July 15 

1455-1484

In the morning I get a whiff of my pack and notice the distinctive odor of ammonia. Gross. The first time this ever happened to me, during my first PCT hike, I had a moment where I thought that a cat must have peed all over my clothes and gear.   

Fortunately, or unfortunately, that is not the case. I have run out of fat and I am burning muscle.  Not great, but I have been down this road before.  It is a losing game.  I am burning over 8,000 calories per day and there is no way to eat enough to reverse this while exercising for 15 hours a day.  

My pants fit loosely.  My spine feels far more pronounced.  I feel good though.  I can push a fast pace for very long periods and I am not in pain anywhere.  

My relationship with food has changed significantly.   At home, I largely eat things that taste good or are good for me.   It is a simple ritual.  2-3 times a day I eat a meal, even sometimes when I don’t feel particularly hungry.  After eating, I feel the same as I did before the meal.  Occasionally, like on Thanksgiving, I will eat too much and feel a little tired.  Otherwise, there are no noticable effects.  

Out here, I feel true hunger, and often eat because of a simple utility- if I don’t eat some calories every hour or two I become sluggish and  I run low on energy.  It is like a life meter in a video game powering down, or a toy running out of batteries.  When I do not eat, I feel my brain working slower.  I cannot push a fast pace.  When I eat something I feel a nearly instantaneous and noticeable effect.  A surge of energy enters my muscles and I can hike again.  If I eat a large meal, I feel like a pro athlete.  If I eat something with caffeine in it, I feel like a super hero.  A surprising number of bars, gels, and drink mixes  now containing caffeine.  It is the PED of the hiking world.  If you are low on food, caffeine can give you the boost needed to get to resupply. 

Above, the dotted line is my Garmin determined weekly exercise goal, hahaha.

All of my energy is now external.  I lack the reserves to miss meals.  There are particular bars i eat that remind me of survival or astronaut food.  Protein pucks, energy gels, and flavorless bars.  It feels very futuristic and dystopian. My daily ration of nutritional paste. Soylent.

The trail remains hot, humid and overgrown.  We pass our first glacial stream, flowing from nearby Mt. Shasta. 

Shasta stands at 14,200 feet, and has 4 remaining glaciers.  Mt Rainier,standing a similar height back home, has 28.

Late in the day we dunk in a stream, clothes, shoes, and all, to cool down and douse ourselves for a multi thousand foot climb.  It helps us conserve our water and avoid overheating. 

We have been yoyoing with Papa Bear for nearly a thousand miles now. He also enjoys night hiking, but remains a little rattled from his recent mountain lion encounter. Together we hike an hour or so after sunset and find a tight squeeze of a campsite together.