It's Wednesday and that can only mean one thing, Wednesday Night Worlds at South Seatac.  I've been going down to the Worlds every week but one.  So far I've ridden my Santa Cruz Blur XC but this week I'm bustin' out my newly put together Single Speed.  I converted my old hardtail into a SS and I'm going to rock it tonight on that.  It's completely rigid, so it's going to be 100% opposite of my Blur.

It should be a blast and I'm looking forward to the self torture!  I rode the SS there over the weekend but at a mellow pace.  Tonight will be a whole different kind of ride and hurt....

I'm officially part of the 529 Team.  As of 2008 I changed teams so I could ride/race for the Project full time.  Now that the Cross season is over I will be racing some road races and hopefully lots of XC races throughout the Spring and Summer.  Of course I'll be racing Cross in the Fall too. 

I loof forward to having my first full suspension bike since the 90's.  I will  be riding a Blur XC.  It will be fitted with Sram, Rockshox, Ritchey, Maxxis and SDG goodies.  I'm really excited about racing XC again, it's been a long time. 

At 11:56 am on Monday September 4th I finished the last leg of my journey.  It still hasn't hit me that I'm done.  The ride home was great.  There was no run ins with crazy drivers.  The route was pretty hilly on Whidbey Island.  I have a nice sore on my left cheek, and I'm not talking about my face. 

I look forward to relaxing for a few days before I head back to Boston to visit friends and family before going to Maine to fish. I haven't decided what is next  but I have many options.  I might go to Interbike and possibly Kona Ironman to watch my cousin if he qualified.

Wow! my first day on the bike was tough. I don't know if the lack of sleep the night before (4 hours), the 8 beers I had, or if the change in activities is to blame but I was beat on the bike.  I left Manning Park, BC around 7:20 am and rode until around 4 pm.  I had nasty head winds all day and at some points it felt like my solo 24 hour experience. My legs were like lead. At lunch time I stopped at Subway, and when I was done I almost fell asleep in the restuarant. It started to rain right after I finished lunch. I had to ride the last 2 hours in the rain. I made it all the way to Chilliwack, BC, which made my first day a 80 mile day. I'm now about to leave the hotel and in a few hours will be back in the US and headed for Bellingham, WA.

I finished the PCT at 11:30 am on Wednesday the 29th of August.  My dad was at the border monument waiting for me. It was great to be done but not the emotional experience I expected it to be.  It took me 125 days to cover the 2655 miles (around 22 miles a day). I will take one day off then it's back on the bike 200 miles to Seattle.

I saw some amazing sites and people while hiking and will never forget the experience. I just hope I can experience the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) in the same way. Now that I've done 2 of the 3 trails making up the Triple Crown I'm really movitated to become a Triple Crown member.

I'm here in Etna, CA and not far from my first state line. I've pumped out a few 30 mile days in some pretty tough terrian.  I hiked through one of the hottest parts of northern California and it was 105 at least. No shade what so ever and the day ended with two forest fires and one nasty thunder and lightening storm.  I even had my first rain in 70+ days of hiking.

I got the shit scared out of me twice in 5 minutes the other night by two rattlesnakes.  They were not very big but they were pissed I was walking by them.  I got some video of the first guy.  Maybe I'll get it up on YouTube at some point.

I'm about to leaving Etna and I'm headed to Seiad Valley, CA and along the way I will be hiking between two new forest fires.  I'm praying they do not close the trail before I get going tomorrow morning.

The body is starting to feel the miles.  My lower legs hurt and my quads are sore most nights. My right shoulder is always tight and only hurts more with extra weight. Neither will stop me but they are annoying.  Today was a short day at 14 miles so I hope I can give everything a little break. Till next time be safe and have fun.

Wow, it's hot out here. For that last week it's been well over 95 and some days over 100.  I'm in Old Station, CA now.  I just passed the half way point of my hike just two days ago.  I did the first 1325 miles in 71 days and the next 1325 should only take about 53 days.

I'm hiking solo now and the days are longer but the terrian is getting easy. I hiked 19 miles yesterday in only 6 hours. Not to be out done by Clinton and all his bear sightings in Whistler I have now seen 5 bears in two weeks.

Until next time keep the wheels turning and the results coming.

Craig's currently hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.  He'll be checking in now and again and giving us the latest and greatest of his journey. 

In the meantime, you can keep up with his travels here.

Hello all, below is my entry from my second longest day, which I just did on 6/24.  I hope to be able to give shorter updates whenever I find internet access.  Keep those wheels turning and be safe.

Day 91 6-24-07 Tarp Tent
Asa Lake outlet creek - Carson Pass
35.5 miles; 1078.7 (48.4) total miles; 2968.7 trip miles
70's sunny windy

Deer count is 62
Marmot count is 47
Pika count is 2
Bear count is 1

We all woke up and were on the trail by 6:05. The day started with a climb
up to a windy saddle. We descended to a sunny spot where we had breakfast.
We descended further through some sweet lava rock spires in these cool
canyons, before ascending to the junction of Noble Lake Trail.

