longlivethelife.

bo yah!

2008-11-16T23:03:00.000-08:00

we reached the northern termnous on sept 13th at dusk, after a 32 mile push. on the trail for 162 days, it seemed to have ended the same way it had begun.

Sweet Sweet Washington

2008-08-17T16:31:00.001-07:00

The journey through Oregon has been amazing. We headed out of Ashland with full bellies and well rested feet. We were glad to leave California and enter the beautiful Cascade mountains. But we were not too excited about the mosquito's. If it wasn't for all of the magical area's in Oregon we probably would of gone crazy. The walking has been easier than previous area's. To sum it up, you walk all day through the trees which is mostly flat, then come out onto huge volcanoes. Most of us PCT hikers tend to cruise pretty fast through these sections, but Luke and I decided to soak up the views and take our time. It has been a great journey to get this far and we are excited to push on. One more state and we will have trekked almost 2600 miles through some of the most rugged and beautiful area's in the country. Our feet are tired and we are ready to wrap it up. We are taking a few rest day's at the Oregon/Washington border to rest. Sax, who walked with us for the majority of the trip has come back to conquer Washington. We are glad to have him back, even though he looks even more animalish with his Septum pierced (area between your nostrils). Don't worry will get pictures before we release him back into the wild. We want to thank all of the peep's who have kept up with our blog and who have sent us goodies. We couldn't of made it without your support. This will probably be our last update unless we can find a computer somewhere in Washington. Also to the great people that raised us. We wouldn't be crazy enough to spend 5 months outdoors in the dirt without your inspiration, we love you guys much. Shout out to Asa-T- Train, thanks for watching the wolf child Des. All of the peep's reading this need to get out and enjoy the majestic wildernesses we have right in front of us, NO excuses. Well... off into the wetness we go!
Cam

Cruising into Washington

2008-08-17T16:31:00.000-07:00

Stomping into oregon

2008-07-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

well, i know a great deal of time has passed since our last post, but alot of ground has been covered since then, and even more action has occurred.it is hard sometimes to make updates because many of the areas we frequent only have dirt and trees, not outlets and computers. we have finally reached the great state of Oregon after roughly 3 months and 1700 miles of foot travel.it feels damn good to have mad it this far, and both cam and i are psyched to rip through Oregon and soon after Washington. alot has changed since the beginning of the trip and it all seems to be fading, slowly. our eating habits have changed, our body's have morphed into freakish walking machines, and we have lost two of the "Chicago four". the trail is more beautiful then ever and northern California is more then i ever thought it would be, this area of the country is simply amazing! currently cam and i are chilling out at a hotel, thanks to my madre who flew from Chicago to come visit and here wonderful friend marge, a OR resident. they have been carting us around town and stuffing our bellies full of good foods and ice cream. while on the trail we are now covering roughly 25 miles a day, and are planning on moving swiftly through Oregon. however we are not only hiking but learning too:

Things Ive learned as a "thru-hiker":

1. serving sizes are irrelevant

2.showers are meaningless after so many days

3. day hikers ALWAYS have extra food

4.the u.s. postal service is a complex system, not to be messed with.

5. ask and you shall receive

6. everything you own is unnecessary

(preparing boxes for the 900 miles ahead of us)

Our next stop is the famous, crater lake. hopefully we will be able to give yall a quick update from that spot. live the life you love.-luke

sorry

2008-06-28T22:41:00.000-07:00

terrible, terrible news. i regret to inform you all that im getting off trail. i wish i had a solid explanation of why i am choosing to leave the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, but its hard to even face that this is actually happening. poor planning on my part. insufficient funds. im going to take what i have left and try to get back to carbondale before i go completly broke. i want nothing more than to stay on trail. im sore, im tired, but im home. walking away from this is more painful than any body ache. i want to keep walking. i dont want a roof over my head. i want to get tore up by those mosquitos in oregon and get soaked in washington. the past 3 months have been the most incredible days of my life. i would like to sincerly thank, with every inch of my being, all of the people who got me this far. to all of the incredible people that i have crossed paths with, given me shelter, directions, and treats, you have changed my life. thank you. i will come back and finish. class of oh eight! best of luck!!!! CAM AND LUKE! YOU GO ALL THE WAY!!!!!! burke, ill see you in campo for attempt 2. alright! signing out. and always, LONG LIVE THE LIFE!!!

