[pct-l] more thru-hiker sightings and some babbling...

[goslowgofar at yahoo.com (goslowgofar)]

Last weekend I headed over to the eastern Sierra to
hike up to Kearsarge Pass.  On Saturday, I stopped at
Tuolumne Meadows to put some information about the
High Sierra Music Festival (4th of July weekend in
Quincy)in the register.  There were a few thrus there.
 Some names I was able to write down: Floater,
Freefall, Jiggo, Bergfisch, Judd, Happy Trails Walt
(and his wife Pat, driving the van with "PCT Xpres"
-or something like that - plates).  They said they are
having a great hike so far, and that the Sierra is
"awesome".  No major issues with the snow or the
stream crossings, and they seem to be beating the
mosquitoes. (that will change!) Floater said to be
sure and pass on how much the water caches in the
south were appreciated - and all the other chimed in
their agreement.
That evening I met Shutterbug and Sunburn in Lone
Pine.  They were with several others who's names I
can't remember (maybe Steady, and Steve, and Mr. T?)
Yesterday I hiked up to Kearsarge Pass.  That is one
spectacular trail.  The views are just incredible!  It
was VERY hard to turn around and go back to the
trailhead.  I was passed by many more thrus that were
heading back in after an overnight in Independence. 
They are great bunch - almost all of them were willing
to talk to me about the trail and they all seemed to
be thoroughly enjoying thier hikes.  Some names I was
able to write down from this group: Teatree (who said
the chute at Forester was scary,but she was able to do
it), Northerner, So Far, Chance, Special Agent, The
One, Free Radical, Ender, One Breath (who played the
didgeridoo(sp?)on Whitney), El Dorado, Leprechaun, and
T-Bone. One fellow (can't remember which one) told me
about Mercury, who hiked last year in record time and
decided that he needed to come back this year to slow
down and experience the trail.  He said that he
thought that slowing down to stay with a good group
was the best way to do the hike.  I said I could also
appreciate the desire to physically challenge yourself
to see how much your body could handle.  Then he
admitted that he had done a 50 mile day to challenge
himself!  I had lots of these little tidbits of
conversation with several hikers.  Anyway, I had a lot
of fun meeting these folks...
Finally, I got back to town and saw a hiker with the
green PCT bandanna looking for a ride north.  It was
Popcorn, who needed to get to town to get something to
repair a broken crown.  He was low on funds and was
going to skip ahead (he had done the Sierra last
year), find some temporary work, and rejoin his group
further north.  He was also an AT veteran and we
talked AT and PCT all the way to Lee Vining!  As I got
ready to drive off, he said to me, "I really enjoyed
this ride" - well, not half as much as I did, I bet.
In fact, I had a blast this weekend - and even got
some hiking in! 
Katy
(probably the longest post I've ever made - guess I
had a good weekend!)

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