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Lost Mysteries

August 4, 2021 by Rachel Lanman 22 Comments

A poem by Rachel Lanman

When the forest burns, so does it’s mysteries. The cool dark places where deer hide, now too hot and exposed. The smell of sweet pine replaced with the acrid scent of rot and ash. It gets stuck in your nose and lungs. Green to black, life to death.

When 500,000 acres burns, it’s not just death, it’s annihilation. With whole generations of bear, deer and birds unable to escape, succumbing to smoke and heat. A collective and final exhalation of breath. Sound to silence, life to death.

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Familiar Faces and Places (PCT Day 131)

July 26, 2021 by Jon Lanman 1 Comment

I awake to the smell of smoke. We slept near one of the snow lakes, and this morning the smoke has blown in. I’m not sure where the smoke originated but I assume it’s from the bootleg Fire which is currently consuming wildlands and woods to our west.

We eat breakfast and drink coffee next to a small lake near our camp. The setting feels more like home, with trees scattered around us and huckleberry bushes standing petite and low to the ground.

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Where Have We Been? (PCT Day 130)

July 25, 2021 by Jon Lanman 3 Comments

Today is July 25th and we are now in Oregon, just south of Crater Lake. Tonight we’re camped next to one of the Snow Lakes, which is more like a small pond. Today was one of our prettiest days in Oregon yet. We passed by miles of huckleberries and green forests then climb upward at the end of the day to walk along a ridgeline, obtaining our first scenic view in Oregon. Now we lay under the stars as I reflect on where we’ve been.

It’s been hundreds of miles since we last made a post, and I apologize to all of you who’ve been following along on our adventure. When we last left off, we were in South Lake Tahoe. Since then we’ve been through a number of small towns speckled throughout Northern California, and benefitted from the kindness of strangers on several occasions.

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Carson Pass and Lake Tahoe (PCT Day 92)

June 17, 2021 by Jon Lanman Leave a Comment

Today we awake, glad to be alive after Lupine’s brush with danger yesterday. The weather has been warming over the last several days, so we sleep without the rainfly on, and I awake to the buzz of mosquitos hovering around our tent. I roll over and look at them as they hover then land randomly on the mesh fabric of our tent. They are desperate to eat me.

I apprehensively rise from bed and am amazed that I am able to leave our camp relatively unscathed. We quickly pack up all of our gear then make our way down the trail, hoping to find a more peaceful place to eat our breakfast. When we eventually spot a large stone slab sitting in the sun, we branch off the trail and begin our daily regimen of coffee and muesli. At first, our place is peaceful, but before long the mosquitos have tracked us down, and we disappear under our bug nets.

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Good people (PCT Day 90)

June 15, 2021 by Jon Lanman Leave a Comment

When I awake to the alarm at 5 am I can hear the wind swirling around overhead, stirring above the trees. I envision the clouds swirling and twisting like liquid in a caldron. I remember watching the clouds last night move quickly across the sky. Before falling asleep I slipped in some earplugs to help clear my head. Fortunately our tent sits sheltered beside some boulders, avoiding most of the wind.

I ask Lupine how she’s doing as her eyes barely open. “I’m tired” she says as her eyes then seal back shut. I’ll lay here a little longer and then get moving I decide. Lupine wakes up at 6, and writes a quick and simple account of the day.

Woke up at creek. Slept in till 6.

Breakfast and coffee at our campsite. We are tired this morning and need come caffeine to get moving.

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The Ongoing Gifts of Yosemite (PCT Day 86)

June 11, 2021 by Jon Lanman 2 Comments

It’s another tranquil day in the Yosemite backcountry. Again I smell the wild onion as I open up my eyes. I lay in our tent and imagine what my day will include – granite stone, rambling streams, and bright green meadows. Not a bad day at all.

As we prepare breakfast in the early morning light, several hikers pass by our camp heading upward, making their miles for today. Our deer friends again join us scampering through the forest. We watch them as we eat, sipping our coffee. The young ones look at us suspiciously, and we move smoothly so as not to startle them. Another hiker spots them as he walks by, and they scatter as he walks to the stream for water.

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The Many Meadows of Yosemite (PCT Day 85)

June 10, 2021 by Jon Lanman Leave a Comment

It’s cold again this morning. In the twenties, I assume. 25? 28? I’m not sure exactly. I watch the sun as it makes shadows on our tent. The shaded imprint of branches wave across the rain fly. When the sun is sufficiently illuminating the bottom of the tent, my motivation rises, bringing me upward to my feet. Again it’s time to hike. It’s time to go to work. Today will be a good day I tell myself again. I’m hopeful for beauty, wonder, joy, and a pain free day.

The snow from last nights dusting is mostly melted, with only hints of it in the shade of giant conifers. A little bit of ice sits at the bottom of our tent, where the snow began to melt then freeze again. Near our camp is a river, we must cross first thing in the morning. We do it before our coffee. So, does it even happen or is this just a dream? I skip across the rocks, precariously placed. But, I make it with dry feet. Unfortunately, Lupine is not so lucky, dunking her foot into the stream. Burrr…

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Yosemite Waterfalls and Granite Domes (PCT Day 84)

June 9, 2021 by Jon Lanman Leave a Comment

I awake. It’s cold. I see Lupine’s head is still tucked under her sleeping quilt. I’m relieved. I’m not ready to wake up. I tuck my head back under my quilt.

We originally planned to rise early To make up from lost time yesterday, from our venture to Yosemite Valley. But we clearly are not hardcore, dawn dashing, mile crushing thru-hikers. I’m okay with that. My bed is comfy. Last night was the first night with my new pad, a simple foam pad. The previous two nights were spent sleeping on a pile of clothes like a dog.

When I notice Lupine’s head stick out from her sleeping quilt, she says “I signed my shares”. She just got an urgent message last night from her employer. They just secured more funding and are issuing more shares to the employees, but she needed to sign by the end of the week. We’re lucky we were in Tuolumne for an extra day and that she has a tiny bit of phone service. Otherwise we’d be gone past the weekend.

When we get up, I stack my gear on the picnic table and pack it into my bag. I say to Lupine, “it’s going to be a good day. I’m just going to put that out into the world”.

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Donahue Pass, Tuolumne Meadows & The Yosemite Valley (PCT Days 82-83)

June 8, 2021 by Rachel Lanman 1 Comment

We rise to another blue sky in the backcountry. I turn over to greet Jon, and notice something odd. He is laying on a completely flat mattress pad. “Oh no, your pad!”, I exclaim. “Last night it kept deflating, so I pulled out the valve, and then it broke”. This was, admittedly, a little frustrating. Over the past week, the pad had been showing signs that there was something defective with the valve. Cactus would wake up multiple times at night and reinflate it. While in Mammoth Lakes, we went to a gear store to buy a new one, but Cactus has declined – citing the cost, almost $200.

I leave Cactus in the tent to evaluate the status of the broken gear, and make our breakfast on a stone in the sunshine. A chubby little Marmot joins me, observing carefully my preparations from a distance.

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Thousand Island Lake (PCT Day 81)

June 6, 2021 by Rachel Lanman Leave a Comment

We camp at the Agnew Meadow trailhead with plans of getting up early this morning to beat the heat, and possibly do Donahue pass today. But, those plans don’t come to fruition as we ignore the first light, hiding our heads under our sleeping quilts. I’ve come to grip with the fact we are not early risers on the trail.

We awake at 8 am and immediately get up, pack and begin hiking. I feel groggy on the trail as we climb without our coffee. We start the day with switchbacks and green grass. The trail is lush, with Lupine growing everywhere. In a week or two much of it will bloom.

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