Jul 2, 2009

Out of Yosemite


July 1, 2009
Dear friends and family,
We are now in Sonora which is about 60 miles west of the trail. We got off the trail at Sonora Pass yesterday and hitched in to town to visit our friends Barry and Julia. We had the most difficult section the last two weeks to get through and we were physically drained. In fact Alfredo got a fever and a sinus cold for a couple of days and then I also started to feel the flu symptoms when we got to Mammoth. So sorry no update from Mammoth since we were not quite feeling well. Anyway we went over numerous high passes full of snow, crossed raging rivers, dealt with freezing cold conditions, wet feet, almost running our of food, getting lost from one another, losing the trail due to too much snow, then the worst man eating huge mosquitoes in the millions, but it was all worth it. It was a challenge but we made it. Many fellow hikers have gotten off the trail because it became too difficult. We are hanging in there, we are very in tune with our bodies now and feel our fitness level quite high. But we also know we need a couple of days rest. 1018 miles!!! Over a third finished. Just finished going through Yosemite National Park with its fantastic mountains and luckily didnt have any bear encounters! Some days we didnt see anyone, while other days we passed the south bound John Muir Trail hikers, and around Tuolome Meadows we saw hundreds( only one afternoon) . People ask us why we are doing this trail. And I know I often write of the difficult times but most of the time we are most content and at peace to just be out in the wilderness observing our surroundings, sensing, feeling and smelling mother nature, the life of the forest, the life of the high altitude passes, the passage of the water, the power of the rivers. After we are in the high mountains and contemplate the world below us, we go down with the table of the ten commandments of the Mountain.
-I am the MOUNTAIN, your supreme lady, you cant have any other altitude without me.
1) Respect my silence, and feel yourself deep inside
2) Your body must not suffer
3) Care for your feet, they carry you far
4) Dont take the flower, they are beautiful where they are
5) Dont kill any animals, except the mosquitoes
6) Dont make an act impure, just in case, be very discreet
7) Support your heavy pack, inside is your survival
8) Dont desire the food of the other hikers, try to control your hunger
9) Drink my PURE WATER every time I offer it to you
10) When you rest in your little tent, sleep with serenity, because tomorrow the MOUNTAIN is waiting for you again
WALK AMEN

1 comment:

Summer Wind said...

Jerry seems to be AWOL. Where are you?