We got up early to head up Glen Pass. We summited and it took forever to descend the other side. What a pass! I must have said this 50 times while going up and over this pass. Covered in fist-sized chunks of granite rock, it was unrelenting. I thought about how this pass would compare if you were on a southbound or SOBO hike because this downhill side was merciless. Glen ended up being the pass that was most difficult for me.
Of course after waking in the morning, I had decided to continue on the hike. As I laid in my mummy sack the night before, I prayed and I listened. I laid it out there “God, if you want me to continue, allow that to be so. Bring healing on my feet and renew my desire to continue” I smiled remembering the great send-offs that I had with family and friends.Their encouraging words to me. They swirled around in my head. They were so motivating, so soothing, so inspiring. I knew I had lots of people praying for me, for us, every single day. For our safety and our well-being. I felt a sense of refilling when I woke up. My feet were still sore, but they felt that they were taking a turn for the better. Even the blisters that had popped up didn’t feel as sore covered in blister band-aids (Y’all, these things are AMAZING!) There were so many things God was waiting to flood me with on this journey and I knew this morning when I wok up I needed to continue.
I need to side-bar right here for just a second to tell you the power of prayer is so far-reaching, profound and real. What I did not know at the time, was the night before, after being able to talk to Greg on Kearsarge Pass, he was with our worship team at rehearsal, they always take time as a group to pray for one another and the needs of those around us. He explained the situation with my feet and as a group, they prayed for me. Of course I did not know this, but know now beyond a shadow of a doubt, THIS is why I was able to get up the next morning and continue on this hike. What a testimony of God’s healing, and his love. His promises and his mercy, grace and provision. I am SO thankful for those friends that prayed, daily for us.
We camped at Woods Creek after descending Glen Pass. It’s a gorgeous area with a stream and a beautiful suspension bridge right out in the middle of the JMT/PCT. We soaked our legs, and filtered water. This was starting to become routine and we joked about “our nightly chores” Get to camp, set up our tents, have a snack, roll out our beds, filter water, wash our clothes in the creek, bathe in the same creek, eat dinner, laugh a lot, talk about the day, yoga, howl as the sun went down…and to bed! Most nights we were in bed by 7pm. Trail time changes your sleep patterns and hiking in the 90 degree heat all day at altitude takes a lot out of you. We slept when the sun went down and rose when it came up. 
Found a little trickle of water to filter.
We were packed up and left Woods Creek over the suspension bridge by 6:30am. We had 7.7 miles of climbing ahead of us to the top of Pinchot Pass. Pinchot was long with so many variations in landscape. Reds turned into grays along the way. The terrain was volcanic and Mars-like. We stopped to filter water in a spring (really just a trickle of water) before descending. We had decided that we would stop for a break and lunch at Lake Marjorie. Descending these passes would split us up a bit. Each of us descended at our own pace. We usually always stayed within eye-shot of one another, but the switchbacks along this pass didn’t afford that. K, K and I stopped at Lake Majorie and waited for J. And waited. And waited. We started to get a little concerned as we knew she wasn’t that far behind. She was nursing an injury from a few days prior and had a hard time descending due to the pounding it takes on your body. We made a plan. K would stay put at Lake Marjori, she could be a lookout along the trail lakeside and K would walk back up the pass, I would walk down looking out for J. With the steepness of the terrain it’s so easy to turn an ankle or even worse, slip off the edge. We were really concerned for her safety. We came back together and not one of us had seen her. We asked hikers along the trail if they had seen her, giving a full description of our lost hiker in either direction and no one had seen her. We saw a SAR helo flying overhead to where we were sitting, which made things much worse, but we tried to not allow fear to take root. We quickly made a plan; we knew J was smart, she’s been hiker and this was not her first rodeo. She knows what to do in situations where we would get separated. We were however concerned about her injury and the steepness of our decent. Even the most experienced hikers can fall. We decided that K and I would hike out to South Forks Kings River together (our next campsite) and K would stay put at Lake Marjori. We decided that if we got to SFKR and she wasn’t there, we would radio SAR to start a search for her. We were pretty concerned as K an I hiked at break-neck speeds to SFKR. You cannot imagine the joy that enveloped us when we got to camp, and heard her calling out to us! She had somehow passed us on the trail as we were sitting at the lake. Thanks be to God is all I could say. Thanks be to God! We had a girls night at camp this night. SFKR is an amazing site. A wide river flows over flat rocks that fill bathtub-like pools. We were surrounded by pack horses and a mule train. The river is swift and camping next to it, with it’s sound, lulled us right to sleep after dinner.