2008-06-27T22:58:00.000-07:00

all i want to say right now is that i just ate at a buffet in a casion in nevada. so. much. pie!!!!! that is all for now. and my foot hurts. annnnnd life is incredible. ok... now i have to write more... im in lake tahoe. angels have once again found me and have given me an amazing place to heal up. burke is in elmhurst illinois, lovin life. lets all give him some huge love for the 1000+ miles he put on those long legs of his this summer. lurch, we miss you and hope your dreams of being the worlds best golf caddie come to reality soon. cam and luke are in the desolation wilderness. that sounds so bad ass. DESOLATION WILDERNESS!!! hopefully i will be trailing behind them in the next few days, as soon as my sore foot heals and my backpack finds a way to stop being broken... and i win big at the casino...speaking of big... big days have been droppin like mad!!! oh, and its time for it. lots of mid 20s and little 30s. as i sit, the crowd (400+ thru hikers) draws closer and the summer nights are only shrinking now. its time to push it. pictures soon. sorry. but the wait will be worth it! i should be sleeping. mrs burke, thank you for the treats in all those amazing packages you sent mike. you make the absolute best rice crispee treats in the world and you would laugh at how many people we tell about them. seriouly. legendary. mrs orr- we ate those cookies and all that cinnamon bread so fast we had to hike 20 extra miles off trail just to get milk. no, no, i kid i kid, but seriously, so good! thank you!!!! and to everyone! thank you!!! your support keeps the chicago 4 alive and thriving, no matter what. the trail of life never ends! so hike strong, have fun, and be safe! happy summer to all.

2008-06-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

I really dont want to post right now but no one else will. whats new... Whoa! So anywhosies, we are in MAMMOTH! One of the few remaining vortex towns in California. Yes, once again we have found ourselves trapped by the ways of the "real" world, but dont worry, we are heading back to Reds Meadow soon to get back on trail! Just got cleaned up here at Charles house, our new friend who hiked the PCT back in 93! Only 11 thru hikers that year! I hear there are 400+ this year. We have been meeting more people and playing tag with a good group of dude and dudettes. What up Team Washington! Hola to Zoner(fish creek hotsprings were incredibe, thanks for sending us there!) And to Lumbar, Libido, Olivie, Laces, Naughty Eyes, Princess of Darkness, Disco, Slim, Inchworm, ASh, SAn Gabrial, Celebrated Mr. K, Croation Sensation, Traildude(.com), handlebar, the belgium waffles, waffles, suntan, and superdog, WHAT UUUUp!!!! hope to see everyone on(&off) trail! WHOOOA! We just finished the high sierras! 900 deep! All I can say is....Actually I cant say much at all! The high sierras were amazing. The John Muir Trail is epic. Mt Whitney! HUGE! Forester pass! MAthers was nuts! Suicide snow covered switchback!?! Who blazed that trail?! Well we ripped it. And i dont know if i speak for everyone when i say this, but it sure made me feel less like a boy and more like a real man. (they dropped. for real this time...) MMMM golden trout! everywhere! hard to catch with just your trekking pole tho. I hate climbing(hills) now. Let it be flat til Oregon! And may the mosquitos be non-existant...yeah right!!! they are getting bad! annnd its gettin hot again! DENA! THANK YOU FOR THE PACKAGE! The snacks helped us get thru VVR without spending any money! (well pedro(which is lukes trail name now) and cam both had to chop wood and dig holes for their hot meals, burke wasted no time in indulging, but i, i ate oatmeal in my tent and refused to give any money to those thieves!!! (everyone is trying very hard to save money) but the one free beer and free night stay was A-okay with me! BUT AGAIn! THANK YOU DENA!!!!! And thank you to everyone! Keep sending food! Lets see...where am I going with this....absolutly nowhere. sorry. CHECk out the hikertown website! OK! Ill update again later! WE are about to go get PIZZZZZA! THIS RULES! Pictures coming soon. as welll as a list of upcomming towns we may stop in...maybe. Peace and chicken grease yall!

