About The Magellan:
The Magellan project is a project offered only at Washington and Jefferson College, allowing students to extend their learning outside of the walls of the college. This project allows for students to self design their own project to study whatever they want wherever they want to study it, awarding students anywhere between $1,000-3,000 to complete their study. While most schools offer many study abroad programs with groups of students, this W&J exclusive project teaches students independence by forcing students to strategically plan and execute their very own project individually, including learning to budget everything themselves. This project allows for students to study abroad or within the states, whichever the student prefers. With a little help from my peers and my professors, I was able to design my very own project. For my Magellan project, I chose to complete a study within the states. My project was designed to study muscle fatigue on the Pacific Crest Trail in Southern California and then Shadow a Physical Therapist in the Los Angeles area. Feel free to read all about my study and whirlwind of adventures in my blog below!
-Enjoy
Grimmzlybear
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Life After Magellan
Life after Magellan
Many
people ask me “Why?” Why would you hike 100 miles for fun? Why did you choose
Southern California to do your Magellan? Why is your major Neuroscience if
you’re interested in Physical Therapy? To these questions, I explain to them
that I’m just trying to figure out what I would like to do with my future self
by combining all of my interests. We’re
all trying to figure out what we want to do for the rest our lives. Isn’t this
the question everyone searches to answer? The Magellan project provides us with
a way to combine all of our interests and study something that is appealing to
ourselves and I took advantage of just that.
For the first part of my Magellan
project, I had the chance to hike a piece of the Pacific Crest Trail and talk with
individuals about their muscle fatigue and study my own in the process of doing
so. After doing this, I would
definitely like to do some sort of research with muscle fatigue in a lab
possibly further down the line as well considering eccentric muscle contraction
is a big area of research right now. I
can also see myself doing a larger hike perhaps on the Appalachian Trail after
I graduate because I really did enjoy the challenge of hike and surviving in
nature. Although my project did not go exactly
as planned, I am glad it went the way it did.
This project showed me how to truly roll with the punches thrown at
me. At the end of the day, not
everything does go as planned. The forest fire closure and the extremely cold
nights thrown at me on the trail, were unexpected, but I adapted. Overall, I
ended up hiking around 50 miles on the trail and had the opportunity to talk to
about 10-15 people about muscle fatigue and soreness. I found the results to be
not really what I expected. I found it
was split up the middle on the soreness aspect, meaning that about half of the
people found themselves to be sorer after walking uphill compared to
downhill. I expected it to be just the
opposite with more people feeling sorer after a day of walking downhill, but
you also have to weigh in the factor that some people don’t understand the
difference between soreness and fatigue. Uphill would cause more fatigue and
shortness of breath, but downhill should cause more soreness. The PT I
shadowed, Dr. Guthrie, also found my results a bit curious, but agreed with the
fact that some people don’t understand the difference between soreness and
fatigue. I told her that I had, in fact,
felt much sorer after a day of walking downhill and she confirmed that this is
normal. When walking downhill with
nearly 45 pounds on your back, your muscles are actively lengthening while you
walk down the hill, whereas when walking uphill, your muscles are using more
concentric contractions. Concentric contractions meaning that your muscles
contract and then release, rather than actively lengthening. For example, doing
a bicep curl. When walking uphill, both
types of contractions are occurring in the body, but more concentric than
eccentric.
For the second part of my project,
I had the chance to shadow Dr. Julie Guthrie, and after doing so, I feel this
is truly the setting I can see myself taking on as a future PT. The atmosphere in the setting was amazing,
with every patient urging to better themselves.
I enjoyed how you could watch each patient progressively reaching to get
to each of their own personal goals. I
enjoyed seeing such a diverse area, but could not see myself settling down in
an area like that of Los Angeles. However, the project did open my eyes to
other areas of the PT world. I learned
of the traveling physical therapist position, which allows you to sign a
contract of about 13 weeks at each practice and then travel to another, which I
could possibly see myself doing once I finish PT school. I also had the chance to visit the University
of Southern California, which is the number one school in the country for their
DPT program. After completion of this
Magellan project, I see myself continuing to take the prerequisites for
Physical Therapy school at Washington and Jefferson and preparing to take the
GRE next summer.
