Friday, October 24, 2014

OREGON COAST 50KM RACE REPORT



The start of the race! Photo by: Justin Richards
I signed-up for the Rainshadow Running Oregon Coast 50km event with a bit of hesitation. For some reason the 6 miles of beach running at the start had me a bit nervous. But, I convinced myself that everyone would be in the same boat and that it would probably be pretty hilarious.

I had registered months ago and finally race weekend was upon me. I can't say I was 100% confident how race day would play out. It had been weeks since I had done a long run and the monsoon rainy weather we've been experiencing had left me feeling less than inspired to get outside and train mid-week. However, I this lack of motivation meant that I was very well rested and "tapered". I can make a positive out of any situation!

On Friday morning I jumped in a car with 6 of my friends/co-workers. I knew the ride down was going to be a blast and that the weekend was going to filled with a ton of laughs. We drove pretty much traffic free all the way to Portland where we made a pit stop at Deschuts Brewery. Beer has this way of making my stomach hurt/bloat so I didn't have any beer and would save that until after the race. Afterwards we loaded up at wholefoods and set off on the road again, We arrived at our hotel (The Adobe) in Yachats Oregon around 8:00pm. The race package pick-up/finish was at the Adobe hotel, making it the perfect place to stay. Thanks Hannah for being organized enough to book that in advance!

Photo by: Justin Richards
I woke up, made some instant oatmeal and made my way outside for package pick-up. The wear outside was pretty drizzly and windy but it was warm so I wasn't too concerned. The biggest question mark of the day was what shoes to wear. Everyone I knew were starting out in one pair of shoes and switching it up after the beach section 7 miles later. Our shoes were guaranteed to (a) get wet and (b) be full of sand. I made the conscious decision to start in my La Sportiva Vertical K's and would switch out to my Crosslites at mile 7. I also decided to start with a handheld bottle and switch over to my pack at the first aid station. All 50km racers then boarded a bus and were driven to the start line.

We had a few minutes to kill in the parking lot before we were taken to the start line on the beach. At this point the weather was less than desirable and I was kicking myself for not bringing a jacket as I stood shivering in shorts and a t-shirt. Everyone made their way to the beach which lucky for us was pretty hard packed due to the rain. There was a crazy headwind and the whole scenario was hilarious to me: hundreds of runners let loose on a cold, rainy and windy beach.

Photo by: Justin Richards
Photo by: Justin Richards

Photo by: Justin Richards
After a quick countdown from James Varner, the RD, we were off! It didn't take long for people to huddle up in packs. Our pack had roughly 8-10 people in it and I knew quite a few of them. Now and again we would chit-chat but for the most part it was heads down running. The headwind was so strong that I could hardly look up ahead. Luckily, the air was warm and I wasn't cold in my minimal attire. I strategically began to draft behind people. However, I was at the front of the pack and wasn't always able to tuck in behind. At one point I thought about verbally communicating a drafting strategy to the group but I didn't know how that would go over. I also didn't know how the people I was drafting off were enjoying having me right behind them. But every time I wasn't behind someone I knew I was wasting SO much energy and knew it was going to affect me later. The miles were ticking off quite quickly and although my feet were wet, they were not filling with sand. The La Sportiva Vertical K's have an amazing built in gator and they did a great job keeping sand out of my shoes.

Photo by: Justin Richards
I asked a few of the other girls if they were going to change shoes and they didn't think they would considering the conditions. I was a bit nervous about not changing my shoes because I had never run more than 13 miles in them. I had never had a blister wearing them but 30 miles is a lot longer than 13! Not wanting to lose time to the other women, I decided to take a risk and try them out for the long haul. I stopped at the first aid station, which was located at the Adobe Hotel, only to grab my pack, which contained a full 1.5L water bladder and all the gels I would need for the rest of the race. I was in a pack of 6 girls, most of whom I knew. We had about 1.5-2 miles along the road to get to the trail and we chit chatted a bit on the way there. By this point, the weather was pretty nice and it was warming up. I was leading our little pack as soon as we got into the trail. Once it began uphill, I was passed by a female in a 7 hills running singlet, Jordan Maki-Richards. She looked fit and fast and I had no qualms about letting her go by. My friend Alexa was also moving well uphill and I let her go ahead of me. However, when the hill steepened a bit, she began to power hike and I kept running and passed her back. My legs were feeling really good and I decided to run as much of the ups as I could. I have learned over the years that I am way more efficient running uphill then walking if the grade is right. As soon as the trail began downhill, I opened up and passed Jordan and eventually caught up and passed one more female.


