Thursday, May 23, 2019 - 4 miles The hotel wouldn’t hold my backpack after I checked out in the morning, so I carried it around as I completed my remaining chores: mailing the remnants of my bounce box to the Acton KOA, leaving extra food in the hiker box and picking up a forgotten item …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 70: Hold No Hope in Your Heart
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - 9.20 miles I got an early start today to complete the nine miles to Inspiration Point/Wrightwood before the snow began this afternoon. Despite my hatred for low-hanging clouds, I was charmed to see a cloudbow: https://www.flickr.com/photos/187104378@N07/49576387717/in/dateposted-public/ Great views continued in the cold. https://www.flickr.com/photos/187104378@N07/49575478173/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/187104378@N07/49575984606/in/dateposted-public/ I started hitting patchy snow around …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 69: When Even the Ramen Is Posh
Tuesday, May 21, 2019 - 15.80 miles Even around 3000 ft, low-hanging clouds were making themselves a nuisance this morning. https://www.flickr.com/photos/187104378@N07/49574272676/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/187104378@N07/49573839673/in/dateposted-public/ The temperature was cold until the sun began peeking out, then warmed to hot during the steady ~4800 ft grind uphill. I took a dirt road alternate for better views of Mt. Baldy and …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 68: It’s Late May, Okay?
Monday, May 20, 2019 - 1.70 miles I found an earwig in my tent when I woke up this morning. DIE. Frost was there too, and I waited for the friendly sun before walking to the store, which serves breakfast from 8-10 AM: all-you-can-eat pancakes with eggs, hashbrowns, sausage/bacon and orange juice (or possibly the …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 67: Give My KM People Back
Sunday, May 19, 2019 - 8.20 miles My tent was dry and the sky was blue when I woke up at 6:00 AM. That’s... not what I was promised... I had been planning to wait out the bad weather in my tent, but when no precipitation materialized except for a sprinkle of rain during breakfast, …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 66: Sittin’ on My Tractor
Saturday, May 18, 2019 - 21 miles The weather forecast is predicting a dump of precipitation for tonight and tomorrow, so my goal for today was to get past the high elevation section around Bear Mountain and camp in Rockhouse Basin. Unfortunately that meant walking ~21 miles, which I estimated would take me around fourteen …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 65: Automatoning
Friday, May 17, 2019 - 15.40 miles The wind was brutal this morning and I had to keep bracing myself with my poles. Clouds in the west were spilling over the mountains into a blue eastern sky. https://www.flickr.com/photos/187104378@N07/49572126636/in/dateposted-public/ With the windchill the air was like ice, forcing me to put on my gloves. It turns …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 64: Windchill x 100
Thursday, May 16, 2019 Ah backtracking. You're the worst ❤ . At least I could make a day trip of this backtracking, unlike my two-day escapade returning to Ashland during PCT 2018. I packed up my food and other scented items, then set off through the low-hanging clouds and light rain towards Walker Pass. Three …
Wednesday, May 15, 2019 - 4.70 miles After a leisurely morning, I visited the post office to pick up my microspikes (blasted things) and walked to the bus stop to wait for the 12:30 PM bus to Walker Pass/Ridgecrest. Boston Chris joined me there and we met several friendly fellow passengers who eTrails would describe …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 62: Return of the Comb
Tuesday, May 14, 2019 - 0.70 miles https://www.flickr.com/photos/187104378@N07/49571609468/in/dateposted-public/ Walker Pass Campground I walked the remaining distance to Walker Pass this morning and quickly caught a ride to Lake Isabella with a fisherman. Of course I headed straight to a restaurant for breakfast, marveling at the lightness of my pack with zero food in it, and …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 61: Lake Isabella
Monday, May 13, 2019 - 16.70 miles My gorgeous view was hazy this morning, perhaps because of blowing dust. After a long stretch of forest, the PCT merged with a dirt road through hot exposed country. I was hungry and began feeling unwell. I kept thinking that the road was actually flat and the bumps …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 60: Return of the Fake Rocks
Sunday, May 12, 2019 - 12 miles The weather and scenery were wonderful again today. Near Bird Spring Pass, I met a woman who asked whether I was a section hiker because she hadn’t seen many thru-hikers stopping to take pictures. I also stop to talk to skittering lizards, whispering furtively so that no one …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 59: The Creepy Classmate
Saturday, May 11, 2019 - 15.20 miles The sky was beautifully blue when I woke up this morning. I continued through the pines to Landers Camp, which is 0.2 miles off-trail but has a tank with water presumably of better quality than the creeks surrounded by cow droppings. eTrails describes the Piute Road source as …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 58: A Photogenic Day
Friday, May 10, 2019 - 12 miles I woke during the night to flashes of light. I’ve not weathered a thunderstorm in a tent before. My poor tent - I’ve patched more of the holes, but it’s not what one would call waterproof anymore. I had trouble falling asleep again, and the lightning seemed to …
Thursday, May 09, 2019 - 12.30 miles Another windy night, though at least the wind died away in the early hours of the morning. My tent did well despite the pole needing readjusting, but everything inside was covered with a layer of fine dust since I began the night with the doors open. https://www.flickr.com/photos/187104378@N07/49571979856/in/dateposted-public/ All …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 56: Thanks for the Easement, but Ten Feet Sucks
Wednesday, May 08, 2019 - 11.70 miles Rather than dying away during the night, the wind switched directions so that my tent was less sheltered. My hiking pole contracted slightly with the force, plus I had pitched the tent with the pole handle facing upwards (have I mentioned yet that my pole has made a …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 55: Thou Shalt Not Flap
Tuesday, May 07, 2019 - 4.10 miles Around 4:00 AM, I woke to the sound of cars rushing past on the road above. People commuting to LA for work? I checked the forecast for Wrightwood. Two days with lots of rain, two days with a small amount of rain and some other cloudy days. I …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 54: NO LOW HANGING CLOUDS
Monday, May 06, 2019 - 9.90 miles I was only planning to walk to the Acton KOA today, so I took my time in the morning and chatted for awhile with a NOBO hiker (apparently there are other people heading SOBO but they are a mysterious, yet to be encountered species) with the excellent trail …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 53: Paling in Comparison to Ghost-Related Fanfiction
Sunday, May 05, 2019 I took a zero in Aqua Dulce today, picking up my freshly washed clothes before walking to town for breakfast. My socks were amazingly clean and soft and nice-smelling. How? The only rational conclusion is ‘sorcery’. https://www.flickr.com/photos/187104378@N07/49571004238/in/dateposted-public/ Breakfast in Aqua Dulce At the general store, I bought supplies to supplement those …
Continue reading Pacific Crest Trail (2019) 52: Find the Proper Grocery Store
Saturday, May 04, 2019 - 14.90 miles Butterflies showed up in amazing numbers today, favouring a certain type of bush that lined sections of the trail. Wikipedia says: 'V. Cardui [the painted lady] is known for its distinct migratory behaviour. In California, they are usually seen flying from north to north-west. These migrations appear to …
BANE OF THE TRAIL 