Since my previous post, I have completed quite a bit of the Bay Area Rim Trail, have done quite a bit of sailing and have focused on completing a series of jobs. Probably the most significant thing I did was the South Lake to North Lake loop in the High Sierra over 4th of July weekend.
On the Bay Area Rim Trail, I have completed San Francisco County and Marin County. All in which I have done twice because of working out of the car. I really like doing it this way due to spending more time in the area and hitting alternate routes on the return to the vehicle.
While sailing, I have done quite a bit of work to my vessel, and am really getting to know my way around her. I have had some crazy experiences with extreme conditions and have become quite comfortable navigating through the condition.
The North Lake to South Lake loop was just a 57 mile speed hike/run over 3 high sierra passes in a single push. I have become quite comfortable doing 2 day runs without sleep over the past few years, so I was not pressured into doing it faster or actually running myself into exhaustion. What ended up happening was my relaxed pace gave me a bit of extra energy towards the end and I set a personal best by 4 hours, making it back to my vehicle in under 24 hours. I saw 4 people I knew in the middle of nowhere, and actually spent quite a bit of time on 3 separate occasions. But the weather was perfect, and the bugs only came out for an hour or so in the evening. I did flair up my bad knee a bit, but I just stretched it out, and it turned out to not be so bad.
So now I have completed my jobs and am 2 days out from starting a series of shorter thru-hikes for the rest of the year. I only have a short 3 week job sometime in October/November. During this time I plan on starting off with hiking the Colorado Trail [CT] with a friend for starts. Our plan is quite simple. [we have no plan] It should be or get cold, so we are packing to be able to push through whatever the weather gives us. We are planning on hitting several 14'ers, and visiting some special places along the route. The CT is some 485 miles and we plan on just doing it in about 3 weeks. After that, I am going to the ALDHA-west gathering, then back home to Huntington Beach for some surfing and reassessing as well as figuring when my short job starts. My plans from there will be adjusted. I hope to do some New Mexico and a Arizona Trail thru-hike from there.
One of the things I want to do is hike from Silver City, to Grants on the official CDT since I took the original CDT route through the Gila River. I want to complete all alternates in the next year or so, before I make it out for another thru-hike of the CDT.
The good thing about the CT hike is I will not be in any kind of hurry, and I plan on journaling the entire time. I will put up my journals when I make it back home.
