michelle in space

i'm on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to planet earth. flickr & instagram tags of interest: cross-U.S. road trip iceland trip hiking journal 2016 John Muir Trail my photography my writing

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blue blue blue. day7. #johnmuirtrail #jmt2016 #womenwhohike #backpacking #adventure #sheexplores #girlswhohike #sierranevada #wanderfolk #getoutside #choosemountains #hikelife

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#tbt to exactly two thursdays ago on the way to the base of the half dome trail. . #johnmuirtrail #jmt2016 #getoutside #womenwhohike #choosemountains #goexplore #optoutside #hikelife #yosemite #halfdome (at Yosemite Wilderness)

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(August 27) Last bus window view of Yosemite this morning. At an Airbnb now in Fresno; I think our host & his friends thought we were crazy when we told him this is the first time we'd be sleeping in real beds in 27 days! Bought cocoa butter lotion at the drugstore and took my second looong shower since getting off the trail (truly you do not know what glorious things showers & laundry are until you spend a month hiking). Now I am comfortably, contentedly, curled up in bed watching Netflix....and dreaming of my next adventure in the mountains. 😊

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Day 1 on the JMT, after climbing over Cottonwood Pass (our first pass of 13!). We did about 13.5 miles that day and I walked up to camp with aching feet, hips, back and shoulders. I had never carried a pack so heavy before and with my body stiff & sore I remember being a bit discouraged and worried about the next 24 days. Thankfully within a day or two my pack was a whole lot easier to swing onto my back. I actually experienced very few body aches after the first day - until arriving home and getting stiff knees & ankles from so many hours of *not* moving!

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Day 3. Around 6am and just before the summit of Mt. Whitney. (at Mt Whitney Summit)

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Running around forests, cemeteries, abandoned mines, and reservoirs. I am definitely not in the Sierras anymore, though I did see a snake today bigger than any I saw in CA. I actually saw only one tiny snake during my time on the JMT, despite "dying of rattlesnake bite" being pretty high on my list of Irrational Trail Anxieties (slightly more rational on the scale, I think, than "dying of infected blister," which was also up there on the list). (at Wildcat Ridge)

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John Muir Trail Day 1. It all started with oatmeal 😎 (at Horseshoe Meadows Road)

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Warmup hike #2! We don’t start the JMT until Tuesday and already I have a sunburn and a blister 🌞 OOPS

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Hitchhiked into Whitney Portal to do a short warm-up/acclimating hike, this one to Lone Pine Lake along the trail to the Whitney summit. Feeling pretty good at 10,000 feet!

[chelleinspace]

Hitchhiked into Whitney Portal to do a short warm-up/acclimating hike. Feeling pretty good at 10,000 feet! #lonepine #whitneyportal #jmt #ladiesofthejmt #johnmuirtrail #sheexplores #girlswhohike #adventure #livefolk (at Lone Pine Lake)

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First leg of the trip complete! No thanks to late flights, full planes, and a lot of manspreading (seriously though I’ve spent the past 3 hours with some dude constantly leaning over into my seat and elbowing me in the face) #grumpytraveler #boysaredumb #jmt #ladiesofthejmt #girlslovetravel #girlswhohike #losangeles #airplanewindow #viewfromabove (at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX))

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In the final stages of copying out itineraries, mailing the last food drops, packing/repacking, making last-minute reservations, and cleaning my room for subletter. We start the JMT exactly one week from today. I don’t normally like the idea of fast-forwarding through life but I am so ready for the moment we get on the trail and all that’s left to do is walk.

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First food drop on the John Muir Trail has been delivered! Yessss

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sneaking treats into our #JMT food drops. flying to CA one week from today! #girlswhohike #backpacking #johnmuirtrail #jmtplanning #veganbackpacker #yum #adventure

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Update on my 52 hike challenge: I’ve been neglecting my record-keeping, but a quick attempt at a tally from memory reveals 12 hiking days this year so far, including more time on the nearby trails at Valley Forge & the Wissahickon, as well a few days in Shenandoah and several trips on the AT in Pennsylvania.

If I had actually stuck to my plan of hiking once a week, I would’ve been at 24+ days by now, but with 3 weeks on the John Muir Trail coming up this August I’ll still make it to 52 this year with no problem! 

That trip is constantly on my mind; I am reading John Muir’s writings and dreaming of the Sierras, obsessing over itineraries and meal plans, ordering last-minute gear, packing and weighing and repacking my pack. I’m definitely missing New Hampshire as I try to train properly for this trip. There aren’t many real mountains close by at the moment. 

So I’m training on PA’s rocky sloping hills and by walking up and down the streets of Philadelphia with my weighted pack. When heat advisories are in effect and it’s too brutal to be outside most of the day, early morning runs seem to do the trick (I hate exercising early in the morning, especially before coffee, it makes me nauseous and lightheaded - but I’m trying to welcome this, knowing I’ll probably be dealing with altitude sickness in the Sierras). And rock climbing, biking, and yoga mixed in with the walking/running.

(photo above from somewhere on the AT near Lehigh Gap, a perfect example of those often painful rocks)

[chelleinspace]

thanks, lunabar. @lunabar #hiking #wordsofwisdom #neverstopexploring

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Sylvia Plath decides to find a husband (at age 18).