The next morning after K joined us, we hiked out of South Forks Kings River and headed over Mather Pass. My feet seem to be healing better as I have changed up some of my routine in caring for them. No more soaking my feet at lunchtime and puting them back into my boots! We all felt like the hike was getting easier as we knew we must be finally getting our trail legs. Mather was still exhausting! It greeted us at the top with it’s gorgeous views at 12,100 feet.I wore my iPod most of the time today, just needing to drown out some noise in my head. 
We camped at Palisades Lake. My most favorite of any camp on the entire trail. It’s surrounded by mountain peaks that stretch out to the sky and we all swam in the crystal clear blue waters. I could’ve stayed here for days and cannot wait to come back to this spot. It’s for us NOBO hikers, the ledge to the Golden Staircase, which we would be descending tomorrow. I felt so much of God’s presence with me today. Being out in nature and the silence of the wilderness allows for a lot of time to listen. One thing that I was hearing loud and clear was “small space, big world” I knew it was relating to the fact that G and I had decided to sell our house and downsize this year. We were ready to un-clutter and unburden our lives of “stuff” and “space” and live smaller, greener, healthier lives. We were excited to have our small space in this big world. We knew in doing so it would free up so much more time for us to be doing the things we love. Traveling more, spending less time taking care of “house stuff” devoting time to missions and music, running and yoga and just being more present and intentional with what’s important. We’ve both just felt that we don’t want to be boggled down as much to lend ourselves to whatever God has in store for us. 
When we left Palisades in the morning, I was feeling so good and refreshed! We descended the Golden Staircase, which is about 600-billion (maybe not quite that many) granite stairs chiseled into the side of the mountain. We hiked 13 miles today and part way up Muir Pass before we stopped to camp. When we stopped for the night K let us know we were at 119.11 miles in, just over half way!
Passes we’ve covered so far:
Cottonwood 11,140, Guyout 10,900, Whitney 14,505, Forrester 13,160, Kearsarge 10,750 times two (up and over for resupply and back) Glen 11,926, Pinchot 12,050, Mather 12,100
When we got to camp, I was done. I told K, K and J that I needed to be hiked out to the next ranger station in the morning, which I think was about 4 miles out. My feet looked like hamburger and I could barely stand on them. I was angry and had tried everything but I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t make it any further. I went to bed so defeated. So saddened and so disappointed. I was crushed in every sense of the word.
This time we have decided to stay in Playa Tamarindo. We have been here before a few years ago, but only for a short weekend getaway from Esterillos Oeste. It’s bustling. It’s like the Cancun of Costa Rica. It’s full of gringos and backpackers from all over the world. It’s busy and full of bars and restaurants. It has some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen (although I have YET to see a bad one in CR) and it produces some extraordinary sunsets. Its water is warm (like the rest of CR) and it has great waves for all levels of surfing. There are vendors and shops everywhere. It’s very different from what we are used to in CR. Definitely more touristy but so far we are enjoying it. It’s close to the Nicaraguan border. A plus as we are planning to drive to San Juan del Sur and Granada in the next few weeks. I would say for a quick trip to CR it’s a great place. Long term, may be debatable. For us anyways. We are not accustomed to staying in such a crowded place and prefer more of the laid back, quiet villages to over populated, tourist hangs.
sporty mama life..... 