The Mountains Let Us Pass

9/22 we did 16.4 miles to Stehekin, WA and slept at 1,611 feet. On 9/23 we did 14.3 miles to Fire Weed Camp and slept at 3,632 feet. On 9/24 we did 10.2 miles to Cutthroat Pass and slept at 6,837 feet. On 9/25 we did 15.7 miles to Glacier Pass and slept at 5,581 feet. On 9/26 we did 17.9 miles to Jim's Pass and slept at 6,265 feet. On 9/27 we did 18.8 miles to Castle Pass and slept at 5,460 feet. On 9/28 we did 12.5 miles to Manning Park, Canada and slept at 3,910 feet.

After being soaking wet for days and having a snowstorm put the fear god into us, the weather finally subsided and blue skies came out to greet us. We climbed up over several ridges that led to the freshly powdered Glacier Peak and every hiker on trail spent time drying their gear out in the middle of the day and rejoicing once their tents and sleeping bags finally crisped out.

All of the hikers had their eyes on the final resupply in Stehekin, Washington. Stehekin is located in Northern Cascades National Park and is our 7th and final National Park.  The only way to get to Stehekin is by a 4 hour ferry ride, a float plane or the PCT. With the difficult logistics it should be no surprise Northern Cascades NP is one of the least visited national parks. I was so hungry from the cold and wet slog we just had been through, that when we reached Stehekin I was contemplating eating my leather belt. We heard from word-of-mouth Stehekin is supposed to have the best bakery on trail, but I wasn’t so sure how a town that has 75 people living in it year round could have and support such a great bakery. When we approached the bakery, I could smell the confections from a ¼ mile away and when we got to it, it was like a dream come true. I am not one to take pictures of my food, so you will just have to believe me that it was better than any European bakery I had ever been to and must have employed half of the town. I figured out how they can stay in business since SketchPad and I spent over $60 just on pastries, but they were worth every cent.

The town of Stehekin also had a small convenience store where hikers gathered with a beautiful view of Lake Chelan. We sat together for our last town visit and exchanged stories of the good, the bad and the randomness of the trail. We spent time passing around our IDs. This might seem like a bizarre thing to do on one of our last days together, but most thru hikers don’t know much personal information about their hiking friends. At most you know where they are from, but that’s about it, even if you have been hiking together awhile. It was fun to learn that Heart Breaker is really Thorsten, who is a retail manager and that Tape Boss is Katie, who is an actuary student. We spend so much time together but your front country name, and what you do to make money is not important and not necessary to get to know someone. This was one of the few times we did not go to bed with the sun and stayed up enjoying our last town visit with each other as the stars came out.

As we were leaving Stehekin the next day we crossed High Bridge. Below us, in the crystal clear water there were 100’s of spawning sockeye salmon. It was a real treat to watch them swim upstream, following a tradition that has been going on for 1000’s of years.

When SketchPad and I sent our resupply to Stehekin we added extra food in case the weather was going to be bad which would have slowed us down. As we left town we got a weather update which said the next 6 days were going to be clear of rain and perfect temperatures. We only had 90 miles left to Manning Park, Canada but we figured if we had 6 days of food and perfect weather we should take our time and enjoy the last leg of the trail. I know it was dumb luck the last section of trail was going to have perfect weather, but it felt like a reward for all of huge miles we had to do in Northern California and Oregon to ensure we would make it to the border before the weather stopped us.

Fall was upon us and Northern Washington looked like an artist’s palate. The huckleberries and blueberries turned a intense dark red, the mountain ash were a fiery orange and the larch turned a brilliant yellow. I had no idea what larch were before the trail, but they are a sub-alpine needle tree and are deciduous - meaning they turn colors in autumn and loose their needles every year.  We hiked pass to pass in Northern Washington, similar to what we did in the Sierras. The extra time we had each day, gave SketchPad the opportunity to fill her journal with even more paintings to document the end of the journey.

Having hiked a trail before, I knew there would be a mix of emotions at the end of the trail. You cannot make it last forever, there is a reason there is an end to the trail, and no matter what you do, you cannot make it last forever (maybe this a metaphor for life, you decide). Besides lowering our miles we hiked the end of the trail just like every other section of the trail. Knowing we would soon be leaving this magical place, we savored every step. On our last night a bunch of our friends caught up to us and we had a large fire and shared a ton of laughs.

On the morning of September 28th SketchPad and I crossed the US/Canadian border and completed our 2,651 mile journey from Mexico to Canada. We had an extended photo shoot (many of my pictures are not safe for work). There is just a small monument at the border, identical to the one at the Mexican border. It was simple, just like it is supposed to be. We stayed at the border for about 2 hrs and then hiked on into Canada another 9 miles to get to a Providential Park where we would start our journey back to the United States and eventually to Washington DC.

………

So now what? I have now completed two thru hikes and SketchPad has completed her first. What we experienced on the trail cannot really be put into words. Saying the trail was hard would be a major understatement. I cannot accurately explain everything we physically went through. I know we are pretty badass for doing it, especially SketchPad who walked the entire way with major foot problems, but stuck to it and worked through more pain than I think most people could ever handle.

With that being said, the trail was the easy part compared to the relationship. This blog was meant to serve as a check in with friends and family and to provide a small glimpse into trail life. I purposely left out most personal discussions. With that being said, hiking with SketchPad was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I said in my last blog post for the Appalachian Trail that the key to happiness is to Be Simple, Be Kind and Be Strong and I still believe that. The AT taught me to be simple and I thought I understood what kindness was until I was given the opportunity to hike everyday, and every footstep with my partner only a few feet ahead or behind. I am grateful for the experience, even with how hard it was, and at times uncertain. To have had the opportunity to walk with someone who could hold up a mirror and show me what I need to be in order to reach my full potential is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We both took a huge chance coming out to the trail together, but risks pay off when you dedicate all of your time and effort to them.

At the end of it all I have to say the trail and the relationship were very similar:

-Sometimes the path was obvious and sometimes you were off trail and didn’t even know it

-You don’t gain any distance without significant effort

-There is no secret to hiking except taking a bunch of small footsteps

-There are other hikers going at their own pace and doing their own thing, but they have no bearing on your hike                

-If you didn’t stop to take in the views, was it really a successful day of hiking?

-And don’t forget a little bourbon solves all problems :)

Take care and thanks for reading,

Samson-The-Bear

The view just before Northern Cascades National Park

Stehekin, WA the last town stop

There is definitely something in the water.

The Crew: SketchPad, Samson-The-Bear, and Frizzle

Cutthroat Pass

I'm almost camouflaged

Doesn't even look real

I'll take this view everyday.

Larches in evening light

And that's it folks

This Journey Just Became an Adventure

On 9/12 we did 24.6 miles to a small seasonal spring and slept at 4,092 feet. On 9/13 we did 16.4 miles to Snoqualmie, WA and slept at 3,019 feet. On 9/14 we did 15 miles to Mineral Creek Trail and slept at 4,922 feet. On 9/15 we did 20.8 miles to Spade Creek, and slept at 3,095 feet. On 9/16 we did 23 miles to Trap Pass and slept at 5,783 feet. On 9/17 we did 12.6 miles to Stevens Pass and slept at 4,053 feet. On 9/18 we did 22.5 miles to a seasonal creek and slept at 4,715 feet. On 9/19 we did 22 miles to Baekos Creek, and slept at 3,944 feet. On 9/20 we did 22.8 miles to just past East Fork Milk Creek and slept at 5,744 feet. On 9/21 we did 24 miles to a small seasonal stream, and slept at 5,377 feet.

Frizzle's boyfriend joined us at White Pass to hike with her for a section. Since he does not have 2,000 miles on his legs SketchPad and I pulled ahead. We decided to wait for them in Snoqualmie, WA. The town was little more than a gas station and a motel, but we did find a small brewery and pizza so it wasn't too hard of a decision to take an unexpected nero and grab our last shower of the trip.

We climbed out of Snoqualmie and we were back in the mountains. The first half of Washington we aimed to do about 25 miles a day, but from here on out, we were shooting for about 20 miles a day. The daylight is getting shorter and the nights and mornings are extremely cold which makes putting in larger miles more difficult. Also the terrain is getting more challenging. We were told we were not in the Northern Cascades yet, but the mountains already looked very ominous; most of the mountains looked like jagged fins rising out of the ground with scree and snow covering their peaks. The new terrain has changed the trail since a lot of the mountains cannot be traversed we have to go up to a pass and down to a valley to cross each ridgeline. Frizzle counted the switchbacks we hiked on one of the days and counted over 230 switchbacks in 21 miles. Since the trail is taking a less direct route, we are actually heading north at a much slower pace. In Northern Washington a typical day we walk 21 miles of trail, but we will only physically be 7 miles from where we camped. In this area, our net elevation change for a day is close to 16,000 feet. 

While the terrain is getting much harder we don't really mind. We have over 2,400 miles under our feet so "hard trail" is relative and we are up for almost any challenge. The rugged terrain has given away to some of the most spectacular views and pristine wilderness giving the High Sierras a run for their money. The water is so clear coming off the mountains I have to remind myself how much it would suck if I got sick from not filtering my water; but just looking at the crisp clean water that is flowing everywhere its hard to bring myself to filter such clear water. While we have 2,400 miles under our belt, they were mostly under clear blue skies, but that tradition ended shortly after Snoqualime. We were hit by two rain storms back to back in-between Snoqualime and Stevens Pass. We knew the storms were coming from the last weather report we got and we watched the weather front move in over Catherderal Pass. The skies opened up the day after the front came in and poured freezing rain on us. Unlike the Midwest where a heavy storm will come and go within a few hours, the weather tends to stick around in the West and we were saturated for days. Morale dropped to an all time low since we were no longer enjoying the hike but just trying to keep warm by moving. There is no way to stay dry after hiking for 48 hrs in the pouring freezing rain. We managed to keep our sleeping bags dry, so we were never in grave danger, but it was definitely a test of our stamina to push through the storms. We rolled into Stevens Pass extremely hungry as we had used additional calories to stay warm that we did not ration for. I have no idea how many additional calories you need when you are cold, but your basal metabolic rate accounts for about 80% of your normal calorie consumption, so when you are cold, you are burning an even higher amount of calories which we certainly did not have in our food bags. 

We left Stevens Pass, still with soaking wet gear. The storm had past, but we were hiking in temperatures around the mid 40s with overcast skies so there was no chance to dry out. Over the next few days the clouds started to dissipate and we took an extra long lunch on top of a mountain to dry out all of our gear. We were ecstatic that night to go to bed in a dry tent and dry clothes since the past 5 days we  slept in our cold wet gear. It was nice to sleep for one night in dry gear, but the next day we woke up in a cloud. As we gained elevation, we hit the nastiest storm I have experienced on trail. No matter how fast I moved I could not keep warm, I had all of my layers of clothes on but still could not keep warm. The rain turned to sleet as we went higher up the mountain. We talked about turning back but the topo should that we would be entering a valley shortly. We pushed on and went down into the valley. The valley gave us some reprieve as we shivered trying to eat lunch and get some calories in us. It was only 1:00pm but we considered setting up our tents and waiting out the storm. As we were discussing where to camp we met a Yo-Yo hiker who was going south bound (a Yo-Yo hiker is a hiker who heads north, then hits the border and goes south). We told him the storm had taken a lot of energy and morale and we were going to set up tent. The Yo-Yo hikers name was Napoleon and gave us one of the most inspirational speeches I have ever heard. I cannot repeat the speech as it was extremely vulgar and could make a sailor blush, but after his impromptu talk, he were amped up and decided to climb out of the valley and over towards Glacier Peak. We quickly climbed up 3,000 feet onto an exposed ridgeline where we got our first glimpse of Glacier Peak. As we were admiring the formidable mountain infront of us, it disappeared behind a storm cloud and proceeded to dump snow on us. (I'm not sure what Napoleon does for a living, but he should be a used car salesman). We had no choice but to continue on and proceed down the backside of the ridge through the storm. It dumped 3 inches of snow on us in 45 minutes. Trail navigation was difficult but we were able to stay on trail for the most of it until we were able to make it back down below snow line and into the rain again. It was an adrenaline fueled day and we had to fight to stay awake as we were eating dinner, both of us were sound asleep by 7:00pm.  

