Vomit, Tornado and Mosquitos

Today is day 4 of our 11 day road trip adventure driving from Pittsburgh to San Diego. I have wanted to blog for a while, but I just haven't had the time. We've been doing so much and I was mostly driving because we were in familiar territory to me. Tonight, Donny is driving so I can get caught up. 

Ever have a day that starts off well, but so much crazy stuff happens and it throws off your plan? That's when having a great travel partner who thinks in a similar way you do is fantastic. See, we are supposed to be at Cedar Point right now, enjoying the great roller coasters. Afterwards, we were to go back to our nice little camp for the night and hit the road in the morning. Instead, what are we doing? Driving towards Indiana thanks to a tornado and mosquitos. Yes, it has been THAT kind of day. 

It all started last night when we decided to get a campsite for two nights at Harbor Creek State Park in Ohio. It is only 25 minutes from Cedar Point, and since we were going to be there all day today, I figured it would be a great place to set up camp for a couple days. We get in last night and noticed right away how many mosquitos there were. We put on bug lotion and started a campfire. It helped...a little. 

This morning we woke up to beautifully clear skies; the first we've had since Donny arrived on Friday. We went and showered (more Mosquitos in the bath house...) and ate breakfast. When we left, I left some of our things out. I didn't really assume it would rain. The forecast looked promising for the day. We gathered our things for Cedar Point and set out. 

Once we got to Cedar Point, we were both pretty excited! I haven't been there since 2010, and he has never been there. 

We went in and were waiting for my friend Jessica and her boyfriend to meet us. While we waited, we went on one of my favorite rides: The Raptor. When we got off, Jessica and Joe were in line for The Gate Keeper, so we went over and jumped in that line, meeting up with them after we had all finished. The four of us ventured through the park riding more rides like Millenium Force, Rougarou and The Iron Dragon. 

One of the more hilarious parts of the day occurred while waiting in line for Rougarou. A guy in front of us sat in the coaster car and jammed the safety bar too tightly onto his balls. He desperately tried to get it loose and asked the attendant to help him. The attendant thought he was joking and told him that he couldn't do anything and the coaster was set. The kid begged him to get the coaster stopped and yelled "My balls can't handle this!"  Everyone, to include the kid's friend was laughing hysterically. I mean, yes, I felt bad, but it was pretty comical. It was rather mean for the attendant to not address the situation, but he seriously thought the kid was just joking around. 

Then it was our turn for that ride. I started to feel pretty nauseated after the first minute. Actually, I was pretty miserable. We rode Millenium Force before that and it is what initially made me queasy. After Rougarou, we rode The Iron Dragon. This is a classic, easy, no frills ride. Well, it was enough to make me heave while we were still on the ride. After we got off I went straight into the bathroom and hurled. That wasn't fun. Jessica was in there too and heard me. She went out and told Donny and Joe, so they all knew too. Gee. Thanks. Lol. After that we took it easy and rode the train and then got some lunch. 

Lunch. That's a story in itself too. Turns out the guy messed up our order and instead of 2 meals and a sandwich (this is between the 4 of us) he gave us 5 full meals. What!? That was $75 worth of food. It was really expensive, which is why we chose to just get a couple meals and split it. Instead, we all get a meal and had an extra. 

Once lunch was over we split up. Donny and I headed to watch some shows and they went to ride some water rides. In between the 2 shows we were going to watch, it started sprinkling. No bill deal. The rain would probably pass over while we were in the show. Right? Wrong! We came out of the show to a heavy drizzle and thunder. 

All of a sudden, huge lighting streaks come over the sky and the loud speakers come on saying that there is a severe thunderstorm warning and to seek shelter. Well, that's no fun. So we started walking towards the exit as I was trying to get ahold of Jessica. When I finally got ahold of her, it was starting to rain hard. We met up just as a tornado warning came up. Donny got a notification on his phone, and the loudspeakers came on again warning everyone to take shelter. We just started walking a little faster to the car. 

Poor Donny. He has no idea what is going on. He looks at me and asks "Is this ok? Are we supposed to be going to the car?" I just laugh as I reply "No."  We technically should have taken cover, but I could tell that we had plenty of time to get to the Jeep. We said goodbye to Jessica and Joe once we got to the parking lot, got in the Jeep and started driving. 