Photo by: Glenn Tachiyama
The trails were so fun and suited me perfectly. They weren't too steep and for the most part were pretty run-able. The descents were also just technical and muddy enough that I knew I would have an advantage because that is my bread and butter. I was in my happy place and there truly was no where else I would have rather been. The views of the ocean were breathtaking and I tried to soak them up as much as I could.

Photo by: Glenn Tachiyama
After mile 9 or so I didn't see many runners. I had been going back and forth with one guy, as he was a better hill climber but only passed a couple of guys in the middle. At the 24km aid station we pretty much re-traced our steps back to the very first aid station to the Adobe hotel. At this point we begin to share the trail with the 30km runners, which was great. I enjoyed cheering them on and stayed on the look out for my friend Hannah who was running. The trail was pretty narrow in spots and it was hard having both distances sharing the trail but we made it work! I forgot how much descent their was in those last 6 miles that we had done previously. The trail just kept going up! The trail was also VERY muddy at this point and I was lucky to have shoes with such amazing grips on them as people were slipping and sliding all over.


A 30km racer told me in those last few miles that I was the second women. I was pretty surprised as I thought there were more up ahead but was very happy to be in second. I passed a few more guys on the road back to the finish. I was pretty done by this point and running on the pavement wasn't helping. I just tried to keep a good steady pace and finish as strong as I could. The volunteer marshaling with 1 mile to go told me I was in 9th place overall which also gave me motivation to finish strong and not get passed.

I was ecstatic to see the finish. As always James Varner was standing there offering out high fives to all the finishers. As usual, I declined and reached in for a giant hug! I thanked him for making such a beautiful and fun course and chit chatted about how it all came to be. I was awarded a special prize for coming in the top 3 which was a custom Rainshadow Running beer growler. I spent the rest of the night eating amazing wood fired pizza, drinking beer, and catching up with other racers/friends. His races really are all about running in beautiful places and socializing (2 of my favorite things). All of this occurred with the most amazing ocean view just feet away. If you haven't done a RR running event, do yourself a favor and sign-up for one in 2015. Warning: they sell out really fast!!!!

On Sunday, the six of us checked out and had breakfast at the Green Salmon, an amazing breakfast/lunch spot in downtown Yachats. Then we drove home along the Oregon Coast, making a couple Rogue Brewery stops along the way.

Thanks again to James, Matt, Kerry and all the volunteers who made this event possible. I always meet such amazing people at these events (vollies and racers).

Thanks to La Sportiva for making amazing shoes that kick ass in thick mud and on wet rock and keep debris from getting inside!

Next up is another Rainshadow Running event in December: Deception Pass 50km

Happy Trails!!!!

Friday, August 29, 2014

The rest of our PCT trip- In Journal Entries



Peter and I have been off the trail for a month now. Although relaxing, having regular showers and eating good food is enjoyable, we’re both longing to be uncomfortable. Somehow we enjoy the discomforts of long trail days, dirty legs, aching bodies, and less than ideal food. It’s the simple life and it’s oh so good!

I am quite behind on blogging for this hike and instead of trying to recap every single detail, I am going to share with you snippets of my ‘Journal’. I didn’t bring a pen and paper (luxury items) but I did bring my iPhone and used the wonderful notes section to jot down the days occurrences. Unfortunately, I always wrote at the end of the day (tucked away in my sleeping bag and half asleep) so the details are pretty broad and the grammar is awful. I had a good chuckle reading through them yesterday. I wrote them here exactly as they were written on my phone.




This was a crazy windy climb
Day 18: 30 miles. Hard to get up today! Didn`t start walking until 6:30am. My Thermarest didn`t leak so that was great! Ran into `Victoria` (early b) and hiked over the pass with him. I'm still under the weather today. Rest of the day was easy and pretty flat and uneventful to Tuolomne store. Post office was closed but they gave us our boxes!! We had burgers (me veggie) outside that were awesome! We both bought some wraps, cheese, and salami. Packs feel so heavy now! I'm sure I'm carrying way more than I need. O well! We're sitting now waiting for our meal to rehydrate. It takes longer at elevation. It's cold out! Then a few more miles...look forward to bed. Left foot still has some sores :( A guy stopped to give both of us $2 American bill.It's his way of giving back to the hikers. He did the trail 35 years ago and now he hikes the JMT (last 9 years) and give out the bills! What a guy!!! I gave him my toonie in return. 