SketchPad and Frizzle the day out of Snoqualmie

SketchPad Sketching

Watching the front move in

Sketchpad and I ran into Amoeba and Boy Scout drying their gear under Glacier Peak

Ran into Heartbreaker as he was drying out his gear in a bridge

Found some old growth trees

The Marmot did not seem to mind the weather

hitting 2,500 miles in the hail

Just keep moving

Scary and Beautiful

Fun times

Hike Hike Hike, Eat Jerkey, Drink Bourbon

On 9/3 we did 19.8 miles to Snag Creek and slept at 1,430 feet. On 9/4 we did 26.6 miles to a reliable spring and slept at 3,556 feet. On 9/5 we did 22 miles to an unpaved jeep road and slept at 4,137 feet. On 9/6 we did 23.5 miles to just after Riley Creek and slept at 5,878 feet. On 9/7 we did 24.2 miles to Walupt Lake Trail and slept at 4,964 feet. On 9/8 we did 23.1 miles to Hidden Springs and slept at 5,556 feet. On 9/9 we did 14.2 miles to Pipe Lake and slept at 5,197 feet. On 9/10 we did 23.7 miles to Sheep Lake and slept at 5,760 feet. On 9/11 we did 26.0 miles to a small spring and slept at 5,053 feet.

On 9/3 we crossed the Columbia River and entered Washington State. I have several friends in front of us who all posted amazing pictures of them crossing the Bridge of Gods into Washington. SketchPad and I happened to cross the bridge on Labor Day Saturday and, with no shoulder on the bridge, we were just happy that the increased traffic on the bridge did not hit us. The weather was fitting for everything we heard about Washington State as we entered it on a cold dreary day. We spent our first day climbing out of the Columbia River Gorge into the fog and clouds.

As we were leaving Cascade Locks, OR we ran into a bunch of friends who were just arriving in town. It was a great to see them and we ended up not leaving town till mid morning because we were catching up. It was sad to say goodbye because the reality is they will most likely not be able to catch us again since there are not enough miles or town stops left to run into each other.

We took a spur trail on 9/3 to find a flat camp spot and I left my poles on the PCT with a note saying we were up on the side trail since I had a good idea my friend was behind us. Sure enough, we woke up in the morning and Frizzle was at camp! Frizzle and I hiked the last 1,000 miles of the Appalachian Trail together in 2015. She started the PCT only 3 days after SketchPad and I, but it took her nearly 2,200 miles to catch us because of a series of adventures and misadventures. It was great to see her and the three of us took off down the trail together.

Washington is known for a lot of things: rainy weather, steep terrain, big mountains and BERRIES. Its hard for us to make big miles in Washington since we are always stopping to eat. We are surrounded by blueberries, salmon berries, thimble berries and huckleberries (say huckleberry as fast as you can with a slight southern draw and you will sound like a local). Our lunch spots are dictated by berry patches and we have gotten very good at picking berries as we walk. I am still trying to figure out how I can incorporate this new found skill into my resume.

 I thought the clouds and welcoming party to Washington, but the state threw another surprise at us as it poured down freezing rain on 9/5. We were soaked to the core the second we got out of our tent. We packed up in a haste and took of down the trail. I put on every layer of clothing I had and still had a hard time keeping warm. We only stopped to collect water, other than that we had to stay moving to keep warm. It was a major wake up call to what Washington can dish out, as we were in the southern part of the state in early September and will make our way to the Northern Cascades later in the month when it can have much harsher weather. The rain never let up through the day and as we got closer to camp we dreamed of a campfire and comfort. We setup our tents underneath Mount Adams, when a couple of section hikers showed up. These section hikers were out for a week to have fun in the back-country and brought everything including camp chairs and saws. I would normally make a snarky remark about the amount of gear these weekend warriors had, but they were able to cut some branches from underneath the fir trees that were still dry and were able to start a raging fire. They invited SketchPad, Frizzle and myself over to the fire. I sat on the ground and one of the hikers went to get a chair for me to sit in, I told him I had been sitting on the ground from day one, but he wouldn't have any of it and gave me a seat. While a chair and a fire was a more than I could dream of, he also gave us fine bourbon and a cigar to share. We sat in the now drizzling rain trying to dry out our clothes, and enjoying the high life as we paid for the kind services with stories of the trail. I have to say we got the better end of that deal.

As we climbed elevation it became apparent we were back in the mountains when we could hear the elk bugling as we went to sleep. SketchPad got an early start to the day on 9/8 and actually ran into an elk on the trail. Elk are not nearly as graceful as deer and she said it sounded like a bulldozer crashing through the woods as it ran away.

We entered Goat Rocks Wilderness later in the day. Goat Rocks certainly gave the High Sierras a run for its money. We came over a pass and out of a cloud bank entering a basin surrounded by jagged spires. We walked in awe along columnar basalt towers and in the distance could see mountain goats grazing. We climbed over a few more passes as we crossed high mountain streams and waterfalls towards the Old Snowy Detour. The Old Snowy Detour had us climb straight up a talast slope, giving us some of the finest views on trail. We could see Mt. Ranier, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens (what's left of it) and the knifes edge trail which will have to hike along to get off the ridge. It was a particularly windy and cloudy day, allowing the mountains to be visible for a minute and then in the blink of an eye they could disappear from the cloud cover in front of them. We spent an hour up on the detour taking in all of the sights before we headed down the knifes edge. On our way down we realized we were higher than all of the mountain goats and I have to say if you are higher than a mountain goat, you are doing something right.

Crossing the Bridge of the Gods to Washington

An old PCT marker

Samson-the-Bear, Frizzle and SketchPad in Goat Rocks

SketchPad with Ranier behind her

What most mornings look like

Telling lies and drying out.

Couples picture in Goat Rocks, so nice to have a third hiking partner so we don't always have to take selfies

Knifes Edge, the trail follows the ridge line down

Contemplating the important things, like what's for lunch?, Oh yeah the same thing it always is.

Frizzle and SketchPad

Coming down knifes edge

So happy it's dry and sunny with Rainer in the back

Volcanoes and Views

On 8/24 and on 8/25 we hitched into Bend, OR. On 8/26 we did 24.8 miles to just south of Hunts Creek Trail and slept at 6,329 feet. On 8/27 we did 25.0 miles to a small lake north of Red Lake Trail and slept at 5,164 feet. On 8/28 we did 27.9 miles to just north of the Miller Trail and slept at 3,367 feet. On 8/29 we did 23 miles to just South of Timberline Lodge and slept at 5,615 feet. On 8/30 we did 22.5 miles to Huckleberry Mountain Trail and slept at 3,993 feet. On 8/31 we did 23 miles to Cascade Locks, OR and slept at 221 feet. On 9/1 and 9/2 we hitched into Hood River, OR 

After taking an unplanned stop in Bend, OR to rest our feet we hit the trail early on the 26th of August and crossed the 2,000 mile marker. It was awesome to celebrate the milestone with our friends SAS and Rambler, and we may or may not have packed out a celebratory beer for the occasion (we will take any opportunity to consume a few extra calories for the miles ahead). Crossing 2,000 miles is quite an accomplishment. I'm not really sure what to say other than:

-Our gear is falling apart, but can be fixed with tape and dental floss,

-Our feet and knees hurt but our morale is high,

-We still have 650 miles left but are excited about the journey in front of us.

The next large mountain we came across on trail was Mt. Hood. Mt. Hood was a very memorable mountain not only because it appears to be very formidable, but because we actually climb up onto it. Most of the old volcanoes we pass we skirt along their base. On Mt. Hood we climb up about 6,000 feet and circled the mountain above timberline.

On Mt. Hood there is a famous ski lodge and hotel called Timberline Lodge. Hikers have talked about Timberline Lodge since the Mexican border for its famed breakfast buffet. We camped a mile south of the lodge on Mt. Hood and got up early to be first in line for breakfast. Normally the first thing I do when I enter an establishment is try and find an outlet to charge my phone, but when I went into the lodge, the first thing I did was go to the restroom and try and clean myself up in the sink. It was much nicer than I expected and was suprised they even let hikers in. The lodge was built during the depression as part of a WPA project with the abundance of skilled labor, they constructed an architectural landmark (if you have ever seen the movie the Shining, they use Timberline Lodge for all of the outdoor scenes and ariel footage). We sat down for breakfast and ate until we could not eat anymore- and then continued to eat. We were there for 3 hours and easily consumed over 5,000 calories of gourmet food. We would have stayed longer and seen what they were serving for lunch, but still had many miles to do that day.

With our stomachs full we took off for the trail and continued to hike around Mt. Hood. We knew we were going to have to night hike no matter how fast we hiked so we decided that adding a side trip to see Ramona Falls wouldn't hurt. When we got to Ramona falls SketchPad randomly ran into a friend from D.C who was visiting the area and on a day hike with friends up to the falls. We sat and chatted for a while and, after a photo shoot with Fred and Ethel, we had to take off. We talked about all of the decisions we had made that day, let alone since Mexico, to be at the falls at the exact same time as her friend - and it was amazing to say the least.

After night hiking we got up early and took an alternate into Cascade Locks called Eagle Creek. We lost 4,000 feet over a few miles and the forest gave way to spectacular waterfalls and sharp drop-offs. The most notable waterfall was Tunnel Falls which, as you guessed it, has a tunnel behind it. It was a fun side trip before resting in Cascade Locks, OR.

We spent the night in Cascade Locks, OR and hitched 20 miles in the morning to Hood River which has a larger grocery store. We needed a bigger store since we were buying all of our Washington resupply to mail it out again. We also had all of our winter gear sent to us and switched it out for the summer gear we wore through CA and OR. Our good friends also sent us care packages full of dried fruits & vegetables, home made cookies, venison back strap jerkey and bourbon. We might die of exposure but we won't die from hunger. Hood River is relatively close to Portland, OR where SketchPad's cousins live. They drove out to see us and we spent the day eating, drinking and playing in the park along the Columbia river. It was a blast meeting her cousins and it was nice to take a break from all of the logistics that have to be done when in town. We then went back to Cascade Locks and camped in the rain along the old lock waiting for the next day when we would cross into our final state.

All of Washington's Resupply, healthy-nope, delicious-nope, light-yes

Our winter clothes, plus care packages from our good friends Kyle & Amanda and Megan

Looking through the other side of tunnel falls.

Mt. Hood in the background

Blurry pictue, we were to excited to eat to take a steady pictue.

looks like we are still on trail

Mt. Jefferson through the trees

Ahhhh, fall is here

We are in the tent, SAS and Rambler are cowboy camping

I found my car in Bend, OR

The crew before we setup camp

SketchPad on the other side of Tunnel Falls

Couples in front of Ramona Falla

SketchPad picking thimble berries

SketchPad with Mt. Hood in the back

2000 miles!

No need to cry over a potato in the water

On the Oregon Trail

On 8/17 we did 19 miles to the Crater Lake Rim and Slept at 7,671 feet. On 8/18 we did 25 miles to just after Mt. Thielson and slept at 7,184. On 8/19 we did 21.5 miles to OS Pond and slept at 5,448 feet. On 8/20 we did 21.8 miles to Lower Rosary Lake and slept at 5,725 feet. On 8/21 we did 27.4 miles to a small lake, campsite and slept at 5,681 feet. On 8/22 we did 28.3 miles to just after Hinton Creek and slept at 6,411 feet. On 8/23 we did 28.3 miles to Big Lake Youth Camp and slept at 4,773. 