We quickly came to Highway 4 near Ebbetts Pass. The road came out of nowhere
and I was confused when I saw a white SUV in the middle the woods. Silver
and Backtrack were waiting at the road. We chatted up a guy from Ohio who
was doing day hikes and taking pictures. He was on a five week trip. We left the road and hiked into a beautiful area. We hiked into a meadow with these beautiful lava mountains to our left and there were these huge boulders from the mountain side just laying in the meadow. They were cool because of how they were formed.

We passed many more creeks and crested Sagebrush Saddle where the wind was so strong. At one point we were all in a line and the wind blew so hard it knocked each one of us off the trail in unison. We all started laughing but Backtrack thought we were laughing at him until he turned and saw we too had been blown off trail and it made it even funnier.

Just down the trail we passed Thirsty Boot who was taking a break. We stopped not too far down the trail from him for lunch. During lunch Silver and I kept hearing a electronic beeping. Backtrack thought we were crazy. I thought it was coming from Silver and he thought it was coming from me. I thought another hiker lost a watch in the pines needles. We never found out what the sound was. Thirsty Boots went by, as did a southbound day hiker. We moved on and had to climb a useless knob and the junction of the Raymond Lake Trail. Then we went down some long switchbacks before climbing again to a "Conspicuous saddle" as the data book called it.

We went on and all of a sudden I saw smoke off to the northeast. It was clearly a forest fire from the amount of smoke in the air. We passed two ladies on horses but they were not sure if we went in that direction.

We passed the Pleasant Valley Trail and then left the Mokelumne Wilderness. We crossed a few dirt roads and then finally reached Blue Lakes Road, one of the few paved roads in the last few weeks. We snacked there since it was decided to do another 2.4 miles to dinner. I read the data book wrong and we actually had 1.4 on top of the 2.4 to reach our chosen dinner spot. We climbed up to a saddle southeast of The Nipple. I can say The Nipple looked just like its name. The wind though was once again blowing super hard. We had to keep climbing, which none of us were ready for, and I was getting super hungry so I was cranky. By the time we got to the top of the climb, the wind was so bad it almost blew me down to the ground.

We descended to Lost Lake spur road where we cooked dinner. Thirsty Boots came by once again. He was pushing on till 7:30 before stopping for the day. We knew at this point we only had about 1.6 miles to go to reach a 30 mile day. (This would be Silver and Backtrack’s first 30 ever).

We finished dinner and moved on. Shortly later, I had to stop to answer nature's call. Silver said to me, "We won't leave the trail!". I finished my business and was off to catch up. Shortly I came to a snowfield where Silver's foot prints went straight. I just barely noticed stones marking there was a switchback. I looked over my shoulder and sure enough there was the trail. I made the turn and guessed Silver and Backtrack just made the turn on the rocks after the snow. I then passed Summit City Canyon Trail and started the descent into the next valley. Near the bottom I saw Thirsty Boots who made a wrong turn. I asked if he'd seen the others and said they must have gone by him during his detour.

I left Thirsty Boots as he stopped for the night. I quickly left the valley and started to climb out of it. By this time I started to wonder if Silver actually did make the turn back at the snowfield. As I started the climb, I yelled for them and only spooked a deer. It was now dusk and telling what was a rock and what was human was getting tough. I couldn't believe they were in front of me; but Silver said they wouldn't leave the trail. So I climbed and climbed. Of course the wind grew as I climbed limiting my options to camp. I got to a snow field and more climbing I couldn't see before. I decided I better look for a place to throw down for the night. There was nothing available so I pushed on. I got about 10 minutes up the trail and stopped to get out my maps since it was so dark now. I looked back to where I came and saw two lights. One was red and one white. I didn't think any thing of it; I just thought one of them had one of the headlamps with the red lenses. I yelled my loudest; but with the wind, they couldn't hear me. I started flashing my headlamp but they didn't see me. Their lights went out of sight so I thought they found a windless spot.

I turned around and headed back down the slope to where I last saw them. I got all the way back to the first snowfield where I thought about camping and saw the red and lights again. But then I saw a second set of lights and realized I was looking at two cars descending the Blue Lakes Road which I passed back on the other side of the valley. I was so pissed off! I swore at the top of my lungs. I looked for a flat spot again and said “screw it; I'm going back up”. I made it back up to where I had stopped the first time. I built a cairn so if Silver and Backtrack were behind me they would know how far I backtracked. I made it to a sign saying I was entering the Carson Wilderness. I thought about camping in a few spots but knew I was only 1.1 miles from Carson Pass and I knew the others, if they were in front of me, wouldn't go any further than the pass. I got to the pass at 10:26 PM. I was so excited to see there were bathrooms, trash cans, and a phone. I set up camp and decided to cowboy camp. I sat in the dark reading email and a mouse tried to steal one of my Take 5 candy bars. I went to be bed but the mouse ran around me and I finally put up the tarp tent. I fell asleep pretty fast after that.

Craig Fowler
aka Scatman
PCT '07
scatman@pocketmail.com
------------------------------
Project 529 - Ibex Wear - Nuun
Feetures - Zeek's Pizza - Superfeet
Alki-Rubicon