A great water cache just after Hat Creek
Day 21: 35 miles BIGGEST mileage day yet! We are trying to bank extra miles so we can get to the Echo Lake post office that's only open 11-2pm on Friday. Worst sleep ever last night. It was so windy. God awful and cold. Plus the tent was on an awkward slant :( I slept in all my warm clothes and was still cold. We walked 10 or so miles to the highway. Crossed it then went up a 1000ft or so. Beautiful new landscape. Saw our first hiker of the day at the top "Crusher". Then had to navigate through snow to the bottom. Then another 800ft climb that I hammered b/c it was just before lunch. Yum lunch. Saw the army guy from a while back and met 2 new hikers 'Almost Awesome' and 'Possum'. Then we had a nice downhill trend for a while. Finally it was dinner and my legs (hammies) were sore and my left Peroneal muscle. I wanted to stop but got motivated into going up to the saddle and felt good an am glad we banked the extra miles. Weird only seeing 4 people all day!

Day 22: 33 miles. Now only 15.5 miles tomorrow. We will be able to get to the post office now before it closes at 2pm. I slept well but it was cold. I think I slept in my Uplink jacket. We did our typical 17 miles in 6 hours before lunch. Beautiful scenery today again! Stunning colors. Deep purples. Sunny Day and finally hot enough to rock a t-shirt by 7am! There was more climbing today than I thought but not long climbs. Super windy in the afternoon. We didn't see a single PCT hiker today. That's a first. Tons of day hikers though. We crossed a couple highways. Opposite things were sore instead of the usual. We may take a rest day in Lake Tahoe. Would be cool to see what it's like there. We are literally camped just off the hwy. I can hear cars!






Day 28: 10 miles. Rolled into Sierra City around 920am after washing off in the river, which we thought was the watering hole. We went straight to The Red Moose for breakfast. An old couple (70 yrs) run the place (although it's for sale) and the breakfast was delicious! I can't believe how good the sausages have been in the US and how any times I've ordered them. Lot's of coffee refills :) I paid $5 for a shower and they did our laundry for free!!! Made some new trail friends 'Patches' and D.C' and then went to the store to get our package but it wasn't there so we had to stay the night. We just chilled out and ate lunch from the store deli which was awesome. Another day of eating lots and having drinks. Had a good chat with 'The Hobbit' ('Stumbles' brother). We went to the pub for a pasta dinner which was awesome and had the angel food cake with strawberries desert. I was SO full!!!! Need to eat less in town or grow a bigger stomach. We slept under a tree by the church and stayed dry through the rain that came at night. It was so hot last night. Hopefully our package comes tomorrow!

This guy was making so much noise outside our tent we thought it was a bear!

The coolest outhouse at the Peter Grub Hut


The lovely folks who own the Red Moose

Day 33: 7 miles back down the hill to Beldon. Shin still hurts to put shoe on and decided I needed some rest days before trying to push on. We will take one more full day before continuing or make that choice. It's still tight that's for sure. Sounds like I should have been hitting the Ibuprofen sooner but I am on it now. We're at the Braatens now, who are trail angels who live 1 mile away. They were dropping off "gear slut" and "dirt wolf" and she told me to go home with her. They have beds there and a shower (free). They kind of have this whole separate house you stay in. There's a kitchen and everything. I hear the train!!! She had homemade cookies! I had 4! Hope my shin starts to feel better.

We spent 3 wonderful days here trying to heal my shin splints. I am the only person to ever beat the undefeated employee at ping pong. Who cares if he only has one eye and no right bicep! His excuses for losing...

The main lodge in Belden Town. Known mostly for their wild raves.
Day 36: 25 miles. Woke up at our beauty of a tentsite and on the move by 6:00am. Carried lots of water b/c it was 17 miles to water. Not too eventful but a beautiful morning. Didn't see 'Crusher' until the highway. Some trail angels put coolers on the other side of the highway. I had a root beer! There was a registry too and I read through them and it seemed apparent that we should go into Chester. We hadn't planned on it but I knew I wanted to grab some salami from the grocery store. The general store in old station has limited supplies. I'm out of figs till then :( One of the recommendations was to go to Dentist Dr. Webbs office and there he gives you toothpaste, brush, floss, homemade cookies and a gift certificate for $20 to the restaurant "The Locker Room". Magic!!!We didn't get to meet the dentist but his receptionist was great. We got our pic taken which will go on this board. Well worth the 10mi hitch into town which we scored right away. The restaurant was great (had a club sandwich with salad) and the watermelon wheat beer I had was so good. They even had a frozen yogurt machine with all the toppings. All for under $20! We hitched back and after 20 min got a ride and there were lots of hikers at the TH. 2 of them caught up to us at the river where we were camped. There's a great site right by the river where we got to wash up. Had dinner with everyone (South Paw and Johnny Rocket) on the bridge. Will probably have breakfast/lunch in Drakebad tomorrow which is 10 miles away but maybe we will skip it and move onto old station. It's July 4th tomorrow so who knows if it will be open. Shin feels not too bad. I hopped on it pain free but can still feel it for sure when I walk but it's totally manageable still.

