Suck It Up … Or Not

As long distance hikers there is a phrase we’ve used on each other frequently: “Suck it up!” There are many times that a thru-hiker has to “suck it up.” When you aim to complete a long trail you have to take the bad with the good, whether the bad has to do with injury, illness, weather or trail conditions. Thru-hiking becomes a way of life and sometimes with life you just have to “suck it up.”

Yet it hardly seems right to have Cindy “suck it up” at this point in her life, Expedition Woman or not. We changed our plans from an “end to end” thru-hike to a “flip flop” thru-hike in order to stay away from snow and make the hiking easier for one not as sure of foot as she once was. With the help of newfound friend Judy Sawyer from Eugene, Oregon we made our way to Mackenzie Pass, the farthest south we could possibly go and still have our initial logistics work for others who made plans around our trip.

Our first day out from Mackenzie Pass, after first hiking through a lava field reminiscent of a moonscape, we encountered over a mile of hiking on snow, followed by burned forests littered with extensive blowdowns. This was not making hiking easy for Cindy but I made the call to go on this time because the snowfield was on gentle slopes, no steep traverses, and burned forests don’t go on forever.

Except the burned forests and blowdowns continued into the next day, seemingly going on forever, although the blowdowns were more scattered. Then we encountered another snow field at about 5800 feet. By all accounts from others, plus from what we could see, this snow field would go on for about ten miles. Once we started facing steep traverses over the snow I made the call to return to Santiam Pass, where Judy came to our rescue once again.

Despite these hardships Cindy showed improvements with putting on her pack and negotiating blowdowns each successive day we’ve been backpacking. Mostly she was enjoying herself, but by the end of the days she was feeling overwhelmed. Back in the eighties I might have said “suck it up” and we both would have had a laugh. Now all I could feel was compassion for a woman who has been dealt enough bad blows.

So now we are on our way down to Yosemite to hike north from there. Now the flip flop is off. We will take things section by section, jumping around and back and forth as need be, with Charissa and I taking turns driving her car in support of Cindy. I’ve got to make a lot of calls to people who we’re going to rendezvous with us. I trust that these still can occur, but with some changes.

This hardens back in a way to our original plan, with me driving support for the whole trip. What can I say? It’s hard for me to watch others hike and I switched to hiking with Cindy and Charissa. Charissa and I now taking turns with support may be the best possible solution. Cindy needs assisted daily living under normal conditions, taking care of this on the trail is daunting at times. Charissa and I are both glad to do it because we can see the pleasure Cindy gets when she is not hiking over snow fields or through blowdowns, yet spelling each other with this will be good for all.

Will Cindy achieve the Triple Crown? Perhaps.  We hike for fun, beauty and exercise first, but she is an Expedition Woman.  Just one that no longer should “suck it up.”