Sorry everyone! Somehow we've been going for 37 days but didn't get this blog launched until today. I had wanted to do something more efficient and less intrusive than all my e-mail blasts during our Appalachian Trail adventures last year but made the terrible mistake of not setting this thing up before we actually started moving. To get the ball rolling I'll just start with a quick summary of where we're at, what we've been doing, and what's next. In the coming days and weeks I'll fill in with more details and will try to stay current with regular updates. Today we are at Cajon Junction -- the place where the Pacific Crest Trail and Sierra Cascades Route cross I-15. Tina departed the Mexican border near Campo, CA on April 23rd and in 20 days of hiking she's covered 342 miles. At first we kept the truck so that we could alternate hiking and preparation days as a sort of extended shakedown. But then finally on May 5th my brother Carl launched me near Mount Laguna on the monster tandem bike rig and we were on our own. On our own for a 100 miles anyway .. :-} .. as things turned out, Tina pulled a leg muscle on the 8000' descent from Fuller Ridge in the San Jacinto Mountains and wound up needing to be rescued by Carl from Palm Springs. Turning lemons into lemonade, we decided to take a full week off trail to recover and spend several days at Fort Leonard Wood to attend our son Keith's graduation and related events instead of the quick in&out we had originally planned. That worked out fabulously and by the time we returned to the trail on May 21st, Tina's leg was almost completely healed (and is totally fine now). Tomorrow Tina heads out early for a 26+ mile / 5000 ft elevation gain day to reach Wrightwood, CA with me launching a bit after to reach the same destination. That'll be our last resupply for 90 miles of hiking and 80 miles of biking. We hadn't planned to stop here today but a storm came in last night bringing forecasts of very high winds (60mph+), precip, and temps in the high 20s for last night and tonight -- dangerous conditions both for hiking mountain ridges and biking up narrow mountain roads. I'll write more later, but just wanted to get the ball rolling with this initial post. As per usual, I've attached a few random pictures from the trail.All the best, David