Day 39: 29 miles. Flat as a pancake day!! A few short descents and one tiny ascent. This was the 'dry' water day but there were so many caches. I didn't need to fill at them all. Had lunch by this kinda gross lake. There were vultures flying above near by. Something must have died. Saw more cat prints today but no spotting's. Hot afternoon! Around 2:30am there was a sign at the hwy crossing for "Wild Bird Cash 1 mile ahead". I had been dreaming of a soda all afternoon! When we finally got to it, there was a trail magic oasis!!! Cooler was full of a variety of pop, bananas, apple sauce, mini snickers. There was a cupboard full of food and a stove you could cook on. There was a camera they wanted you to take your picture with. Lounge chairs and a picnic table and to top it off there was a shower with solar shower bags! Just as we were about to leave the trail angels came and we had beer. We chilled with them and talked about how this all came to be etc. Kathy and Randy. They've been doing it 3 years. Johnny Rocket came by and had some beers and South Paw made a brief appearance. They even played the spoons and harmonica for us. Simply amazing :) We carried on buzzed for 7 more miles to the campground where there was a general store. I had some soft serve and then we cooked our freeze dried meal on the picnic table. Now were camped in a random spot but we paid $10 for it!

The greatest Cache that exists on the PCT
Can you believe all of this food!

There was a camera in a box to take a picture of yourself.

They built a shower for hikers and supplied all the solar bags. There was even a mirror!!!!






 Day 42: 21 miles. It rained a bit last night. Peter had to get up and put the fly on. It was so hot last night and we both slept like shit and both our mats were deflating. We got up at 4:20am and got ready to leave in the dark. We were on the trail by 5:03am. We had 6 miles of ascent with 2000ft of gain and then 8 miles of slow descent. We were hauling ass to get into town! It's not like we need to we just seem to do it as we want to just get it over with and be in town. Saw our first bear today. It was a black bear but it was brown. The bear was beautiful and furry like a stuffed animal :) It was just up off the trail and Peter scared it up the hillside. He even growled at it ha! We walked 1.5 miles along the I-5 to get to the market and boy was that sketchy. The wide shoulder was good though! Once at the market we got our package and beer and snacks. I had the best nectarine!!! We sat out on the picnic table and ate and 'Miles' was there too. He hurt some foot tendon and had to 'nero' in the Town of Berney. He was leaving back on the trail today. We decided to hitch to Shasta. We made a sign and stood near the hwy on ramp. The first person wasn't going that way but gave us some blackberries! The second person was only going to Dunsmuir but we decided that would be good to! Neither of us had ever been there. She was great and from Napa. A runner. She showed us the town first and told us about where to stay and eat. We checked into the Inn and relaxed and watched soccer- Netherlands lost :( Then it was laundry time and grocery shopping. Then we went to dinner at the most amazing place! The pesto mussels were so good! I had a seafood salad that was awesome! The fudge brownie and ice cream desert Peter ordered was deadly! We came back and patched up the leaks in our Neoair matresses, hope it works! Didn't get to bed until 11:30pm!!!

"PCT Hiker to Shasta"

Looking over to Castle Crags


The amazing Mt. Shasta
Day 47: 35 miles. Slept away from about 5 others that were all in a campsite together a couple min away. The day was another stunning day that reminded me of the JMT. A few longer steeper climbs that switch backed up the mountains but nothing as long as the passes on the JMT. It was pretty damn hot today. Met "Six Pack" and "Foxy". Red and Daniel hitched into Etna today. Heard it has a brewery. One of the highlights today was at lunch time. About 30 minutes into our lunch after we've eaten most of our food, a pack of like 8 goats rolled by us and decided to lie down and chill. The bigger goats had packs on. One goat was annoying and trying to peck at our shit. We kept expecting to see the owner but never saw one???? You don't see that in regular life! We got to a spring around 5:15 which is where we met six pack. He was high as a kite. It was 0.4 mi to the spring and we ran down. My shin is feeling good. Had a really enjoyable day. Didn't get a chance to wash off before bed but oh well!!!