2008-06-02T14:55:00.001-07:00

Mt Whitney is freakin huge!!! We made it to lone pine(via trail pass) on friday. Currently taking our time resupplying and resting for the next long haul as well as our summit of the largest mountain in the continental untied states! Getting here has been incredible and we are all very thankful to have made it safely out of the the hot, dry desert. Streams, everywhere! Oh glory, no more heavy water loads! But alas, we are now faced with steeper climbs, more snow, bugs, and bears. But were doin it and lovin it. Time to be rewarded! I have to cut this short, must go EAt! bye.

the desert is behind us.

2008-05-28T14:01:00.001-07:00

burn area camp(cam and dena)
Originally uploaded by nomadic travel

we are currently 700 deep on the pacific crest trail. leaving the great desert behind us, we will be transitioning in the grand high sierra.the burn areas, the sand, the heat, they will all be replaced with vast meadows, high peaks, and plentiful water. we have enjoyed the trail, the people, and the amazing journey that we call life.

live it up-luke

Kennedy Meadows

2008-05-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

And you thought we never updated...But alas! We have made it to Kennedy Meadows! Im not quite sure if this is a town or just a place in the middle of an incredible mountain landscape, but they have a general store that keeps feeding me ice creame and burgers so i aint goin nowhere fast. on a laptop in this little trailer converted into a cyber cafe, trail magic! loads of that been going round lately. lets see when was the last time we updated... like a month ago. so heres the quick run thru... left agua dulce fully refreshed, god sent dena to us @ the casa de luna( totally awesome trail angels!), full OG crew runnin once again , HOT!, hiker town- weird/totally awesome- bob rules, night hike the LA aquaduct, on to tehachapi, HOT!, kick back in tehachapi. cool town! mamma hillabeans! great people all over, thank you tehachapi! best western folks, we know youre reading this right now. travis, youre awesome. the people who kicked us out of the "vip" continental breakfast,not awesome. thennnn, dena left us. lame. then we hiked the totally wicked 8 day section that we just finished. holly crap! it was amazing. gateway to the sierras! lost of differnt eco systems and finally, FINALLY out of the hot dry desert!!! YES!!!! i would like to thank cam for finding me on the trail a few days ago and waking me up before that big black bear did( which according to cam was only 10 feet away from me while i layed in my sleeping bag) SWEET! ummm what else. oh! sent my rain jacket ahead to Lone Pine, and what does it do? RAIN! and snow. and hail. found retreat at the walker pass camp ground. trail magic!!! Meadow Mary, you are a true angel! Thank you for the apples and all the incredibly valuable words! And to all the hikers and supporters we got to spend time with, thank you! CHU-WAH CHU-WAH!!! To the Kern River Valley Hiker CLub, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR ENCOURAGMENT AND SUPPORT! YOUR GUYS RIP IT!!! Ahhhhh! The sweet seirra air! This is what its all about. Too thankful to be here right now. Wish you were here. EVERYONE! PLEASE TAKE CARE! and always, remember to take out the trash. and recycle.

ON TO LONE PINE!
Send us mail there! you know what to do. Lone Pine General Delivery.
If anyone wants to come out and hike with us, just head up mt. whitney, i hear there is a good view from up there, look for cams purple shorts. come find us!
dena-where are you!!!!? Hike to lone pine with us. get out here right now. or hike out from lone pine with us. work shmerk, come hike.

Ok! Thats all you get. Sorry, we're not really computer people... YEAH!!! THE SIERRAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Relaxing in "Hiker Heaven"... doesn't get much better.

2008-05-11T22:55:00.001-07:00

DSC00130, originally uploaded by msax87.

Hello again family, friends, and rippers! The Chicago crew,(everyone calls us this on trail) has finally arrived in the lush paradise of HIKER HEAVEN. After we left Wrightwood, we powered up Mt. Bayden- Powell which had lots and lots of snow , don't worry Mom's we made it safe and sound. Most of the hiking after was on a very beautiful ridge. So about Hiker Heaven, yes it has been truly unbelieveable. The Saufleys are the Arc Angels of the PCT. Just to give you a clue of what I am talking about, they provided showers, soft beds, and even did our laundry. They provided us with a vehicle, aka Big Red, which we used to get delicious foods from Trader Joes. So you can see why we call them angels. Thank you so much Donna and Jeff. We are glad to see many of the faces we have seen in the past. It has been one big eating and drinking party. It has to come to an end sometime, and the journey must continue. We will be heading towards Tehachapi, which is probably one of the hottest and driest sections we will endure. We will be glad to climb up to higher elevations to find cooler weather... the Sierras are coming.