When first explaining the Magellan
to my family and peers, I was timid and my voice showed it. After completing my
project, not only am I much more independent, but also a more confident
individual. After navigating not only
through the wilderness, but also through one of the most diverse cities in the
world, I feel I can handle almost any obstacle thrown my way. I have learned how to make difficult
decisions under immense pressure and learned how to handle stress when things
do not go the way they are planned. I
feel I have become a much more diverse individual as well. After staying with a
friend from Indonesia, I got a huge taste of culture shock, even though I were
still in the United States. The neighborhood she lived in, Anaheim, was one of
the most diverse places I have ever been. I didn’t even recognize half of the
restaurants along the street and I surely felt like a fish out of water. After
this experience, I think that I can relate better to those who come here from
another country. Although I didn’t experience exactly that, I now know what
they feel when everything around them is a literal whirlwind. From language to food, I now realize how
difficult it can be just to do something as simple as read a menu and order
something. Personally, this project has
made me open my eyes to all the possibilities and different ideas in the world
around me. As an individual, I have
learned to push myself above and beyond my expectations I once had for myself
and have realized that something awesome is right on the other side of fear.
LAST DAY
Monday May 23th 2016
Well, I never thought this trip would come, let alone already be over. On my last day here in SoCal, I decided to take a bus to Venice beach, only about 5 miles from my homestay. Not too bad of a bus ride until a very smelly homeless man joined us. The stinky bus ride was well worth it though because the beach was gorgeous, one of my favorites I've seen here so far. When you first walk up to it, you see a group of very tall palm trees stand before the beach. To the right and left of the palm trees are bathrooms and changing areas to utilize before going out on the beach. These were the first restrooms I saw that were not gender specific! Back off the beach, there was a rather long boardwalk with a plentitude of shops, with very neat souvenirs. I thought to myself how I wish I would have came here earlier :(. Oh well.. I thought about renting a surfboard or skim board here because I have done both on the east coast, but figured I'd spare myself the embarrassment due to the massive waves and icy waters. Anyways, there was a man playing the piano extremely well along the board walk and many folks tipped him as they passed. I had the chance to grab lunch with a perfect view of the boardwalk and got to take in some of the sights. While eating my chicken wrap, I noticed just how different this setting was from any other I've ever been in before. Almost all of the young men my age wore converse and vans and I quite frankly loved it. Those are 2 of my favorite types of shoes! Not many people at all wore sperry's like that of the east coast. It is MUCH less common to see men wearing converse on the east coast. I loved the feeling I had from being out here, I don't know if its because of my style, or my way of thinking, but I definitely fit in with the stereotype out here (if we're stereotyping).
After enjoying the beach for the day, because it was actually sunny, I ventured back on the bus to catch some flame broiler one last time before heading back to good ole PA. Flame broiler is an amazing fast food restaurant out here that serves bowls of rice with either chicken or steak with vegetables. This is my 3rd time having it because it is an actually reasonable price and it is delicious!
Tomorrow my flight leaves at 12pm and it will be a very long day of traveling due to my layover in PHX. I expect to arrive in PIT around midnight.
To say the least, this trip has been amazing. Not everything has been easy, but I figured it out. I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to experience SoCal and share all my adventures with all of you.