Once we started heading west, the weather cleared up. It turned out to be pretty nice. We get to our campsite and noticed one very big problem... mosquitos. I'm not talking just a few. I am talking a cloud so thick you cannot breathe. They attacked the Jeep as soon as we pulled in. 

Not only that, but our entire campsite and gear was soaked. 

I looked and Donny and I said something about how ridiculous the situation was. We both basically had the same idea of just packing up and getting the heck out of there. 

So now we are driving through Ohio on our way to Indiana. 

If I get a chance, I'll throw a picture blog up of our previous 3 days, though they were pretty relaxing, as we spent quite a bit of time at my house so I could finish packing up and get some things squared away before I left. 

Thanks for reading! Check back soon for another update! 

Reunion on the Trail

Hiking solo can be very rewarding. It can also be extremely challenging. If there is one thing I have learned about myself as a hiker, it is that I do not prefer to hike alone. I enjoy the company of others and making memories we can look back on in years to come. This year, I was planning on doing some of the JMT solo and then meeting up with Donny and some friends after about 8 days on the trail alone. I was ok with that because those 8 days were just covering the same section that I hiked last year. No biggie. 

To say that I am excited about a recent turn of events would be a huge understatement. I am ECSTATIC to announce that my dear friend, Sara, will be joining me on the trail for 6 of those solo days!!!!

Sara and I go back several years. We met in San Diego through a friend that neither of us talk to anymore. Over the years, we got to know each other and last year we became pretty close. We hiked together whenever we could, to include an overnight on the PCT.  We went on a small road trip together, went shopping, went to a Padres game. You know... All those things that good friends do with each other. When I was preparing to move to Pennsylvania, she was getting ready to move to Norway. Our time as hang out buddies quickly came to an end. We kept in touch over Facebook until I deleted my personal profile. I missed my friend, but I was excited for all of the adventures she was having in Norway. In my planning for the JMT, I often wished that Sara was here to do it with me. We had once spoke about that last year. 

To my surprise, Sara returned to the States and right away we made plans for her to meet me at Tuolomne Meadows and hike to Red's Meadow with me. I was excited to do the JMT, and this just adds to that excitement. I am looking forward to our time together on the trail and catching up on the past year. 

(Sara and I at a Padres game in San Diego last spring.)

Women of the Trail

REI really is a great place for me to work. I get to combine my love of teaching with my love of the outdoors. 

Yesterday I was approached by our outreach coordinator. He told me that our store manager spoke with him about getting me to teach some classes in our store. I was so excited! I've been wanting to teach a class since I started to work there. He and I looked through a list of classes that REI offers and BAM! It was so obvious! A women's specific backpacking class! How perfect! 

Some of you might wonder why a backpacking class designed specifically for women would be beneficial. Welll, let's think about that... Men get to pee standing up, women have to squat. Men get to hike on for days or months on the trail without having to worry about a period. Men don't have boobs to hold up or to get in the way of backpack shoulder straps. Men don't have wide hips that they have to fit into a sleeping bag. Shall I go on? 

One of the most important things to stress in a women's specific backpacking class is personal hygiene. Yes, I'm talking about the Vajayjay. The HooHaa. The Lady Bits. Call it what you want (but please nothing derogatory). It's a fact that the vagina can be a girl's best friend or worst enemy. No female wants to experience an infection while on the trail. Proper hygeine is an absolute must in order to avoid an infection that could require medical attention, which can be days away when on a long hike. Unfortunately, one of the main reasons women shy away from long distance backpacking is the lack of knowledge on how to properly care for herself while on the trail. It is my hope that I can share my knowledge and experience with other women in order to inspire them to go out and enjoy the backcountry. 

Of course, there are other things that I will touch upon on my class, such as clothing. One of the most common questions in a women's group I am a part of is how to find the right sports bra. Good golly. Women with large breasts just have the hardest time finding a sports bra that is supportive, comfortable and flattering (Think Uniboob). Trust me. I KNOW! That's a struggle that I still have yet to conquer. Another clothing topic that women talk about is hiking skirts. No, this is not so we can be cute and girly on the trail, it's so we can pee more discreetly. Bet you men never stopped to think of it that way. 

