Granny Hat

Love of the mountains goes back at least three generations in our family.  Since it is Father’s Day tomorrow Granny Hat wants to thank the dads she knows who took their kids up into the high country, taught them to hike, to choose a camp, to cook in the wilderness, to survive torrential downpours and cross a river safely.  Granny especially loves these High Sierra pictures of her dad, Philip Lewis, taken around 1954.

Granny Hat would like to bet that canvas pack with thick support poles weighs twice as much as Stephan’s Osprey Exos 58.  And the dapper hat!  Just love it! My Dad took us back to Heather Lake in the Sequoia National Park several times for day hikes in the 70’s, beautiful place.

Mission’s dad started his kids young in the wilderness also.  Here is a day hike up to the top of Lassen Mountain when Mission’s older brother Christopher was just a tiny guy, this would have been the fall of 1980.

Over the years, as the kids were old enough to carry a small backpack, Dad trained them in the Ventana Wilderness, our local coastal mountains that run from Carmel down past Big Sur.

(This photo includes Christopher Miser, Melody Miser, Noah Kareus, Craig Hill and Sonia Hill- Mission wasn’t even born yet!)  But Dad always waited until late July to venture into the high country of the Sierras. He wanted to avoid snow hiking and extreme snow-melt river crossings.  He preferred to take his chances with mosquitoes, dry creeks and those late summer afternoon showers.

Mission has not been in contact with us for a week now.  Granny Hat is so glad he has a SPOT so we can at least see his progress and it has slowed down quite a bit so we can only imagine that snow is the impediment.  He crossed over Muir Pass yesterday (does Granny Hat need to talk about who Muir Pass is named after?), camped in Evolution Valley and today is headed to Muir Ranch which has some re-supply and hopefully cell service.  We wonder if Mission was able to visit his stone monster friends on this trek or if they were hibernating deep under snow drifts.

Granny Hat cannot wait to hear his stories and get some photography that is current and has some snow in it!  But for now, Mission Control is collecting the next re-supply and thanking God for all the late July training backpacks.  Father truly knows best!  Snow can be the real monster in the Sierras.

Granny Hat guesses that Mission would dearly love to see the ocean about now! Although here on the Central Coast it has been much too cold to have a beach day.

And another couple photos of Dad making a smart choice for a spring hike – The Grand Canyon! Uncle Frank and Aunt Lori are great hiking buddies.

“Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.”
― David McCullough Jr.

And even though we can’t see Mission here at Control Center, we know our heavenly Father knows best and never sleeps or slumbers, He watches us night and day.:

 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. Psalm 121

While Mission toils along snowy trails high in the Sierra Mountains crossing icy rivers and climbing alpine passes, Granny Hat is back at Mission Control planting an herb garden in the balmy 76 degree breeze and twiddling her green thumbs waiting for photos to download.  The herb garden is lovely with Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (Granny forgot the Parsley).  In fact, she has three varieties of Sage; Purple Leaf Sage, Garden Sage and Pineapple Sage, her favorite.  Granny has a lovely cousin named Sage and perhaps we will name the Sage patch in her honor.  We could call it Princess Sage or Bookworm Sage, we will let her decide. Granny also planted several varieties of Basil (Thai Basil has those pretty purple flowers) and different kinds of mint, including chocolate mint just because.  Granny Hat apologizes, Mission’s photography is so superior to hers.

Mission has crested three passes in the past 36 hours and is very close to the fourth.  Forester Pass at 13,153 feet (4,009 m), Glen Pass at 11,798 feet (3,596 m), Pinchot Pass at  12,106 ft and Mather Pass at 12,093 ft. Forester Pass is named for all the foresters that discovered and mapped it.  Glen Pass is named for Glen Crow, a forest ranger and Mather Pass is named for Stephen Mather, a retired industrialist millionaire who was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson as the first director of the National Park Service in 1917.  Pinchot Pass is named for Gifford Pinchot, a forester and politician from the early 20th century. Last night Mission camped by Rae Lakes between Glen and Pinchot passes.  Dad and Mission have camped there before and enjoyed some fresh-caught rainbow trout out of one of the lakes.  Rae Lakes are set like jewels in the granite above the timberline but you will have to twiddle your thumbs like Granny is doing and wait for those photos.

Granny’s friend SPOT is responsible for providing Mission’s daily progress and here are the Google Earth images of the spot check-ins for you mountaineers among my readers.