-Stay tuned for my "Life After Magellan" post
Grimmzlybear
Well, I never thought this trip would come, let alone already be over. On my last day here in SoCal, I decided to take a bus to Venice beach, only about 5 miles from my homestay. Not too bad of a bus ride until a very smelly homeless man joined us. The stinky bus ride was well worth it though because the beach was gorgeous, one of my favorites I've seen here so far. When you first walk up to it, you see a group of very tall palm trees stand before the beach. To the right and left of the palm trees are bathrooms and changing areas to utilize before going out on the beach. These were the first restrooms I saw that were not gender specific! Back off the beach, there was a rather long boardwalk with a plentitude of shops, with very neat souvenirs. I thought to myself how I wish I would have came here earlier :(. Oh well.. I thought about renting a surfboard or skim board here because I have done both on the east coast, but figured I'd spare myself the embarrassment due to the massive waves and icy waters. Anyways, there was a man playing the piano extremely well along the board walk and many folks tipped him as they passed. I had the chance to grab lunch with a perfect view of the boardwalk and got to take in some of the sights. While eating my chicken wrap, I noticed just how different this setting was from any other I've ever been in before. Almost all of the young men my age wore converse and vans and I quite frankly loved it. Those are 2 of my favorite types of shoes! Not many people at all wore sperry's like that of the east coast. It is MUCH less common to see men wearing converse on the east coast. I loved the feeling I had from being out here, I don't know if its because of my style, or my way of thinking, but I definitely fit in with the stereotype out here (if we're stereotyping).
After enjoying the beach for the day, because it was actually sunny, I ventured back on the bus to catch some flame broiler one last time before heading back to good ole PA. Flame broiler is an amazing fast food restaurant out here that serves bowls of rice with either chicken or steak with vegetables. This is my 3rd time having it because it is an actually reasonable price and it is delicious!
Tomorrow my flight leaves at 12pm and it will be a very long day of traveling due to my layover in PHX. I expect to arrive in PIT around midnight.
To say the least, this trip has been amazing. Not everything has been easy, but I figured it out. I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to experience SoCal and share all my adventures with all of you.
-Stay tuned for my "Life After Magellan" post
Grimmzlybear
Trip to USC
Today, I took a bus to USC, figured I’d check out the campus
and I’m glad I did. It was one of the prettiest college campuses I’ve ever been
on to say the least. All of the
buildings were architecture so well.
There were pools and fountains around every corner. I checked out a lot
of their sports facilities, (go figure). One thing I found really strange was
the outdoor swimming pool, but then I remembered that I’m in California and
that is normal. Back in PA none of our
pools for swimming are outdoors because it always snows, it never dawned on me
that it is basically nice out all year round there, at least nice enough for
them to swim outdoors in the winter at least! Anyway, I thought that was pretty
cool. After checking out the campus, I
decided to play it safe with lunch at chipotle.
It was the first time I had it all trip and boy was I excited. Surprisingly, there aren’t a lot of chipotles
out here. And if there are, I haven’t seen them. Right next to chipotle was my favorite ice
cream place on the whole planet! Coldstone! You bet I had both! I was so full I
thought I was going to explode. I was finally starting to get a hold of the bus
system and it’s almost time to go now, funny how things work out. It was about
a 40 minute bus ride to USC, but it was well worth it. I’m so glad I had the chance to visit.
-Winding down
Grimmzlybear
-Winding down
Grimmzlybear
Another Day at the Office
Well, today was the last day of my shadowing and much was
the same all week; new professional athletes in and out receiving treatment. Much
of the same patients from day 1 were there with Dr. Guthrie throughout the
week. I’ve learned so much in such a short period of time, it makes me sad that
I don’t get to stay any longer. This shadowing experience has helped broaden my
knowledge of all the different ways Physical Therapy can branch. From neuro to orthopedics, I’m excited to
experience it all in my clinicals one day.
Today I learned that Dr. Guthrie had the chance to evaluate the US
women’s soccer team (unfortunately not while I was there)! She also told me she
doesn’t prefer to work with professional athletes anymore because of the way
they treat their bodies. “All the coaches just want you to do what you can to
put them back out on the field, rather than take care of their body for years
to come,” and because of this she says she’d prefer not to work with them.
On a different
note, one of the other therapists began to teach me about the 3 planes of
motion, which was pretty cool. We went
over a bunch of different stretches as well & she even gave me a packet
full of PT terms to learn and take with me. Overall, my time at Synergie PT has
been well taken advantage of.
