I’m laying in a puffy bed under a ceiling fan. I’m thinking about the PCT and smiling. It took me a few days to process and re-integrate, but I’m feeling pretty good. No, I’m not pregnant. Although when I read that comment, I thought, “man, that would have been a way better excuse for quitting”. Not because I want a baby, but it would have been a much more interesting and cool reason. We stopped hiking the trail mostly because it just wasn’t worth it anymore. We both decided, but really I was the one that couldn’t hack it. Basically that’s the gist of it. Andy had his concerns before we started and voiced them compassionately and wisely, but I was really excited and thought that I could do it. The pregnancy link that my sister posted was because she has fibromyalgia. The article links premature birth and fibro. I don’t think I have it but, I do have some similar issues that probably stem from coming into the world three months early.

Like my sister’s fibro, medically, there’s no real handle on what’s going on, so the symptoms are mainly handled by anti anxiety medication, diet and exercise. The symptoms fluctuate with hormones throughout the month. For me, this means being really careful what I eat, going to the gym lots and taking Cymbalta. I don’t want to make this sound like a big dramatic deal because most of the time, in civilization I’m really in tune with what I need and my issues are somewhat in the background. On the trail, eating much of the food that is off limits in “real life”, walking 8 to 10 hours a day and for one week not having the medication that I needed…..it got a little dicey. There was alot of crying (me on the outside and Andy on the inside I’m sure) and much of the time my body just wouldn’t go. When I knew I had to get off the trail, I encouraged Andy to go on, but at that point we were both ready to come back.

For awhile I felt like I failed. But now that some time has gone by, I feel….I’m not sure there’s a perfect word for what I’m trying to say, but the closest thing would be peaceful. I feel like the hike changed me in some ways that I don’t even have words do describe. Really, it could still be exhaustion, but whatever it is, I hope it sticks. It’s not even just the deeper appreciation I have for things that I’ve never been without before….beds, pillows, flat ground, chair cushions, running water. It’s a feeling of deepness that when I try to describe somehow becomes more shallow. Like just the act of description, tarnishes or dulls the thing that I’m having such a hard time describing. Peace, joy, love, harmony….all words that seems too small.

Also, just to be clear, anyone that’s reading this and being inspired, know that these are after effects. On the trail I felt pain, misery and torture interspersed with a smattering of intense fun and joy. But, this was my experience, I know plenty of people that had a much easier time of it. I just don’t want to send any poor soul out there onto a journey with beautiful images and funny videos from our website without putting a disclaimer on it: This was really, really, really, really, really hard.

Now our loose plan is probably to go to Denver for awhile. If you don’t know it already, Andy is a professional gambler. The poker limits were raised from $5 to $100 a few days ago. For those of you that don’t gamble, myself included, basically this means a possible good opportunity to make money, live in a beautiful place for awhile and reconnect with old friends (Andy lived in Denver for 12 years). Normally, we would be betting baseball now and living in Vegas which is our second option if Denver isn’t working out. Andy went to Denver a few days ago, and I’ll probably join him in a week or so. Right now I’m still basking in the San Diego sunshine and procrastinating the unpacking and reorganizing of food boxes and other camping and backpacking things.

I have a few more videos to upload, and then this amazing saga will come to a close. But, if you’d like to keep up with what we’re doing, you can always find us at cindigo.com. Right now, thery’re both the same, but I’ll be separating them in the next few days. Also, Andy is putting up a gambling blog thewisegambler.com. Probably nothing is up there yet, but it will be soon. Especially if you send him emails telling him how great the site is going to be and ask when will it be up

I owe an update. A full and gory recounting of our highest highs and lowest lows. I’m almost ready. Really. I’m still so enamored by all the soft and level surfaces, it’s hard to tear myself out of beds and chairs to get anything done.

Baby steps.

-Cindy

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Cindy is still formulating her post on her last days of the trail.

Stay tuned!

This is a hard post to write, so I’ll just say it fast like taking off a bandaid. We called it quits.

