[pct-l] Catra is on her way (78 day PCT record attempt).....expanded & in plain text

[Reinhold Metzger]

Hi Gang,
Just to let you know that Catra is on the way, on her 78 day record breaking
attempt of a self supported PCT.

Most PCT hikers crank 20 mile days with numerous ''ZERO'' (lay-over) days
and finish in 5 to 6 month.
To finish in 78 days Catra has to crank 35 mile days, when the resupply
milage is added to the PCT milage and she is not planing any ''ZERO'' days.
That is a ''BRUTAL'' schedule even for a hard core hiker chick like Catra
and she is somewhat concerned about the scarcness of  water in southern
California, especialy the desert region, due to the dry year.

I decided at the last moment to hike with Catra & Julien, her handsome,
young French hiking companion from the border to Lake Morena.  We left at
7:30 AM on May 24, 2007 with Catra leading at a very brisk pace and Julien
struggling to keep up with her.
Catra is one heck of a hiker babe and kept up that pace without stops or
breaks until 11:30 AM when we met Jerry, one of Catra's trail runner friends
who drove the car back to Lake Morena and then jogged back towards the
border to meet us and hiked back with us to Lake Morena.
It was very hot and we were exhausting our water supply since the the usual
half way water supply was dry.
At Lake Morena I said good by to Catra and Julien and Jerry drove me back to
the border where to my horror, my car would not start because in my
excitement in seeing Catra for the first time since that moonlit summer
night on top of Mt. Whitney in 2004,  I forgot to turn off my lights.
Luckily, a  ''Minuteman''  lent us a set of jumper cables.

Confounded Frenchmen, that should be me strolling through the wilderness
with Catra along the PCT..........may his hide get infested with a million
camel lice...........Aaaahhhh, but there still is hope, he may wear out on
Catra's blistering pace or Catra may tire of him and call on good "old"
reliable Reinhold to take his place.

JMT Reinhold
Still dreaming about Catra and anxiously waiting for her call