Mission is camped tonight at the base of Mather Pass and his check in GPS coordinates are: 37.00249,-118.45285    That’s right, he has another New Latitude!!  And his next re-supply, just a small padded mailer this time, is ready to send out tomorrow to Tuolumne Meadows.  He can purchase some light re-supply at Red’s Meadows for the short trek to Yosemite National Park.  Thank you for following and waiting patiently for some High Sierra photography.  And be sure to check out Granny Hat’s progress map below!

Mission’s SPOT checked in from the top of Mt. Whitney this morning at 8:16 am.  He started the ascent at about 4:15 am.  He will send his photos when transmission is possible but for now, Granny Hat will share a little of what she knows about Mt. Whitney.  It is the tallest mountain in California and the highest summit in the contiguous United States, standing at 14,505 feet (4,421 m).  The west slope of the mountain is in Sequoia National Park and the east slope is in Inyo National Forest.  The mountain’s summit is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail which travels north for 211.9 miles to Happy Isles in Yosemite National Park.  In July 1864, the peak was named after Josiah Whitney by members of the California Geological Survey.  Whitney served as the State Geologist of California and was the benefactor of the survey.

Nearly 21 years ago, Mission’s dad led a Mt. Whitney backpacking expedition in August that included Christopher Miser, Melody Miser, April Miser/Souseley, Kerwin Grivey, Keith Badger. David Hiskey and Blair Hiskey.  Mission had to stay home because he wasn’t born yet.  His older sisters Corrie Miser Hallock and Candace Miser Blanton couldn’t go either because they were too young and they weren’t happy about it. Dad was a little worried, the baby was due just a month after the backpack.  Plan B was my sweet, supportive neighbor Kelly May, who outfitted her big black Suburban for a hospital run just in case.  Dad had his first analog cell phone with him and when they reached the summit of Mt. Whitney he called me to find out if all was well and it was.  Kelly and I never got to execute our Suburban run to the hospital, Mission was born on September 9.  Those analog phones though, just get them to the highest point and they would work.  Mission’s fancy new IPhone wouldn’t place a call today from the top, that’s progress for you.

Granny Hat will post pictures when they arrive.  For now here are a couple stock photo images of Mt. Whitney.  I think it probably looked like the second one today.  There is still quite a bit of snow up in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.

Mission crossed Walker Creek, Wallace Creek and tomorrow will be headed up toward Forester Pass, the highest pass on the PCT at 13,153 feet.  Stephan’s SPOT device just checked in with his customary greeting:

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You

Psalm 139

Granny Hat received a few late photos after her last blog.  In the southern Sierra, the mountains climb stark and abrupt above the desert floor.  There, the forests are scarce and not very dense.  There are a few straggling yucca and even Joshua Trees at about 5,000 feet.  The air cools and the desert becomes nothing more than a distant view.

“Above The Timberline”

Granny Hat and Dad are completely worn out after driving almost 700 miles there and back again to Kennedy Meadows to meet Mission.  We had to laugh at ourselves for being tired after driving the miles instead of walking them.  Mission sent home his 700 mile shoes for a long rest.   These Altras were once navy blue and rated at REI for 500 miles but  they are still whole even after the extra 200.  It was wonderful to see our son looking so well, smiling and eating fresh home cooked food.  Mission is a lean, mean, hiking machine, very tan and an extra bit of grown up.  By the way, do you see any meadows in the photos?  That’s because there aren’t any, so Granny Hat will refer to this PCT milestone as simply “Kennedy”, the real Kennedy Meadows is up the trail a piece.

Kennedy is famous for its off-road vehicle trails and is a thru hiker friendly community. There are two general stores, one simply called Kennedy Meadows General Store and another called Grumpy Bear General Store.  Grumpy Bear is smaller and often overlooked so it sends out shuttles to pick hikers up at the big general store and transport them to Grumpy’s which has a different menu and better WIFI but you have to pay $2 per hour for it.  The PCT thru hikers congregate on the porches eating, drinking, resting their tired feet and waiting for re-supply packages.  Granny Hat had fun observing the culture of the hikers.  They are a friendly, smiling, bohemian, relaxed bunch.  They cheer and clap when a new hiker walks in off the trail.  Kennedy is considered the first big milestone and the gateway to the Sierras so it is worth celebrating when hikers reach it.  PCT hikers are thrilled with simple luxuries like running potable water, showers, grilled food, sodas, ice cream and mirrors. There is a generous supply of cast off items that hikers leave for others that might need them, shoes, cooking gear, freeze dried meals, clothing etc.

