[pct-l] Hiking with boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse

[Jeffrey Olson]

Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com wrote:
> The worst is hiking with a boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse. I think  
> people can get into the worst disasters then.
>   
This is a pretty strong statement but has a core of truth. 


I was a stronger hiker than my girlfriend and we went up Gibralter Ridge 
SOBO in the second week of June 1992 when it was covered with snow - no 
trail or footprints.  She was tired and even though I was following only 
a couple feet behind her, she slipped and fell, starting to slide down 
towards a stand of small trees.  I leapt after her and we slid to a stop 
with a mutual digging our feet into the softening afternoon snow. 


We were both ok, and I made sure that I was "below" her as we hiked the 
last 150' or so to the top.  We crested the ridge and there was snowfree 
trail.  We walked 30' or so, stopped, hugged, and held on, and cried.  
We were both so glad to be out of the snow. 


Later she said she had lost concentration and was just stepping, with 
little care.  We avoided snow whenever we could after that, which was 
pretty easy from there on in in that low snow year of 1992.  We went up 
the Rubicon River and over Mosquito Pass rather than go over Dicks Pass. 


Later (or before???) we were hiking down to the campground at Jackson 
Lake in a downpour.  I wanted to set up camp in the first available 
spot, but she wanted to find a spot that was private that had a view.  I 
couldn't believe it and started to argue and realized there was no 
point.  We walked the whole campground in the rain for 5 minutes.  I 
stopped under a bathroom's roof while she spent another 10 minutes 
finding the perfect spot.  I was so beyond "getting it."  I was mad for 
a couple hours. 


On the other side, she was the map reader.  It only took a couple days 
for us to realize she had an uncanny sense of picking out where we were 
on the map.  I gladly gave up that role.  I was a strong morning hiker 
and she was a strong afternoon hiker.  I hated filtering water and she 
didn't mind.  I made up our open air camp and she "cooked" (heated water). 


Probably the funniest couple thing we did was drink tainted water and 
spend four hours taking turns running to poop.  We laughed and laughed 
and laughed.  It was about the only time I've ever had diahhrea, and it 
was actually fun!!!


Jeff, just Jeff (said to the tempo of, Bond, James Bond)
Martin, SD

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