Slow and green

originally I was intending to start the trail on the 28th, then the 26th, now i'm going to go to annual day zero pacific crest trail kick off (i'm using a smart phone with excrutiating clumsiness)... really want to write more bit but struggling, starting trail may 1st I think... have been in the san bernadinos, with big john, sugar moma, scott & arlo. oops time to go... might get to the slow and green bit next time...

whales and northern stars - the short version

last night i slept out under the northern stars (i could see castor & pollux, the twins - the rest just looked foreign) with the sounds of the pacific ocean crashing against the rocks five metres away... camping with sugar moma, big john & kat (cherry bomb).. this morning i watched a squirrel importantly going about his business, and a couple of whales swimming by and some dolphins... so beautiful, feeling very blessed.

mocha almond coconut ice cream

so pretty hilarious start to my remote-tough-minimalist hiking experience... i'm missing out heaps here, but i got through customs after much probing on why on earth anyone would do a 5+month walk, and then wandered out into the LA atmosphere to try to find sugar moma (who offered to pick this random up from the airport)... i'd just decided to call when i spied this blue vw - yay. i met sugar moma and frankie (border collie), and we set off on our LA adventures... initially this involved sugar moma leaping out of the van to save the neighbourhood from a fire started from a smoking cigarette butt in mulch.... then meeting british mary and her colombian husband and their chinchilla (and children - but the chinchilla was far more of a curiosity), and their menagerie of collision-face pets... then wandering around the streets visiting asian grocers and organic co-ops to get food... then driving along santa monica beach and through malibu (as the sun descended) eating the most amazing mocha almond coconut based ice cream - an idea of pure genius... then driving through these fabulous canyon riddled mountains to get to where i'm staying - at tony who i haven't yet met properly's house... and having chocolate flavoured stout, and, oh i must go - more later...

the bridgewater jerry

looking across at the city the morning i left hobart...

welcome

well, this is my attempt to document a little of my hike from mexico to canada along the pacific crest trail. i had some grand ideas about how i was going to do this, but now i'm creating a blog after midnight on the night before i fly out to los angeles...

i've put a link to an article about the trail on the side, and a download for the trail for google earth.

during church on the last sunday before i left hobart, kylee, a mother of 3, stood up to speak about her daughter veronika. veronika had a stroke pre-birth, has down syndrome, cerebral palsy and a heart condition. the doctors told kylee she would probably never walk. kylee broke down as she spoke of her determination to help veronika learn to walk, something which will require a great deal of hard work and funding. and there seemed something fitting about the fact that i was heading off to walk 4300km, like it would be good to at least encourage people to check out veronika's website and do what they could to help - so i added the link on the side...

then, in my wanderings over the past fortnight, i went to a michael franti concert. at the door there was info about care's 'walk in her shoes' campaign, which also seemed fitting, so i've added that too... franti supports soles for souls on his website, which is tying into to this whole walk-shoe-foot thing, but i figure there are probably things people need before they need shoes, so i added tear and su tas (where i've spent this last 9 or 10 months working)instead...