Day 117: Meeting Up

(Mile 1951.5 to 1978.5, past Obsidian Falls = 27 miles)

A frosty morning. Beautiful.

Is hard to do.

We are in my hiking stomping grounds and a good handful of people want to meet up with us.  And we definitely want to see people.  (You would not believe how giddy we get about catching our trail angels.  It's more exciting than town even.  And town is thrilling!)  But I am learning that it is remarkably hard to coordinate!  There are just so many variables, and the fires this year are real wild cards.  For future reference, here is what is working.

Point people.  I have three people I am referring friends to if they want details on how to catch us.  These three get my SPOT updates daily, so they generally know where we are.  These three are also trail map savvy, so they can help pick good meeting locations.  And these three, for whatever reason, have always been good support people for me, so I know they'll support others trying to support me.  Mike, Jimmy, and Guy, thanks for helping others help me. 

Middle Sister at sunset. I remember when
Mike Niemeyer nearly tok me out on the
descent of this mountain! :)

Maps.  It helps if everyone is reading the same maps.  I did NOT make sure of this, but I wish I had.  Halfmile's maps can be downloaded for free online.  They are what most of us use.  If we all refer to the same maps, we can speak the same language.  It simplifies everything. 

Communication.  I don't think I could coordinate a thing successfully without this dang smartphone.  Our progress changes too often to say a week out where we would be definitively on a certain day at a certain time.  Although we are becoming more predictable, the fires and town time are not.  I count on last minute texts and Facebook postings to give the most current location information.  Which means I also count on people checking these high-tech means of communication.  No, I might not be able to keep up with me if I was trying to trail angel!

South Sister. A non-technical but tiresome climb. Maybe another day, Gumby!

There are probably a few other ways to help make these meet-ups go smoothly.  I am just not practiced enough yet to know.  We hit a pass tomorrow and another on Sunday.  If all goes well, we'll cross paths with our trail angels.  If not, it is some other PCT hiker's lucky day!