"Whyyyyyyy"...Sadly, I started to get shin splints again and we stopped hiking in Ashland.

Me and "Ultra Buns", who wrote a book on his supported PCT run at age 83. Ran into him after hobbling off the trail.
The trip was absolutely mind blowing. I would do it all over again in a heart beat. My body only failed me twice. I had shin splints in my left shin that seemed to heal after 2 days rest and taping. Then roughly 3 weeks later I started to get it in my right shin. At this point we didn't have much time left on the trail and just decided to get off early. Stopping was the right call because the shin splints went away right away and I haven't felt them again since.

I will miss the trail, people, lifestyle, being outside almost 24/7, eating whatever whenever, the challenge, and most of all- waking up with Peter and having this awesome single track trail to keep walking on. I feel like I am at my best in these elements and that this is where I belong. The same way I feel when I am out running. I was surprised how much I didn't miss running while I was out there. I think it's because we were often pushing 30 mile days, which is way more than I would do on a regular basis running.

Up next...Sunshine Coast Trail FKT...

Saturday, June 21, 2014

PCT Day 17-23



We ("Fat Dog" and "Marathon") had a really great stay at the Best Western in Mammoth Lakes. We really didn't move much and luckily, everything we needed was within a 5 minute walk from the hotel. They had an amazing complimentary breakfast buffet (fresh eggs, pancakes, french toast, sausages, bacon, potato mash, watermelon, cantaloupe....plus cereal, toast, oatmeal etc which we never touched) and we went to town on it every morning. The coffee was great too. Besides the $$$ I would highly recommend the hotel.

The morning we got back on the trail I woke up with a sore throat and wasn't feeling well, which is the opposite of how I would expect to feel after 2.5 days off. I was suppose to feel AMAZING, but I didn't and would have to deal with that for the next 1.5 days as we made our way to Tuolomne Meadows to re-supply. On the plus side, Peter was feeling really good after all that he had gone through in those first couple of weeks. The new shoes were feeling WAY BETTER then what he previously had and he was able to walk pain free (for the most part). Here is a mileage breakdown of the last 7 days:

Day 17: 26.5 miles (Tuolomne Meadows re-spply)
Day 18: 30 miles
Day 19: 28 miles
Day 20: 29 miles
Day 21: 35 miles
Day 22: 33 miles
Day 23: 15.5 miles (Echo Lake re-supply)

We had to avg 30 miles after day 17 because we only had enough food (in theory) to get to our re-supply in Echo Lake. However, the post office was only open from 11am-2pm and you can tell by our mileage breakdown that we had to bank extra miles to ensure our last day was going to get us to Echo Lake on time to get our boxes. Post office times are one thing you have to deal with out here. Luckily, many of them are connected to a store and an employee will often get your box for you, which is what happened in Tuolomne Meadows.

The next 5 days were amazing. The scenery was simply breathtaking and there is literally nowhere else I would rather be than hanging out in the wilderness all day every day. We have only had one 3 hour stint of rain on the entire trip so far (and we were sheltered)! On this leg of the trip I had a tiny bit of leg soreness (tight hamstrings) at the end of each day but I always felt good in the morning. I think it's a combination of totally shot running shoes, lot's of climbing, and just the wear and tear that 30 miles a day does to your body. My tight hammies felt way better on the last couple of days where there weren't as many hills to climb. The days and nights were a lot cooler. It wasn't until the second to last day that I even put on a t-shirt and rather hiked in my long sleeve, wind break jacket and pants most of the time. I should take a moment to talk about these Arc'teryx pants we got at the factory outlet store in North Vancouver. They are SUPER lightweight and durable. They were made for the military (they have a military line of clothing) and have zippers down the side if you get a little hot. They have a built in pocket you can pack the pants into and I will definitely be taking these on backcountry running excursions in the future.

We decided that we would pick up our boxes (we had 4) from Echo Lake and then try and hitch a ride to South Lake Tahoe (13 miles away) and take a full rest day. Both of us were getting new shoes, our re-supply box (with new socks inside!), and MEC sent Peter new poles. While we were waiting for our boxes I over heard a guy "Mulberry" who was getting a ride to South Lake Tahoe with a guy "Grey Wolf" he had met on the JMT. I asked if he had any extra room for us too, and he said he did!

