Going solo, conflagrations and mile 975 - Greg

By now you've read that Liz has chosen to head home and conquer the rest of the trail in sections later. I think this absolutely the right choice for her and I salute her self awareness and all she accomplished in 2.5 months on the trail. Well done! It's more than I could ever dream of doing.

Initially Melinda had also decided it was time. I think there were a couple of elements to this. They had pushed really hard through the High Sierra and she was tired. She too has lost weight. And she tweaked her back a little on Friday or Saturday morning. I'm sure a large part of it was uncertainty about life on the trail without her hiking other half.

After sleeping on it Saturday night, her outlook had changed. Her back felt better and her energy level was good. She was considering going on to at least test the waters and see if she could have any fun without Liz. (That's hard to imagine - you gotta have Liz to have fun!)

So off she went on Monday morning. She has put in 2 full days since then and covered 17 and 15 miles respectively, including Benson pass yesterday. She started today at mile 975.32. Several folks are asking how long she will go and I honestly have no idea. Again, I think for now she's just testing the waters.

I think she had hoped to connect with some other thru hikers, but it hasn't happened yet. There have been a few "ships in the night" encounters but no ongoing connections while hiking or camping. So far it's been a pretty solitary endeavor. But it's still early in her solo effort.

It seems to me that there's an understanding among thru-hikers that everyone will be moving at their own pace. There's no expectation of either waiting up or hustling along for someone else unless you started the trail together with that understanding. (or developed that understanding over an extended period of hiking together.) This is as it needs to be - otherwise hard feelings can develop if people feel rushed or hindered. If Melinda chooses to continue, I hope she will connect with someone along the way but it may take some time.

I'm going to make that more difficult by taking her off the trail for a couple of days to celebrate our 30th anniversary (Actual date - June 29). But that's another post. :-)

The so-called "Washington fire" is burning 3.2 miles from the PCT around mile 1048 near the town of Markleeville and highway 4 and has consumed about 16,500 acres as of this writing. The trail is still open, but it's very smoky in the area and it's unclear if the trail will remain open.

This is part of the calculus for when I will pick up Melinda for our anniversary. At her current pace she will probably make highway 108 on Friday, Highway 4 on Sunday (close to the fire), highway 88 on Tuesday and Highway 50 on Wednesday.

I will pick her up at one of these junctions. For now we will wait a bit before deciding which one and when.