Photographs!

Here's some of our pre-trail food prep, Zm outside of the I-75 rest area, one of the largest alligators we saw, and Goodness in the tent about to slumber. 

:-D

5 February ~ Outside of Clewiston on the FT

It was a lovely drive down the backroads with Pod's mom, Carol, at the wheel and us Cardinals with our four backpacks fitting JUST right.  We hit the trail in the early afternoon and had a good short day of seven miles with dry feet to our camp.  Goodness and I continued our tradition of seeing a poisonous snake on the first day of a thru-hike by happening upon a cottonmouth viper. They really are quite considerate to the passersby!

The next day was our first full day out in the swamp and we got to wade through some muck, mud, water, and sand.  It's a grand thing that we've retained so much muscle from the PCT because it is hard work walking with a few extra pounds in your shoes!  We got more of this workout the following day starting in The Black Lagoon. No "Creature" to be seen, however we saw many egrets, tiny fish, vultures, and snail shells.

It took the bulk of the day to pass through and out of the swampiness and out treat at the end was a rest-area right on I-75. There was a hose beside it that we were able to use to spray all of the first few days out of our socks and shoes.  Leaving there with sand-free footwear made us very happy campers! From here we crossed Alligator Alley and stayed next to a canal that provided many alligators large and small for our enjoyment.

That night we heard bedtime stories from Pod about the tenacity of fire ants. They are amazingly fast and very good at what they do!  She explained how they eat their way through most anything, get into noseeum netting, and how they are equally as interested in dirty clothes as they are food.  It is all true.

Saturday we said goodbye to our little alligator friend in the pond beyond our campsite and set out for a very full day of road walking.  Leaving the preserve, we entered into Seminole Indian reservation land which was comprised of a few scattered houses on dirt roads with orange groves.  Just before lunch, the road turned to pavement and we traversed that hard road for about 15 miles.  Yikes!  It finally let up when we turned onto a dirt road again just before dark.  We slept on a dike next-door to another tiny alligator in the canal.

Today was the muggiest yet, the weather has been a summertime treat as we missed that season last year.  Humidity can be relentless though and that was the case today until a large downpour around 4:00.  We have been walking dirt roads all day and got up onto another dike for the second half of the day with a canal to the left and sugarcane fields as far as the eye can see! The landscape has been mostly farms and fields with occasional palms and the cypress domes receding into the distance.  Every evening the lightning bugs dance on long after we have turned in for the night.

Happy Birthday Kirk!

Cardinals hiking the Florida Trail in 3 weeks!

Hi people!  Team Colour has decided to set out on the Florida Trail at the end of this month.  This is an 1,100 mile thru-hike that we will begin in the south at Big Cypress with Racheopod and Gnar.  This year the first seven miles or so are closed because the access road is impassable to all but the more hardcore 4WD vehicles.  We plan to hike the western side of Lake Okeechobee, then the eastern route through the middle of the state, and finally end at Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island.

Hey.  Let's hike South to North on the Florida Trail  :)

Presently we are at the house of our dear friend Andrew.  He has generously shared his home with us as a space to relax, plan, and receive packages of gear, maps, and permits.  The maps are beautiful! They arrived yesterday and we have been studying them ever since.  It is fun to see all of the swamp we will be wading through and scan the maps for potentially difficult areas.

Pittsburgh will continue to care for us until Saturday morning at which time we will take a leap down into North Carolina.  We will continue the drive south to Savannah, Georgia the next day and then drop into Florida for the final stage of preparation.  

Peace, Love, Pacific Crest Trail

Done. Safe. Whole. Happy.

We hit the border on the 28. The next day was our last on the trail. The experience was harrowing and majestic. We got snowed on and rained on. The sun came out and warmed our spirits. We doubled back from the border and received goodbye hugs from most of our loved ones from the last 1000 miles of trail.

Details are too much work and we must rest. We remain in Portland the next few days to begin the transition back to civilization.

We have taken over 5000 pictures. Expect a preliminary posting of them soon.

The Skykomish Split

This morning as we were eating breakfast, we realized that some drastic changes were needed. We planned to stay in Skykomish tonight and get our packages in the morning. Unfortunately that would have made it impossible to get to our next (and final) stop before the PO closed for the weekend. We would need to put miles in tonight to do it. What it meant was that we needed our food drop today,  but it would be nearly impossible to hike the 25 miles and hitch into town before the Post Office closed at 3:45.

Our plan: split up. I took a side trail down to Hwy 2, while Zm carried the torch on the PCT. I was able to get to the highway around 1, and was in town before 2. Got the package, grabbed some food, and now I am at Stevens Pass waiting for Zm to show up. I will cook her dinner as she takes a much needed break, and then we hike on.

It looks like we will hit the border around the 28th, and most likely we will be done on Oct 1 or shortly before. We are looking forward to being done.

9/18 Rain and clouds

Once again, chores have allowed me to squeeze out a blog entry. Zm is sealing the seams on our tent, something we should have done before starting this trip.

This morning we climbed into a cloud. The trail climbs up high with extensive alpine views. Unfortunately the views were obscured for most of the day. Being on high ridgelines in clouds and rain takes its toll. It is similar to night hiking in that you have no frame of reference. Lacking is the sense of forward progress that fuels our hike.

This was also the first time to really test out our rain panchos. They mostly kept us dry. When we took breaks we would drape them over ourselves to hide from the rain completely. As the day progressed, the rain relented and our spirits were raised.  We should have nice weather for the next several days.

Roo and Marmot caught up at Snoqualmie and there are now six of us including Seahorse and Chillidog. We all have the same tent.

It just started raining again, but Zm is already done. Time to sleep once again. As the days get shorter, sleep time gets longer.