Monday, July 4, 2016
Pleasant Surprise
Tuesday June 7th 2016
Today
was my first day of shadowing with Dr. Julie Guthrie at Synergie PT & IT
WAS A BLAST.
Trying to find the place
was a bit confusing, but eventually I found it tucked between bed bath &
beyond & city bank.
There are three different practices within the shared
space, which was really cool because I got to meet all the other therapists and
spend some time with them, including a neuro PT practice. What was even cooler
was professional athletes were rehabbing right in front of my eyes! I got to
meet Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans basketball team and two of his
teammates as well. Michigan State’s star
basketball player Denzel Valentine was also there, who is predicted to be a
number 1 NBA draft pick this year (AWESOME). Two pro tennis players and 3 pro
hockey players were there too. I
definitely was not expecting to get such an experience, but it was amazing! The
equipment that they have is state of the art stuff.
They even have a gait analysis machine with a
computer program that analyzes what is causing pain when you walk. What’s even better is that I got to work with
the program!
I was able to take screenshots of the EMG’s and paste them into an
excel spreadsheet. They hooked up electrodes to the gluteus maximus and medius
and recorded EMG’s to see which of the muscles were firing and when they were. Another
girl my age was there, who I later found out it was her first day as well, but
she was working there for the whole summer (I’m jealous). Dr. Guthrie had 2 patients with pelvic floor
dysfunction and 2 knee injuries. It was
cool to learn about pelvic floor dysfunction because I haven’t heard much of it
before. Overall, it was a fantastic day
& I can’t wait for tomorrow!
-Things are looking up.
Grimmzlybear
Urban Idiot
Monday June 6th 2015
Yesterday
evening I moved in with the host family Deb & Paul, who are extremely
caring and helpful people. Their son and
daughter in law just had their first child a day before we moved in, so they
were both excited & exhausted when I arrived. Deb had a list of all things
within walking distance for us, as well as information of bus routes. The beach
is about 2.5 miles from us, which I decided to run last night- not bad at all
after walking 10-15 miles a day with a 45 lb pack on my back.
 |
| Playa Del Rey Beach |
Due to a conflict at the office & with
her childcare schedule, I was unable to go into shadow Dr. Guthrie today. So, I
decided to take full advantage of the day off in cali by going to check out the
Santa Monica pier. This included trying
to learn the bus transportation system for the first time. Keep in my mind how
my luck has already been on this trip so far. To start the day off, I got onto
the wrong bus which took me into downtown LA. I realized I was on the wrong bus
as I watched a bus on the opposite side of the road drive by with the words
“Downtown Santa Monica” across the front of it. Luckily, there was a girl on the side of the
road at the station that was willing to help me out. Finally, I got onto the right bus &
arrived in Santa Monica about an hour later.
In downtown Santa Monica, there was a multitude of shops, where I was
able to pick up some souvenirs for the family.
I was even able to hang at the beach for a few hours and ride the Farris
wheel on the pier, showing a spectacular view.
Unfortunately, while on the beach, I stepped in some sort of black tar,
which seemed to stick to the bottom of my foot as bad as gum sticks in hair. I
instantly reached down to remove it & it quickly branched onto my
fingers. SO, not only did I have black
tar on my foot, but now all over my hands! I couldn’t even touch anything! I
had to get a cup of ice in order to freeze it to scrape it off. After hours of effort, the tar finally came
off.
-Life was much easier on the trail.
June 4th 2016
This morning I received a devastating call from my mother, informing me that my great uncle had passed after a long battle of cancer. Although a great uncle, he was very close to my family, especially my father. He was a very popular man in Connellsville, even having a pizza named after him at the local Bud Murphy's (The Tzan Pizza). I hated to hear the news, but knew that he would no longer be suffering. Also, it was very unfortunate that it happened while I was all the way across the country, but I knew that he'd be happy that I was getting to travel. He will be missed greatly.
