With the 850 miles Bob just completed of the Pacific Crest Trail, and the 2200 miles he and I had already done, he just has 160 miles left from Mt. Whitney to Yosemite to complete the entire trail.  Looks like we will be making a trip to California sometime soon to finish off the trail - maybe the end of this summer of next summer.
Mary

Bob called this morning to say he has had a great and long hike and is coming home.  He did 850 miles and feels really good about doing that much of the trail.  He has had lots of great experiences, which I am sure he will write about on the blog when he is back.  This last section has been beautiful and he is glad he got to do it.  He has a list of reasons to stop hiking: 850 miles is enough;  his backpack keeps breaking; he is having to carry so much food in this section that the pack is too heavy for him; his knee is hurting from the extra weight. 

His view from the shuttle during his ride to Bishop:

He got a ride into Bishop California where he will get a bus to Reno tomorrow morning.  We hope to make him a plane reservation home either tomorrow or Saturday.  If not, he will go greyhound. 

Best part for me is that he will be home for my birthday!!
Mary

To put Bob's hike in perspective, here are some facts about the Pacific Crest Trail:

Elevation Gain: 314,711 feet yes over the course of the PCT you climb 314,711 vertical feet! That’s a lot of up hill climbing.
Lowest Point: Cascade Locks, Oregon (140 feet)
Highest Point: Forester Pass, California (13,153 feet)
California Length: 1,698.8 Miles
Oregon Length: 456.8 Miles
Washington Length: 499.8 Miles
California Elevation Gain:192,339 feet
Oregon Elevation Gain: 49,647 feet
Washington Elevation Gain: 72,725 feet


Here are some pictures from Forester Pass:

Bob left Lone Pine yesterday afternoon and is hiking near Mt. Whitney in a section that is the highest elevation along the entire PCT. He should be at Forester Pass tomorrow which is at 13131 feet - highest point on the trail.

His next food box is at Vermillion Valley Resort which is at mile 891.  He hopes to arrive here on July 22nd and Toulumne Meadows, in Yosemite, on July 26th - mile 957.  At this point he will have actually done the entire trail since he and I have done the trail from Toulumne to Canada. 

The backpack he was going to borrow did not arrive at the post office in Lone Pine so he has gone on with his backpack (armed with needle and thread) which he has repaired.  He also picked up his bear can at Lone Pine, which is required for the next few hundred miles.  The bears in Yosemite have gotten very clever at climbing trees and getting into food that has been hung. We have seen adult bears send their cubs up trees to throw down food that hikers have hung using the balance method - which works everywhere else.
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bears.htm

Lone Pine and view of Mt. Whitney

The Post Office in Lone Pine is not open until Monday so Bob is staying in a hostel with other hikers tonight and tomorrow night.  He met some guys who just climbed Mt. Whitney.  They have all been sharing equipment ideas, which seems to be common practice among long distance hikers.  They were fasinated with Bob's ultra-light air mattress (an REI purchase thanks to a gift card from sister Peggy!).  Bob will pick up his food box on Monday and then get back on the trail.

Bob called this evening from Lone Pine, CA which is at mile 738 on the PCT.  He has been hiking with his friend and fellow hiker, Thomas.  Thomas has loaned Bob a backpack since Bob's pack has failed.  They have had some great conversations about religion.  Thomas is a devout Christian and lives his religion through kindness to others. Thomas' support has really helped Bob to be successful the last couple of weeks.  He was starting to get discouraged and that is gone now because of Thomas' support.  Bob is excited to pick up his food box tomorrow and start hiking on to Mt. Whitney.  Here are a few pictures he sent today.

The hostel where Bob stayed yesterday is being shut down. Tom’s Kennedy Meadows Cyber Cafe, near Pacific Crest Trail mile 702, is being shut down by Tulare County officials. According to a recent Facebook posting, to remain open the Cyber Cafe would be required to obtain a business license, parking, restrooms, and make other changes. The Cyber Cafe, which runs on occasional hiker donations, is not able to make these improvements.The Kennedy Meadows General Store and the Forest Service Campground [2.5 miles to the north] will remain open.
Tom is have a sale of his vintage trailers. If interested, his contact information is at www.hikethepct-km.com.

This will be a loss for those through hiking the trail, since Tom has been a great supporter of hikers coming through Kennedy Meadows.  He helped Bob by giving him a place to stay, use of a computer and phone, and loaning him a backpack, since Bob's backpack is failing.  Thanks Tom for all your help!!

Bob made it to Kennedy Meadows last night (Tuesday, July 10th), which is at mile 695.  He stayed at another trail hostel today operated by a guy named Tom who lives across from the Kennedy Meadows General Store, where Bob picked up his food box.  This time he has too much food, so he will forward part of his box to Lone Pine Post Office which is at mile 738.  Having reached Kennedy Meadows, he has completed the Southen Califonia portion of the PCT, and is now doing the Central California portion of the trail.

He has been hiking with Thomas, another hiker who started the day after Bob started at the Mexican Border.  Thomas has been very supportive.

Bob was resting most of today since he hiked 30 miles yesterday.  It is also pretty hot.

Mary

Walker Pass is at mile 645.  Wow! I can't imagine hiking that many miles on one trek.  The most Bob and I have done in our section hiking is 240 miles which took us 19 days. This was the section from Donner Pass to Yosemite Valley and the first section we did.

Bob is off to Kennedy Meadows, which is at mile 695.  After that he will head into the High Sierras. The trail goes to 12,000 feet at several points and then to 13,000 feet at Forester Pass.

http://www.pcta.org/pdf/2011-PCT-Map-Brochure.pdf

Bob made it to Walker Pass but needed more food so he got a ride into Ridgcrest CA and is there today.  He is resupplying and then will have to find a ride back to the trail at Walker Pass.  He did go 11 miles out of the way yesterday, which was discouraging. He took the wrong trail, which is easy to do sometimes, where the trail is not marked well.  Thanks goodness for GPS! 

We are checking the Ridgecrest transit schedule for him today so he can take the bus back to the trail. 

Wampus Cat Trails

Sorry, was unable to download Wampus Cat picture but will do it later.  When Bob texted me this afternoon he was napping under a Joshua Tree and waiting out the heat.  He has been taking a nap during the hottest part of the day and hiking starting early in the morning and going late in the evening.  Everything is going very well.  No blisters!!!!!

Bob just sent this picture of wampas cat trails. Believe it or not the tale is that they are made by an animal whose legs on one side are shorter than the other side

Bob is at tehachapi pass and just picked up his food Stash. He has been hiking with another hiker who wanted to take a break today so iron man has gone on hiking! He is at mile 566 just heading up out of the desert

Bob is back on the trail and has met another guy he is hiking with all the way to Kennedy Meadows. Got a text from him tonight with this news. I'll have more news when I talk to him.

Today is the day that Craig will drive Bob to Mojave to pick up his food package and then drive to hide it along the trail near Tehachapi Pass.  They are also going to make a couple of water drops along the trail.  Then back to Hikertown so Bob can start hiking at the point on the trail where he stopped before his visit with Craig and Paula.  After this 35 mile section he is out of the desert and in the Tehachapi Mountains, which will be a lot cooler.

Bob with his cousin Craig and his wife Paula in Littlerock, CA.  He had a big breakfast of five large pancakes at Dennys.