Category: PCT 2018

I’ll keep this short and mostly to the point. Sleeping in today was amazing, wit that being said, sleeping in a BED was delightful. We stayed up way too late on Thursday catching up with friends and family. Our KFC dinner that Kelly provided totally hit the spot after our 21 mile day.

Our bags exploded today in expectation of chores. We gathered our smelly laundry, had breakfast at the Village Grind in Wrightwood (very cute) and made a stop for boxes at the post office. Justin picked up his backpack and Laura had a box from her parents and her husband. Next we drove down into Rancho Cucamonga and ransacked the local REI for a few supplies. I desperately needed a new pair of shorts again, my tan ones were falling off. Ladies, this isn’t what I’d call the best diet plan but it’s sure a lot of exercise. And never the less, this weight loss won’t be sustainable whenever I finish. Anywho, the new shorts are a little longer so I’ll have an even worse set of tan lines as the days goes forward. I also picked up a new filter since mine had been clogging fast and I’d had it for a while.

After REI, someone was hungry, I won’t mention any names but it wasn’t me. We rolled through Chick-Fil-A for a snack and then headed over to the laundromat. Never a bad time there. .

Laundry done and we made a few more stops at FedEx, Ralph’s and CVS. Then of course it was time to eat again, yay Mexican food!!! Always delicious I had sopes at Taco Hut.

After that it was time to head back to Wrightwood. Kelly and Justin went to see the town for about an hour, while Laura and I worked on our food packing and bounce boxes. It’s always a struggle to pack all our food and figure out how much we overbought. From there it’s which town will we stop in next so that we can pick up the voice box with supplies again.

I was able to make a few phone calls to catch up with my Pops and a few friends. The night went by fast. We grabbed food one more time and then back to the cabin for some quick sleep. Tomorrow we will climb up Mt. Baden Powell to an elevation of 9,407ft. Gonna be a cold night up there. Next stop will be the town of Agua Dulce.

Miles 347-369

After surviving another windy night, this morning we woke to clouds surrounding us. They didn’t appear to look good either. I pulled the weather for Wrightwood off my Garmin as we didn’t have cell service. The forecast was lows in the 30s with a slight chance of snow. Awesome. We packed up, bundled up and head out by 9am. The Initial plan for today was to hike 13 miles to a campsite. Our starting elevation was 3,567ft and the campsite we had planned on was at 8,101ft so we knew it would be a big day no matter what.

Plans of course changed when we thought about how cold it was going to be at that altitude. I also knew Kelly had already made a reservation for this evening and Friday at a place in Wrightwood. I talked it over the Laura and Justin and we decided that if we all felt good, we’d shoot for a 21 mile day and Kelly would pick us up at mile 369.

For most of the day we were nestled in with the clouds. It was definitely cold, we were rained on a little and eventually snowed on for about half a minute. And of course, it was windy.

Eventually the clouds broke just enough to improve the moral. By the time we were at the “downhill 6 more miles” mark and Justin had eaten his last McDonalds cheeseburger, it was total survival mode 🙂 Get off the mountain, get to a room, get a shower and some food. I text Kelly when I knew she was close to town and told her we’d be down in about 2 hours. Sure enough, just before 7pm she was waiting for us at Hwy 2 where the PCT crosses.

She’s a gem. She totally spoiled us by purchasing KFC–Justin was so excited. And then making us small brownie desserts. Tomorrow we will take the day off for chores: laundry, resupply, post office and a trip to REI for a few items. I should say we were all super excited for a shower as this was our longest stretch without one. I know, gross.

So a 21 mile day in the books. That’s my longest day ever. Again, pretty proud of our little group. And thanks to Kel for being the motivation for a few extra miles today.

Miles 328-347

It was another frosty wake up. The temperature and moisture from the Silverwood Lake did us no favors last night. We all had some degree of frozen condensation on our tents. Drags and Wiley who had cowboy camped near us, were up just as early as I was. They started a fire in one of the barbecue pits. I joined them with my quilt in hand. It needed some heat to dry up before it was stuffed for the day. I chatted with Drags and Wiley for a bit and found out that they were acquaintances in high school. But a mutual friend had told them about the PCT so here they are together. They had camped with us at Splinters Cabin a few night ago but I didn’t get a chance to talk with them then.

Laura and Justin weren’t far behind to join us at the fire. Lauras hiking shorts were frozen as were my extra pair of socks. We each have tried to stay as clean as possible. She was the one who told me about hanging a clothesline in my tent.

The only plan we had for the day was to make it to Mcdonalds which was about 13 miles. After that, I was hoping to just get out of the huge group of hikers we’d been lingering around. With most of our gear frozen, we didn’t leave Silverwood until 9am. The next time I looked at the time it was 1145 and we still had almost 8 miles to get to McDonalds. Once we started back up I just put my head down and let my legs do the work. I pushed as hard as I could and cranked out those miles by 230pm I think. Of course the last 2 miles dropping down into the I-15 corridor were super awesome but also windy. A little treacherous as we walked a ridge and had a terrible crosswind. It was pretty exhilarating though!!!!

Once at the bottom of Crowder Canyon, we walked the .4 miles up to the restaurant. Of course the band of hikers were all there, prob 10 others not including us 3. To our liking every one of them were headed to a hotel there. Evidently they give PCT rates at the Best Western. So we were happy to find out we’d be the only ones continuing on for the day.

We ordered a few more items to take with. I grabbed 2 cheeseburgers–which I just ate at 8pm, Laura grabbed some hashbrowns and a apple pie, and Justin ordered a chicken sandwich but he just realized he forgot to ask for no mayo, so now he’s slightly disappointed. It was a nice place to chill out but I think I’ve had enough McDs for a while. Wait, I did have some ice cream and I’ll always go back for that!

Anyway, the rest of the evenings walk was filled with laughter and stunning views. And wind. There’s always wind. More ridge walks with wind, more climbing with wind. One more setting up of the tent in wind hoping it doesn’t come crashing down. It’s supposed to be at least in the 30s again. I’m bundled as best as possible and ready to hunker down for the night.

On a side note, just as we dropped into Swarthout Canyon where we are camping, I stopped to chat with 2 hikers who were setting up. For any of you who follow PCT or AT hikers, I met Darwin today. Super nice guy. Super fast as well, he started the PCT on April 3, and he’s done 347 miles already. His buddy Fastpack start 2 days after Darwin. I heard Darwin was out here but had no intention of even crossing paths with him, but it happened so I thought it was worth sharing. And of course I had to ask for a groupie photo.

We get pretty accomplished today. 19 miles in total. Plan for tomorrow is to get as close to Wrightwood as possible but it looks like a long grind in there. Justin and Laura are on the hunt for new shoes once we get to Wrightwood so these past few days for them have been a chore to say the least. Kelly is meeting us there on Friday so it should be a fun day for sure!

I’m still feeling really good. My knee does better with a brace so I’ll keep that up. I carried 5 liters of water from McDonalds as we don’t have reliable water until Wrightwood. Considering my pack isn’t full of food too, the balance seems to be working. My body holding up was my biggest worry when I started this endeavor. Evaluating how I feel almost 4 weeks in, I’m still pretty damn pleased.

Have a great day guys! Miss you all.