I'm going for another long hike

[pdcorlis]

I hope all is going well on your journey up the PCT. I helped build a secion of that trail in northern Washington state about 28 years ago. I'll be thinking of you when your near the north Cascades!

[Andrew Breecher]

558.3 miles, and I'm in the town of Mojave, CA. I've almost spent forty days and forty nights in the desert. Only 140 miles of desert left to go. I can't wait....

http://www.breecher.com/blog/

Andrew.

[Scott Gilmore]

"The town of Mojave, CA, is not a place I'd like to be stuck in for a long time."

Andrew.

You GO, Mr. Breecher! It can get a little warm in those parts this time of year.

Quick story: On an early June day some years ago, while racing a big Suzuki at Willow Springs raceway in Rosamond (about 14 miles south of Mojave), I high sided in turn eight, flat out, pushing as hard as I could. When I came to, the ambulance guy told me I had been laying there for about 7 minutes. No big deal - happens when you road race motorcycles. But my leathers were sopping wet with sweat - absolutely soaking, as was the inside of my helmet, of course.

I have never perspired so voluminously in my life in such a short period of time before or since - and I've lived in some HOT effin' places. But then again, I've never laid out in the blistering desert heat (it was an easy 115° F - at least - in the shade that particular day), flat on my back in the sand while wearing full leathers, boots, gloves and a helmet with the visor closed and chock full of desert sand from doing the rag doll flop at 145 mph.

I am still amazed at how sopping wet I was when I woke up. I had apparently slid along on my belly, feet first for at least part of the distance and my helmet had acted like a shovel scooping desert gravel onto my face, up my nose and into my mouth and eyes. I was chewing Mojave desert for a day. Mmmmmm!

Anyway, good on ya for making that trek, Mr. Breecher (but I would have done it in the dead of winter - preferring as I do to freeze my tail off at night in the desert to being broiled alive by the midday sun). You're a stout fellow, and that's no lie.

Thank you,
Scott Gilmore

[Riverkilt]

Very Cool Andrew,

Or sorry, Very Hot...

Just noticed we share a birthday....though I have a 30 year head start on you.

I got blisters doing just 8 miles down Havasupai in the Grand Canyon...can't imagine doing your miles.

When you have time would like to know what type of shoes do you prefer? And what do you do to prevent, or attend to, blisters.

Thanks

Ron

[Freelander Sporrano]

Keep going Andrew. I love your album. What about more of you in that scenery

[Riverkilt]

Andrew, you may be famous.

Just saw SportKilt has a new tartan out - Pacifict Trail.

Perhaps in your honor?

http://www.sportkilt.com/departments...Hiker-kilt.cfm

Ron

[Andrew Breecher]

Scott - I perspired a lot in the desert, but the timing wasn't my choice. I'd prefer to do it in the dead of winter as well! I started when I did in order to allow the Sierra snows to melt enough for me to hike, although I must say there's still a lot of it out here!

Riverkilt - I hike in trail running shoes. In the desert I hiked in Mazuma road running shoes, because they had the most mesh of any shoe I saw. Right now in the Sierras I'm using Saucony Omni 5 trail running shoes, and my next shoes will be Montrail Hard Rock trail running shoes (I just have to order them, since no one seems to have them in my half size).

At the moment I'm in Mammoth Lakes, CA, and I've completed 900 miles of the PCT, and the High Sierra! I still have a lot of snow ahead of me, since Yosemite and Tuolumne Meadows got a huge dumping of snow this year, but at least the elevations won't be as high (you know, only up to 10,000' instead of 14,000'). At the moment, the snow level is around 10,000' for solid snow cover, though there are certainly large patches of snow still around at lower elevations, depending on which way the terrain is facing.

Once more, my journal is located at: http://www.breecher.com/blog/ and in a week or so I'll have all my Sierra pictures online.

Andrew.