Time Marches On

It has been longer than hoped since the last update. A lot has happened, and I am not sure I will remember it all just now. We have made it over 200 miles. Seen amazing views. Continue to meet new and interesting people. Enjoying the life of a wonderer. In Warner Springs, we go two free meals and a shower paid for thanks to the kindness of fellow hikers. We will have to keep our budget under wraps to deter people from being so kind. That being said, I will never say no more than once. I have not been keeping my journal as well as I would have hoped thus far and the days blend together on this trail. Never sure of the time, where exactly we are or what day it could possibly be. We have done quite a bit of night hiking. Some of it has been amazing! Some of the miles have been a little scary. We have been caught in a rain/hail storm at a spring supposedly in the desert. A fella named Joe, originally from Oregon has been hiking with us the past few days. We call him Hollywood. He maintains a pretty cleanly appearance among a few other practices that make the name befitting. We have laughed until tears many times already. With him we strolled into Paradise Cafe for a delicious late breakfast. Talked with people there, split ways with Damsel and headed out for a gnarly climb to roughly 10,000 feet. Brandon from Illinois has been struggling, but was making progress last time we saw him. We met a beautifully athletic northern California dame named Staci. She sets a pretty good pace. Damsel went ahead of us to Idyllwild and got a room in a hotel. We ended up doing about a 26 mile day with the last three miles barreling down a none PCT mile credit trail named Devil's Slide. Staci did it with a total over 30 miles. We walked half way down to town and stopped and waited for a ride that a girl we ran into said she could arrange. Worked out very well! We spent two nights in the hotel. Great zero day of relaxation! Spent the day laughing away with Hollywood, Matt, Damsel, Staci and Lucy. Felt great not having to walk for a day. Headed out of Idyllwild much later than we hoped with a ride from Katie once again. Climbed back up Devils Slide with two dozen eggs. Did not make it as far as we would use liked, but slept at about 8800 feet. Ate half a dozen eggs for dinner and half a dozen for breakfast. Moved slowly about five miles to rest for our main rest from twelve to four. Headed out at 1630 for a fifteen mile downhill stretch to water. Did not get there until after 2230. Drank up, cooked some more eggs and went to sleep under the stars. Arose to mingle with the people around and head back out on the trail. Cooked the rest of my eggs. I did not even crack a single one. It is a great way to load up on calories for unbelievably cheap. $1.50 a dozen. We dropped down to 1100 feet and one can feel the heat! Today is hot! I guess the temperature increases four degrees for every 1000 feet of elevation drop. Matt wanted me to put a plug in for him GO PACERS!!


If anyone wanted to help us out by sending a package or anything here is some information.

• Food, and lots of it! Letters and little surprises also are welcomed.
• Just a reminder, large random items are discouraged; weight is a constant variable in everything we decide to carry.
• Food items. Any and every type of candy bar available besides coconut, not all too big of a fan.
• Chips, cookies, candy, nuts, pretzels, FROSTED ANIMAL CRACKERS!!! and anything that is calorie dense and won’t spoil quickly is greatly appreciated.
• We will eat anything that will not go bad. Nothing is expected, but everything is appreciate.

Here is the table with expected arrival dates and address information. Dates are estimated and will be changed according to schedule. Just be sure to include Phillip Gartner or Matt Drinkut on the package and right please hold for thru hiker. I do not believe a package will make it to Big Bear by the time we are ready to leave.

Est Date	Mile	Location	Address
California
May-9	151	Idyllwild	General Delivery, Idyllwild, CA 92549
May-15	265	Big Bear City	General Delivery, Big Bear Lake, CA 92315
May- 19	363	Wrightwood	c/o Mountain Hardware, PO Box 398, Wrightwood, Calfiornia 92397
May-24	454	Agua Dulce	c/o the Saufleys, 11861 Darling Road, Agua Dulce, CA 91390
May-29	558	Mojave	General Delivery, Mojave, CA 93501
June- 6	703	Kennedy Meadows	c/o Kennedy Meadows General Store, 96740 Beach Meadow Road, Inyokern, CA 93527
June-21	943	Tuolumne Meadows	General Delivery, Tuolomne Meadows, Yosemite national park, CA 95389
June-29	1095	Echo Lake	General Delivery, Echo Lake, CA 95721 (Do not use USPS Click-n-Ship for this locale)
July-3	1198	Sierra City	c/o Red Moose Inn, PO Box 384, Sierra City, CA 96125 (USPS address)
July-11	1336	Chester	c/o Cedar Lodge, PO Box 677, Chester, CA 96020
July-19	1507	Castella	c/o Ammirati’s Market, PO Box 90, Castella, CA 96017
July-23	1606	Etna	c/o Alderbrook Manor, 836 Sawyers Bar Road, Etna, CA 96027 (UPS or Fedex Only)
Oregon
Aug-2	1830	Crater Lake	c/o Crater Lake Camp Store, Mazama Village, Crater Lake, OR 97604
Aug-6	1912	Shelter Cove	c/o Shelter Cove Resort, 27600 West Odell Lake Road Highway 58, Crescent, OR 97733 (UPS only)
Aug-10	2001	Big Lake Youth Camp	c/o Big Lake Youth Camp,13100 Highway 20
Aug-18	2155	Cascade Locks	c/o Pacific Crest Pub & Hostel, PO Box 388, Cascade Locks, OR 97014
Washington
Aug-26	2303	White Pass	c/o White Pass Rural Branch PO at the Kracker Barrel Store, 48851 US Highway 12, Naches, WA 98937
Aug-31	2401.7	Snoqualmie Pass	General Delivery, c/o Chevron Station, Snoqualmie Pass, WA 98068 (Write in big, bold letters, “ Please hold up front at the Chevron”
Sept-4	2476	Skykomish	Dinsmore’s Hiker Haven, (hiker name), PO Box 374, Skykomish, WA 98288
Sept-9	2574	Stehekin	General Delivery, Stehekin, WA 98852