After our resupply in Ashland we made a four day push to Crater Lake. I knew the trail passed through the National Park and heard it was beautiful, but did not know much about it. We poped out of the woods and did our best not to get hit by a car from all of the tourists driving around the park. After risking our lives scurrying across the road we got a glimpse of the crater... holy shit... it is gorgeous! Contrary to popular belief (okay maybe just mine) the lake was not formed by the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs; but it was a mountain that erupted 7,700 years ago (there were humans around, who through oral stories actually described the explosion). The caldera collapsed after the eruption forming the lake. The lake is only fed from rain water and snow melt making it an extremely pure water source giving way to its spectacular blue water. We walked the rim trail getting nothing but awe-inspiring photos as it started to get dark. We setup on the rim and watched the sunset and a full moon rise as we cracked a couple of beers we had packed out. We sat up in the windy night watching the full moon reflect off of the lake; it is surely a night that will never be forgotten.

Once we entered Oregon we stopped seeing as many thru hikers. We are not sure if some of the hikers dropped out, or if they are hiking faster on the easier terrain and we are just not at the same pace as everyone else. At any rate, we did run into a few hikers that we have been leap frogging since the start of the trail but hadn't seen since the Sierras. It is always fun to catch old partners and see what they have been doing and experiencing for the last 1,000 miles. It's also nice to have new people to talk with since I'm pretty sure I have told SketchPad every single story and life experience I've had at least two times now.

I wasn't sure what to expect terrain-wise in Oregon. The middle 200 miles reminded me a lot of Maine with remote and pristine lakes all around and gentle terrain surrounded by very rocky and exposed features. As we pushed North we started to see our first large mountains, Mt.Thielson, the Sisters, Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Hood which are all old volcanoes. Many of the mountains have glaciers on them and we walk by their glacial melt streams. Before the first glacial melt steam we passed a SOBO hiker who told me the next stream was glacier fed. I figured she was telling me to go to the stream since it would be a good water source. It wasn't until after I filled up my bottle and my filter instaneously clogged that I realized she was telling me not to go to that stream due to the high silt content in glacier melt. I felt kind of stupid for not knowing, but its been 15,000 years since there were glaciers in my neck of woods - how was I supposed to know?

After walking under some impressive volcanoes we had the unfortunate expience of having to walk across 6 miles of exposed lava fields. Due to all of the jagged and lose pumice our speed slowed down to a little bit more than one mile per hour. The lava fields were the most desolate stretches we have walked through and provided a surreal lunar experience as we could not hear each other talk from 10 yards away due to the sound absorbing quality of the rock. We were beyond tired at the end of it, but had to put in another 7 miles afterwards to stay on track and make it to our way-point.

SketchPad excited to be entering Crater Lake NP 

Crater lake, with wizard island shown

Good looking team

Sunset over Crater Lake

Watching the moon come up over the lake

Samson-the-Bear and Tape Boss under Mt. Thielson

Corn Doggie, Tape Boss, Samson-The-Bear, Rambler and SAS, doing some road walking after Shelter Cove

Cowboy Camping at Lower Rosary Lake

I hope my filter works,  not a great water source

Rambler, SAS, and Samson-The-Bear under one the Sisters

3 Finger Jack, Mt.Jefferson and Mt. Hood in the back

SketchPad  walking in the lava field 

Tape Boss and SketchPad under one of the Sisters

Oregon: The land of big miles and breweries

Sorry it has been a second since my last post. SketchPad and I got into a vicious cycle of crushing miles, eating and sleeping with little time for anything else. Finally, I managed to find some time for an update.

On 8/2 we did 19.9 miles to a campsite past Soapstone Junction and slept at 6,424 feet. On 8/3 we did 24.8 miles to a seasonal creek and slept at 6,650 feet. On 8/4 we did 26.4 miles to a campsite past Bloody Run Junction and slept at 7,300 feet. On 8/5 we did  23.9 miles to a saddle overlooking Etna, CA and slept at 6,939 mile. On 8/6 miles we did 27.5 miles to a creek in Marble Valley Wilderness and slept at 5,729 feet. On 8/7 we did 25.7 miles to Grider Creek and slept at 1,704 feet. On 8/8 we did 25.9 miles to a spring above Seiad Valley and slept at 6,731 feet. On 8/9 we did 25.8 miles to a Campsite just North of the CA/OR border. On 8/10 we did 24 miles to Callahan's Lodge spur trail junction and slept at 4,481 feet. On 8/11 and 8/12 we zeroed in Ashland, OR. On 8/13 we did 16.1 miles to the middle of nowhere and slept at 4,685 feet. On 8/14 we did 25.7 miles to the border of Rogue River National Forest and slept at 5,341 feet. On 8/15 we did 25.2 miles to Christi's Spring and slept at 6,297 feet. On 8/16 we did 27.3 miles to a campsite north of Stuart Falls trail junction and slept at 6,408 feet.

Just after seing the hotshots we ran into our first Southbound (SoBo) hiker. Normally when we see hikers coming the opposite direction they have huge packs, are wearing boots and looking at maps which is a dead give away they are just walking a short distance. This time the hiker we saw coming the other way was moving fast with a small pack and looked filthy. I figured it was a Northbound (NoBo) hiker who took a wrong turn out of camp, but when I stopped to talk with her she said she had started at the Canadian border. There are not many SoBo hikers since their hiking window is very small. They cannot start until early July and even sometimes that is a risk since the snow may have not fully melted in the Cascades and then they have to be out of the Sierras (1,900 miles from Canada) by October 1st. On top of that, once they hit the desert, the few water sources we had, have dried up and the waterless stretches are more frequent and larger. The few SoBos we have seen looked pretty beat already since they are forced to do such large miles from the start of the trip.

We hit a major milestone on our journey on August 9th, we finished the California Section of trail after 1689.17 miles (but who is counting). It was by far the most meaningful milestone we have hit. While the centenial mile markers are cool we end up passing them about every 4 days now. The CA/OR border was a huge sign of accomplishment, having survived the desert, the High Sierras and Northern California we are now entering into the Pacific Northwest. When I hiked the Appalachian Trail last year, crossing state borders was a huge deal and you got to do it 14 times. On this trail we only get to do it 3 times, making it even more significant.

A few days into Oregon we hitched into Ashland.  We took a nero and a zero in town. While most would assume we relaxed the whole time, the reality is we were on our feet for the entirety of it and barley had time to grab a beer. Most of the PCT through Oregon does not go near towns. Since town stops would be difficult, we had to plan out our food resupply and purchase all of our food in Ashland for the entire state. We spent our time in Ashland running between gear stores, food co-ops, grocery stores and then mailing out boxes to small recreational areas and camps we could get to from trail.

Our food has varied throughout the trip. We ditched our stove after the Sierras and have been eating cold dehydrated food. This saves us from having to carry the weight of fuel and a stove and makes the logistics of finding fuel no longer a problem. We have experimented with a lot of different foods, but at the end of the day if the food doesn't taste good, then we haven't been hiking hard enough... and lately the food has been delicious.

A short but delicious break. Nothing knocks miles off of your feet like good beer.

Getting to camp early was our reward for a hard climb out of Seiad Valley

Sketchpad is as graceful climbing over blowdowns as a drunk sailor is at ballet.

Storm chaser and Samson the Bear leaving Marble Wilderness in the morning 

It does not even look real

After 1689 miles we made it to Oregon!

Legend providing Trail magic

Our good friend sent us a care package. That bag is an entire dehydrated watermelon!

This is all of our resupply food the entire state of Oregon. Over 90 dollars just in cliff bars.

Snoozing by the river after lunch. I highly recommend it.

Mt. McCloughlin

The forests in Oregon do not look healthy. Not sure what is killing the trees

And it Keeps Getting Better

On 7/23 we did 15.7 miles juat past Frog Spring and slept at 6,463 feet. On 7/24 we did 26.1 miles past Soldier Creek and slept at 5,502 feet. On 7/25 we did 21.7 miles to Warner Valley Campground and slept at 5,684 feet. On 7/26 we did 27.2 miles to Subway Cave and slept at 4,363 feet. On 7/27 we did 30 miles to a small stream and slept at 3,008 feet. On 7/28 we did 17.6 miles to Rock Creek and slept at 2,927 feet. On 7/29 we did 24.1 miles to the headwaters of Moose Head Creek and slept at 5,801 feet. On 7/30 we did 24 miles to a small spring and slept at 2,421 feet. On 7/31 we did 28.5 miles to Shasta, CA. On 8/1 we zeroed in Shasta, CA.

After a long, hot and hungover climb out of Belden we reached a ridge and got our first glimpse of Lassen. You may have to Google Lassen because it's a national park not many people from the East Coast have ever heard of. It is an active volcano (last erupted in the early 1900s) which is snow covered all year long. We were able to see Mt. Lassen a few days before we entered the national park. In the park we skirted around the base of the mountain and went around sulfuric mud lakes which are constantly bubbling and steaming. There were signs posted everywhere not to go near the lakes due to the extreme danger but I didn't need a sign to tell me to stay away from a lake of boiling mud which was hard to breath around due to the hydrogen sulfide gas. Mt. Lassen was the first major land mark in Northern California. I thought the highlight of the trip was going to be going through the Sierras. It turns out it was definitely a highlight but not THE highlight. Northern California  (or should I say the State of Jefferson) is a secret as almost no one talks about it. After leaving Lassen we hit the Hat Creek Rim which was a rim and valley extending over 50 miles created by lava flow thousands of years ago. Topsoil on the rim was almost non existant and I am not sure what the grasses and small shrubs were actually growing in. The landscape and fauna reminded me more of a savanna in Africa than anything I would expect to see in the United States. Hat Creek Rim is notorious with hikers because there are few trees which makes you very exposed to the sun. On top of that, it is also a 30 mile waterless stretch. SketchPad and I have impeccable timing and have hit every waterless section during a heat wave, including this one. We camped at the last water source before the rim and got up at 3:30am to get a jump on the 30 miles before it got too hot. We made it 30 miles, but it was definitely a struggle- our water bottles were bone dry the last 5 miles as we walked in silence. The rim trail was kind of gnarly, but it also gave us our first view of Mt. Shasta. Mt. Shasta is the headwater of the Sacramento river and rises over 14,000 feet out of relatively low elevation mountains. We were able to see it a week and a half before we ever got close to it. While Shasta is large and impressive, it is also demoralizing. As I write this blog I have already walked 3 weeks past Shasta and it never seems to get smaller. I feel like I have seen it from every angle on the trail and have even pulled out my compass to make sure I was heading in the right direction, since no matter how many miles we put in, it never seems to look any different in size.

There are more cool areas in Northern California  but the last one I will talk about is Trinity Alps. After leaving the town of Shasta we entered into an area called the Trinity Alps. It reminded me a lot of the Sierras but just scaled down. It had exposed granite, mountain lakes, sheer cliffs and rugged terrain. On average the trail in the Sierras was at 10-11 thousand feet with peaks at 13-14 thousand feet. In trinity the trail was at 6-7 thousand feet with peaks at 9-10 thouand feet, besides the elevation differnces they were very similar. The PCT cuts through just a small slice of Northern California and I will definitely be back some time to explore the other sections in the area and summit Lassen and Shasta.

In between Shasta City and Seiad Valley we had a long climb up to a ridge. On the way up I could see smoke coming from the ridgeline from multiple spots. I figured they were doing contolled burns in the area since there were multiple columns of smoke at least 2 miles from each other... well that was wishful thinking. Once we hit the top of the ridge we ran into a hot shot who was walking down an overheated fire fighter. He told us there was a big storm the day before which had a lot of lighting, some of the lighting strikes started fires prompting the hot shots to jump in. A group of hot shots jumped in the night before and another group jumped that morning (if you are not familiar with hot shots, they are pretty badass: they are fire fighters who jump out of planes to quickly attack and control wild fires). We continued to walk down the trail after the hot shot said we were in the clear. The fires were about 400 yards above us, and as we were walking by, a helicopter joined the fight. We got to a vantage point and decided to take a food break as we watched the helicopter do laps between a lake about 5 miles away and the fire, dumping it's huge tethered bucket of water on the fire every lap. It is the closest we will ever get to a dinner and a show on trail, and watched it for over an hour.

Half Way maker. 1,325 miles to Mexico-1,325 miles to Canada

Burney Falls 

Some of the areas we hike are so rugged and remote they still have some old growth trees which were not logged 

On the rim of Hat Creek Rim

Hat Creek Rim with Shasta in the Background 

We need a shower

Beautiful  Sunrise

Rainbow after the storm 

Mt. Shasta

I don't think that hot shot had a good start to their day.