I know that this class is going to be so much fun! My store manager said that when the store has done this class in the past, it has been a sell out. There is already a lot of interest in the class from women who I talked to in the store yesterday, so I am sure we will have a great crowd. 

If you are in the Pittsburgh area and would like to come, head over to the REI Settler's Ridge store page and sign up for the class! I'm not sure if it is posted yet, so you might have to check back again later. I'm also not sure how much the class will cost. The date should be Tuesday, June 9th at 7pm. 

Firing up again!

I failed. 

No, I'm not talking about finishing the JMT last year. I'm talking about updating this blog. Take a look at the last time I posted. Yeah, August 10th, 2014. And what was the title of that entry? Oh, right... "Day 1". Well, what the heck happened to Day 2-8? I know I didn't finish the trail, but I at least got past day 1! 

I would say that it was a result of pure laziness, and that very well could have been part of it. In all honesty, I think I just didn't want to go through the memories and feeling like I messed up by not finishing. It took me quite some time after I got home before I even shared pictures of my trip with anyone. I think my Dad was one of the first people I actually sat down with and talked to about it. By  the time I was comfortable talking about my trip, I was then busy with two jobs and updating wasn't a priority. Ha... It never really was a priority to start with. 

Oh well... Moving on. 

So what has happened since I last posted? Quite a bit actually. I started substitute teaching at various school districts in Pennsylvania, but I knew the pay from that wasn't going to be enough, so I got a second job. And actually, I LOVE my second job. Almost more than I love teaching. I never dread having to go into work. I never count down the minutes until the end of the day. Not in the slightest. Actually, it's quite the opposite. I show up for work an hour or two early and sometimes stay longer than I need to, whether it is to work or just hang out. Recreational Equipment Incorportated, or simply, REI. Yep! I'm an employee at one of the top companies to work for in the United States. I'm that cheerful person wearing a green vest who can help measure you to get you into a proper backpack, or advise you on the perfect hiking boots you'll need for that next adventure! It's amazing. The environment and people are so very necessary and helpful for me to get through the winter months here in Pennsylvania. Especially this winter: most consecutive days of snow 3" deep or greater since the 70s or something crazy like that! I think it was near 70 or so days. Too long!

Other than working, I've been planning my JMT hike for 2015. This year is going to be quite a bit different than last year, and I know for a fact that I will finish it this time, barring any unforseen circumstances. Why is it going to be different? A few reasons actually. 

1) My permit is completely different this year. Instead of starting in Yosemite Valley, I'm actually starting up at Glacier Point, which is where I was originally supposed to start last year. I'm quite looking forward to starting here, as I have heard the views of the valley and Half Dome are just breathtaking. Also, you go downhill for a good portion of the trail instead of uphill. Major time and energy saver. The big thing about my permit is that it actually only covers the first 25 miles of the JMT. This year, the permiting system for the JMT changed. You now have to have a permit to exit Yosemite over Donahue Pass, and you can only start at certain trailheads. Well, I couldn't get a permit for the entire JMT, so I had to get creative. I snagged one from Glacier Point to Tuolumne Meadows. When I get to Tuolomne Meadows, I need to wait at the ranger station for a walk up permit to exit of Donahue Pass. They give out 10 walk up permits per day from Lyell Canyon (Tuolumne Meadows) to Mt. Whitney (The end of the JMT), so if I can score a walk up permit, I can finish the JMT. I have a couple days to play with if I don't get one right away. If I don't get one at all, I'll take a but down to Mammoth, where I will be meeting friends who have a space on their permit for me. I'm pretty confident that I will get a permit. I'm basically going to camp out at the ranger station at TM in order to make sure I'm one of the first people there when they open in the morning. I'll sleep the next day in the camp and then head out either that evening, or the next day. 