On another note, I move in with the host family tomorrow and begin the second half of my project, which I am very excited about! Today Nat took me to an amusement park called Knott's Berry Farm, which was similar to Kennywood. For dinner, I had the chance to meet almost her whole family and we went to a Thai Restaurant. Very different from what I am used to yet again! The food was served family style, which was cool because, yet again I had no idea how to order. The soup was extremely hot, but Natalie and her dad seemed to have no trouble finishing it. Meanwhile, I needed like 2 glasses of water after the first sip! They also ordered catfish, but informed me that it was hotter than the soup, so I decided to take a pass on that. All the other food I enjoyed, especially the coconut ice cream :)! Another previous night she took me to try Vietnamese with her family as well, which I also enjoyed. We had something known as Pho (pronounced pha) and it was just kind of like noodles. I just had chicken flavor and it tasted like chicken noodle soup. Her father ordered this frozen drink and let me have a sip. It was terrible! It tasted like frozen eggs or something and I hate eggs, but I got to drink another Thai tea, so I was happy. Overall, Natalie's family was a blast. Her younger brother is also a child prodigy, which I think I forgot to mention. He's only 4 and can read and knows all the states and capitols by heart. I'll miss their hospitality, but am looking forward to my next destination! Tomorrow she is taking me to the train station to catch a train into downtown LA and then Uber to my next Airbnb family!
-Grimmzlybear
This morning I received a devastating call from my mother, informing me that my great uncle had passed after a long battle of cancer. Although a great uncle, he was very close to my family, especially my father. He was a very popular man in Connellsville, even having a pizza named after him at the local Bud Murphy's (The Tzan Pizza). I hated to hear the news, but knew that he would no longer be suffering. Also, it was very unfortunate that it happened while I was all the way across the country, but I knew that he'd be happy that I was getting to travel. He will be missed greatly.
On another note, I move in with the host family tomorrow and begin the second half of my project, which I am very excited about! Today Nat took me to an amusement park called Knott's Berry Farm, which was similar to Kennywood. For dinner, I had the chance to meet almost her whole family and we went to a Thai Restaurant. Very different from what I am used to yet again! The food was served family style, which was cool because, yet again I had no idea how to order. The soup was extremely hot, but Natalie and her dad seemed to have no trouble finishing it. Meanwhile, I needed like 2 glasses of water after the first sip! They also ordered catfish, but informed me that it was hotter than the soup, so I decided to take a pass on that. All the other food I enjoyed, especially the coconut ice cream :)! Another previous night she took me to try Vietnamese with her family as well, which I also enjoyed. We had something known as Pho (pronounced pha) and it was just kind of like noodles. I just had chicken flavor and it tasted like chicken noodle soup. Her father ordered this frozen drink and let me have a sip. It was terrible! It tasted like frozen eggs or something and I hate eggs, but I got to drink another Thai tea, so I was happy. Overall, Natalie's family was a blast. Her younger brother is also a child prodigy, which I think I forgot to mention. He's only 4 and can read and knows all the states and capitols by heart. I'll miss their hospitality, but am looking forward to my next destination! Tomorrow she is taking me to the train station to catch a train into downtown LA and then Uber to my next Airbnb family!
-Grimmzlybear
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Culture Shock
June 1st 2016
Day 8:
Nothing too exciting has happened the past few days, but I am taking advantage
of the few extra days for some sight-seeing since the trail got cut short. I've
been staying with Nat for 3 days now and it's actually been much of a culture
shock. I didn't realize how Indonesian her family actually was.
Her grandmother had moved here from Indonesia to start her own business.
They even sometimes speak a different language in the house! It's
actually cool because I've never experienced anything like this
before. Staying in this neighborhood makes me feel like a minority,
though, and I'm not used to it. In their backyard there is a lemon,
orange and avocado tree! It's the coolest thing ever. Nat is definitely
culturing me a bit. She took me to a Korean barbecue place the first
night, where I couldn't even barely read what was on the menu, let alone
understand the waitress. I ordered the first thing I recognized, teriyaki
chicken. It came with a whole fish and this tofu soup.
