TENACIOUS

13 Oct

Tenacious – adj – persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired.

Those close to me have used several words to describe me: strong willed, independent, and stubborn (I object!). I prefer tenacious. I’ve said before, the Gregory (my maiden name) clan is a tenacious bunch and we learned it from my father. We watched my father Steve weave home improvement projects into his overstuffed schedule. We had a table saw in our dining room for years and he would rev it up at 10:00pm to work on unfinished projects. The hour didn’t matter as we were all working toward achieving something instead of sleeping. He has also been known to drive in any weather conditions in pretty much any vehicle; he and my mom live at 10,000 feet in South Park, Colorado so the chance of a blizzard looms almost daily. My brother Shawn, persistent clone of my father, just finished riding the Colorado Trail race on his mountain bike in less than six days.

A bit of background, the Colorado Trail extends from Denver to Durango over five mountain ranges and spans 500 miles with 70,000 feet of elevation gain. He chose to forego a tent and sleeping bag because it would make him too comfortable for the hour and a half rest periods he had planned. He wound up sleeping in his bike helmet that served as a pillow (really?) wrapped in a silver emergency blanket (a.k.a. tarp). Dave and I did this same trail four years ago and our experience took a bit longer, 49 days.

What am I getting at? Tenacity is the quality that has allowed me to finish two extended backpacking trips in the wilderness. The first was the Colorado Trail four years ago and of course the second being the John Muir trail this past summer. I recall having a conversation on the trail where I said I think anyone could finish the trail if they had some descent gear, some tolerance for pain, a GI tract that can endure days of dehydrated food, and some determination. I want to add tenacity to the list of necessary criteria. Now John Muir didn’t have the high quality lightweight gear we had, but I think he had a double dose of tenacity and a profound love of the wilderness.

My point is, if you can get past the blisters, the occasional sunburn, a periodic explosion of something in your backpack (I’m sure Jason can’t forget the sunscreen debacle), postholing, sore muscles, chronic shortness of breath, and no bathroom, you can experience the overwhelming majesty of the Sierra wilderness. For example, the tough climb up the golden stairs brought Durand, Jen and I to jaw dropping peaks looming above Lower Palisade Lake. When we finally reached Dave up in the valley we all sat next to the alpine lake relishing the stunning scenery and our accomplishment of getting there. When Ric and Jason joined us we revised our earlier decision that Evolution Lake might not be the most beautiful spot on the trail. Little did we know that Mather Pass would prove an even more profound challenge and an even greater feeling of accomplishment and comradery.

I’m so grateful to my tenacious backpacker family, my husband Dave who constantly inspired me with his knowledge and strength, Jen who brought trail Yoga back to me, Ric who reminded me that every day was a day to relish life, Durand who made me laugh constantly, and Jason who’s generosity and logistical planning helped our trail family stay together. Thank you.

FOOT WARS

6 Oct

Apparently it takes 2 months for your feet to recover from the trail…

I finally felt that my feet weren’t too gross to take to a nail salon this week.

Before we left for the JMT, one of my colleagues said, “This will be such a great adventure for you… and your feet.” And God bless them, they made it.

My 3-year-old painted them before we left, and on day 2 they were already needing the First Aid Kit…

[WARNING: don’t eat while reading.]
First, it was a sixth toe – a big blister on the outside of my left big toe. Then a blister on the outside of my right pinkie, then the inside, then the 2nd toe on the right foot nail looked like it might go (but thankfully stayed on until after the trail was over,) then the right instep, the left heel, left pinkie toe with skin peeling completely off the tip and then new blisters appearing where the skin came off. Right in-sole blister, and a blood blister. Then of course the left ankle started giving real trouble, but that was only 3 days from the end. (You can handle anything for three days apparently.)

I used every trail remedy I could get a hold of: blister pads, regular band-aids, TP, medical tape, and the trail favorite: duct tape. I tried them alone, in combination with various layering techniques, but when it came down to it, the 1st two weeks hurt, and the 2nd two weeks, your tolerance has increased to new levels. (I even recall thinking my boots felt loose coming down from a pass, and then realized at the bottom that they were untied the entire time and just tucked up in my pant leg.)

We put a lot of pressure on those feet. With heavy packs, scrambling over so many different surfaces and just the mileage strain leads to the recommendation that you buy boots 1/2 size bigger for the swelling on the trail. Day 18, I started the pedometer, and recorded 34,112 steps.

