Independence!

So many, many miles later-- here's another blog post! I had this mistaken idea that public internet access was easy to come by these days. Nope. Library hours are slashed. Libraries themselves are forsaken to the outskirts of small towns. And internet cafes? Well, those have definitely gone the way of the payphone... which is to say, they are no more. But nonetheless, the moon was in the right phase and all forces conspired so that I am now sitting here in Independence, California in a lovely little one room library in a courthouse basement. And its right across from a reasonable motel! Amazing!  Before my computer minutes run out I will share a bit about our hike in these last weeks. Most notably, we had to get off the trail twice for a handful of days each time because Patrick (i.e. Dharma Bum) contracted giardia from some unsavory water source. There are a lot of questionable water sources in the southern sections of the PCT, so unfortunately, he was not alone. But with the help of so many strangers and trail angels, he was able to get antibiotics in Lake Isabella and is now once again a healthy and generally happy camper. We returned to the trail and made it through the last march of southern California-- countless miles of hot exposed hiking through recent forest fire and finally entered the long awaited High Sierra.

And it has been amazing! One breathtaking day after another. We summited Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the lower 48, and hiked over Forrester Pass, the highest point on the whole Pacific Crest Trail! What a high! Coming over Forrester Pass into Kings Canyon National Park was nothing shy of magical. We hiked out Kearsarge Pass this morning and hitched down here into town. Now we're gearing up for 7 more glorious days in the high sierra to our next resupply in Mammoth Lakes.

Yours truly in full long underwear hiking regalia, trekking up to Forrester Pass-- still a long ways to go...

Patrick (i.e. Dharma Bum) with ice axe in hand at the top of Mount Whitney!

Our camp by this beautiful little un-named lake before heading over Kearsarge Pass