The tofu was disgusting, but the fish was good! She also
took me to try this thing called boba from a place called snow monster.
It was unlike anything I've ever had before. Apparently, its a west coast
thing, but it is slowly making it's way to the east coast. Boba are
actually tapioca balls that are on the bottom of the drink that you suck up
through your straw. I had thai tea flavor, but they come in all different kinds
of milk teas.
Another night we also tried the west coasts' famous In &
Out burger. It definitely was not better than McDonald's or Wendy's, but I
really
hate most fast food anyways, so there's that. Natalie took me to both Laguna
and Huntington beach, which were both amazing. Her mom works right next
to Laguna, so we just rode with her to work one day and hung out at the beach
all day. The cliffs on the beach were so incredibly gorgeous. Another day
she took us to Huntington beach, which is where the US surf championships take
place and I could see why once I saw the waves. MASSIVE!!! However, the pacific
ocean is absolutely freezing! Extremely too cold for me, but I did get in. Oh
and Disneyland is right behind her house, so we get to watch the fireworks
outside almost every night. Her family is so welcoming, and I'm thankful
their letting me stay with them for a fewer extra days than planned.
-Grimmzlybear
Safe Return
May 30th 2016
Day 6:
Well, I made it safe and sound back to Natalie's, which was easier than expected. The Amtrak was not too difficult to figure out. Lex and I stayed with an airbnb woman last night after Layla dropped us off at our destination. Melissa, the host, was incredibly nice and even made coffee for us in the morning. We walked to the beach in the morning and grabbed something to eat in a cute place called swarmi's on the way there. It was nice not to be eating trail food. After, we lyfted to the train station, which was only about 5 miles, but we had enough walking. Our Lyft driver informed us of this thing called June Gloom that was currently occurring in California. He told us that every end of May and beginning of June, the ocean temperature starts to warm up to the outside temperature, causing a layer of clouds to hang over the ocean. This explained why it was so cloudy when we walked to the beach today! I am hoping that this isn't true and it will still be nice a few days because who would of ever thought it'd be cloudy in California!? Not me!! Just my luck! The train drove right next to the ocean, so I got to look at a beautiful view the whole way there. Nat picked me up at the train station in Anaheim. I was so happy to finally know that I for sure had a place to sleep at night.
-Grimmzlybear
Day 6:
Well, I made it safe and sound back to Natalie's, which was easier than expected. The Amtrak was not too difficult to figure out. Lex and I stayed with an airbnb woman last night after Layla dropped us off at our destination. Melissa, the host, was incredibly nice and even made coffee for us in the morning. We walked to the beach in the morning and grabbed something to eat in a cute place called swarmi's on the way there. It was nice not to be eating trail food. After, we lyfted to the train station, which was only about 5 miles, but we had enough walking. Our Lyft driver informed us of this thing called June Gloom that was currently occurring in California. He told us that every end of May and beginning of June, the ocean temperature starts to warm up to the outside temperature, causing a layer of clouds to hang over the ocean. This explained why it was so cloudy when we walked to the beach today! I am hoping that this isn't true and it will still be nice a few days because who would of ever thought it'd be cloudy in California!? Not me!! Just my luck! The train drove right next to the ocean, so I got to look at a beautiful view the whole way there. Nat picked me up at the train station in Anaheim. I was so happy to finally know that I for sure had a place to sleep at night.
-Grimmzlybear
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Cheating
May 29th 2016
Day 5:
Today we woke up at about 8 and packed all our stuff up. We went to the local coffee shop to charge our phones and figure out where to go from there. Camping over the mountain was now out of reach due to the temperatures at night. I would have never guessed it would get this cold at night. Finally, we remembered Moses told us how there was a way to get to the top of Mt. San Jacinto without having to hike it directly hike it. There was a place in palm springs called the tram that took you up to the top.