The second day after leaving Independence, Cindy was having a really hard time, and we hiked a pretty short day. The next day, she was feeling very low energy. We hung around in camp most of the day, and had some talks about the trail in general. It was becoming pretty clear that Cindy wasn’t going to be doing most of the thru-hike if I/we pressed on, and it just doesn’t feel right to me to do the remaining 1700 miles mostly alone and besides, my enjoyment of the walking has been diminishing.

We’re both glad that we attempted this and we’ve both benefitted physically and mentally. At this point, though, we’re pretty happy to get back to civilization and back to making money instead of spending it!

By far the saddest part of this decision for both of us is not being able to share the rest of the walk with everyone on this site. We apologize to all of those that were looking forward to sharing the rest of the adventure with us. We know a number of you have friends and relatives on the trail and that you were kind of keeping up with their travels through this site. I wish we could keep it up for you guys, but it just stopped being worth it for us. Rest assured, your loved ones are having a blast. It’s a really amazing experience.

There will still be some updates in the next few days. Cindy is going to write her account, and I’m going to be starting a new site, so please stay tuned.

Thanks so much for all of the support.

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The hitch wasn’t as hard as we thought. We’re off into the wild. We won’t have cell but will continue to update via sat phone. It’s not on our itinerary, but our next stop will be Mammoth Lakes.
 

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We finally saw our first bears on the PCT and it was a great experience. Just south of Lower Vidette Meadow I looked up and a black bear was looking right back at me about 30 feet away. I froze and he looked at us for a few seconds and then went back to chewing on some green plants. Then, we noticed a second bear a little further away.

After a minute or two, a group of three more hikers came along, and the bears decided it was time to move along. Really impressive animals, it was awesome.

Cindigo glissades down a chute on the north side of Forrester Pass. Great Success! -Andy

*I just uploaded about 70 new photos! you can see them here. If you go to the page and click “slideshow” you can view the pics in order from the time we started out on the trail. -Cindy

Okay, We’ve made it 800 miles. By now we have a pretty good idea of what’s working and what isn’t, so here’s a gear review for anyone that might be interested. All ratings are out of a possible 10 stars.

Clothing, from the feet up:

Shoes:

GoLite Storm Dragons. 4/10.
Cindy feels that these shoes put WAY too much pressure on her forefoot which caused her tons of foot pain and numbness and tingling and warts. Okay, she didn’t get warts, but she really didn’t like these shoes. She’s now using New Balance 812s and is feeling much better.

Innov8 Flyroc 310. 7/10.
These are probably the best constructed trail runners that I have owned. They’ve come 800 miles, and could probably go another 300, but I think I need something with a little more support. I’ve had some problems with plantar fasciitis and I think that the minimal support of the Flyrocs might have something to do with it. I bought a pair of Brooks Cascadia 4s in Bishop. I’ll give a review in 500 miles or so!

Socks:

Injinji Tetrasock Performance. 10/10.
These toe-socks save my feet. I used to get blisters between my toes on long hikes, but I’ve had zero since switching to Injinjis. The synthetic (Coolmax) is comfortable and durable. I’ve worn through one pair (carrying 2) in 800 miles. I also feel that the separated toes keep my feet a little cooler (just like gloves are colder than mittens), but other hikers have had the opposite experience.

Baselayer:

Icebreaker Bodyfit 150. 9/10.
We love these super-fine merino wool shirts. We both carry the long sleeved shirts, and I carry a short sleeved as well. We knew these would be great in the Sierras, but I was surprised how well they handled the heat of the desert sections. Most importantly, these things just refuse to pick up body odor. It’s nice not to stink, even after a week of wearing the same shirt. They’re not as durable as a synthetic shirt, though, we’ve both developed small holes here and there. A small price to pay.

Insulation:

Montbell Thermawrap Pants, Montbell Down Inner Jacket (Cindy), Montbell Nitrous Jacket (Andy).  10/10.
Great products. We really did our research on these and they haven’t let us down. Ridiculously light, and we’ve really never been cold while wearing our insulation.

