PCT Day 66: A Hot And Sweaty Climb Out Of Belden, Then… More Snow

Miles hiked today: 16.6 (+ 1 mile road walk) Miles hiked total NOBO: 745.3 Miles hiked total SOBO: 60.9 We have all our things packed by 7, then head out to the road to try and get a hitch. There are hardly any cars going by this early in the morning, so we start walking, […]

PCT Day 65: So Many Creek Crossings I Lose Count

Miles hiked today: 11.6 Miles hiked total NOBO: 745.3 Miles hiked total SOBO: 44.3 We decided last night to wake up at 5, leave at 6. But when Odin wakes MVP and I this morning, we plead for ‘5 more minutes’. So Odin says “wake up at 6, leave at 7?”. And we all sleep […]

PCT Day 64: The Precipitation Covered Trail

Miles hiked today: 13.4 Miles hiked total NOBO: 745.3 Miles hiked total SOBO: 32.7 I wake up at 5:30 with the fabric of my tent flapping in my face. The wind has ripped one of my tent stakes out of the ground, so I guess I have to get out of my comfy nest and […]

PCT Day 63: Bear Poo, More Snow, And Long Awaited Trail Magic

Miles hiked today: 18.1 Miles hiked total NOBO (northbound): 745.3 Miles hiked total SOBO (southbound): 19.3 Odin has to wake me up in the morning as I am dead to the world. Once I am awake, packed and almost ready to go, I send Clams a picture of the animal scat – she says it’s […]

PCT Days 60, 61 and 62: A 7-Car, 400-Mile, Hitchhiking Adventure

I wake up on the floor in the living room of our airbnb. Odin cooks French toast for us for breakfast, then we start to pack up and tidy the apartment. We need to go to the store and pick up a little more food, because the itinerary we have planned actually puts us on […]

PCT Day 59: Making Tough Decisions In Lone Pine

Miles hiked today: 7 (+2.2 miles on side trails) Miles hiked total: 745.3 Once again, we have planned to set off at first light, so I set my alarm for 4am. It is an eerily still morning to wake up to, as if secret magical things are happening just outside the confines of my tent, […]

PCT Day 58: Nobody Wants Wet Feet At 6am

Miles hiked today: 19.1 Miles hiked total: 738.3 We are awake before the birdsong starts, before sunrise. The moon is still bright though, so I pack away without the help of my headtorch. Packing up has become a chore again, thanks to the heavy and bulky bear canister. It is so unyielding, and makes the […]

PCT Day 57: Meadows! Trees! Water! – Welcome To The Sierra

Miles hiked today: 17 Miles hiked total: 719.2 Overnight, condensation strikes again. I have another problem though – I bought a small inflatable mattress to use in the Sierras, as it will be colder at higher elevation. However, using the mattress puts me too high in my tent, with my face almost pressed to the […]

PCT Days 55 and 56: It’s All Fun And Games Until Someone Steals Your Sleeping Bag

Miles hiked: 0 Miles hiked total: 702.2 I wake up in my camp spot at the general store in Kennedy Meadows. Breakfast isn’t until 8, so I have plenty of time to pack away before then. While waiting for breakfast I do a few chores, but most of the things I need to do require […]

PCT Day 54: Saying Goodbye To The Desert

Miles hiked today: 19.1 Miles hiked total: 702.2 I take my time packing away, so it is already hot when I start hiking at 7:20. There is a heavy climb at first, up through tree cover so that I cannot tell where the trail is going. But then I emerge onto a green hillside, alive […]