2) I will be with other people this year! Yes, I was with other people last year who I met on the trail. They were wonderful people, of course, but it's one thing to meet people on the trail and a completely different thing to be with friends on the trail. Now, I won't be with friends the entire time. The first week or so of my hike I will be by myself. This is the portion that I did last year by myself, so I am very confident that I can do it again with no worries. Also, I'm sure I'll meet people along the way to hike with for that time just like I did last year. Once I get to Mammoth (Where I got off the trail last year), I'll be meeting Donny (Read the blog from 6/29/14: Partner in crime) and some friends. Most everyone in the group has already completed the JMT at least once. Once we hit the trail, there will be a group of us for a few days, but eventually, most everyone will be getting off the trail to go back to work or other committments. Donny and I are the only ones who are staying on the trail for the entire time. We're hoping to meet up with another friend who is doing the JMT northbound. We've compared schedules and should be at the same campsite one night. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone that will be hiking with us, as I've heard all about them and have been friends with most of them on facebook for nearly a year or more. 

3) Gear! Yes, gear. Oh boy. I'm certain that last year my pack aided in my knee injury. It weighed 45lbs starting off. Holy smokes! I took a lot that I didn't need. I took a lot of food that was heavy, and too much to eat. I also had some heavier gear. This year I speant some money and lighened up! I knocked 2lbs off of my tent by switching from an MSR Hubba to a ZPacks Hexamid Solo Plus. I sold my North Face Blue Kazoo sleeping bag and purchased a Western Mountaineering sleeping bag, saving 11.5oz. I bought a Therm-a-Rest Neo Air Xlite which is 6oz lighter than my Therm-a-Rest Neo Air All Season. I lightned up my kitchen cook set by buying an Evernew Ti pot and getting rid of a few things I didn't need. There are a few other things that I changed out too, but those are the main ones. All in all, I shaved off close to 15lbs of base weight. WOW! (Also why I needed a second job!) There was another reason that I needed to lighten up my load, but more on that later. 

4) I'm taking a much more relaxed pace this year. For example, the one section that I hiked last year in 5 days, I am doing in 7 days. I'll be able to stop and smell the mountain flowers, soak my feet in a lake, lay out to get some sun, throw a frisbee (Yes, I'm taking an ultralight tossing ring), etc. There are a couple days where Donny and I are only doing 4 miles. There's too much to see and do to rush through it. I won't be doing the JMT again any time soon, as I will be moving on to other trails, so I want to get the most out of my experience. Thankfully Donny knows all the good spots and has planned the schedule to include all of the best parts of the JMT. 

I definitely feel much more mentally prepared for this trip. Unfortunately I am not as physically prepared. In February of this year I had surgery on my pelvic floor. I wasn't able to lift more than 10lbs for 2 months and now I'm only allowed to lift 20lbs. I wasn't allowed to hike for the first 2 months, but was allowed to start with 2 miles. I'm still not allowed to run. As can be expected, I've gained about 10lbs and am pretty out of shape, though I did go on a backpacking trip to Shenandoah National Park a couple weekeds ago. I did ok for not having been on the trail for months. I covered about 25-30 miles with 20lbs on my back. It was a good first post-surgery hike. I go back to the doctor tomorrow and am hoping I get cleared to start running and to carry 30lbs. This is the other reason why I needed to lighten up my load. It became a medical necessity. 

Thanks for reading through this. I know it was pretty lengthy and there were no pictures that helped to keep your interest. I'm going to attempt to update this as best as I can this summer. Make sure to leave comments as you read the blog entries. They are so encouraging to me! I appreciate all of the support! 

Day 1

Today is the day! It is finally here! Oh my gosh! Am I ready? Do I have everything? Let me check my gear again, even though I just checked it last night, and the night before, and the night before that... Ok. Yes. I think I have everything I need. 

Breathe. 

Time to take pack up! Ok. Load the car. 

Breathe. 

Get in the car. 

Breathe. 

I don't remember much of that morning. I don't remember what all was said. I don't remember what music was playing in the car on the drive down to the valley. I don't remember looking at anything out my window. I must have been pretty focused... Or more like pretty nervous. 

I had everything I needed. I had prepared for this for months. I had a great support system of family and friends. What could I possibly be so nervous about!? Doing it on my own? Possibly. Venturing out into unfamiliar wilderness? Possibly. Hurting my knee again? Absolutely. So many thoughts... But no time for them! We were finally at the parking lot! 

The trailhead was another 1/4 mile down the road, but for some reason we couldn't get to it as access was restricted. So, Donny stopped the car at the edge of the parking lot and helped me get out and get situated. One last hug and some words of encouragement and off I went. And away he drove. No turning back now...