Sleeping Bags:

Montbell UltraLight Superstretch Down Hugger #2.   9/10.
These are really great bags for restless sleepers like Cindy and I. Unlike a traditional ultralight mummy bag, where it is impossible to curl up into a fetal position or perform other night-time contortions trying to get comfortable, the Super-Stretch Hugger has elastic stitching in the baffles that allows the whole bag to stretch with you, but also to “hug” you in whatever position you end up in, eliminating cold pockets. It completely eliminates the claustraphobic feeling I get in mummy bags. The 25 degree temperature rating seems spot-on. Cindy likes that the fabric is very forgiving of zipper-snags, but does think that the zipper’s are a bit finicky.

Pads:

Thermarest NeoAir Regular.  8/10.
We started the trail on Ridgerests (closed-cell foam pads). Foam is great for being light, simple, warm, and affordable, but we just don’t sleep well on it. NeoAir’s are the newest technology from Thermarest. They are light, warm, and ridiculously comfortable. They are also silly-expensive, fragile, and tiring to inflate, especially at 11,000 feet. All in all, very worth it to us. We punctured one in two places in the desert, but Tenacious Tape fixed it right up (10/10 stars for McNett Tenacious Tape, by the way).

Tents/Tarps/Bivies

Mountain Laurel Designs Grace Duo Spinntex tarp.  10/10.
We only carried this tarp to Warner Springs, but it’s not the tarps fault that it was replaced. This tarp was super light, meticulously constructed, roomy, and versatile. It was only our failure to avoid condensation in our bivy that lead to abandoning the tarp for a tent.

Bozeman Mountain Works VAPR Double Bivy.  6/10.
It was good in theory for us to combine a double bivy with a tarp for lightweight shelter. It also worked well during our training. However, something changed on the PCT. Maybe it was our metabolism being ramped up by walking 20 miles a day. Maybe it was something else, but whatever the cause, we had uncontrollable condensation. Every morning we had very wet sleeping bags, and nothing we tried seemed to help. Also, it is a bit claustraphobic in the bivy, and the lack of a side-entry made getting in and out an awkward procedure.

Tent:

TarpTent Squall 2.  8.5/10.

This single-walled tent has been almost perfect for us. For just two pounds we get bug and rain-proof shelter for two. The Squall 2 is very roomy and easy to pitch. With a little practice and creativity it can be made pretty stable in the wind, too. Really our only complaints are condensation in certain conditions (probably unavoidable in a single-walled tent) and I think the beak could be better designed.

Cooking:

Bushbuddy Ultra Woodburning Stove.   9/10.
I love this stove. I love not having to buy fuel in town and I love being able to buy the occasional food that has to be cooked for 10, 15 or 20 minutes, instead of relying on boil-and-eat kind of meals. Plus, it’s just fun having a mini-campfire every night without burning more than a handful of twigs and without scarring the ground. The downside is a slightly longer time to boil water, and a slightly more finicky stove and the need to find some dry twigs. Also, a few ounces heavier than alcohol stoves, but we save weight on fuel.

Packs:

ULA Circuit.  9/10.
Definitely the best carrying pack I’ve owned. Also by far the lightest framed pack I’ve tried. No sign of wear after 2 months and 800 miles. The big hip-belts are great. The front-pocket gets a little hard to access sometimes when the pack is full. I love the roll-top design.

I know I’ve left out some important gear, but it’s getting late and we have at least one big pass (Kearsarge) to climb tomorrow and maybe two (Glen). If you have any questions, I’ll try to answer them at the next stop (Vermillion Valley Resort).

We’re waiting for the bus to take us back to Independence so we can pick up our mail drop. Andy got some nice new trail running shoes, we bought cheap sunglasses and just came from lunch where I quite possibly consumed two sticks of butter with three pieces of bread. We optimistically thought we would be back on the trail this afternoon, but one more night in a bed sounds too good for either of us to pass up.
 

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