Howdy folks. I have been having such a fantastic time out here. I have lots I would like to tell you about. Finding/making/taking the time to write blog posts has been a bit of a struggle so far. I won’t do it out on the trail. At the end of a day of hiking, I am ready to get horizontal with no weight on my back, hips, knees, legs, and feet as soon as humanly possible. Typing on my phone while laying on my back with hands up above my head is not a position I can maintain for very long. In towns, I am still not at all good at taking zeros. I end up doing lots of walking or my chores take most of a 14 hour day and there is no time to just sit around and write. I may need to do a double zero to get writing done. For instance, in Tahoe, I cleaned almost all my gear – every stuff sack and every zipper, sanitized all my water, kitchen, and cooking stuff with bleach, washed all the fabrics, showered three times and had one bath, and, and, and…Anyway…some highlights:
Hiking with Joe for even a few days was really great.
I saw Marie (I am not gonna link it here via the phone but you can search for Jun 11(ish) 2012 and read about the first meeting) again at VVR – an awesome and totally unexpected surprise. Walked down from VVR to where she was working at Mono Hot Springs. She is getting into archery now and we shot her bow and arrow. I had not done that since high school and it was fun.
I am down to 149 pounds with my clothes on (no shoes). I am eating a lot. I am not going to bed hungry or anything. It is just very difficult to keep up with the calorie demand. (Smaller beards now run away or bow when my beard comes near.)
I would love to write about food and I will but not today. For now here are a few process pics.
6 days of food prepped
One day of food (minus the baby bells that were still in the ice bucket when I took this).
6 days of food packed up
Today’s Breakfast
We meet the nicest people out here as well. I can’t even really say hitchhiking has been easy because I have not even really needed to try to hitch. Most times, rides find me. I will try to mention everyone eventually but today I will feature the folks that helped me out from Echo Lake to South Lake Tahoe. John and his dog Ernie gave me a few rides, and I got to meet and hang out with John’s friends. We had a great afternoon talking and eating. So “hey” to John, Ernie, Dan, Will, Laura, Siddhartha, and Arundhati. (I hope I did not butcher your name stop badly.)
Until next time, Rock On!
Nick!!!!!!
So happy to read about your adventure. Have been thinking about you tons.
And thank you so much for the postcard. It brightened our day!
NICK!! You need to eat!! you’re too thin!! is it safe to walk so much?? And all of these strangers? GASP! 🙂 Did I do that right? If I didn’t give you shit how would you know that I LOVED you?! So happy to hear that you are alive and well and that the beard is kickin!! XO
Dear Nick,
Thanks so much for the update. Well look forward to the next installment when you have time. Where was the first photo taken with the rocky terrain?
Hugs/love
Mom/Dad Dr. Anita Renfroe Director of Keyboard Studies Department of Music Millersville University [email protected]
So awesome to meet you in Lassen! You are so different- in such a wonderful way 🙂 not many people like u in the world. Restores my faith in the existence of ‘real’ people. Thanks for sharing your smile and time 🙂 made for a great memory. Happy trails!