carolyn's on the PCT!

Hi friends! As you probably already know, I am back in "conventional" life and am doing my best at reintegrating myself into concrete society. Orange County is very different than the woods, very different. There aren't bears here and I get my water from the tap and my plans for the day rarely include "walk until you're tired, eat some candy, walk again" (sadly).  I have a lot to organize in terms of thoughts, feelings, photos, gear and the like surrounding my hike! And I have had a few requests to get some photos and stories on the blog, so I'll be doing that over the next few weeks- as a practice for myself to reflect on the past few months, and so that my family and friends have a chance to hear the stories that I probably wouldn't do justice to in a short conversation. If you have any questions you are really wondering about and we haven't had a chance to chat, please comment them and I'll answer them in my posts. So bear with me, it'...

Hey there! This is your long awaited and highly requested update that I have been oh so tardy with. SO many pieces of my trail life have been moving and grooving around, as it is in the ever changing times on the trail. I am past the halfway point of the trail mileage wise and am 60% done with my time on the trail (as my body is accustomed to higher mileage days and the terrain flattens out in Northern California/ Oregon, I’ll be able to be a speed goat for a bit!).  After all of the miles and experiences I’ve had between, Mammoth feels like a lifetime ago. The trail took me into Yosemite National Park following my trip out of Mammoth, and it was my first time there! I enjoyed the views immensely, but found that I much prefer the back roads of backpacking- it felt like the trails in Yosemite were much more crowded (even if it was just a few more folks in camp sites or on trail), I felt like the quaint solitude of the trail was missed for a bit. But the views were immense- the trail...

I did it! I hit the point where hiking the Pacific Crest Trail feels like my normal day to day life. How does that happen? The morning sun on the snowy mountain tops still makes my spine shiver a bit, but a good rest of it feels like I’m doing my daily routine: waking up at 6am, assessing what belongings of mine are soaked. Am I soaked? No? Great! Yes? Well, what was I expecting sleeping by the creek? Pack up as much of my pack as possible without getting out of my quilt. Brushing my teeth and spitting into tree wells, eating my 500 calorie protein bar and heading off. I even have a meal prep system, of course. Now that my life is a bit more routine out here, I’ve found that I rely on my daily journals a whole lot more to remind me what I’ve been up to.  I’m in Mammoth now, a mountain town that I know and love dearly! I hit my favorite coffee shop three times within a 30 hour stay (Stellar Brew, of course) and meandered around my favorite gear store (Mammoth Mountaineering Co., I l...