South Lake Tahoe is an interesting place. Right near our hotel, there is a state line that divides California and Nevada. Literally on the other side of this line are a bunch of Casinos. There must be 500 Inn's/Hotels/Motels in this little city. I am just stoked that our feet feel good and we can actually go check out the town a little bit.





getting the rocks out of my shoes. 

My favorite gear list:

- La Sportiva Crosslite. This shoe has for the most part kept my feet blister free. My right foot (smaller foot) has had zero issues. My left foot, which is a tad bigger, has had one blister on both my pinky and big toe. The problems only started when we were going in and out of creeks all the time and my feet were constantly going from wet to dry. Even after 500 miles my feet never got sore. They have a built in gator so I don't have to wear a separate one. Peter wears dirty girl gators and he still has to empty out his shoes nearly as frequently as I do. Shoes are the one thing that take A LOT of wear and tear. Shoes are not meant to be walked on all day everyday and never get a chance to rebound. The fact that these low profile shoes took me over 500 miles is awesome! Thanks La Sportiva for sending me a new pair to Echo Lake! 

- Mountain Laurel Designs Burn Pack: This thing is lightweight and has great outside pockets. I can easily grab my water bottles while hiking from the 2 side pockets. It has more than enough space for everything I need. I have had no chafing from the pack and it's comfortable as anything. I added on 2 waist belt pockets which is where I carry the majority of my food for the day. We have only seen one other hiker "Midway" with this bag but it is on the $$$ side, so maybe that's why? 

- Defeet Aireator Monkey Junky socks: These socks just make me so happy. They are about half the price of my Smartwool socks and have lasted about the same amount of time. You can buy these at MEC.

- North Face Eat My Dust Shorts: I really love North Face shorts. They are inexpensive and just fit my body right. These shorts are soooo comfortable hiking. You can get these at North Shore Athletics.

- MEC Uplink Jacket. This is my all time favorite jacket. We met another guy in Mammoth wearing one and instantly knew he was Canadian. Turned out he was from Victoria and we spent a bit of trail time with him when we ran into him a few days later.

- MEC T1 Long John. I know my crazy psychedelic tights do not look like long johns but they are and they are soooooo comfortable. I put them on every night when I snuggle up in my sleeping bag and often wear them hiking in the morning until I get too hot. I have had quite a few compliments on these tights. 

- Patagonia Houdini Windbreaker. I have really enjoyed this piece and love that it has a hood. I have a Sugoi one I love for running back home but it didn't have a hood and I am really happy with my choice to bring the Houdini. 

- Rainshadow Running Trucker Hat. I just love this hat so much and it does a great job at protecting my face!

- Petzl E + Lite: This is the only headlamp we both brought. We don't hike or set up camp in the dark and thus this is all we need. 

- GORP Bars: This is a relatively new bar on the market and is owned and operated in a small town (Niverville) in Winnipeg. It is high in calories and is packed with nutritious ingredients...such as Pea Fibre! I love the Peanut Butter Apple flavor. You can get these at MEC. 

- I Love My Muff wipes: I remember going for a run with some new friends and seeing these wipes in their car. The name had me more than intrigued and I knew these would be perfect for the trip. I met up with the owner, Ritz, and she so generously hooked me up with some to take on my trip. I have used these everyday and it is such a nice feeling to know I am a dirty mess everywhere but the important bits!





The greens are just amazing right now



The wind was CRAZY this evening! Thank gosh we had our Arc'teryx wind pants!









I hope you enjoyed the picture show. I am not sure when we will be in a town with wifi again. Our next carry is 3.4 days to Sierra City and then it's roughly 5 days in between re-supplies for a long time. We are both looking forward to getting to Oregon!

One funny thing out here is that (mostly) everyone has a trail name. It took a while for us to get use to introducing ourselves by our trail names. Mine is "Marathon" and it's a nickname my friend Emily gave me a few years back when she first met me and it just seemed fitting to use. We decided that Peter's should be "Fat Dog" because of the race that he helps put on in Manning Park, which is where the PCT finishes. People are pretty funny when he introduces himself as "Fat Dog". They often repeat it back saying "Nice to meet you"...'Mad Dog' or 'Bad Dog'. One lady even said, "Oooooo Fat Dog with a 'PH'". People have a hard time calling Peter "Fat" I guess. He has lost roughly 20 lbs already so I guess it's understandable how they get confused.

It's officially summer today! I hope everyone is enjoying theirs so far. I'll write back more tails from the trails when I get the chance. For now, we will enjoy the rest of our stay in South Lake Tahoe.