One foot in front of the other. One step at a time. I have this! I can do it! 

I got down to the trailhead and ran into a couple guys sitting at the bus stop. They had packs on and I could tell that they were JMTers too. John and Franklin. They were waiting for 2 other friends to get there. We talked for a little and figured we would see each other down the trail later in our journey. I was glad to have met them. They didn't make me feel so alone. 

Finally, I'm at the trailhead! Ready to start my adventure!  I took a selfie and then this nice couple offered to take my picture for me. 

Their names were Mike and Jill. We ended up walking and talking for a decent amount of time. Turns out they also live in Lakeside! Small world. They were such warm people and it was comforting and encouraging to talk with them. I told them about my hike and about some of the things that were going on in my life. Before we parted ways, they hugged me and prayed for me. We exchanged contact information and I still keep in touch with Mike to this day. He checks my blog and Hike with Keirnan Facebook page. (Mike, I want you to know that you and Jill made an impact on my life in that short amount of time we talked. I will never forget the two of you.)

Some time later after my hike, Mike sent me a picture of him and Jill. I was so grateful to have this picture to remember them by! 

As I continued my hike, I realized that I didn't know if I was on the right path. The trail I was on splits into two: The Mist Trail  and the John Muir Trail. While they both connect above Nevada Falls, only one is the JMT. Thankfully, I was on the right path and continued merrily along my way.  

The climb to Nevada Falls was pretty steady. I had to take my time and eat some snacks to keep up my energy (Crap! I didn't eat breakfast!). I met a man and his two sons on the trail and we had some great conversation. We hiked together for about 30 minutes and then parted ways when I took a break. 

I started nearing Nevada Falls. It was quite beautiful. 

(Half Dome is to the left in this picture)

(The path leading to the falls.)

(The River that feeds the falls.)

(Looking back at the bridge you walk over to cross the falls.)

After the falls, the trail meets up with the Mist Trail. Here, I met Jessica and Jason. They were coming up from the Mist Trailhead with large packs on. More JMTers!!! We talked for a minute and then they went ahead of me. We met up later at Little Yosemite Valley and had lunch together. Turns out they were honeymooning! How cool! After lunch we parted ways. Their schedule was similar to mine, so I knew we would be crossing paths here and there. 

Another sign... I have about 6 miles left for the day. 

As I was going along, I noticed that there wasn't much water around and I was getting low. I finally found a creek and was able to fill up. It had beautiful flowers all along it's banks. 

Another guy was there filling up as well and he invited me over to join his group and some other guys who were just hanging out. I politely declined, as I wanted to continue my journey, but I soon realized that the trail did this weird thing and I wasn't sure which direction I was to go. So I went back to ask them if they knew, which they did, but I ended up hanging out with them anyway. 

There were 2 groups: 3 guys and a girl made up the first. They were all REI employees. Then there was a father/son unit (Keith and Dan "the ant"). We all hung out and talked for quite some time. One of the REI employees was sick and needed to rest. Thankfully he was much better by the end of our break. In our conversation there was much talk of gear and shoes and the such. Of course. They were quite impressed with my water filtration system and my trowel. It was really fun to share ideas and tips. 

The REI group packed up and headed back down to the valley, which is where I had just come from. Keith and Dan were headed to Tuolomne Meadows, which is where I would be on day 3. So, I joined them for the rest of the evening. It was great to have company. Turns out Keith is from Philly and Dan is stationed in SD with the Coast Guard. Again, small world. 

Here are a few pictures of our hike from our resting spot to our campsite.

(I loved the purple flowers that lined the trail here.)

(There's Dan waiting for us.)

(Beautiful views from where we were!)

It was starting to get late and I knew that we still had a few miles to go before we found our campsite, so we kept trekking along. We passed a girl named Kristen. She was also hiking the JMT solo. I was excited as I figured she and I could hike together once I parted ways with Keith and Dan. She invited us to camp with her, but we wanted to go up the trail some more. 

We found a spot where three other girls were and asked to join them. I called them The Trio. I only remember Martha's name. I think one might have been Maggie. 

