“The Pacific Crest Trail spans 2,650 miles (4,265 kilometers) from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington. It is a National Scenic Trail. It reveals the beauty of the desert, unfolds the glaciated expanses of the Sierra Nevada, travels deep forests, and provides commanding vistas of volcanic peaks in the Cascade Range. The trail symbolizes everything there is to love — and protect — in the Western United States.”
– Pacific Crest Trail Association
The PCT is one of the United States’ most iconic long-distance trails, probably second only to the Appalachian Trail, and as soon as I confirmed that I enjoy long-distance hiking I knew that it was a trail I wanted to do. My journey there was rocky – I started making plans in 2013, immediately after finishing the Arizona Trail, but due to injuries and a detour to the Heysen I didn’t set foot on the PCT until 2018. That trip was also disrupted by injury, but ultimately I managed to complete the second half of the trail (Burney to Canada) and returned in 2019 to hike the first quarter from Mexico to Kennedy Meadows. Life continues, long-distance plans are disrupted and I’m unsure when I’ll be able to complete my third and final LASH, but I look forward to returning to the PCT again.
For now, check out my journals below.
PACIFIC CREST TRAIL JOURNALS
2018
1. Introduction
2. Screwed
3. Progress
4. Don’t Panic
5. The Dark Void of Too Much Information
6. A++
7. Almost There
8. Day 1
9. Coughing up a Lung
10. Meeting Thru-Hikers
11. Coldpocalypse
12. Land of Poison Oak
13. Break from the Heat
14. You’re Doing it Wrong
15. Public Nudity = Bad
16. Meat-Eating Deer
17. Hurrah for Elevation!
18. Bearish
19. Lizard Love
20. Imma Take a Break
21. Wind and Hail and Snow, Oh My
22. NO ITUNES STORE
23. Demonstration for the Children
24. The Wall of Snow
25. Not Anything
26. In Some Form
27. Eaten
28. Marbleland
29. Camp Coordinator
30. Welcome to the State of Jefferson
31. Solo Hiker Socializing
32. The Climb
33. Bleep Bloop
34. Hello Oregon
35. Suspicious Hammock Users
36. Beginning of the Spiral
37. Middle of the Spiral
38. Middle of the Spiral (2)
39. End of the Spiral
40. Gone for Good
41. 0/3
42. Squishable
43. Squirrel Fiver
44. Grider Canyon is the Whipping Boy
45. Clouds of Evil
46. General Bumbleheads
47. Lonesome Complex
48. Hiker Hangout
49. Do I Look Like the Teacher
50. Rim Walk
51. First Trail Magic
52. Highs and Lows
53. Cache #2
54. Wah
55. The Wisdom of Dodgy Pieces of Paper
56. Slinkster
57. The Mosquitoes Weren’t Driving Me Towards Suicide Today
58. Forest and Lakes, Forest and Lakes
59. Plastic Totes
60. Weird and Amazing
61. Lava!
62. Why No Picture
63. Fancy Chocolates
64. In the Spirit of Being a Good Daughter
65. For the Sake of Protecting Humanity
66. With the Appearance of Death
67. Zen
68. That’ll Show It
69. PCT Hikers Are Spoiled AF
70. The Feeling of a Distracted Parent
71. Hereeee’s Johnny
72. Good Outcome, Bad Action
73. Grider Canyon of Outhouses
74. Arrival in Cascade Locks
75. Cascade Locks
76. Sauna
77. Most Useless Pump Ever
78. Nine Miles of Climbing
79. Cute, but Yeah
80. The Great Tragedy
81. A Thickshake Is a Proper Milkshake
82. Zero in Trout Lake
83. Drive-By
84. Not Demonic
85. Sisyphus
86. Knife’s Edge
87. So Much Smoke
88. Poor Bees
89. Non-Elkish
90. Misery Loves Company
91. I Hate People
92. Blowdown Mountain
93. Ultramarathon Day
94. Arrival at Snoqualmie Pass
95. Blue Skies
96. Clearer Skies
97. Suspicious Deer in Washington
98. LASHer
99. Over Cathedral Pass
100. Fun/Scary
101. Scraggly
102. Mountaineers Stevens Lodge Is Awesome
103. Visit to Seattle
104. Leaving Stevens Pass
105. Unruly Mice
106. But What Does It Mean
107. Cruddy Thing
108. Marmots Being Adorable, as per Usual
109. Morale and Courage
110. Arrival at Holden Village
111. Chocolate Bars and Toothpicks
112. Sticky Bun Sadface
113. Combork
114. The Tragedy of Electronics
115. Zero
116. Rainless
117. Detouring
118. Crossing the Border
119. Manning Park
120. Goodbye PCT
121. Concluding Thoughts
All Entries
2019
1. Introduction
2. Permit Day #2
3. Lessons Learned
4. Gear Sadventures
5. To Los Angeles
6. Tar Pits!
7. A Machine Gave Me That
8. It’s Legal Tender
9. Don’t Give Her That Beer
10. Trust No One, Even Yourself
11. Run Free
12. Views + Views
13. Mixed Bag
14. Bizarro High Precipitation Zone
15. Life Is One Big Missed Opportunity
16. As Many as You Want
17. Digging for Relics
18. Prove You Love Me by Backtracking on a Slope
19. As the Crow Flies is Bogus
20. Bee Tree
21. Warner Springs Zero
22. Awww Heysen
23. Making Camp in Early Afternoon is Best
24. Bikes Are Like Boo
25. Cutely Tumbling
26. Ah Live Oak Spring
27. Desert Divide
28. Fall
29. Chores Day
30. Face Stuffing
31. 50,000 Trucks
32. Back on the PCT
33. Crazy Windy Trails
34. Canyons
35. Disappointment Cabin
36. Lurking in the Bushes
37. Joshua Trees!
38. Zero #1
39. Zero #2
40. Two Spigots
41. See Ya Later
42. Happy Day
43. Deep Creek
44. Wilderness Somewhere
45. Short Day
46. Been to McDonalds
47. Zero in Mojave
48. Oh the Shame
49. Most Important
50. Tehachapi Mountains
51. The Roof is SO SHOT
52. Aquaduct Day
53. Leaving Hikertown
54. Women in Love
55. First and Only Mosquito
56. War of Attrition
57. Big Baby
58. Non-Sadist
59. Find the Proper Grocery Store
60. Paling in Comparison to Ghost-Related Fanfiction
61. NO LOW HANGING CLOUDS
62. Thou Shalt Not Flap
63. Thanks for the Easement, but Ten Feet Sucks
64. Soggy PCT
65. A Photogenic Day
66. The Creepy Classmate
67. Return of the Fake Rocks
68. Lake Isabella
69. Return of the Comb
70. Five Rides
71. Windchill x 100
72. Automatoning
73. Sittin’ on my Tractor
74. Give My KM People Back
75. It’s Late May, Okay?
76. When Even the Ramen Is Posh
77. Hold No Hope in Your Heart
78. Like Someone Who Anticipates Being Eaten by Rats
79. Looks Like a Nightmare
80. Better Stakes Than Poles
81. Love You Zpacks and My Tent
82. Well-Behaved Deer
83. Back to the KOA
84. Concluding Thoughts
All Entries
PCT website, managed by the Pacific Crest Trail Association: https://www.pcta.org/
PCT journals: https://www.trailjournals.com/journals/Pacific_Crest_Trail