We decided this would be the best option for us, so we could still see the top. Now the issue was transportation out of this town. Uber wasn't available, which is crazy because I thought Uber reached everywhere!? So, I got onto the internet and began looking up other transportation systems. There were no bus stations, no train access and now no Uber. Finally, another app popped up called Lyft. A nice driver arrived to pick us up and took us into the town of palm springs about another 30 miles away. We rode a bus up to where you can get tickets for the tram and took it to the top. The elevation increase was insane! At the foot of the mountain it was 85 and at the top it was 65! Once we go to the top, we did a few hiking trails totaling about 10 miles. There were so many tourists, which was kind of annoying because I wanted to see some folks that you could tell were hikers, so I could ask them some questions for my study. I did end up running into two hikers, a mountain runner and a cyclist. I asked them whether uphill or downhill seemed to be more difficult and which caused more soreness. They both agreed that downhill was intensely more difficult. The mountain runner also told me that when running on flat ground, his legs got fatigued much quicker due to the longer strides. He was trained to take short choppy strides up the mountains. They later informed me that they were hiking 36 miles in one day! They were superhumans! Still without a place to sleep, Lex and I were debating on what we were going to do and then the unimaginable happened. We were talking to this friendly girl named Layla about where we could reach the nearest train station. She informed us that she were traveling to this place called Oceanside this evening and we could ride with her! She just first had to talk with her dad before officially agreeing to take us. She introduced her father to us and he asked to see our ID's, as any other concerned father would do. Once he saw that we were just two friendly hikers he agreed to give us a lift. Their family even took us back to their house and let us drink a coke. After Layla got her stuff together, we rode with her down into Oceanside and I contacted another airbnb homestay to stay in for the night, which is currently where we are. I can't believe how things have worked out, but I'm pretty impressed with my navigation skills under pressure. These past 5 days have been a perfectly chaotic whirlwind. Tomorrow we will try to figure out the Amtrak and make it back to Anaheim to stay with my friend Natalie for a few days before I start my shadowing with Dr. Julie Guthrie and move in with the homestay family. Although we didn't get to stay on the trail for as long as I would have liked, I have learned so much just from what we did do, especially how to tackle difficult obstacles under pressure.
-Realizing how much harder it is to get around when not on the trail.
Grimmzlybear
Day 5:
Today we woke up at about 8 and packed all our stuff up. We went to the local coffee shop to charge our phones and figure out where to go from there. Camping over the mountain was now out of reach due to the temperatures at night. I would have never guessed it would get this cold at night. Finally, we remembered Moses told us how there was a way to get to the top of Mt. San Jacinto without having to hike it directly hike it. There was a place in palm springs called the tram that took you up to the top.
-Realizing how much harder it is to get around when not on the trail.
Grimmzlybear
Friday, June 17, 2016
Camping Chaos
May 28th 2016:
Day 4:
Last night we celebrated a bit and went out for cheeseburgers with Moses and Torstan. Since Moses is familiar with the area, he informed us of all the worth while spots on the trail in Socal. After the nice relaxing evening, I slept like a baby in our clean bed. In the morning we spoke with Torstan and Moses again about what they planned on doing on the trail. They decided to hitch a ride out of this section to the following one near Big Bear. Lex and I, however, wanted to hang around the area and do a day hike up to suicide rock. Today was another fiasco. Things just are going to well for me on this trip so far. We wanted to hike up to suicide rock and then camp at the strawberry junction campground about a mile and a half up the trail from the rock, but since it was memorial day weekend, all of the campgrounds were full, according to the ranger. So, we asked if there was any other possible thing we could do. She then chased us down and said "wait girls you can camp 200 ft away from the trail as long as your hidden." Finally, we thought we had a solution. We began the hike and it was the most strenuous of the trip thus far, with multiple switchbacks and steep inclines. Clear from the bottom of the town to the top was about 5 miles one way. The plan was to camp at the top and then continue onto Mt. San Jacinto in the morning. However, once we got up to the rock, the temperature had already dropped drastically and the ground was complete rock. There were jagged rocks everywhere. I mean everywhere! The temperature