JUst a little air guitar with a PCT sign 

Winter is Coming

On 7/18 we did 9.7 miles to Sierra City, CA for a resupply and slept at 7,143 feet. On 7/19 we did 24 miles to East Hopkins Seep and slept at 6,362 feet. On 7/20 we did  24.3 miles to a large campsite north of the Feather River and slept at 3,256 feet. On 7/21 we did  24.6 miles to Clear Creek and slept at 6,211 feet.  On 7/22 we did 9.1 miles to Belden, CA and slept at 2,210 feet.    

SketchPad's parents brought a large map of the PCT to the cabin. It was cool to see all of the towns and points of interest we crossed during our hike on one map; but the one thing that became very obvious when looking at the map was we still had a LOT of trail left in front of us. In fact when we located our current position on the map we were still in the southern section of it. We certainly knew how many miles we already completed and how many more we had to do, but seeing it visually really made it clear we were going to have to up our mileage per day. I don't have a hard end date for the hike (since I am unemployed and living in the woods), but SketchPad is on a sabaticical and does have a firm end date. But that is not the main driving factor for needing to increase the miles. The main reason we need to increase the miles is to out-hike winter. I mentioned in the first blog post the PCT is all about timing. We managed to time the Sierra correctly and did not have to hike through too many feet of snow, now we need to get through the Cascades in Northern Washington before the first major snow comes. It's any body's guess when the first snow will hit and how severe it will be. Most thru hikers can make it to Canada with a little snow by October 1st and be okay,  anything after that and the odds of completing get worse. In 2013 the first bad snow hit in the middle of September and ended a lot of thru hikers attempts even though they were only 100 miles from the border. We are not going to run the rest of the trail, but we will be cognizant of our timing thru Washington to give ourselves the best chance of finishing the trail.

Speaking of snow, California has had low snow levels for the past 5 years but this year was back to average snowfall in the mountains. The Northern Sierras were hit harder by the snow than the southern Sierras and were still in the process of melting when we walked through them. Even though it was July, spring was just staring in the Northern Sierras because of the heavy snow. This allowed us to catch blooms of some of the plants we have been seeing since the desert and allowed us to see some plants that only bloom during the early spring. This is probably one of the few times I'll ever have to wear my down jacket in the middle of July.

Part of our strategy to outrun winter is to also spend less time in towns. Breaks in towns are a necessity to resupply and they are also a much needed moral boost filled with showers, laundry,  greasy food, and my favorite beer. Nonetheless one can get stuck in town and spend more time (and money) than planned. After Pinecrest, our next resupply was in South Lake Tahoe. Our plan for SLT was to resupply and get out and we were going to pass up the laundry and shower for the sake of time. All was going to plan as we were at the checkout line of the grocery store, until I struck up a conversation with the guy behind me in line about the trail. He seemed very enthused with us and told us that he hikes all of the trails around the area in his free time. He asked us where we were staying and when we told him we were going back out that day he said it was nonsense and invited us back to his place for laundry and showers. I told him we were on a timeline and he told us he would drive us back to the trail head by 5 am the next day. Well I guess the trail provides, so I went back into the store and picked up a 6 pack and SketchPad and I jumped in his truck and headed back to his house. Once at his place I did a quick inventory to make sure there were not an unusual number of axes laying around, or any dolls made out of human skin. After my search came up negative I relaxed a little bit.

We sat in his kitchen and cooked dinner as he recounted stories for hours about how he used to hitch hike across the country back in the 70s and the good luck and bad luck he had a long the way. We stayed up till hiker midnight and went to bed after getting our laundry and showers knocked out. As promised, he drove us out to Echo Lake at 5 am the next morning for us to start the day. I don't think we will get that lucky again but it's nice to hit the trail with a full stomach and clean clothes, even if it only lasts for a few hours.

I realize this blog post is full of random topics so I'll add one more. When we hiked down into the extremely small town of Belden our plan was to resupply and keep moving. We had to decend a steep mountain to get to Belden and when we hit the valley floor we encountered a large number of people camping out at the base of the mountain. It turns out we stumbled upon Sunset Campout, which is a 3 day EDM rave. We got to Belden around 10am but decided to stick around and watch the clothing optional circus unfold. Suprisingly the production was cool with thru hikers (then again, the events were being held directly on trail) and let us volunteer for 4 hours to get into the party. We directed traffic and then got access to all of the events. By the time it got dark there were over 3,000 people there. It was way past hiker midnight so I took my favorite drug, caffeine, to stay awake while all of the other ravers were taking their favorite drugs too - which I believe is all of them. We stayed up till midnight dancing, but after hiking all morning and directing traffic in the sun, we were exhausted so we decided to hike out. We only went a half a mile away and could hear the music all night long; the music literally does not stop for 72 hours. We could have stayed the whole weekend for an unexpected experience  but it really wasn't our scene. Maybe some other time when we are not thru hiking we would take advantage of the party. On the climb out of the valley I couldn't help but laugh at all that I had seen and the fact that the tent city they were all camping in was in a huge field of poison oak. I'm sure they will be itching for weeks and not know why.

Just before shower lake the irises were blooming 

Awesome Campsite, but we did not get much sleep since we had to literally  hold the tent from being blown away all night.

Echo Lake

The wolf lichen show the snow line, in this case about 15 feet.

Lake Tahoe in the background 

Wildflowers!

Lake Aloha 

SketchPad climbing up Sierra Butte

Just a typical  rave on the trail

This is how I relax after a day of hiking

SketchPad with Mt. Lassen in the back

Rest and Relaxation

On 7/7, 7/8, & 7/9 we zeroed at the Pinecrest Cabin. On 7/10 we did 20.7 miles to just past the Murray Canyon Trail and slept at 8,609 feet. On 7/11 we did 20.3 miles to Raymond Lake and slept at 8,653 feet.  On 7/12 we did 24.3 miles to Showers Lake and slept at 7,388 feet.  On 7/13 we did 8 miles and slept in South Lake Tahoe. On 7/14 we did 24.4 miles to a seasonal creek and slept at 8,035 feet. On 7/15 we did 25.1 miles to the Middle Fork of the American River and slept at 8,005 feet. On 7/16 we did 25 miles to Bear Creek Camp and slept at 7,523 feet. On 7/17 we did 28.2 miles to Milton Spring and slept at 4,848 feet.

We left Yosemite when we crossed Dorothy Pass. While it was a bummer to leave Yosemite,  we were motivated to keep moving fast since the 1,000 mile marker was only a few miles away. We came across the marker and stopped to take some pictures. In the few seconds it  took us to take our packs off we were each bitten by a half a dozen mosquitos. As the mosquitos started to swarm we snapped a few blurry pictures and took of running down the trail. I guess the pictures actually capture the hectic moment. That night we setup our tent on an exposed ridgeline. In the middle of the night I woke up to get a drink of water. I looked up and saw something I had never seen before, in fact I had to wake up SketchPad to verify my assumptions- I was able to see our galaxy. Due it being a moonless night, and being so remote, I was able to see the actual Milky Way Galaxy, I am not very superstitious but I took it as a sign of good things to come, and for once it turns out I was right.

The next day we got up early. We were motivated to put in some quick miles to Sonora pass where we would hitch down to SketchPad's family cabin and take a few zeros with her family. The topographic maps for the upcoming 16 miles to Sonora Pass did not look like anything special, so it was a suprise to see some of the most diverse terrain of the trail in one small area. The trail started off in thick forrest and then as we climbed up Mary's pass it became a barren landscape reminding me of lunar terrain. We hiked along the ridgeline and glissaded down the back side of Mt. Leavitt to rock mesas that looked like they should be in Arizona, and then we finished the day scrambling over basalt scree to the beginning of the decent to Sonora Pass. We could see the road over the pass from far away and started to get excited until we ran into little problem. We were stopped dead in our tracks by a very high angle snow field that did not seem passible and would dump you out into rocks 80 feet below the snow chute if you fell. We looked all around for an alternate way down the mountain but could not find anything. Without any other options we decided to go for it and very, very slowly crossed the field. It was by far the most sketchy traverse we have done and, to our great relief, we made it without any issues. We later learned 5 other hikers fell that day and got pretty banged up as there bodies fell like pin balls going down the chute. Luckily none of the hikers were killed but they were in some serious pain.

Once at Sonora Pass we were able to hitch 40 miles down the mountain (it's hard to make small talk for 40 miles), to a small community called Pinecrest where SketchPad's family has a cabin. The cabin is full of memories for SketchPad since it was her home base for all of her travels through the Sierras as a kid. The cabin, which was built by her great uncles in the 30's, is set near a lake and is rustic but has running water and electricity and, more important, it had a shower and a fridge which quickly filled up with beer. We had the first night to ourselves and in the morning two of our good friends we met on the trail, Aquarius and Miagi, hitched down to join us for a break. I made a breakfast for all of the hikers that may or may not have used three sticks of butter. Around lunch time SketchPad's parents showed up. When they arrived, the suspension on their car looked completely stressed from the weight of all the food they were hauling up to the cabin. We unloaded what seemed to be an unending supply of food and beverages. Then SketchPad's aunt and partner also arrived that day and added to the absurd amount of goods. We spent the day out on the patio recounting stories and filling our stomachs with all of the fruits and vegetables we were dreaming about while hiking. Dinner for lack of better terms was extravagant. There was an 8 lb samon, many side dishes, and my wine glass never stayed empty for long. Dinner lasted long into the night and even though it was way past hiker bed time (9pm) we stayed up laughing and sharing stories until my eyes couldn't stay open anymore. The next day Aquarius and Miagi took off for the trail and another relative came. That day was a repeat of the first day with great food, great conversation and great people. In all we spent 3.5 much needed days off trail at the cabin. It definitely recharged both mind and spirit and set us up well for the next 1000 miles.

Goodbye Yosemite, you will be missed.

Quick shot of the 1000 mile mark.

Ridgeline on Sonora Pass.

Michelin Man

Who knows what we were eating, but all food makes us happy

Ethel enjoying the view above Sonora Pass

Looking back towards Yosemite many valleys away.

See the switch backs in the background,  yeah that was the trail we were supposed to be on going over Mary's Pass. 

SketchPad celebrating Mary's pass in the wind. 

Good times at the cabin

I hope mosquitos can feel pain.

On 6/28 we did 6.8 miles to Vermillion Valley Resort and slept at 7,899 feet. On 6/29 we did 20 miles over Goodale pass and slept at 9,908 feet. On 6/30 we did 17.3 to just pass Devils Post Pile and slept at 7,690 feet. 7/1 we did 21 miles to Lyell Fork and slept at 9,651 feet. On 7/2 we did 16.4 miles to Glen Aulin and slept at 7,883 feet. On 7/3 we did 14.6 miles to just south of Benson Pass and slept at 8,446 feet. On 7/4 we did 16.1 miles to Bear Valley and slept at 8,100 feet. On 7/5 we did 21.5 miles to Cinco lake trail and slept at 8,911 feet. On 7/6 we did 16.2 miles to Sonora Pass and hitched down the hill to Pinecrest. 

We did our second resupply in the Sierras at an outpost called Vermilion Valley Resort. The term resort might be a little generous, it's more like an outpost full of dilapidated cabins and inhabited RVs that have not been moved in years. While I might be poking fun at its ascetics it was a critical resupply point to get us through the Sierras. We ended up having to take a ferry (again they were generous with the name, it was really a john boat that was barely water worthy) across Edison lake to VVR. We sent ourselves a resupply package since we knew the store at VVR had little more than beef jerkey and pop tarts. While the food was slim pickings, it did have multiple fridges full of craft beer, and the first one was free! We spent the rest of the day hanging out underneath a canopy tent drinking a few beers and telling lies with other hikers, as our first and only thunderstorm of the Sierras poured down.

