“What do you fear, lady?” he asked. “A cage,” she said. “To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.”
~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
After experiencing years of unexplained health issues, thru-hiker Kelly Weintraub was diagnosed with Lyme disease in June 2014 and Bartonella in April 2015. “Living with chronic illness,” she notes, “often means living behind bars, unable to pursue dreams or even participate in the activities of daily life. I chose to write under the name Eowyn because the character, and in particular the above quote, resonated with me when I was sick.”
What a testimony to her courage to bust out of her cage and walk the PCT. The photos above are from late August. The top photo is looking back at Rosary Lakes with Odell Lake in the distance. The bottom left photo show beautiful Mt. Jefferson. And the bottom right shows the trail closure at Minto Pass that forced Kelly (and others) to do some road walking.
We will post more of Kelly’s photos as she continues north. You can follow her blog at https://lifebeyondlyme.wordpress.com/