Sunrise Creek ran along the backside of the camp, so we had easy access to water. We all set up our tents and I had a good laugh because Keith and Dan both had MSR tents too, so we had a little MSR tent village. While we were setting up, we spotted a deer. It just came into our camp and walked around for a bit before taking off. Once camp was set up, I started a fire for the group and we all started to make our dinners. I also had reception, so I was able to call my dad and send out a few text messages. 

All of a sudden, I realized I wasn't feeling well. I got my food (white cheddar shells and cheese) and tried to eat it, but it made me nauseated. I put the spoon to my mouth, took one bite, and knew that is all I could stomach. I went straight to bed, leaving my pot of food at the fire with everyone else. After resting a bit, I felt good enough to go take care of the extra food and clean the pot, but I went right back to bed after that! Hopefully I'll feel better in the morning. 

 

 

Yosemite National Park - The day prior to the hike

Yosemite National Park has to be one of the most amazing places I have ever seen. It is beautiful, and I can definitely see why John Muir chose to bring President Teddy Rosevelt there in order to pitch the idea of starting the National Park system. If you have never visited, please put it on the list of places you should go before you die. And give yourself plenty of time to walk some of the trails (there are plenty that are not very challenging for those of you who aren't as excited about hiking as I am).

The first place we stopped was at Tuolomne Meadows. This was the place I would be stopping to eat and camp on day 3, so I was getting familiarized with the campground, store and restaurant. We also walked over to the Tuolomne River. 

After we left Tuolomne Meadows, we headed to our campground, but before we got there, we had to stop at the iconic Tunnel View stop. This is where you can get a great view of El Capitan and Half Dome. 

Once we left that, we headed up to Bridalveil Falls campground to set up camp, which was only about 5miles from the trailhead of which I was starting, Glacier Point. Then we headed back down into the valley to get my permit, eat dinner and walk around. 

When I walked up to the counter to get my permit, the ranger said that there was 1 permit left for the Happy Isle trail head. The Happy Isle trailhead is actually the place where most start the North Bound JMT hike. This would have been a great permit to have! 

Now remember, I was supposed to start at Glacier Point and already set up camp just 5 miles or so from that trailhead. That was about 45 minutes away from where the other trailhead was, which was also just a short walk from the permit station and the backpacker's campground. Dang! We should have got my permit first! Then we could have just stayed in the Valley. I started getting nervous, too,because starting at Happy Isle means a good climb up for the majority of that day's hike. If I start at Glacier Point, it is mostly downhill. I was mentally prepared to go downhill on my first day!!!! Not uphill! 

Oooooh, but to start at Happy Isle would mean doing the JMT from start to finish without missing any of the trail (I would have missed about 4 miles of the beginning of the trail by starting from Glacier Point). What to do? What to dooooo? 

Despite being mentally prepared to go downhill... Despite my stuff already being up by Glacier Point... I went ahead and took the Happy Isle permit. 

Ta da! 

(Yes, they spelled my name wrong.)

After I finally had my permit, we went to eat, stopped in at the visitor's center and Ansel Adams art gallery. Then we took a hike over to Yosemite Falls. It was a very low snow year and Cali has been in a drought, so the falls were not running very full at all. 

It was on this hike that I realized just how nervous I was. My anxiety was flaring something crazy. I was nearly shaking and I felt so nauseous. Tomorrow I would be starting my hike. Wow! 

It was time to move on and head back to camp. But instead of staying long, we drove up to Glacier Point and caught the end of the sunset and joined in on the stargazing class that a park ranger was giving. It was cool to learn about some of the constellations and see the Milky Way. 

With it nearing 11:00, and knowing I had a big day (3 weeks!) ahead of me, we went back to camp and called it a night. 

Tomorrow... 

Everything I had been waiting for and preparing for would be waiting for me when I woke up in the morning...

Sorry to leave you hanging

Hi everyone.

I'm really sorry to leave you all hanging as to what happened with my hike. It took me some time to muster the emotional strength to come back to the blog after getting off the trail.

See, I ended up turning around on Day 7 and going back to the last resupply point, Red's Meadow Resort, which was also an easy exit point. From there I hopped on a bus and then hitch hiked my way down to Mt. Whitney to retrieve my Jeep.