We decided not to risk our lives on the ferry again and decided to hike out of VVR. We took a side trail over Goodale pass which ultimately meets back up with the PCT. The Goodale trail is definitely not as heavily trafficked as the PCT, and when we got to the top of the snow covered pass there was only one other set of tracks in the snow.  We descended down the steep pass; SketchPad was only about 50 yards behind me, but I must have ducked in between some boulders while she was not looking and she continued down the trail following the wrong foot prints. After 10 minutes of not seeing her I waited at a lake, then I kept waiting and waiting and waiting. I eventually went back to the last place I saw her and did not see any signs of her (she was matching the footsteps of the previous hikers tracks). Confused, I wondered if she somehow took a short cut and got in front of me, so I kept going forward. I rejoined the PCT and waited some more. After waiting another 30 minutes I took off running down the trail thinking if she was in front of me I could catch her. I ran into some friends 4 miles later who said they had not seen her, so I stopped. Knowing now, she was most likely behind me it was best that I stay still. About an hour later she came down the trail. She figured out she was no longer following me and found her own way back to the PCT. We spent the rest of the day discussing whose fault it was and decided to agree to disagree.

The nice thing about snow covered peaks is that they are the only break we get from mosquitoes. Due to all of the snow melt the ground is super saturated making the Sierras a 400 mile long breeding ground for mosquitoes. We walk fully covered head to toe including head nets and gloves. It is not uncommon for me to twist my poles back and forth as I'm walking like a windshield wiper to knock all of the mosquitoes out of the way. Even though we try and kill them all, it does no good since they are always swarming you, and more just show up when others are killed.  It's not uncommon to able to kill multiple mosquitoes in the same smack, my record is hitting 5 mosquitoes at once. Going to the bathroom in the woods is a lot like a NASCAR pit change, everything is very organized and you have to be fast since the mosquitoes some how know when you are most vulnerable. We have been offered large amounts of money for our head nets from unprepared hikers, but no amount of money is worth our head nets... but I believe I have found a future business idea.

On July 1st we climbed Donahue Pass. At the top of the pass was a very enthusiastic Canadian wearing the Canadian flag (it was Canada day), a very intrepid Marmot, and most importantly the border to Yosemite. We entered the last southern National Park of the trail. While our map showed the national park boundary, it was obvious without the map that the terrain had changed dramatically after Donahue. Instead of mountains that looked like they were comprised of 100s of thousands of individual rocks,  the mountains in Yosemite were huge masses of solid granite. You can see the effect of glaciers in the solid granite as well. During the last ice age the glaciers were 2,000 feet high in this area; so any exposed granite less than 2,000 feet above the ground is rounded and almost polished,  and any rock above 2,000 feet is jagged. This phenomenon leads to a lot of the iconic mountains in Yosemite. 

We did our last resupply of the High Sierras in Tuolumne Meadows.  Normally a PCT hiker would hitch down to the Yosemite Valley and see the landmarks such as Half Dome and El Capitan; but since it was the 4th of July weekend we decided to skip the headache of the additional tourists visiting the park. While resupplying we meet a naturalist ranger who made the mistake of asking us if we had any questions about the area. He quickly became surrounded by 8 hikers who had 900 miles worth of questions. We sat and talked with him for an hour and a half as we sipped on beers and listened to his explanations.  We might have gone into the valley,  but we now have a better idea of what we are looking at. 

Devils Post Pile National Monument

SketchPad and Tape Boss on the other side of Danahe Pass

Toulomme River

Celebrating in Yosemite (she didn't think my pack was heavy enough so she jumped on)

Benson Lake, spent 3 hrs here fishing and painting

Our favorite naturalist ranger with Fred and Ethel

Our Marmot friend with Fred and Ethel

Celebrating the 4th of July in Yosemite

Cathedral Peak (top of it was above the glaciers)

I'm 30, Unemployed and living out of my backpack... never been happier

On 6/20 and 6/21 we zeroed in Bishop, CA. On 6/22 we did 10.7 miles to the Northern side of Glen Pass and slept at 11,088 feet. On 6/23 we did 16.8 miles to Lake Marjorie and slept at 11,007 feet. On 6/24 we did 11.6 miles to Lower Pallisade Lake and slept at 10,608 feet. On 6/25 we did 14.6 miles to the Middle Fork of Kings River and slept at 10,420 feet. On 6/26 we did 18.1 miles to the South Fork of the San Joaquin River and slept at 8,426 feet. On 6/27 we did 20.3 miles to just North of the Big Bear Creek Trail junction and slept at 9,184 feet.

We are in our second week in the Sierras and things keep getting better. If you actually read the first paragraph of the blog you can see we have dropped our miles significantly. This is not only the most beautiful section of the hike, it's probably the most beautiful place in the United States. I mentioned before we are in Kings Canyon NP. It would be better named Kings Canyons since the trail will go over a high pass, follow the steams and water falls down to the basin where we will cross into the next canyon and start the climb up to another pass. The last two weeks has followed this same pattern of high pass and low canyon almost everyday. So even though we are putting in low mileage, we are still getting a solid work out with the 3,000-5,000 foot elevation change a day.

I have done a lot of dumb things in my life, in fact SketchPad could probably fill the blog up with stupid things I have done just in the past 55 days; but the dumbest thing I have ever done was to not bring fishing tackle through the Sierras. Unless we are climbing a pass, we are walking along pristine lakes and steams where you can easily see 10-15 feet into the water and see a plethora of trout. I was actually in my hunting/fishing partners basement a few days before I left for the PCT and he tried to give me his travel fly rod to take on the trip and I declined due to weight concerns. I had no idea I was going to be walking through perfect fishing streams for 100s of miles on this trip.  As soon as we entered the Sierras I instantly regretted not having any gear. When we went to Bishop, CA I stopped into a fly shop to pick up some supplies. I explained to the guy working behind the counter I was going rig up some leader line and tippet to my hiking poles with zip ties to make a fly rod. I thought he would be enthused with my brilliance, but he looked at me like I was fishing with dynamite (sometimes fly fisherman take themselves too seriously). I ended up leaving the shop with the gear I thought I would need and headed back into the Sierras. I'm not going to brag but... I ended up catching 20 rainbow trout and  1 cutthroat on my first day. It just so happens that now the views I recommend  SketchPad to draw just so happen to be next to trout filled steams.

Well it's official: I turned 30 on the trail. SketchPad is sad since she no longer feels like she is robbing the cradle. I was woken up in the tent with SketchPad singing happy birthday with a powdered donut in hand and a twig lit on fire (best birthday cake ever) I blew the twig out quickly since most of our gear can be caught on fire easily. We spent the day climbing Pichot Pass and fishing in Lake Marjorie in the late evening; SketchPad also managed to carry out two suprise BDay beers for dinner! I don't know if it is possible to be in a better place in life on your 30th revolution around the sun.

On our way up Muir Pass I met a JMT hiker who probably broke his foot. He was hobbling around trying to figure out how he was going to ford river.  I told him I would take his pack from him and walk him down the mountain about 3 miles where there was a side trail he could attempt to hike out, or at worst where a helicopter would have an easier time landing to take him out. During our 3 mile hike down the mountain he was full of amazement with the mountains surrounding him. His hike was over,  whether he hiked out or was extracted, he was done. Even though the circumstances were not the best, it was wonderful to hike with someone who reminded me how special of place I was in and no matter what happens I should enjoy every mile. 

Taking a siesta on my 30th

800 and looking dapper!

Birthday Beer

View from our campsite on 6/23

Evolution Creek

Going up Muir Pass

Just a 767 mile side trail to Mt.Whitney

Quick Note: I have been without signal for the past two weeks, so there are two new posts. To read the posts in order, scroll down and read Mojave By Day first. Also, I cannot be held responsible if after reading this blog post you quit your job, and starting hiking in the mountains with your significant other. 

On 6/13 we did 8.7 miles to Kennedy Meadows and slept at 6,008. On 6/14 we did 15.6 miles to just north of South Kern Fork and slept at 7,949 feet. On 6/15 we did 19.3 miles to a random ridge and slept at 10,354 feet. On 6/16 we did 19 miles to Siberian Meadow and slept at 11,010 feet. On 6/17 we did 11.6 to grab tree meadows and slept at 10,317 miles. On 6/18 we did 20.6 miles after climbing Mt. Whitney and slept at 10,574 feet. On 6/19 we did 25.4 miles over both Forrester and Kearsarge Pass to Independence,  CA. 

Holy Shit, we finally made it.. we have entered the Sierras. The gateway to the Sierras is a very small community called Kennedy Meadows where we received a 7 day resupply and formulated our game plan through the first stretch of mountains. We left Kennedy Meadows and entered Sequoia National Park, the terrain was different than the past 700 miles but nothing extrordinary, until we hit Gomez Meadow about 10 miles down the trail. There they were, our first snow capped peaks in the distance.  We were welcomed into the Sierras with an entire valley of sage brush and the South Kern River. Water is no longer an issue as the snow melt provides constant water along the trail. For the next 300 miles we are going to stay above 10,000 feet elevation and do a mix of hiking and mountaineering.

For a PCT thru hiker timing is everything through the Sierras, if you hit them to early you will have to cross over feet of snow in snow shoes, navigate countless ridges and valleys without a trail and risk running out of supplies as your miles per day drop significantly.  If you hit the Sierras too late you are risking hitting the Cascades, which are 1,500 miles away, in even worst snow conditions and you miss the opportunity to experience the mountains in a unique setting. There is no way of knowing how much snow will be in the Sierras when you set off for the hike. Just two weeks ago there were reports of multiple search and rescues in the mountains we are now passing through.  By luck, or by SketchPad's awesome intuition, we are entering the Sierras at the perfect time. Plenty of snow to keep things interesting but not enough to knock us off the trail.

As we have moved up in elevation there is less vegetation and the mountains are primarily covered in Fox Tail pines, Lodge Pole pines and Sequoias. Because we are at such high elevations things do not decompose very fast and the dead trees bleach out and remind me of Damascus Steel with their twisted trunks and intense colors (yes, even dead trees in the Sierras are awesome). While the dead trees do provide unique color, there are far too many of them in the Sierras which is a grimm reminder there has been less than average snow fall/snow melt the past 7 years, which is having a very negative impact on the fragile alpine environment. 

The 4th day in the Sierras we started our approach to Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the continous 48 at 14,505 feet tall. We setup a base camp at Crab Tree Meadow looking directly up at Mount Whitney.  We spent the day resting and watching the deer and marmots graze by the creek. It was almost a full moon that night, so we decided to get an alpine start and left camp at 2am for the summit. It was surreal to watch the moonlight highlight the giant mountain walls and reflect off of the lakes as we appoached the Whitney Basin. We had a slightly difficult time navigating the snow fields at night since the trail was not identifiable.  We eventually were able to find the start of the switchbacks up the mountain by 4am. We climbed for another hour as the sun light started to creep over the horizon. We were 3/4 of the way up Whitney at sunrise and walked by a cathedral window and witnessed one of the most epic color shows in the sky. We pushed on as the thermals picked up; between the wind, elevation and time of day we were freezing.  The only way to keep warm was to keep moving. After crossing another high angle snow field we were at the summit by 630am. It is tradition to take naked summit photos on top of Whitney but it was way too cold for any shenanigans, we snapped a few summit photos and sought shelter in the hut at the sumit. After warming up for a half an hour we headed back down the mountain. In the daylight we were both suprised how steep of a climb it was and how many drop offs there were, which could not be seen at night. Once back at camp we tried to get a little  sleep before heading down the trail for a few more miles.

The next day was just as awesome as Mt. Whitney. We hiked 9 miles in the morning to Forester Pass which, at 13,200 feet, is the highest pass on the PCT. We could see the mountain range we had to cross from miles away. As we approached it, it just looked like a solid wall of snow and rock, the location of the pass was not identifiable. Normally a pass is in a saddle or other obvious low point in the ridgeline, but this one was not. As we got to the base of the climb we could see switchbacks in the snow fields lead up to a small exposed snow chute which turns out to be the pass. We climbed the switchbacks up to the pass and crossed the sketchy snow chute to the top of the pass. The top of the pass is the dividing line between Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Kings Canyon is applty named for the size, beauty and diversity of the upcoming mountains. After some celebrating we headed down the other side across some more snow fields. The views were epic and it felt like you are walking through a national geographic film. Every view was of grand mountains, waterfalls and beautiful streams. We decided to push on to our next resupply that night which required us to take a 7.5 mile side trail and climb another pass called Kearsage where we would try to hitch into town at a trail head. We made it to the hitching point by 8pm and got a ride into town. We were so hungry even Subway tasted good. We grabbed a six pack and walked to the local campground to sleep for the night. That day we did 25.4 miles and gained 5,605 feet and lost 7,097 feet.

