May 29, 2013
24 miles today
502 Miles total

You have to leave home sometime. But before I self cut the umbilical cord, I had one more round of pancakes and cherries. Joe gets up every morning at an ungodly hour and prepares an unlimited number of hot cakes for whatever number of hikers happens to be there. I suggested he mix the cherries with the pancake mix. He kindly and gently told me to get the fuck out of his kitchen but come back for more if still in need.

Doc had arrived the night before and I caught up with his adventures. He planned to take a zero. Little did he know his medical skills would be called into play, with not a pie to be found.

Red Beard, Orbit and I, as well as Waka Waka and Tree Killer, grabbed a ride with Terry to the trailhead. She embraced us all in a way that manages to encompass an entire family reunion in one hug.

The day started with a big climb. Orbit fell uncharacteristically back. By the crest she was out of sight. I doubled back to check on here, but she had already turned back, cut down by the now named Nodo Virus.

At the next water stop, Red Beard and I learned that Slack was lying by the side of the trail some eight miles ahead clearing his stomach. I walked on, with a cloud of doom shading my steps. Who but me could be next? I hoped that my stomas leprosy form the early part of the trip hardened my immunological resolve.

Slack managed to make some forward progress and we did not catch him until mile 501. Our pursuit took us through a beautiful section of the Angeles National Forest.

At the reunion Slack was full of illness stories, including fainting while pissing. His head was positioned at a weird angle so the impact must have been dramatic. We moved on together to a rainwater catch and bedded down.

I dreamed of a Nodo worm crawling into my ear to spread its venom.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

If you’d like to help out and donate, please click here!

May 27, 2013
0 miles today
478 miles total

Like all long term endeavors, balanced days off are strategically wise. Or if you walk a lot, a day spent sitting on your ass feels good. But too many days off spirals one into a deficit of ambition. For me, my knee has spoken. This day is one of rest, which is easy physically, but a challenge mentally. The call of miles is a strong one.

All day the large group that had stayed for the Memorial Day weekend party has been moving out. I did not know most of these folks as they had started the trail before me. An annual kickoff meeting/party takes place at the end of April for the PCT. This year some 400 hikers had attended. Most then start their hike. Because my group has been moving at a fairly quick pace, we have begun to catch the tail end of the large kickoff group, a good chance to hear new stories.

One individual I met named Handstand works in one of three locations – the South Pole, Greenland, or Palmyra. Palmyra is a tiny atoll in the South Pacific owned by the Nature Conservancy. He works anywhere from 4-6 months a year maintaining facilities at one of the three far-flung locations. He spends the rest of the year seeing what interests him. This year is it completing the PCT. In October he will return to Antarctica. His parting comment was, “I can’t stop laughing whenever I think that someone is paying me to work in those places.”

The taco salad affair was more intimate and subdued as the dinner crowd was greatly reduced.

The weather forecast, which basically means looking up at the sky, hinted at rain. So I set up my tarp, using my new and improved tent pole for the first time. A 25 mph gust of wind snapped it in half at the seven-minute mark. Can’t blame the tooth for that one, as it is back in my mouth.

Spent the rest of the evening concocting a new pole from the remnants of old trekking poles. Some pieces of equipment simply refuse to behave in a civilized manner.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

If you’d like to help out and donate, please click here!

May 25, 2013
10 miles today
454 miles

Awoke to a swelling KOA, compliments of Memorial Day weekend. While others waited for caffeine, I took off. The goal was the Saufleys, well-known Trail Angels who open their property to hikers every thru hiking season. Ran into a 78 year old runner out for his long weekend run. His comment, ”I’m finally starting to slow down.”

Passed through a hamster tube, under the zipping freeway cars above, and emerged into a gorgeous canyon.

Right away spotted a rosy boa snake on the path. The canyon formed part of Vasquez rocks, the hideout of the enterprising bandit, Senior Vasquez.

Arrived at the Saufleys, sporting a throbbing right knee. Never really had knee problems before, so this is a novelty. The Saufley’s is basically a hiker processing center run on an efficiency that has been honed by years of experience. When you walk through the gate, you feel like you are standing on the edge of an unfamiliar river. At first you hesitate because the current is fast. But eventually you jump in and are whisked away pleasantly. Cots are there, computers are here, put your laundry over there, it will be ready in three hours, bikes are in the rack, films, food, fire and so the river flows. Everything a hiker could need within a thirty-yard radius. Donations, never mentioned, oil the machine. Hikers hobble around in various states of disrepair. The atmosphere relaxed.

My issue was the sacred tooth, still in my pocket. It’s unlucky streak continued as my search for a dentist dead-ended with the realization that it was Memorial Day weekend. Personal oral surgery is not a phobia of mine, so I jumped on the shuttle to Northridge and went to a pharmacy. Found some tooth cement and returned to dental health. Next door was an all-you-can-eat sushi joint. No sane person can pass these up. Felling lucid, I stopped in and paid the $25 entry fee for 60 minutes of intake. By the end, I had gone through about $80 of sushi and the sushi chef was becoming progressively harder to find. I felt wise.

All hiker stopovers have a series of bins filled with unneeded food and gear, free for the needy. The obsessing with reducing backpack weight keeps these bins remarkably full. In one, Red Beard found me a knee brace and muscle relaxant cream. All I need now is Doc and one of his pies to return to full health.