Tehachapi ETA: May 17

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY, to all the fantastic Mom's out there. We LOVE you guys, thanks for all of the support, we wouldn't be here without your guidance.

PCT Living, Cameron

i said trenchtown rock

2008-05-03T12:55:00.000-07:00

Wrightwood is on alert, four hairy bums are wondering the town eating everything in sight. Arrived here yesterday afternoon after a nice sweaty climb up Blue Ridge past Mt. Baldy, then took the slide down into town where, once again, we have been trapped by the vice of town life. Hardly awake right now after one of the largest and most incharge morning meals of our lives. I dont think you can call it breakfast. It was just too insane. Evergreen diner is bomb sauce 5000. You may be thinking to yourself right now, "man these guys are lazy! all they do is go from town to town eating and buming on OPP". well you know what? your right, and i am down with OPP. for life. plus. we are still 2 weeks ahead of schedual for entry into the sierras, and the more time we take getting there, the less time we have to sit around waiting to continue on. staying here has also allowed us to plan where we will be for the next few hundred. AGUA DULCE BY MAY 10th!!! TEHACHAPI BY MAY 17!!! KENNEDY MEADOWS BY MAY 28!!! LONEPINE BY JUNE 1ST! Then possibly hang in bishop until we can tear up the sierras! Exciting stuff. So send us letters of love! And we will write back, promise. OH! So the trail from the cabin has been somewhat challenging. Its been hot. And the elevation changes are killer! But we did hit the hotsprings at deep creek and almost never left...amazing. but that place has enough weird squatters as is, and no one place could ever tame our wildly free spirits, so we continued on. We expect loads of fun for the trail ahead!!! Wildlife closure, burn detour, heat, snow AND ice!!! wipeee!!! should be a blast, as always. Almost 400 deep! No turning back now. Happy mothers day to all of the most beautiful and best mothers responisble for forming our crew. We miss you dearly and cry daily missing you, but dont worry, we have each other for support. Once again, back to the trail!!!

2008-04-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

hey blog world!
I thought I would get on and leave one last post from the luxurious cabin de Stans before hitting the trail again in the morning, and thank the owners Rick and Robin for lending us their beautiful home in Crestline, CA. The views have been great and the food has been comatose status as we've all been laying around, stuffing our bodies to the max all day. Life has been great and we cant thank everyone enough for being so kind and supportive. We love you!!! Did you all catch the bear story from the last post? A day before getting here, we all walked past that animal compound at different times of day. You can thank burke for the lovely picture above. They had some serious grizzlies, massive lions, and some other crazy exotic animals. I guess they're all hollywood stunt animals. Pretty sad that they have to live in such lame cages. But anyway, we all stumbled upon this place in the middle of the woods, feet away from the trail and all shocked to find it there. I walked by, the next day luke went by, a little later burke follows, everything still as normal as could be... then cam walks by, and sees a guy laying on the ground with a sheet over him, and people frantically looking for answers and help. The same bear we all curiously gazed at as we walked by on trail, had killed a trainer. Cam was one of the first to arrive at the scene after the fatal accident. Pretty wild, and very tragic story. We would like to send out our condolences to the family and friends of the man who passed, and the bear, whos future is not quite certain. We wish the best for everyone. On a brighter note! We're nice and full and ready to hit the trail with full force!!! thanks again to everyone!!!! hope to hear from you all soon! GO BEARS!!!!!