Gomez Meadow

Not a bad campsite

Whitney in front of us, SketchPad painting

Going up Whitney in the mornimg

After sunrise going up Whitney

Light Show in the Sky

Crossing the snow field before the summit 

Hey Guys

SketchPad pointing out Forester Pass

SketchPad Going up Forester Pass

Kings Canyon does not disappoint

All is well on top of Forester

Mojave By Day

On 6/6 we left Tehachapi and did 9.3 miles to an abandoned jeep road and slept at 6,002 feet. On 6/7 we did 26.7 miles to Jaw Bone Canyon and slept at 6,608 feet. On 6/8 we did 22.8 miles to an unpaved jeep trail and slept at 5,256 feet. On 6/9 we did 26 miles to Walker Pass and slept at 5,122 feet. On 6/10 we went into Onyx. CA and did 3 miles and slept at 6,167 feet. On 6/11 we did 18.5 miles to a campsite north of Spanish Needle Creek and slept at 6,680 feet. On 6/12 we did 20.7 miles to Mater Creek and slept at 5,846.

We spent an extra day in Hikertown to get to Tehachapi on a Monday in order to rent a car, since we thought we were going to have to drive around an active fire on the trail between Walker Pass and Kennedy Meadow. The fire was about 100 miles in front of us and had closed the trail with no walkable detours. To our relief, 300 firefighters, multiple aircraft and 4 days of fire fighting brought the Chimney Creek Campground fire under control with "only" 1,800 acres burned. The trail was relatively untouched and reopened quickly. We were thrilled we did not have to get creative about continuing our thru hike and could hike it without the need to flip flop. We joke that we took a zero in the worst possible place in the flat, hot Mojave at an old west film set with nothing to do, but since I am a cheap bastard, it made financial sense to zero in the desert and not in a town (SketchPad has yet to forgive me). A few days later we spent most of our time in Tehachapi in a German bakery where we consumed unfathomable amounts of pastries and washed it down with beers and coffee (yes at the same time). We also received a gear exchange in Tehachapi where we got each got new shoes. My feet have grown/swollen again. If you are keeping track of my shoe size (that would be bizarre if you were), I started the AT with an 8.5 shoe, at the end of it I was a 9.5 and it never shrank back between trails. I now have to wear a size 10 shoe on the PCT and think the next pair might have to be a 10.5! Along with new shoes, we had our bear canisters and micro spikes sent to us, which are needed in the Sierras. We had some logistical issues so we had to send our Sierra gear 150 miles before the actual Sierras and carry the extra gear through the desert, but that's okay. If we ever encounter the elusive desert bears; or if Hell (I mean the Mojave) ever does freeze over, we are set.

The section from Tehachapi to Walker pass is known to be one of the most brutal sections of trail. It does have the possibility of occasional shade so we don't have to night hike it, but there is a 42 mile stretch without water. We were going to have to be very very conscientious of our water consumption or we could get into trouble really fast. We left the last water source with 10 liters each (that's really low for 2 days in the Mojave, but the most we could carry because it's 22 lbs of water!). We were following our water consumption protocol when we ran into a water cache left for hikers by a trail angel at a jeep trail. We were ecstatic and cameled several liters of water. About another 15 miles down the trail was another water cache at another off road crossing. I should mention these water caches were not just a few gallons of water; with the number of hikers going through the area and the heat, each cache was over 200 gallons and replenished every other day! These caches are supplied by trail angels who volunteer their time and resources to help out hikers for no good reason. Imagine the work of bringing out 200 gallons of water into the desert every other day. It turned possibly the hardest section of trail into a much more enjoyable section as we were slowly experiencing a unique mixture of desert and mountain environments. You cannot rely on water caches since you can never verify if they will actually be there or they could run out of water and then you are screwed.  In the end I drank over 21 liters of water over the 2 day so it would have been much different experience had it just been 10 liters.

When we got to Walker Pass we were greeted by so many trail Angels! Meadow Ed was there cooking his famous ratatouille for the hikers. I have never seen the movie Wild, but Meadow Ed is featured in the movie as the one who shakes down Cheryl Strayed's pack at Kennedy Meadows. He complained that his character was not performed by Brad Pitt. He has been doing trail angel work for over 20 years. It happened to be his birthday and Yogi came by with cakes for him and all of the hikers. Most of you probably don't know who Yogi is, but she literally wrote the book on how to thru hike the PCT. It's the guide book we all read before taking off,  and you usually hear at least once or twice a day "according to Yogi we should...". Besides Meadow Ed and Yogi, Copper Tone was there too.  Copper Tone got his name since he has no tan lines (use your imagination of why...). Copper Tone follows the herd of hikers in his homemade RV and makes root beer floats at trail crossings for the hikers (I cannot make this stuff up, even if I tried). 

As we leave the desert we are also leaving behind the Joshua trees. These unique and fragile trees have provided rare shade and wind cover in the desert. They look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book and can grow in clusters, or by themselves, staight or twisted and be short or tall. The joshua tree was sometimes the only visible thing on the desert floor or barren mountain. The joshua trees are definetley a symbol of our southern journey. As we move north they are becoming more scarce symbolizing  a new chapter in our hike.

Joshua trees and cowboy camping

Sunset before Kennedy Meadows

Beaver Tail Flower

Good Camouflage

Overlooking Bird Spring

Meadow Ed and Yogi

We are off to see the lizard, the wonderful lizard of Mojav... ehh!

On 5/30 we did 20.2 miles to just south of Green Valley and slept at 3,711 feet. On 5/31 we did 21.7 miles to Saw Mill Campground and slept at 5,000 feet. On 6/1 we did 19.4 miles to Hiker Town and slept at 3,050. On 6/2 we took a zero at Hiker Town. On 6/3-6/4 we night hiked 24 miles to Tyler horse Canyon. On 6/4-6/5 we night hiked 24 miles to Tehachapi for a resupply.

So we just entered to Mojave Desert,  it's hot, like real hot. There is a national heat advisory in southern California which is a great time to enter the Mojave, the thermometer is reading 100 degrees in the shade. I thought of some good analogies but I believe Robin Williams explains it the best:   https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gwsyU0PD1zc.

It was quite an impressive view coming down the last mountain and looking at the flat desert floor below us disappear into the horizon. I would have appreciated it more if the reality of crossing the desert wasn't starting to sink in. They call California the Golden State... I think it's because when everything dies from the heat it turns golden yellow.  Apparently we have been miss judging our water consumption in the heat and arriving at our water sources completely dry. It's a real concern that we will sweat out all of our water and get dehydrated far before the next water source. In order to reduce the risk we are going to do what every other mamamal in the desert does and go nocturnal.  

On 6/1 we arrived at Hiker Town, which is definitely one of the most bizzare/unique places we have stayed. The town is on private property and comprised of old western movie set buildings that you can sleep in. The old western town isn't the most bizzare part, it's all of the weird memorabilia and the dolls with guns that gives this place a very strange vibe. While the place is strange it did provide shade to protect us from the sun and allowed us to rest up before the push to Tehachapi.  

After taking a zero day, we left Hiker Town around 6 in the afternoon and for next 20 miles we followed the Los Angeles aqueduct through the dessert. The aqueduct is above ground for about 7 miles of the hike and quite fun to walk along/atop.  The aqueduct, which is stealing- I mean 'conveying'- water from the eastern Sierra to LA, is a giant steel pipe and eerily exposed and vulnerable. It was a moonless night and by 10 pm the stars were lighting up the sky. Our camera phones are not capable of taking night sky pictures so you will have to trust us it was gorgeous and silhouetted with Joshua trees.  I don't know if it is normal or if we caught it at the right time but there was a shooting star every 5 minutes. Between the late night hike and an early morning push, we made it just short of 24 miles where there was a small creek to get water and rest during the day. Over night we had a few hour 'nap' under a wind turbine, getting up at 5 am and pushing for the canyon. We set up our tent in the canyon to sleep away the day. The tent does a good job of keeping water out, but the fabric is translucent and won't keep out the sun's heat. We ended up draping our extra clothes over the tent for additional shade, but I think the tent turned into a green house and we were having to drink water ever 30 minutes to make up for the sweat we were losing while we tried to rest. The second night and day were similar, though the terrain was mountainous and the wind howled. Now in Tehachapi, we have another 130 miles of the Mojave left and are learning how to appreciate the desert which includes a lot of cussing and daydreaming of swimming pools. 

Leaving the Mountains and heading into the desert. 

She's a keeper?

Unique rock formations before Aqua Dulce

Fred and Ethel celebrating 500 miles

500!

Hanging out at city hall in Hiker Town

Fred and Ethel with the weird dolls in Hiker Town

Following the aqueduct

Walking thru the US largest wind farm, 1,600 MW

Hey, Whatcha doing up in that tree?

On 5/24 we did 10.4 miles to Wrightwood and slept at 7,773 feet. On 5/25 we did 13.6 miles to just before Little Jimmy Spring and Slept 7,772 feet. On 5/26 we did 21.8 miles to just before Sulfur Springs and slept at 5,914 feet. On 5/27 we did 22 miles just before Messenger Flats campground and slept at 5,335 feet. On 5/28 we did 21.5 miles to just after the Akton KOA. On 5/29 we did 6 miles to Agua Dulce for a resupply.

Well, I don't have much to report. The resupply in Wrightwood went seamlessly, and after catching up on some sleep and some calories we hit the trail again. We have not had many major snafus. SketchPad's feet are doing better, not perfect but better. We are going to take some extra rest days in Agua Dulce, Hiker Town and Tehachapi to rest for the hottest and driest sections of the trail before the Mojave desert and then the subsequent climb straight into the High Sierra. The only real issue we have had was running out of stove fuel before Wrightwood. Luckily we passed a freeway at Cajon Pass and followed it to a gas station and carried out some highly nutritious food for the night. 

We have met a lot of great people and characters on the trail. We have found our daily rhythm and so have a lot of other hikers so we are starting to see some familiar faces on the trail. Some of the familar faces we see often is the "Pack It Out Crew", a group of three guys who pick up any and all trash they find along the way. It is very common for thru-hikers to pick up wrappers they see a long the way which might have fallen out of someone else pocket, but the Pack It Out Crew takes it to a new level. I first heard about them on the AT; they were about 2-3 weeks behind me and at the end of the 2,200 mile trip they had packed out over 1,000 lbs of trash (yes they carry a scale with them to keep track of the actual amount they pack out). We have run into them multiple times on the PCT and they always keep us laughing. We even rolled up on them in the process of packing out an abandonded 12 person tent. The trio is in extemly good shape, and the only reason we are keeping up with them is due to the fact they willingly stop at every camp spot and happily load extra pounds of trash and abandoned crap into their packs. They have a website that if you get a chance you should check out, http://packingitout.blogspot.com/2014/12/packing-it-out.html

On 5/26 we finished walking another detour (this time for endagared yellow frogs). SketchPad was in front and heard crashing through the trees and exclaimed that she just saw a bear climb a tree. She said she saw it climb a big red incense cedar. I scanned the only incesence cedar in the area, a bug dead trunk, and did not see any bear. I asked her how big the bear was and she said it was a little larger than an adolecent. I kept looking at the tree and the surrounding area for a bear but after 5 minutes of looking and not seeing anything, I was beginning to doubt her. As we were walking away I turned around one last time and saw a bear sneaking its head around the trunk of the tree (it had been hiding on the opposite side of the tree the whole time). We gave it some space and it eventually came out to the front of the tree where we were able to snap a few pictures before we took back off down the trail. It just further proof bears are more scared of humans than many believe- it is only the bears that have lost their fear which are the scary ones we hear about...