The General Store has a rough and tumble outdoor amphitheater for movie nights on Saturdays and a church service on Sunday.  There was a regular bathroom with flush facilities for the women but a row of outhouses for the men.  This is the one area where I saw the hikers be super fastidious. We watched several, including Mission, check each one, declare them unfit and then most decided that they’d rather do their business in the woods.  The woods have truly become home to many of the hikers. Granny Hat also noticed a strange gait that many of the PCT folk share as they walked around the general store and campground.  Mission explained that it is a stiffness that sets in after many miles of hiking, “you can hike 30 miles and everything is working fine but when you stop at the end of the day paralysis sets in and you hobble around.”  Granny Hat totally gets it, she could barely walk to open the gate when she got home after driving 700 miles.

Here is a sample of the log book at Grumpy’s where Mission signed in.  You will enjoy reading some of the hiker names.  Mission said he has met a “Gilligan”, a “Popcorn”, a “Whistler” and an interesting guy named “Day Hiker” who hikes ultralight and completes up to 50 miles a day.  Behind his back some of the other hikers call him “Danger Dan”  because he seems to willingly defy the cautions of the wilderness.  He also met “Goldilocks” who is from the Czech Republic and hikes with a giant pine cone named “Connie” which she found in the Angeles Mountains. “Connie” is hitching a ride with “Goldilocks” all the way to Canada.

After our long picnic complete with boysenberry pie, Mission began the process of swapping out his lightweight pack and used clothing for warmer gear, a greater quantity of food, a bear can, ice axe and crampons for shoes.  He will be heading up the ridge toward Mt. Whitney and won’t have re-supply until Tuolumne Meadows.  Granny Hat and dad drove north on Highway 395 to circle back home via Sonora Pass.  We kept our eyes on those mountains, there are still quite a few snow fields so Mission will be in a very different climate for the next few weeks. The High Sierras with its lakes, granite peaks and snow fields promises some extra special views. Because so many of Granny Hat’s followers enjoy Mission’s beautiful photography, here are the last few of his high desert photos.

And here are some shots of wilderness creatures that Granny Hat approves of, much better than wild cats and rattlesnakes.

The drive up to Kennedy was very beautiful, spring wildflowers were plentiful.  Granny Hat stopped to get a photo of this gorgeous yellow flowering shrub that carpeted the hills along the highway.  Does anyone know what it is?  Wild forsythia?

Granny Hat could tell that Mission has become accustomed to his life on the wilderness trail.  He is well-named, certainly on a mission and it seems to suit him very well.  His new coordinates at his campground tonight are: 36.32163, -118.13150  These lines are from a song I love by Ralph Vaughn Williams called “The Vagabond”.  I hope this isn’t his life “forever” but I can understand what he loves about the call of the wild. As we said goodbye, he said “Well, I better break down my camp and start hiking or I’ll get stuck here.”  Even for a seasoned hiker who loves the trail a little bit of Kennedy comfort can seem like the “Last Homely House”.  But that road goes ever on and on….

Give to me the life I love,
Let the lave go by me,
Give the jolly heaven above,
And the byway nigh me.
Bed in the bush with stars to see,
Bread I dip in the river –
There’s the life for a man like me,
There’s the life for ever.

 

Mission has a new latitude! 36.01908, -118.12347  He finished 700 miles today and is headed toward Kennedy Meadows.  The confusing thing about Kennedy Meadows is that it has a twin.  The southern Kennedy Meadows is the gateway to the Sierra Nevada in the south.  It sits at a 6,150 feet elevation in an arid section of the Sierra; from there Mission will climb to 10,500 feet at Trail Pass.  The northern Kennedy Meadows is the gateway to Sonora Pass and is at 6,400 elevation much farther north and sits in lush, green meadows surrounded by tall trees and granite peaks.  It is THAT High Sierra that Mission is aiming for, the high country with clear streams, green meadows and yes, snow.   Snow and high country storms will be some of the next challenges he will face.

That is why Granny Hat has been busy all day gathering Mission’s high country gear and baking FOOD to fight off that Hiker Hunger and fuel him up for elevation change.

There are fresh new boysenberries ripe off the vine today in that pie.  Chocolate chip cookies ought to help also, along with a crunchy kale salad, hummus, naan, avocado, carrots, chips and salsa, fruit and clean sparkly water.  The best part is that Granny Hat and Dad get to see Stephan and wish him well.  I know this experience has to be changing him.  He’s already so much tougher than Granny Hat has ever been.

So here’s to progress and new horizons like that beautiful mountain range above.  That is Owens Peak on the left for those of you who have grown up with those mountains.

“Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.”  Theodore Roethke

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5,6

Mission completed his tramp through the land of Giant Windmills without ever having to engage even one in combat.  He camped in the fiercest wind he has encountered so far on the PCT (hence the windmills in that location).  These giants are beautiful against the clear desert sky.  Granny Hat also thinks they are beautiful because they represent sustainable, safe energy.  It is one of God’s natural gifts to us. When we harness and harvest it, we cannot destroy it or use it up.  “When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.”  Jeremiah 10:13 NIV

Mission also had some interesting creatures cross his PCT path as he headed toward Tehachapi.  The first one is a Long-Nosed Leopard Lizard, Granny Hat consulted with Mission’s childhood friend Dillon Thompson to identify it.  The two boys had a “herpetology club” years ago.  Club activities largely centered around observing salamanders and lizards in their yards!  The second creature, well you will have to zoom in to see and then you decide.  There seem to be some differing opinions on what genus it is but Mission did report that it was “larger than Scout (our huge lab/retriever mix)” and he said it weighed at least as much as him.

Granny Hat knows that ignorance is bliss so she has decided to believe what everyone is telling her, that fat cats like this don’t relish skinny, plant-based PCT hikers.  They are more interested in plump rabbits and baby cows born on the open range.  Granny Hat does love that Lion song by Skillet and she decided to reprint it today, gives her courage and Granny needs courage even if it isn’t her out there on that trail.

“Today we live, today we breathe
Today we know that we are strong when we are weak
Today we trust, we overcome
Take every chain that kept us slaves and throw em’ off

We’re not waiting for permission
We defy our inhibition
Like our middle name is “fearless”
Unafraid

If we’re gonna fly, we fly like eagles
Arms out wide
If we’re gonna fear, we fear no evil
We will rise
By your power, we will go
By your spirit, we are bold
If we’re gonna stand, we stand as giants
If we’re gonna walk, we walk as lions
We walk as lions

Today is ours, it’s always been
Before we face the fight
We know who’s gonna win
We live by faith and not by sight
We don’t want safe and quiet
We don’t wanna run and hide…..”

And now Granny Hat has to bring up another fear she has had her whole life, hitch-hiking.  In the early 1950s, my father hitch-hiked every day of high school from his home in South Pasadena to the private Christian school he attended across town.  He always felt safe and his parents weren’t worried.  Then, in the 60s and 70s a few horrific events occurred that involved hitch-hiking and it became a big no-no.  Scary to be a hitch-hiker, scary to pick up one.

But the PCT culture includes hitch-hiking and Mission has learned that you rarely have to stick out your thumb. Indeed, some PCT hikers use hitch-hiking to “cheat” and avoid difficult or boring stretches of the trail.  Mission passed a hiker two days ago while hiking on the aqueduct, they exchanged a pleasant greeting, then a half hour later, Mission saw him in the back of a pick-up truck speeding up the aqueduct frontage road!

To get from the trail into the town of Tehachapi, he was offered more rides than he needed and the people were local residents, in the habit of helping PCT travelers.  Mission loved everything about Tehachapi, the people, the location, the food!  He said he had the best breakfast burrito of his life and then like a hobbit, he turned around and ate second breakfast soon after, but he called it lunch.

Mission is headed into one of the hardest stretches of hiking on the PCT, from Tehachapi to Walker Pass.  Water caches in the area are known to have strange, mysterious additives, like uranium, so you have to carry a heavy water supply.  Granny Hat and Mission’s dad plan to meet him in Kennedy Meadows northeast of Lake Isabella for his next re-supply in a few days, where he will trade out his shoes for a heavier pair and upgrade his gear to mountain, snow, all-weather quality.  He is headed toward the mountains he loves and is looking forward to leaving the desert behind.  There will be new, even more difficult challenges in the Sierras, so please, my friendly followers, keep praying for him.  May he stand as giants, walk as lions (not with them anymore please) and fly like an eagle!

Mission is playing the role of Don Quixote today, only he knows better than to joust with modern day windmills.  You must simply hike quickly and stealthily past them!  There are several wind farms in the Tehachapi area that the PCT meanders through.  Here are some google map photos of Mission’s GPS position this morning.

Granny Hat enjoyed a long cell phone chat with Mission yesterday afternoon while he hiked along, and sometimes on top of, the California Aqueduct.  He said the weather had been kinder than usual for this time of year in the Antelope Valley and that it was in the 70’s allowing him to hike during the day.  There are limited water sources in this stretch of the PCT.  He said that he and his dad had to filter water from a cistern that was full of pine needles up in the foothills as they left the Los Angeles range.  Even after filtering, the water had an Earl Grey look and a brackish taste.  He said he actually hopes the weather warms up quickly because he is counting on snow melt before he approaches the high peaks of the John Muir Trail.  He will be adding warmer gear, an ice axe, crampons for snow hiking, a heavier jacket, bear can and a larger pack to accommodate more food for longer treks between re-supply stations.