Why in the world would I do that? I spent months upon months preparing for this hike! I was so excited for a great summer in the Sierras. How could I just stop? How could I just turn around like that? It was an extremely difficult decision for me, but I knew it was the right one. There were a few key things that caused me to do an about face...

First, on the Saturday before I started my hike, I somehow twisted my bad knee (old soccer injury) and I couldn't even put pressure on it. My friend had to help me get back in the car and gave me a compression strap to put on it. I was so scared that I wasn't going to be able to hike and became so nervous about it not getting better or me hurting it more. By Sunday it was feeling a little better, though I could still feel some pain. Monday came. The first day of the hike! I was feeling ok actually. Most of the first day is all up hill. And it's pretty wicked. By the end of the day, I could feel some pressure in my knee when I was stepping up. I had hoped that a good night's rest would be helpful, and it was. At first. By the end of the 2nd day, I could still feel it. I would take Ibuprofen every night, but it just wasn't enough (Come to find out I should have been taking MORE than what I was). Day 5 was pretty much downhill and at the end of that day I was going to be able to eat a cheeseburger. I was soooo hungry (Of which I will explain more of in the next paragraph) and I pretty much booked it downhill. I did 18 miles in that day in just 9 hours. That includes stopping for water, snacks and lunch. That's pretty quick when you're carrying a 40lb pack on your back. By the time I got to Red's Meadow Resort, BOTH of my knees were bothering me. They never got any better and going uphill on Day 7, I started to get extremely nervous that I was going to run into big problems further down the trail once the terrain got more challenging. Unfortunately, the further down the trail you get, the harder it is to get off the trail if you run into trouble. My knees were one of the reasons I made the decision to bail.

When you hike at this level, you can burn 2,000-3,000 calories a day. That means you need to be eating at least that much or more calories a day. I had all of my meals planned out and my calories planned out so that I would not be hungry and would lose a little weight. The first day was going fine. I had a breakfast on the go packet and a nut packet for breakfast. I had part of a cliff bar for snack, pepperoni tortilla wraps for lunch with gatorade. I was drinking (I thought) plenty of water and my electrolytes. When I got to camp that night, I cooked my first meal: White cheddar Velveeta Shells and Cheese. I couldn't eat it. I was getting so nauseated just looking at it. Just smelling it. I put the spoon to my mouth and almost vomited. So I figured I was just exhausted from hiking 12 miles that day and went to bed. When I woke up in the morning, I was no better. It was a chore for me to eat anything, so I didn't. The people I was hiking with had some Goo packets (high calorie shots in a pouch) and gummy blocks. So I had a couple of those, which helped me get to our spot for lunch. By lunch time my appetite found me again, so I had some more pepperoni wraps. And when we got to camp that night, which had a camp store and resupply station, I had some cheetos, but that was about it. No dinner. The next day I ate breakfast and lunch, but again, no dinner. This repeated itself every day. I just was never hungry at night. I'm not good at force feeding myself. I never was. So I just didn't' eat. On any regular day, this wouldn't be a big deal. However, when you're burning so many calories, this is the worst thing you can do for yourself. So, needless to say, I was running VERY low on energy.

My lack of calories combined with dehydration caused me to almost pass out on the trail on day 7. I had been drinking and drinking and drinking. My water reservoir and bottle were always filled. Yet, I couldn't keep hydrated. I was only urinating once in the morning and once at night. I don't know why. I really thought I was drinking more than enough water.

When I got lightheaded on the trail, I knew in my heart that I needed to turn around. So, I did. It was such a hard decision. I cried for a long time hiking back. But I knew it was the right decision for me.

I plan on going back next year to hike it with Donny and his group. Hiking solo is ok. You meet people to hike with and camp with, so it's not scary. But it can still be lonely. I should have been more social with the people I hiked with when we got to camp, but I was usually too exhausted to hang out around the campfire and talk, so I just went to my tent to journal and go to sleep. I think hiking with people that I already know and am close with will be much better for me. We'll see... I'm excited to be planning JMT 2015!

I am going to go through all of my pictures and my journal and make a post for each day that I was out there. I met some great people and saw some amazing things. Check back soon for more updates!

Hike on!