To Big Bear City and Beyond

2008-04-26T10:44:00.001-07:00

killin it in the cabin!

for anyone that actually looks at this website. the following will be an update of our journey from Idyllwild to Big Bear City, Ca. After leaving Idyllwild, and hiking into the night, the crew for the first time ever split up. Sax leading the way was unaware that Cam was planning on visiting his aunt and uncle in palm springs, Ca a mere 15 mile hitchhike off the PCT. I decided to follow in order to get a new pair of glasses, and burke followed after he heard of a 'personal chef'. Palm Springs was great side trip, with lots of tasty foods and a great condo. Thanks Ray and Sue, you are great hosts! Leaving Palm springs we had 3 days on the trail until we reached the small community of Big Bear City, Ca. There we stayed at the Natures Inn, a crazy little place that makes thru-hikers feel like there at home with tons of free stuff, bikes, and good old conversation. The owner Ed was a a trip, and even let us work off part of our stay. Overall Big Bear City, was a nice stop with a really good bakery and a restaurant called THERMAS which had the best orange juice in the universe. In Big Bear we found out from a couple of other hikers, Walt aka 'Thumbs up' and Hemingway that Sax had continued on to crestline, ca were he would meet us at a cabin arranged by the infamous mr & ms. Sax. Hicthhiking out of Big Bear towards crestline, burke, cam, and me made it in no time. Which brings us to were we are now, sitting on a porch eating and drinking brown nectar(coffee). Saxs mom has already made us an amazing dinner, and breakfast, and it just keeps getting tastier. The cabin is crazy, and the chilling is hard! To check out some of my photos from the trip(newly released) click here http://www.flickr.com/photos/nomadic_travel!

Our next stop is going to be Wrightwood, Ca and our estimated time of arrival should be around May 2-4. If anyone would like to send a package use this link to print off a label for wrightwood-http://www.pcta.org/planning/before_trip/labels.asp

PRIORITY MAIL ONLY PLEASE!!!!! Write "HOLD FOR PCT HIKER" on package!

We would like to thank everyone for all of their support and help, and especially thank Ray, Sue, Mr & Ms. Sax,Bruce and Carol(trail Angels), and Dena for the cookies!

Recent Big Bear City News Headline: Brown Bear Kills Handler!

We walked right past the compound, during the attack!http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iwG3EgsUvXsY7VXAX5710GhAnwZgD908DIG81

keep on living the life-luke

Trouble

2008-04-18T11:46:00.001-07:00

the crew!

Mile 178- Idyllwild

2008-04-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

Alright! First off, sorry to keep everyone waiting! We will get better about updating, as soon as we figure out how to make a computer out of yuccas and cacti ( thanks to Burke's engineering skills, we think this will be possible in the next few days) OK. So we are currently in the small mountain town of Idyllwild, 178 miles north on the trail from the border. I am sitting in the library, trying to come up with words to describe the past couple of weeks, an overwhelming task (not as overwhelming as Luke's body odor, but still pretty intense.) The trail has been good to us. Actually, its been amazing. We started April 5th, on a foggy morning and did not stop until 20 miles later at lake Morena. The next few days were pretty similar, long and hot. And although it sounds tough, we are all feeling great and have found our new home here on trail to be everything we hoped and more. We were very fortunate to have made a great friend right from the start, Dena, who thru-hiked in 2005. She has now left us to return to her life as an organic farmer guru in Davis, Ca and we miss her even more than the pie in Julian. Please come back to us Dena. There are many other great people on trail and we look forward to getting to know everyone better as this great journey continues. Trail Report-weather has been great! Clear sunny skies for days! The wildflowers are in full bloom and waking up to this and the rugged landscape of southern California every morning has been very uplifting, or as Cam would say, "Majestic". Thank you to all the trail angels for the water! With out them, we would goners for sure. Coming in to Idyllwild we did experience some poor icy conditions in the San Jacinto, changing a normally easy 15 miles into an all day crawl through snow. But we are now fully rested after 2 days off and ready to get back on trail! Family and loved ones should be glad to know that we are detouring around Fuller's Ridge from here due to snow, and we will be headed to Big Bear and expected to arrive on the 24th of April! Go to ghttp://www.pcta.org/planning/before_trip/labels.asp and click on Big Bear City for the address and a printable label to which you can use to send us goodies! Priority Mail WORKS BEST.
And check out our pictures! and more pictures here!!!
Sorry this post is kind of weak, but we have to get back to the trail!!!
Thank you to everyone who has been following us and for all of your support! We could not do this without you! We miss you very much and you are always in our thoughts!!! Here. We. Go!!!!!!!-Sax

Viva la Mexico!!