With the tank still topped off from lunch, a margarita symbolized dinner. I went to bed contemplating tomorrow’s 24 challenge and all its implications.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

If you’d like to help out and donate, please click here!

Day 22

May 24,2013
24 miles today
444 miles total

The tooth as a good luck charm was a bust. After all, it did get yanked out by a Mike and Ike, which in anybody’s book is a bad luck event. No idea why I thought its future luck would be better. Rubbed it last night for no dew. Cowboy camped when everyone else put up their tent. Woke up this morning cold. The cracking sound was alarming as I broke the sheet of ice that covered me. I think the tooth needs to go home.

Gladly climbed away from the saddle through burnt acreage. Orbit, who had suffered from the bite of the poodle in 2011, described its horrors in such a way that we ended up detouring around multiple sections of the PCT. A road, with very limited access, paralleled the trail so I stayed on that. While walking along that a security truck pulled up. The driver asked where I was coming from. I answered, “Mexico.” His partner in the passenger seat screamed, “Jesus!” The driver then asked where I was going. I answered, “Canada.” The partner screamed, “Oh, Jesus!” Maybe I made their day. They certainly made mine.

As I walked, I got to thinking about Red Beard and Orbit. Both had taken a shot at the PCT in 2001, a particularly bad snow year. Red Beard made it 1900 miles before shin splints took him out. Orbit made it 1000 miles before her money ran out. It’s a testament to their character that instead of entering this year at the point they left off at in 2011, they started once again from the beginning.

The detour continued through the Station Fire of 2009 that destroyed 160,000 acres of forest and took the lives of two firefighters. I paid my respect at their memorial and then came upon the ruins of the LA Country Firefighting Training Center. The compound was extensive and its destruction complete. I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story.

Finally rejoined the flow of the PCT, after too many miles of road walking, for a long descent into the Acton Valley. My knee was still bothering me, so I decided to loosen it up by running to the KOA Campground some six miles away. I was low on supplies so my pack was light and not much of a hindrance. Off I went. The exhilaration of bombing downhill for miles on a mountain path can’t be matched. Music thumping, twisting and turning down switchbacks, allows one to grab freedom that is mostly elusive.

Slack had the same idea. We raced to the end, where we skidded to a stop at the camper of a natural hiker. A famous 2006 PCT thru hiker who prefers to hike without clothes. Just returned from six year of missionary work in Peru, he celebrated his 65th birthday by serving us root beer floats in a transparent mini skirt.

Can this trail get any better?

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

If you’d like to help out and donate, please click here!

May 21, 2013
Mile 370
22 miles today

Awoke to pressure. Orbit has been exploring her competitive side. Initially a sweet natured but very strong hiker, she has evolved into a cutthroat competitor. The presence of any hiker, any where in front of her, lights a fire that can only be quenched by passage. Once she is well in front, of the fallen hiker, la bliss sets in and the umbrella unfurls signifying yet another successful pursuit and take down. It is then, and only then, that she returns to her calm, enigmatic Mary Poppins demeanor. Recently she asked me about running marathons. God help the Kenyans.

Thus the pressure. A group of five unknowing hikers was four miles ahead. The chase was on, but being late out of camp, I missed the blood on the trail. Climbed and climbed some more, alone to my thoughts. By afternoon 6,000 ft had been gained, the curves of the 15 Freeway but a snake on the horizon. Finally the trail crested, but decided to follow the curve of a ski resort rather then proceed directly to the goal, the goal being the town of Wrightwood and resupply.

Eventually, after a couple of hours spent exploring various ski lift combinations, we arrived at a highway where it was possible to hitch into Wrightwood. Out of water, thirsty, but saved by a trail angel who left tangerines on a rock, we waited for a ride. Soon, a gentleman pulled over, his story learned during the eight miles into town.

He joined the Air Force in 1943 and flew fighter planes during WWII and Korea. During WWII he was with the Ninth Air Force in Europe. Specifically, he flew the Republic P47 Thunderbolt. Engaging in multiple dogfights, he shot down one Messerschmidt Bf 109 (me 109) and two Focke-Wulf fighter planes.

During the Battle of the Bulge, he was shot down by German antiaircraft fire. Behind enemy lines during winter, he made his way into the encircled town of Bastogne, which was then held by the American 101st Airborne. His quote, “Son, you’d be surprised at what you will do to survive.” He is 93 years old and still look like he would be just fine in a cockpit.

Wrightwood was pizza and beer with the London Marathon on the tube followed by a restock in the supermarket. While sitting outside, a gentleman approached and asked if we needed a roof. That is how we ended up at Jeff’s, a model example of a Christian gentleman. In all, seven hikers shared his loft. We wandered through his house sharing his hospitality, hanging out with his kids, using his kitchen, laundry and bathroom. Great conversations and better than average pingpong were also on the agenda. Even his dogs warmed up to all the new smells. Such human kindness. Though the competitive snoring did force me into the basement where I found refuge under the ping-pong table. Jeff is two weeks away from retiring from a 30-year teaching gig. I hope every moment of that retirement is as good to him as he was to us.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

If you’d like to help out and donate, please click here!