[pct-l] Re: [at-l] Squeaky update

[camojack at comcast.net (camojack@comcast.net)]

He "only" had 997 miles left to go? In about 4 weeks?!

I wish him well, too...

-"Camo"

-------------- Original message -------------- 

> Squeaky came into Blackburn Trail Center (south of Harpers Ferry) two days 
> ago. I talked him into spending the night, so we had several hours to hang 
> out and chat about his experiences so far. As of Blackburn, he only had 997 
> miles left on his roughly 7,600 mile calendar triple crown. He hopes to be 
> done by Christmas, or in time for his December 29th plane ticket back to the 
> UK. 
> 
> We talked a lot about the sierras (no prior ice axe or crampon experience 
> prior to his rock climbing and straight-up-the-chute ascent of Forrester), 
> the cascades (including the PCT around Glacier Peak instead of the detour), 
> taking none of the cut-off's on the CDT - he even did the 23 mile loop prior 
> to Grand Lake. And the hardest experience so far - the incredibly deep snow 
> in the saddle between the two peaks of Baldpate in Maine in October. Lost 
> the trail completely and had to post hole his way down off the mountain. The 
> rest of the Mahoosucs were not much better. After making good time on 
> snowshoes through the Whites in NH, he actually thought in hindsight that 
> snowshoes would have helped in portions of the high sierras in the 
> afternoons when the snow softened. 
> 
> He's now doing 40-50 mile days through Virginia so he can reach the high 
> peaks of NC/TN with enough time to go slower if the weather turns bad -- 
> although there's snow in the forecast for higher elevations of VA from 
> Saturday night through Monday. 
> 
> Given that he's doing all of these trails unsupported, one direction, and in 
> less than 8 months (and he's much younger than I thought he was - 25), I 
> have to say that I'm very impressed. He says it's far beyond everything he 
> imagined it would be. Physically and mentally more demanding, more 
> spectacular, more rewarding, etc. He says he feels great, although he found 
> it hard to focus on lengthy conversation (especially since we stayed up well 
> past hiker-midnight). I wish him well. 
> 
> wc From KenDoig at aol.com  Fri Dec  9 12:03:34 2005
From: KenDoig at aol.com (KenDoig@aol.com)
Date: Fri Dec  9 12:09:22 2005
Subject: [pct-l] Southbound 2006 from S. Oregon to Central Sierra
Message-ID: <e4.76eeac5c.30cb20f6@aol.com>

Looking for hiking-partner/s. I am flexible, I can either start in OR or in 
CA. I actually live in Medford, OR, but my folks live at Bass Lake, CA, near 
Yosemite NP.
I have hike several sections of the PCT, from Kennedy Mdws to MulkeyPass and 
from Toulumne Mdws to Sonora Pass, Summer 2002, and in 2000, the John Muir 
Trail. I have live in the Sierras the better part of my life and I am an 
experienced backpacker. My wife and I just recently moved to Oregon, but we go here 
just as winter set in. I cannot wait to do some trips in the Cascades and 
Siskiyous.
I guess we cannot go until the snow clears, the Sierra Nevada had a huge 
snowfall last year.
Ken Doig