rapids.

I got to the other side and had to use the bathroom. While I was setting down my pack I noticed a big pile of poo next to me. Definitely belonged to a bear. It was filled with berries and foliage. And it was fresh. I thought to myself, “best to move quickly through this section”. I watched a documentary about how effective bears are as predators. I left that session thinking how slightly unfair it was they were so cute, but not something you want to run into.

From the suspension bridge forward was mostly uphill. Not too bad, but just exhausting. I stopped for a few snack breaks and places to catch my breath. Eventually, I got to a stream crossing called Baxter Creek. It was flowing pretty aggressively.

There was a place where the stream flattened out and you could see the rocks underneath. It looked to be about knee high. I really didn’t want to get my shoes wet, so I decided to look for another crossing. I traveled pretty far upstream and found one. It looked like one solid jump and I could get across. The only downside was that the stream was super aggressive and I had no faith in my ability to jump. Making a judgement call, I backtracked and went to the original crossing. Knee deep water is what it is.

After acrossing it was more uphill. I saw a woman coming towards me with a purple pack. Was that Marilyn? Why would she be coming the opposite direction? The woman got closer and it wasn’t Marilyn, but she stopped to chat. Her name was Vangie and she and her partner (who joined shortly) were hiking NOBO. They had an intense day the one before going straight from Kearsarge (7 miles) over Glenn to Rae Lakes (about 15 miles). They wanted to take it slow now. We swapped stories and said we would find each other on the Ladies of the JMT Facebook group.

I was only about 3 miles from Rae Lakes and it was 12:30. I decided to stop eat a Lara Bar and put in a podcast to help pass the uphill time. Normally I don’t like to listen to a podcast or music while I hike because it distracts me from paying attention to the experience of hiking, but sometimes I need a boost.

The podcast I was listening to was the Bible Project and I was having to stop it every few moments to “wow” at the ideas they were sharing.

I though of how my ideal date would be hiking and discussing the Bible.

For now me hiking and listening to two people I admire discuss the Bible was good enough, but I made a quick prayer for God to send me a playmate that enjoyed debating the text.

Soon, I was at Dollar Lake. I loved how small it was an picturesque and stopped to sit on the shore and listen to the sounds.

Then I started hiking again and came on Arrowhead lake. There, I was behind two older men. Their packs were extremely heavy and laden with lots of gear tied to the outside, so they clanked as they walked. I found myself wondering what was actually inside of their packs since it looked like everything was hanging on the outside of it. I started to giggle to myself… backpacks are like belly buttons… you have an outie or an innie.

Personally I’m an innie. I don’t like anything hanging off that can get snagged or fall off and get lost (like my flip flops). Plus if I fall, I don’t want to have to collect gear as well as pick myself up.

Eventually I was able to get around them and I sped up to put some distance between me and them.

Rae lakes came into view and I started to look for a camp site. I needed to pick a site I was going to be okay with staying there for two days. I kept hiking and looking for potential sites. Eventually I saw a sign that said, “Food Storage”.

I figured any site that had bear boxes for food storage was probably one that had a lot of options.

I turned towards the sign to go see the campsites and decide. I wanted one that was on the water but also had places I could walk barefoot. I saw a potential site and headed there, but was disappointed when I saw a woman already there.

I walked by and looked for other sites but didn’t see any. When I came back around to the site, the woman called to me.

“I don’t mind sharing if you can’t find a spot!”

“Oh, thank you. I think I may set up here!”

I saw a flattish spot that was probably overlooked because it was mostly on rock. The good news for me was I was proficient at setting up my tent on rock and could make the spot work.

I decided to eat my lunch first and then set up my tent. I saw the woman was eating too and I came and introduced myself and sat along side her.

Her name was Rose. She was 25 and hiking the JMT solo NOBO. She knew the area well because she led a lot of girls backpacking trips, but she never has done a solo trip before. This trip was special because she had a friend who wanted to do the JMT with her and that friend passed away. Rose had some of her friends ashes and was scattering them as she made progress on the trail. I loved that way of honoring her friend. We spent time talking about where she was in her life. She had graduated from a prestigious engineering school but went to NYC to see if she could become a pro ballet dancer. She recently found out the type of ballet she enjoys, her body vetos, so she is trying to find her niche. In a lot of ways her story was paralleling mine. “Do I find a job that isn’t life giving and pays well or do I find something life giving and sacrifice for it? What am I made to do in this world?”

I loved her.

It was nice to sit and talk to someone about heart issues while looking at the view. We swapped stories about hiking, backpacking, aches and pains … eventually the evening came and we bid goodnight to one another.