Yesterday, I hiked a leisurely 5 miles out of town to the base of Mt. Baden-Powell. Today, I crawled out of my tent and hiked a mile and a half up the mountain (understand that it was a 4,000 foot increase in elevation over just under 4 miles...wowza!). At this point, I ran into a crying hiker, talking on speaker phone with who I assumed was her mother. It turns out that his 18 year old hiker had just gotten back on the trail after two weeks of mono recovery time. The day before, the doctor told her that she was mono-free, but that she had a swollen liver. She went ahead and hiked 20 miles on her first day back and ended up feeling pretty raunchy. The doctor wanted her off of the mountain. Her mom wanted someone to stay with her on the way down. I walked the mile and a half down the mountain with her with no incident (thank God! What would I have done if something had happened?! I have my Wilderness First Aid cert, but those classes didn't teach me what to do with an exploding liver! I guess I would just have hit my beacon?). I climbed back up the mountain and started my day, having hiked 3 extra miles. Oh well, I could hardly have said no, right?
I made it to the top of Mt Baden-Powell (9399 ft!) and boy was it beautiful. It was a little hazy though, so I couldn't quite see to the ocean. A few miles later, I met up with Travis, Thread, and Mermaid for lunch. We leapfrogged each other for the rest of the day.
There was a trail closure to protect the habitat of the Yellow-Legged Mountain Frog. The official detour added 16 miles to the length of the trail (this detour was 20 miles total), while last year's detour only added about a mile to the trail (4.7 miles total) but it included a 2.7 mile road walk. We elected to take the shorter detour as we didn't have enough food to add an extra day to the section. After walking about a mile on the road with Travis, Mermaid and Thread showed up in the back of a pickup truck, we all jumped in and rode to the end of the road walk. Thanks truck man!!
***Note: Some hikers may look down on other hikers who accept rides during road walks. I feel strongly that I am here to take a wilderness hike, not to walk on roads. Thus, a hitch during a road walk is acceptable. In any case, hike your own hike (HYOH).
Travis, Thread, Mermaid, the Swedes and I shared a campsite at the Forest Service camp. Thread had seen a bear cub earlier in the day and we thought it best to make use of the bear locker at the camp. It was fun making dinner all together, and a first for me! After dinner, we shared a dessert of instant chocolate fudge pudding and Nido. Yummm.
Other highlights? I picked up a sombrero at Little Jimmy Campground and traded out my sun hat. Score!
I made it to the top of Mt Baden-Powell (9399 ft!) and boy was it beautiful. It was a little hazy though, so I couldn't quite see to the ocean. A few miles later, I met up with Travis, Thread, and Mermaid for lunch. We leapfrogged each other for the rest of the day.
There was a trail closure to protect the habitat of the Yellow-Legged Mountain Frog. The official detour added 16 miles to the length of the trail (this detour was 20 miles total), while last year's detour only added about a mile to the trail (4.7 miles total) but it included a 2.7 mile road walk. We elected to take the shorter detour as we didn't have enough food to add an extra day to the section. After walking about a mile on the road with Travis, Mermaid and Thread showed up in the back of a pickup truck, we all jumped in and rode to the end of the road walk. Thanks truck man!!
***Note: Some hikers may look down on other hikers who accept rides during road walks. I feel strongly that I am here to take a wilderness hike, not to walk on roads. Thus, a hitch during a road walk is acceptable. In any case, hike your own hike (HYOH).
Travis, Thread, Mermaid, the Swedes and I shared a campsite at the Forest Service camp. Thread had seen a bear cub earlier in the day and we thought it best to make use of the bear locker at the camp. It was fun making dinner all together, and a first for me! After dinner, we shared a dessert of instant chocolate fudge pudding and Nido. Yummm.
Other highlights? I picked up a sombrero at Little Jimmy Campground and traded out my sun hat. Score!
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