Well that is all i have for this blog post, it was kind of a scattered array of thoughts, but just know the trip is going great. Besides the family and friends in our lives, we certainly are not missing the front country.

Coming out of Akton, hiking into the evening

Hey Buddy

Good way to start the day

This hiker caught up with me, I made sure to send him this picture

Pack It Out crew, carrying out trash on top of there packs

No stove, no problem (with Fred and Ethel)

I am afraid of poodles

On 5/17 we did 14.5 miles to Fuller Ridge and slept at 7,612 feet. On 5/18 we did 19.6 miles to Ziggy and the Bear and slept at 1,496 feet. On 5/19 we did 7.65 miles to just past Highway 18 and slept at 6,738 feet. On 5/20 we did 21.9 miles to just pass an unpaved jeep road and slept at 6,266 feet. On 5/21 we did 21.5 miles just past the rainbow bridge along Deep Creek and slept at 3,350 feet. On 5/22 we did 25.7 miles to just before Cajon Pass, CA and slept at 3,442 feet. On 5/23 we did 23.4 miles to just before Wrightwood, CA and slept at 7,090 feet.

On 5/16 we had to take a detour around a closed section of trail due to a fire in 2013 which temporarily closed the trail before Idyllwild. As a general rule, hikers are told that sections of trail that close due to fire are typically closed for three years to prevent errosion, invasive species, and to protect the hikers from dangers caused by the fires such as fallen trees and landslides. There have been few miles of trail which do not show the scars of forest fires. From the desert plateaus and canyons to the high mountains, burned out shrubs and trees are common. It is actually difficult to find a section of trail that does not have some sort of fire scar. SketchPad and I play a game as we walk to try and find a section without any fire sign and it is difficult because there is almost always a sign. For the Idyllwild section, we had a paper map of the fire detour and put our orientiering to the test. The detour started around mile 160 and had us go down a steep gully and follow powerlines for several miles. We then had to road walk for another mile and a half, go through a campground and find a specific campsite, then take the mountain bike trial from that site to an unused forest road. The road zig zagged through the burned out forest for 8 miles with numerous unmarked instersections to keep us on our toes. It was an elaborate easter egg hunt, but we were able to navigate around the detour and slept just 2 miles outside of Idylwild so we could take a super nero (a nero where you are in town for breakfast. A "nero" being 'near to zero' miles walked..).

We resupplied in Idyllwild and SketchPad got a new pair of shoes. We also managed to consume 5,500 calories according to my estimation even though we both swear that hiker hunger has not set in yet. With full stomachs, clean clothes and recent showers we set off on 5/17 for Mount Jacinto (pronounced "Ha-Seen-Toe at 10,834 feet). To get to the peak of Mt. Jacinto you have to take an alternate route to the PCT, since the PCT is also an equestrian trail and often avoids summits. The climb was moderately difficult and we noted the amount of snow pack still left on the trail in the middle of May. I figured the snow remained on the mountain since typically the temperature drops about 3.5 degrees farenheit per 1,000 feet of elevation gain. SketchPad and I made it to the summit around 1:00pm. We were told there can be awesome views of the desert floor and on very clear days even the ocean. Unfortunatley we were stuck in a cloud and could not see anything. We decided to eat lunch on the summit and, as we were finshing burritto number one, SketchPad said she thought she saw a flurry. I chuckled to myself as I looked at my watch and considered the date but before I could make a snarky comment about the chances of it snowing in the middle of May a snow storm erupted out of nowhere. I hurried us off the summit because I did not want to get stuck having to retrace the last 200 yards of boulder scrambling with wet granite. We hurried down to about 9,000 feet where we decided to eat the rest of our lunch. As we were eating the sky got very dark, and it became apparent we had made the right decision to get off the summit. We started to hear cracks of thunder in the distance and the wind picked up. The trail was heading downhill so we believed we were safe to continue to walk since we were losing elevation. As we were walking the thunder grew louder and a hail storm erupted. Imagine hail the size of dip-and-dots pouring down like like rain. We kept moving to stay warm, but noticed we were no longer losing elevation, but instead the trail was actually gaining elevation again and was headed for an exposed ridge. With the thunder less than three seconds away and the intensity of the hail storm increasing we decided to shelter in place, separate and get on rocks to insulate oursleves from the ground. The storm grew in strength with instantaneous lightning reports and by now there was at least a half an inch of hail on the ground. We sheltered in place for about 30 minutes and then - all of a sudden- the storm just stopped. (we can only hypotheize that once the storm clouds made it over the ridgeline it lost some of its energy). When we started to move again we were presented with a beautiful ridgeline that was glowing with post-storm color. It was gorgeous to see all of the rock formations and the desert floor below in the hue of the post storm and evening light. We must have taken over 30 pictures on our way to Fuller Ridge that night, but none of them will do justice to the actual experience. 

The next day we got an early start. We had been at over 10,000 feet elevation the day before, and were heading straight for the desert floor around 1,000 feet elevation. It is a common mistake to believe that going down hill is easy. In fact most hikers lament large elevation drops for two reasons; the first is that it is hard on your knees and feet to constantly go down hill, the second reason hikers hating going down, is that it just means they will have to go back up. We hit the desert floor around 2:00pm and made our way across the hot desert plane to a local house which hosts hikers called Ziggy and the Bear. This stop was extremely important to us since it was where we would have to catch a shuttle for the next leg of the trip. I hate to say it, but SketchPad and I, as well as every other PCT hiker, had to skip a section of trail. There was another fire closure ahead of us that did not have a detour around it. SketchPad even called the Forest Service to see if it was possible to go through the closure and just not camp in it, but we were told not to enter. Last year hikers who decided to enter to closure were fined $2,500 dollars each. Trail angels picked us up at Ziggy and the Bear in the early morning and took us to San Bernadino bus station, where we got a bus to the next trail town called Big Bear. SketchPad and I resupplied in Big Bear and then hitched out to the northern fire closure boundary at Onyx Summit. We were back on trail by 1:00pm and had missed about 40 miles of trail due to the closure. We talked about being dissapointed by not being able to hike the 40 miles, but ask us at mile 2,650 what we think about missing the 40 miles, and we probably won't even be able to tell you where the 40 miles we missed were.

With all of the fire activity in the area there is a new plant that I was introduced to on the PCT, a plant that I want to be able to readily identify, but never experience... The poodle dog bush. Poodle dog bush thrives in post fire landscapes and can help prevent erosion in scared lands, but it also can cause and severe poison oak-like rashes. The rashes can appear 2 hours to 2 weeks after coming in contact with the bush. The rashes can cause severe blisters that last multiple weeks and even severe respritory distress. Poodle dog rashes cannot be treated with OTC medicine like posion oak and has ended thru hikes for those who have had severe reactions. In the past when there have been large areas where poddle dog brush is growing, they have actually rerouted the PCT. This year the PDB looks to be containted to a few small pockets, but its just one more thing to be aware of as we head north. 

Awesome view of big bear lake and my receding hair line

The view after the storm on Jacinto

Damnit

Amanda looking out to the desert floor

The full moon was a great excuse to night hike

Deep Creek

I feel like I was just attacked by a bunch of Dip and Dots

SketchPad demonstrating how to shelter on place.

My Blisters Have Blisters

On 5/11 we took a zero in Warner Springs. On 5/12 we did 12.7 miles just south of Mike Herra's place and slept at 5,056 feet. On 5/13 we did 18.4 miles to Nance Canyon and slept at 3,438 feet. On 5/14 we did 19.1 miles to Cedar Springs Canyon and slept at 6,138 miles. On 5/15 we did 19.5 miles to an abandoned fire road at 5,587 feet. On 5/16 we did 2 miles into Idyllwild for a nero.

So we rolled into Warner Springs on 5/10. The approach to the town was beautiful, the last 6 miles were rolling hills with oak groves sprinkled throughout. I was enjoying the trek, but noticed Sketch Pad (Clara) was silent. I turned around and saw her bitting her lip with every step/hobble... she had hit her limit. Luckily by the time the pain was borderline unbearable we were only 2 miles away from the local resource center which allowed hikers to camp in their yard. Sketch Pad was not the only one who was hurting at Warner Springs; in fact, every single person who had passed us during our 5 days on trail was camped out there. It looked like the walking dead with  dozens of dirty hikers limping around. It is very normal for thru hikers to experience foot issues, ranging from blisters, shin splints, tendinitis and knee pain. Sketch Pad took off her shoe and examined her feet and told me her blisters had blisters. I chuckled, thinking she was trying to make a humorous comment while in pain, until I examined her feet and indeed saw blisters under blisters... I don't think I ate for the rest of the day.

With her feet in bad shape the only thing we could do is wait so we took an unplanned zero in Warner Springs to allow time off of her feet. Luckily Warner Springs was extremely hiker friendly, and allowed us to do bucket laundry and take bucket showers and supply free coffee in the mornings. I was always told the Appalachian trail had more culture and support for the hikers than the PCT, but I have to found that not to be the case.  Besides the wonderful hospitality at WS we have run into numerous other trail angels and support.  People like Mike Herarra allow thru hikers to refill water at his desert house which is 0.5 miles off trail in a 30 mile dry section. Not only does he supply water, he also cooks up pancakes and coffee in his outdoor kitchen while blasting Bob Marley... Picture an off- the- grid frat house in the middle of the desert. Then there are people like Ed who we met at at Scissors Crossing. We had to walk a half a mile down a road to get water from a dried creek bed. He saw us coming down the trail and picked us up to take us to the stream. He waited for us to filter our 12 liters of water while telling us stories of the trail and then brought us back to the trail head. While I'm talking about trail angels, I cannot forget Mary. Mary's property butts up against the PCT after Nancy Canyon. She has a picnic table setup just off the PCT and stocks a cooler full of fruit and pop. The coolest thing about her setup is her library. She has a small cupboard full of books on local fauna and geography to take on the hike; she just asks that you mail the books back, once you are done with them.

So far the trail has been great to us, besides some foot problems that were inevitable, we are in good shape and have been well supported a long the way. We will see what the trail dishes out as we head into harsher desert and then the Sierras!

Ed and Sketch Pad... nothing weird about eating lunch with a Trail Angel under an overpass

Good Night

Eagle Rock (yes I know it is upside down, but have no idea how to rotate it on my phone)

Sketch Pad and Soren, holding Fred and Ethel

Tent City at Warner Springs, full of injured hikers

Library at Mary's

Day 5: I sat on a Cactus

On 5/7 we did 16.9 miles to Garett Mountain and slept at 5,394 feet. On 5/8 We did 17.5 miles to Rodriquez Spring and slept at 3,257 feet. On 5/9 We did 21.6 miles to an abandoned jeep road and slept at 3,353 feet. On 5/10 We did 19.2 miles to Warner Springs and slept at 2,920 feet.

So we have not seen that many people on the trail. At most we will run across 5-6 hikers a day, which is a little surprising since there are supposedly 50 hikers staring each day.  Most of the other hikers we meet we are passing because they have huge packs. It's not the same circus as I experienced on the beginning of the Appalachian Trail, but there is no way some of these people are going to make it up to Canada carrying the kitchen sink. There have been some hikers that have blown by us. In brief conversations with them, most of them have already hiked the Appalachian Trail and are now on the PCT and are putting in big miles early on the trail. As a previous thru hiker, it is easy to believe you are in better shape than you really are. The last time you were on a trail you were in peak physical shape; but desk jobs and lazy Sundays have taken their toll and it is easy to believe you are in better shape than they really are. Almost every hiker that passed us is now resting in Warner Springs nursing and injury, but more on that later. 