was 60 degrees at 2:00pm. We began to panic because there was no way we were going to be able to withstand the cold at night. We were already literally frozen in the desert whenever the temps were in the high 40's at night. The temperature was bound to drop and there was absolutely no way we could pitch our tents on this type of terrain. Looking at the positives, though, the view was incredible! Unlike anything I've ever seen before and I'm so glad we did the hike. I also got to talk to a few teens about my study. Anyways, we decided to make a dash down off the mountain to try to find somewhere to camp in lower ground. The ranger told us again that we couldn't camp in the state park because all of the spots were filled, which I don't understand because we are 2 rather small girls that would take up barely any room. Ironically, the owner of the bed and breakfast we stayed at the previous night pulled along side us as we were trying to figure out where to sleep. He pulled over and asked if we were alright and we explained the situation to him. I do like to live on the edge, if you couldn't tell thus far, but this was over the edge for me. We had no place to sleep and it was beginning to get dark. We also hadn't ate since breakfast and just hiked about 10 miles. He let us pitch our tent behind his place! Another trail angel! I am so thankful for all the people who have helped us thus far on the trail! There are good people in this world. Tonight we'll camp again and talk about what would be the best thing to do in the morning. At least setting the tent up is very easy and we enjoy cooking our Mountain house meals.
-wishing there weren't drastic changes in temperatures here
Grimmzlybear
Day 4:
Last night we celebrated a bit and went out for cheeseburgers with Moses and Torstan. Since Moses is familiar with the area, he informed us of all the worth while spots on the trail in Socal. After the nice relaxing evening, I slept like a baby in our clean bed. In the morning we spoke with Torstan and Moses again about what they planned on doing on the trail. They decided to hitch a ride out of this section to the following one near Big Bear. Lex and I, however, wanted to hang around the area and do a day hike up to suicide rock. Today was another fiasco. Things just are going to well for me on this trip so far. We wanted to hike up to suicide rock and then camp at the strawberry junction campground about a mile and a half up the trail from the rock, but since it was memorial day weekend, all of the campgrounds were full, according to the ranger. So, we asked if there was any other possible thing we could do. She then chased us down and said "wait girls you can camp 200 ft away from the trail as long as your hidden." Finally, we thought we had a solution. We began the hike and it was the most strenuous of the trip thus far, with multiple switchbacks and steep inclines. Clear from the bottom of the town to the top was about 5 miles one way. The plan was to camp at the top and then continue onto Mt. San Jacinto in the morning. However, once we got up to the rock, the temperature had already dropped drastically and the ground was complete rock. There were jagged rocks everywhere. I mean everywhere! The temperature was 60 degrees at 2:00pm. We began to panic because there was no way we were going to be able to withstand the cold at night. We were already literally frozen in the desert whenever the temps were in the high 40's at night. The temperature was bound to drop and there was absolutely no way we could pitch our tents on this type of terrain. Looking at the positives, though, the view was incredible! Unlike anything I've ever seen before and I'm so glad we did the hike. I also got to talk to a few teens about my study. Anyways, we decided to make a dash down off the mountain to try to find somewhere to camp in lower ground. The ranger told us again that we couldn't camp in the state park because all of the spots were filled, which I don't understand because we are 2 rather small girls that would take up barely any room. Ironically, the owner of the bed and breakfast we stayed at the previous night pulled along side us as we were trying to figure out where to sleep. He pulled over and asked if we were alright and we explained the situation to him. I do like to live on the edge, if you couldn't tell thus far, but this was over the edge for me. We had no place to sleep and it was beginning to get dark. We also hadn't ate since breakfast and just hiked about 10 miles. He let us pitch our tent behind his place! Another trail angel! I am so thankful for all the people who have helped us thus far on the trail! There are good people in this world. Tonight we'll camp again and talk about what would be the best thing to do in the morning. At least setting the tent up is very easy and we enjoy cooking our Mountain house meals.
-wishing there weren't drastic changes in temperatures here
Grimmzlybear
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| Lex pitching the tent behind the bed and breakfast |
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