Date: 2012-08-10
To: Work and school
Miles today: 0.0

19 Aug. McKenzie Pass to South Mathieu Lake. 6 miles.  "This winter I will start babysitting. Also 7th grade. I am nervous but excited at the same time.  We will be planing for the CDT. I feel bad for Dad because he will be WORKING FULL TIME and researching for our trip.  That's lots of work. We will be going to see Beacon get his Triple Crown Award!!!!!!!!:-D   I will be joining Cross Country this fall.  I never have done that before, but I run a little with my friends. So I am going to work very hard at it and do my very best".           Sunshine   We had a great family hike today on the Mckenzie Pass.  We hiked a 6 mile loop with 4 miles of it on the PCT.  We were hoping to run into thru-hikers but saw nary a one.  We even carried a pack full of goodies for them just in case.  We all enjoyed swimming in both South and North Mathieu Lakes.  Butterfly in particular loves swimming in alpine lakes.  She has really improved her swimming skills this summer alone.     Our plan for August, was to provide trail magic and support Thru-hikers as they pass through Oregon the entire month.  We did that for a couple weeks.  We had a great time meeting new hikers and running into many old friends.  We slacked packed Momma Bear and Monkey a few times and Butterfly especially loved that.  We loved having No Amp over for a zero.  Great news! My previous employer called me back to work this week.  She is a great boss who treats her employees with respect and I am very blessed and honored that she kept me in mind when she needed more help.  So the past few days have been filled with finishing up loose ends around the house, completely unpacking from our Thru-hike, re-employment paperwork, and family time.  My hiking column in Salem's Statesman Journal has been increased from monthly to bi-monthly so our family has been going on several day hikes in the Cascades to gather pictures and info for up coming articles.  I've taken Butterfly mostly to catch up on our time together.  I even took her to diner alone one evening.  She was so excited and cute about it.  She even got all dressed up special for our "date".     Not only do I need to submit two pieces a month to the paper now, but I have to stockpile 12 for next summer when we are out of town.  I have several articles to submit about our 2012 journey in the next month for our sponsor's blogs, not to mention all the planning for our 2013 CDT hike.  Oh, I'm not complaining.  I'm thrilled to stay busy this winter because time will go by so much faster.    Sunshine and I are both already getting restless and excited about our final Thru-hike.  Well, final for now.  She is already saving her money and plans to finish high school (2018) a term early so she can thru-hike the PCT solo before college.  That's my girl!  She has several short term goals too.  She is taking the Red Cross baby sitter safety course so she can earn money for savings.  She also plans to join her school's cross country team this fall.  She is excited for school to start and happy to start on time this year.  She and Mother Teresa already went back to school shopping because she had out grown ALL her non-hiking clothes.  Not one thing still fit.  She gained weight and grew taller.  Yes, we are definitely attempting a 2013 CDT hike.  Notice, I said attempting.  This is the one trail that we know that completion is not a sure thing.  We are excited, nervous, a little scared, but more than anything we are humble and cautious.  It is 500 miles longer than the PCT at 3,100 miles, but has the same window of time to hike it.  We have a lot of research to do and plan to carry a GPS.  I'm sure Sunshine is ready for it as she has grown stronger, taller, wiser, and has become so mature beyond her age.  The PCT and AT were great training hikes for us as a team and we are ready for the big show!  I will be developing our trail journal here on Trailjournals.com this fall and it will be ready for viewing by the new year.  We will be hiking north bound and hope to start between April 1st to May 1st, depending on the winter snowpack and other trail conditions.  We have several PCT friends joining us for safety and fun, including Wired and Liz. Thank you to all the friends and strangers who helped us along the AT!  Thank you readers so much for following us on another great journey, and we look forward to bringing you all along on an epic CDT adventure that is sure to be packed with great stories, challenges, rewards, of course drama, and based on our track record... doctors visits!  Just kidding, no more doctors visits.  See you in January when we begin training.