Years ago, Granny Hat would drive miles up to Florence Lake or around the southern end of the Sierras to Whitney Portal or up to Yosemite Valley to pick up her backpack crew.  She always had oranges and other fresh fruit in the car because the hikers were sure they were coming down with scurvy after many days in the wilderness with no fresh fruit and vegetables.  They craved berries, oranges and fresh melons.  Thanks to family trail angels, Mission has had some fresh fruit and veggies here and there on the trail.  Cousins Ryan and Abigail met him in the Antelope Valley with watermelon and other delicacies to counteract the pine tea out of the cistern and the days of dehydrated Pad Thai and Mexican Bean Stew.

And then Granny Hat has to give a shout out to her friend Cheryl Wenzlick who introduced her to Juice Plus.  This amazing system provides the best quality greens and fruit dietary support for everyone but especially vital for Mission who is hiking a marathon every day and eating backpacking food.  Juice Plus has a special program for students, giving them affordable opportunity to get started with this healthy, sustainable energy source.  Mission began using these supplements a month or more before he commenced his trek and continues with the daily capsules.  Keeping scurvy at bay!!! http://www.wenslik.juiceplus.com

This PCT journey has been Mission’s dream for several years.  Granny Hat is enjoying following his progress even though she does worry about every little thing.  He assured me that Hiker Town was “chill”, nothing overly sketchy going down.  But he said that the differences between Hiker Heaven and Hiker Town are made obvious by their names.  Hiker Heaven was truly a hiker’s paradise with everything they could need for re-supply and comfort.  Hiker Town was more of a utility compound, a collection of old movie backdrop buildings in the middle of the desert.

Mission has learned how to manage his feet, keeping them healthy and rested.  He has met many interesting people, says nearly 50% are from Europe and then many from the East Coast as well.  One Swiss hiker was explaining to a group at Hiker Town why it would be better to re-supply in Tehachapi instead of in the town of Mojave.  He said he had heard Mojave was just a “drug-sale town”.  Mission welcomed him to California!  Isn’t every town a “drug-sale town”?  The Swiss man seemed shocked which surprised Granny Hat.  She has heard all about Europe!

“To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe, to bear with unbearable sorrow, to run where the brave dare not go…..

This is my quest to follow that star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far….”

Man of La Mancha

So what did you do this week?  Most of us were busy finishing up school, working, planning our summer vacations.  Granny Hat weeded in her flower and vegetable gardens, went to the mountains over the weekend with her granddaughters Isla and Brighton, and even walked a few hundred feet from the car to Pinecrest Lake laden with food, lawn chairs and beach toys. She also hiked up to the top of the hill behind the cabin to get a cell signal so she could check Mission’s SPOT.  Whew!  Granny Hat was hot and tired and just a little grumpy that there was only one bar of service after her hike!

Meanwhile, Mission hiked past the 500 mile marker today and down into the Antelope Valley.  The next 500 miles should get him right between Yosemite National Park and Sonora Pass. 500 miles!  That’s how far it is from San Diego to San Francisco on straight highways.  Or from Salt Lake City to Denver!  Or from London to Paris! (and some of that would be on a boat unless you swam the English channel!)  It’s far and today it was hot and dusty. Don’t let these beautiful lush green photos fool you.  Mission and his Dad had a grueling day, or at least Dad had a tough day.  He said he can’t keep up with the “young, skinny, bouncy hikers”.  He has decided to  get a breakfast burrito in the morning with a tall glass of orange juice before heading home.  Granny Hat will interview him about his two days on the trail with Stephan later, bound to be interesting and funny.

And there is the Antelope Valley and part of the Mojave Desert, which Mission will cross tomorrow.  He made it to Hiker Town this evening.  Hiker Town is a settlement with potable water, showers, camping sites, a bar, some interesting locals and a rich, notorious history. Granny Hat started to research it and decided that what happens in Hiker Town stays in Hiker Town.  Mission said he is happy because there is hot water there and he had his first shower since his dorm room at school right before he hit the trail.

The next two days will be a 45 mile nearly water-less section of trail along the Los Angeles Aqueduct (just can’t completely get away from Los Angeles). Tonight’s GPS coordinates are: 34.77619, -118.6057  Zoom in and you’ll see the Hiker Town Compound, not exactly a Five Star but to a 500 mile PCT trekker, a hot shower can be heaven on earth.

“And the Lord will continually guide you.  And satisfy your desire in scorched places.  and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail”  Isaiah 58:11  Amen!  God be with you, Mission!