2008-04-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

As of now, we are currently staying at Sax's place in Chula Vista, CA. The warm weather, mixed with his moms amazing cooking has been a great welcoming. We have all been hanging out collecting last minute items, eating tacos, drinking cheap beer and chilling out at the house. Tijuana was amazing, and the tacos their are the best Ive ever had, and by far the cheapest. Heading out in only 2 days, we will enter the great desert known as southern cali.

Kickin back eating tacos. 3 for a dollar, dollar beers!

Puppets are a pretty big deal in Mexico.

Sax, back from his first donkey show!

The U.S./Mexico Border

The four of us, drinking and eating ourselves into submission. Burke was assaulted by a man yielding a bottle of cheap tequila and a whistle. Tequila flows in MEXICO!!!

Thru-life: I'm a Hiker

2008-03-19T12:32:00.002-07:00

On April 5th 2008 these four men will make the 'most epic' journeys of their lives along the pacific crest trail, a 2, 560 mile footpath from Mexico to Canada.leaving campo northbound for Canada, we can only expect the most EXTREME conditions. The following reads a small look into the lives of a few good men.

at this point, nearly 200 feet off the ground Cam Hensley couldn't be any more comfortable as he laughs in the face of danger.his dog(wolf child) eats humans and always has his back, so beware, bitches.

representing:leadville
skills: dirt-bagging, climbing, and poetry
most valued item: some 2 oz/ shorter then short running shorts, color: flamboyant purple

Standing six-foot four and holding a fake muskie in front of a Universal Studies back drop, we present to you Michael Burke. An eagle scout, siuc transit driver, and the son of a judge. holding true to the motto "ball till ya fall"

representing: Elmhurst
skills: high school track, meat cooking, and debate
most valued item: a unnecessarily large hunting knife

this ferocious beast known only as Michael Sax had just been let out of this animal control vehicle, after completing a 21-day release program, for now he will be returned to his natural environment(that large dirt field in the background)

representing: cali-chicago/were ever else he's lived
skills:beard growing, smooth talking, and smelling bad
most valued item: vans-slip on (added value:smelly and old)

luke orr, a renaissance man of-sorts, this man simply lives to rip.

representing: Chicago
skills: procrastination, invisibility, and log crossing
most valued item: large water-tight nalegen container

Grab your Gear!

2008-03-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

The time has come for intense planning. Sax is in San Diego, waiting patiently for the start of the trail and our arrival to the great desert known as Southern California. Sax and I have been staying in contact via 5 minute phone calls for gear updates and so on for nearly a month, and lets just say all is looking well on that side of the Mississippi.Cam has recently relocated to Chicago for the next two weeks, and we are in the process of completing our gear lists/gathering of supplies. Burke too, is gathering final supplies and trying to prepare mentally for the long trail ahead. 25 days until the start of the trail, it will be here in no time.

Panoramic shot: some gear, Desna aka "wolf child", and Cam

My gear:Includes just about everything one needs for the PCT

Mike sax & Female Cyclist

Not only has Mike Sax been non-stop training for the PCT, he has also been working extra hard to try and pay off that rear Zipp.Just look at those legs.

Coming Next: Bios

The Pacific Crest Trail

2008-03-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

Trying to explain the Pacific Crest Trail to the average person is to say the least, difficult. One could attribute this problem to the overall lack of the so-called "geographically aware." To stick it to the man, I blame our issue with 'knowing were places are' on our education system. Remember people this is the same system who told my cousin, age 12 "there are six continents, Antarctica does not count."

Anyways, here it is in visual format:

The Pacific Crest Trail commonly referred to as the 'PCT' is a wilderness footpath stretching from Mexico to Canada. Spanning 2,650 miles through California, Oregon, and Washington the trail in well known throughout the hiking community as one of the most beautiful footpaths in the world. Those who hike the trail can expect a multitude of environments ranging from lush old growth forests to sparse 'waterless' desert sections.

Me and three others will be leaving Campo, northbound for Canada on April 5th.
This will be but a glimpse into our lives.

test picture

2008-03-03T23:13:00.000-08:00

test picture one: carbondale to chicago via cycle
me, dave, geordie