Summer School - Week #3

Hey everybody this is the Stich Bros. This week was exhausting and relaxing from our backpacking adventure, so we didn't do much school work.

Monday - June 23, 2008
Backpacking trip. Wrangle Gap to Grouse Gap Shelter, Pacific Crest Trail 10 miles.

Tuesday - June 24, 2008
Backpacking trip. Grouse Gap Shelter to Toll Road Gap, Pacific Crest Trail 12 miles.

Wednesday - June 25, 2008
No school, recovering.

Thursday - June 26, 2008
9:50 - 12:oo: Language Arts, Synonyms
1:30 - 2:30: presidents, Women's Suffrage
2:45 - 3:45: Reading, Gavyne "Tom Sawyer" / Baylin "Minus 148 Degrees"

Friday - June 27, 2008
Gavyne trombone.
Gavyne at birthday party.
Baylin read "Minus 148 Degrees"


Baylin's Favorite Journal Entry
No journal this week, blog journal.

Our trip was fun but really exhausting. The first day killed my feet(literately my big toes.). The second day since Gavyne brought two pairs of shoes I wore his sandles , and that kept me in front. I was exhausted at the end but still in front but when I saw the car that gave a bolt of energy. And then we came home.

Gavyne's Favorite Journal Entry
No journal this week, blog journal.

The backpacking venture was exhausting and beautiful. When we got to camp, me and Baylin found the perfect spot to put up our tents so we called Renee and Kyle and showed them. When we set up camp we had a fabulous homemade pizza cooked by the humongous fire we built. On our that stretch we were victims of heat exhaustion until we saw the car and headed home briskly.

Kyle's Special Journal Entry
I had promised the boys at least one camping trip a month this summer. With the recent decrease in our total income, though, we didn't have much money to plan anything elaborate. That's when I flashed to an overnight backpacking trip. After all, we have tons of trails just outside our door. In addition, Renee and I had always planned to inject a love for backpacking in the boys.

I visited my friend Robert Casserly for some tips on good trails to hike. He's the type who throws on a pack and disappears in the hills for a few weeks. Initially, I had imagined us getting dropped off at the top of Mt. Ashland, where would hike right to our front door. However, the maps revealed a problem with that plan: The trail was in the watershed where camping is forbidden. That's when Robert showed me the stretch of PCT that travels along the south facing side of the Siskiyou Crest.

Our friend Lisa drove us as close to the Wrangle Gap trailhead as she could in her Jeep, but we encountered a formidable snow berm (larger than the Jeep). So, we hiked down the road a few miles, had lunch with the butterflies then doubled back to start the PCT. That's when I flashed to the massive symbolic power of this trip.

The PCT was the thing that changed my life forever! It's what brought me to the Lower 48 with the love of my life, to start a family. I'm giving it about a year, but I think the PCT symbol will be my first ever tattoo, placing it right over my heart.

Back to the trail. the first day was a slow gradual uphill toward the Mt. Ashland summit. We didn't encounter a single soul. The views, the lay of the land, the vegetation - it changed with each bend in the trail. From tall pines and needle laden paths to barren scrub saddles with patches of snow, to lush run-off creek areas. The second day, although hotter, presented the same rapid changes.

When we arrived at Grouse Gap Shelter, a group of people were using the shelter for a high-falutin' picnic complete with a personal chef, linen and crystal wine glasses. While waiting for them to move on, we nestled into a spot among some boulders. It didn't take the fancy pants long to depart, as we rested in our distant tents. Then it was time to start a fire.

Renee is our fire pro, and she soon had the fire blazing. After building up the coals nice and hot, we cooked pizzas on a perfectly sized flat rock that was in the pit. We made the pizzas with flat bread, sauce, slices of cheddar and pepperoni. We're still craving those scrumptious creations.

The night was chilly, around the high 30's, but we stayed nice and cozy in our bags. The boys woke way too early, but moved their giggling over to the shelter so Renee and I could sleep 'til a paltry 7:00 am. It took us a couple hours to get going. We were all sore, but not nearly as bad as we predicted. Luckily, Gavyne brought shoes with him. He and I hiked the first day in sandals. Baylin, on the other hand, hiked in his boots without having trimmed his nails first. The result was some pain. He tightened down Gavyne's sandals and we were good to go.

This next day's hike started out pretty awesome, nice level terrain, lots of streams, and even quicker changes in scenery. We made it to the back side of Mt. Ashland in under an hour. That's when we encountered a line of about 30 4H kids hiking up the hill. But they were about it. As soon as we crossed the Mt. Ashland Access road, we didn't see anyone.

The hike was grueling as we descended. No, it wasn't all downhill. In fact, there was a crazy amount of uphill. However, each drop in elevation brought greater heat. Spirits started to drop, and I probably pushed everyone too hard. But, each time I stopped made it that much more difficult to resume. Finally, we heard the roar of the freeway growing louder and knew our car would be right around the bend. Hobbling around one last corner, we collapsed in the shade before riding the I-5 to our abode.

Would we do it again? Hey yeah! The boys even started talking about wanting to do the entire trail, from Mexico to Canada straight through. I'm psyched that the boys loved it so much, and that Renee was beyond willing to go. We just need another week for our calves to stop aching.

Watch for the video here.