carolyn's on the PCT!

Friends, Weddings, Grass Valley, Bucks Lake & Etna to Oregon! My hike before Tahoe was predictable: my pace could be consistently measured at 3mph, and I'd hike anywhere between 18-22 miles/ day. After Tahoe, chaos began. I felt confident enough to push the pace and to go at the hike alone, or with new friends, or however I felt it should go that day. My plans became hazy and I made a lot more game time decisions (I now LOVE game time decisions). This was FUN- it was an unexpected rejuvenation from my very predictable previous hiking style. All this was initiated in July, I have dubbed it my month of chaos. It started when I saw friends from home for the first time on trail. My dearest Gillian and Lisa drove all the way from San Francisco to Tahoe with Gillian's pup Winnie in tow. They scooped me from the trail head in South Lake Tahoe and we immediately went out for Thai food- a recent trail craving. Gillian found out in the first half hour that my extremely predictable di...

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'...