There are a couple big differences between the PCT and the AT. First is the sun. Clara and I are both covered head to toe with sun protection. Being Irish I have a proclivity to drink and get sunburned. We joke that the goofier you look on the trail, the better your sun protection is (I look like I'm about to go on Safari and rob a bank at the same time). The intense sun is no joke and it is only going to get more intense as we move into the summer months and into even drier areas. Another big difference on the PCT is the vast views you can see. During the day we have turned around and still see where we slept a day and a half ago (25-30 miles). When we are on top of the mountains we can look across the valley and see the trail go up the next hillside which might be a better part of a day away. This makes judging distances very difficult. If you were on the AT and you saw a landmark, you might be 20-30 minutes away, on the PCT a landmark might still be a day away. Another huge difference on the PCT is water. The amount and quality of water you drink is very different. On the AT, I tried to drink from natural springs whenever possible and carried at most 2 liters of water with me. So far the most I have had to carry is 6 liters of water, but have capacity for 8 when going into the Mojave. I knew from the start of the trail I was going to have to carry more water, but the sources are a lot different. Several times we have had to take side trails down to a junction and pull water out of the cow troughs to get us to the next water source; it is what it is and that is why we carry water filters with us. 

Ohh and in case you were wondering, I did in fact sit on a cactus... no it was not when I was going to the bathroom. I must have been tired from all the hiking and not noticed it, but trust me, it's better than caffeine for waking you up. 

Sun Protection!

Sweet Picture

One of the cow troughs we drink out of

We made it to mile 100!

These cactus glow during the sunrise and sunset

Crossing one of the many saddles

Heading North

On 4/5 we did 15.4 miles to Hauser Creek and slept at 2,260 feet. On 4/6 we did 18.6 miles to just after Cibbets road and slept at 4,810 feet.

Okay, so I actually never listened to the whole song of "Here I go Again" by White Snake. Clara told me to watch the music video for it and, after I watched it, the only thing I could say is I am glad that I don't remember the 80's, I might as well have suggested listening to the "Final Countdown" by Europe. What a strange era, the amount of hair spray everyone was using probably contributed the the holes in the atmosphere.

The beginning of the trail is a very arid region and the first water supply is at Mile 20. The reference material suggested hikers should start hydrating 2-3 weeks before the trail and to limit caffeine and alcohol intake to ensure you are completely hydrated before setting of into the desert. Well, I had a lot of good intentions of limiting my coffee and beer consumption but I just couldn't find the will power to to kick 2 out of my 3 biggest vices. Plus there were a lot of going away parties and final good byes that just so happened to take place at the bars. I figured once I got to San Diego and hung out with Clara's Parents in the city for a few days before departing for the trail we would relax and be done with the celebrating. Unfortunately there was a perfect storm of beautiful weather, craft beer tours, awesome seafood and great conversations which led to the indulging of more than a few beverages. I guess I started the Appalachian Trail with a stomach full of malt and hops, I might as well keep the tradition alive. Plus I was never really good at taking advice.

While in San Diego in-between the sight seeing and beach walking we managed to get our first two resupplies purchased. Unlike the AT where you can stop frequently into towns to get a resupply, the PCT resupplies are more spread out, and when you do get to town, some of them don't have much more than a convenience store. When we went to the store to resupply, we bought food for the first 3 days of the trail and then bought an additional 4 days of food for later down the trail. We took the additional food to the post office and mailed it to ourselves. We will be using this hybrid resupply strategy for the duration of the trip, where each time we stop, we will look ahead to the next few resupply points and determine if they have a grocery store, and if they don't, we will purchase extra food and send it to ourselves. I will admit, I took slight pleasure during our resupply shopping watching Clara's face as I grabbed boxes of snickers, dozens of tuna packets and four jars of peanut butter, bricks of cheese and then asked her very important questions like do you want the Spanish instant rice or the Mexican instant rice? I promised her that we would be so tired during the hike that everything will taste good, she responded that she wish she had blood tests done before the trail, to see what all of this "food" was going to do to her body. 

The start of journey commenced on Cinco de Mayo when Clara's parents dropped us off at the US/Mexico border in Campo. We took the obligatory photos in front of the southern terminus monument and made sure we touched the actual border wall. The border patrol was there to send us on our way by doing fly overs in their helicopters and airplanes as well as kicking up dust in their 4x4 just to commemorate the start.

Within the first few miles of the trail I became befuddled by the amount of vegetation I saw along the trail. Everything I read about the trail said it would be starting in the desert. I asked Clara about it and she said this was the desert, and if I was expecting the Sahara desert? The sad part is that I actually was expecting the Sahara and I don't know which is worst; the fact that I intended to walk across a barron dessert full of sand dunes for fun, or that I thought this sort of desert existed an hour outside San Diego.

Once I got my head wrapped around the idea I wasn't going to be walking from oasis to oasis I started to recognize  the extreme diversity of plants along the trail. From one ridge to the next the fauna changed dramatically from cactus, sage, manzanita, to hill sides of wild flowers, live oaks and missile toe. I was surprised to see oaks in the desert, but not nearly as suprised when I saw a flocks of turkey roaming around them. If oak trees and turkeys weren't enough to have me questioning where I was; on 4/6 it was raining all day with a high of 55 degrees. This desert is not good at being a desert

and we are off

The start with our support team

so far the trail has been easy to find

Saw this mountain from a fat, debated with Clara if the trail went up and over it... it did

Good thing there is no such thing as fashion points out here.

FAQ

Spring is here and Summer is around the corner, and since I gained all of my weight back from my last trail, I now need to get into shape for bathing suit season.  So, what better way to do it than to hike the Pacific Crest Trail?!  There are a few questions I have been asked over and over, so I thought I would answer them here.  Before you read on, go ahead and turn up your speakers and play Here I Go Again by Whitesnake.

Did you know when you got done with the Appalachian Trail you were going to do the Pacific Crest Trail?

Nope, I had no Idea I was going to do the PCT.  In fact, I thought the next long distance trail I would attempt was going to be Te Araora in New Zealand in one or two years. Then I was sitting looking at a map of the PCT in Clara's Apartment and was convinced otherwise. First of all, the PCT goes through California, Oregon, and Washington, which are three states I have not been too (Yes, I know it’s stupid I have traveled to many Western European countries, and a good chunk of the Eastern European countries but still have never been to California), so I think it is really cool to see a part of the United States I have never seen before. Besides checking out states I have never been to, I noticed the trail goes through so many amazing places that I have always wanted to visit: It skirts the Mojave Desert, goes through Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park, Yosemite, Lassen, Crater Lake, and will even give me a chance to Climb Mt. Whitney.  Overall the PCT will pass through 25 national forests and 7 national parks. Many of these areas are on my bucket list and would take years of planning and logistics to visit, so I was amazed to realize I could experience them all in one journey. So, after staring at the map for hours and hours (I should mention the Map was mounted across from the toilet), I knew it was something I wanted to do. Once I knew I wanted to do it, I did the most logical thing next, I stood up on a bar stool in Clara's apartment and exclaimed lets hike the PCT! I think I threw her for a loop since 5 minutes before that we were talking about where we wanted to eat that night. She didn’t say no, but she did look at me like I was an idiot (I now know that look very well). Over the next few weeks we discussed it at length and finally we agreed to hike it together, we set the start date of May 5th and let the details fall in place over the last few months.

On a side note I think it is really interesting the relationship Clara has with the PCT is the relationship I had with the AT before my thru hike. The AT was my “local” big trail. I learned to backpack on or near the trail and was familiar with the landscape as well as the ecology in the lower sections of the trail, and while there were surprises all along the way, the trail felt very familiar to me, at least until I got to New Jersey/New York when the trail takes on a slightly different terrain. In the same way, Clara grew up hiking on or around the PCT and has already informed me with in depth facts of the landscape and fauna. This is her “local” big trail, and while she may not be as familiar with the northern sections of the trail, I have a feeling she is going to experience a sense of belonging in the southern sections. 

So you hiked the Appalachian Trail, that should make the Pacific Crest Trail easy, right?

Well, yes and no. There are not a ton of similarities between the AT and the PCT (Trust me, I thought there were until I actually did research on it).  They are both long distance trails, the AT is 2,200 miles long and the PCT is 2,600 miles long but, besides being a long distance hike, they are very different. The AT is wet, like really wet, like really really wet; the PCT on the other hand, is a lot drier.  When we are in the desert we will have to carry 6-8 liters of water on us vs. the normal 2 liters of water carried on the AT. The AT was a beautiful trail, but it can be described as a long green tunnel, which is partially true. In contrast, the PCT varies so much from the initial desert walks, to climbing up through the Sierras, then hot volcanic Lassen, followed by the wet, cold Cascades. If you leave early or finish late on the PCT you need an ice ax and sometimes crampons. The highest point on the AT is Klingmans Dome in the Smokies at 6,600 feet; the highest point on the PCT is Forester Pass at 13,000 feet. The PCT is also only a short side trail away from Mt. Whitney which, at 14,500 feet, this is another BIG difference. On the PCT there are endless numbers of side trails to natural points of interest that most people will only read about; on the AT, there was never really a good reason to get off trail, unless you were going in town for a beer. Speaking of towns, resupplying is much different on the PCT. On the AT, there were a lot of road crossings and towns were rarely more than 5-8 miles from the crossing; on the PCT road crossings are much less frequent and the hitches are further.  A couple of the hitches are more than 50 miles and even with that some of the towns that we will hitch into are very small, so we will have to mail ourselves some of our resupplies since a grocery store will not be available at each stop. I could keep going and highlight more differences, but this paragraph is getting long and I believe I have made my case.

Hold on a second, you’re hiking this trail with Clara, do you think that’s a good idea? I mean, you two haven’t even lived in the same city.

Well I don’t think it’s a bad idea and apparently neither does Clara. Starting a hike is all about timing and the timing is now. I don’t see the point in waiting to move to a new city and setting down roots just to leave everything to hike a trail the following year. I (we) figured that while I transitioned from Cincinnati to DC, it opened up a window to do the PCT and Clara was game for it. Personally, I am at my best when I am really hot, dehydrated and hungry so there is no way we will ever get into any tiffs on the trail! Besides, if ever we are having a bad day (which is highly unlikely) we have a trick up our sleeves: we bought a tent the size of an RV.  We can both be in the tent at the same time and not even see each other (ok, maybe just not touch each other). When it is all said and done, I am not worried about hiking with a partner.  She really cares for me - so much so she already took out a large life insurance policy on me.

Wait a second; you guys have only been dating since June? Weren’t you hiking the AT in June last year?

Well that’s an interesting story which involves running through the entirety of the Shenandoah’s, a train and a bonfire. The rest of the details I will have to fill you in on over beers.

Okay, Okay one last question about Clara and you. Do you think other hikers will make fun of you for having all matching gear?

Yes.

Shouldn’t this trail cost less since you already have all of the gear?

Unfortunately not. Very little of my gear survived the AT. My pack was falling apart, my tent had more holes in it than my resume does, and all of my clothes looked like they went through a paper shredder (also, no matter how many times you wash your clothes, they still smell). Very few pieces of outdoor equipment are designed to withstand the abuse of a thru hike. I am able to reuse my sleeping bag, my hiking poles and my headlamp and knife, but almost everything else is new. I had the luxury of testing out my hiking style on the AT and then make the changes I wanted for the PCT, plus hiking with a partner throws a new twist into things. Not only will we need a bigger tent, but we will need to be able to cook food quicker to avoid two ravenously hungry hikers from imploding at each meal. Even with having to buy new gear, I still believe thru hiking is relatively cheap; there are not many adventures you can go on for 5-6 months that are so inexpensive. 

When do you think you will be done with the trail?

I am thinking late September. We are starting the trail a little later than the average start date, but that was decidedly partly to ensure that a lot of the snow had melted in the high Sierras, which had the chance of being above average due to El Nino. We can put in more miles per day on the PCT than the AT since the grade is easier, but I don't want to be a mile monster (nor do I think my partner will let me). There is pressure to not linger, however. Come late September, nothing is guaranteed through the Cascades which can easily be snowed in by an early winter storm and end any hopes of finishing a thru hike.

Okay last question, will you see any moose?

God I hope so. I googled the habitat of moose and it looks like I go through Moose Territory in upper Washington State, but no blogs about the PCT mention anything about Moose, so if I don’t see one I’ll just have to hike the Continental Divide Trail next.