So, bravo feet. You went through a lot and finally made it out again.

8 LBS of AWESOME

26 Sep

Halfway through our trek along the John Muir Trail, we had the opportunity to weigh our packs. It was the heaviest they’d been or would be for the remainder of our journey. We were heading out for eight days without a resupply, and the anxiety of running low on food can make for a pack loaded down with extra beef jerky, whiskey & peanut butter (often consumed in that order).

On a number of occasions, people would comment (and sometimes chastise) that our packs were too heavy.

Really? Thanks. I hadn’t noticed AS I’M CLIMBING UP THE FRIGGIN’ MOUNTAIN!

They WERE heavy. We weren’t pretending otherwise. But we’d made a commitment to document our journey, and that means extra weight: camera bodies, lenses, tripods, batteries, mixer, digital recorders, whiskey, solar charger, cleaning supplies…it all adds up.

For me, one item proved a source of constant internal struggle. I’d purchased the Kessler 26.5” Pocket Dolly with the best intention of carrying it every step of the trip, all the way to the top of Whitney. But with each looming pass more commanding than the last, I kept wondering if it the extra weight was worth it.

It was. And then some.

It was much simpler for me to throw the camera on the monopod and grab a shot. As easy as the dolly is to operate, I still had to dump my pack, offload the rig and do my best to balance it with my clothing and whatever rocks I could find. This usually added an extra 10-15 minutes onto my hike and often found me sprinting to catch up with the rest of the group.

But as was the case when climbing Muir Pass, what I saw in playback blew me away. I had the dolly perched on the crests of two ice patches. In the foreground of the shot was a field of sun cups, and peaking over the distant horizon were Durand & Dave. The shot would’ve been fine static, but the dolly move along the snowy mounds offers the viewer some perspective of what we hiked through, and the camera suddenly becomes an active participant in the motion we were constantly engaged.

I recorded, out of breath and smiling big.

And did the Kessler Pocket Dolly make it all the way to the top of Whitney? Damn right it did. Right along with the whiskey.

EXPECTATIONS

20 Sep

Expectations are a dangerous thing; when reality doesn’t meet up with our preconceived notions we are hurdled into that disequilibrium manifest as stress. When the weather doesn’t allow for our plans, we are disappointed. When traffic stops us from getting somewhere on time, we are frustrated. When put too far out of our comfort zone we even begin to feel threatened. This is precisely the reason that leaving the creature comforts of home to be “in the wilds” on a through-hike is such an enlivening experience.

After the latest and greatest gear is purchased, and the itinerary is calculated to the day or even hour, there is still that invariable that humans cannot overcome, the natural world. Winter snows and spring runoffs are indifferent to the start date of a JMT hiker. Marmots and bears show no interest in the carefully planned food rationing of a through-hiker. Certainly, mosquitoes couldn’t care less for the comfort of tired hiker who has finally made it to camp at that expected picturesque lake.

And yet, it is that uncertainty that makes a long hike so incredibly life changing. When stripped of the control that we so meticulously build into our daily lives we are freed to live in the moment that presents itself. The sterility of having each moment planned out is washed away in the crossing of a swollen creek, or having to pick M&M’s out of the dirt from a leaky bag. The day becomes dictated by factors beyond set routines. Consequences for choices and actions are genuine and ultimately graver. And as the hiker embraces letting go, there is the profound realization that pure happiness comes with what is given rather than what is taken.

BEGINNINGS

1 Sep

Ahhh, look at all of us. Excited to start the biggest adventure of our lives. Not sure of what lies in wait for us out there in the wilderness. We would encounter treacherous passes, bears, potato-eating marmots, blisters and insane river crossings out on the trail, but here at the Mono Meadows trailhead all that we knew was that there were about 235 miles between us and Whitney Portal.

In a way this is the start of a journey as well. Now that we’ve finished the trail, the launch of this site is the beginning of the next stage in the adventure for us and hopefully all of you as well. Over the next year we are going to be putting all of the heavy gear we carried with us along the trail to good use by releasing blogs, photos and videos on this site. Meanwhile, we’re working to put together the interactive exhibit and the feature length documentary, and this will be the place to get updates and information on those.

Stay tuned friends because even though Ric and Jen’s smiling faces and mine, Zee and Durands’ scowling faces didn’t know it yet we captured more amazing shots and footage than we could have dreamed.