With Town hitching a ride with an awesome volunteer/trail angel at the WACC (Washington Alpine Club Cabin) I was the last one left of the original trail family. Bird was of course my new trail family, who I was so happy to have with me, but it is a hard thing to watch chapters come …
Our merry group of three headed out after resupplying in Trout Lake. The trail started out in a large burn and there were dead branches and snagged trees everywhere forcing us to keep an eye on the ground and the things above us. Tragedy had struck days before for a German hiker who had sadly …
Town and I worked our way around Mt Hood, zooming past many hikers doing the Timberline Trail. Backpacking season was in full swing and it felt veritably crowded since we were passing through the Timberline Lodge area on a Saturday. The trail wound up and down following the contours of the volcano looming above us. …
After thanking my mom and saying goodbye, Bolo, Town, Happy Feet and I left Bend. My dad offered to give us a ride up to the top of McKenzie Pass, where we had left the PCT five days earlier, so we headed back to trail on a beautiful sunny day. After attending trail days and …
After having completed my personal challenge day of 50 miles my feet felt like they had been through a tenderizer. Waking up the next morning at my parents house in a bed felt surreal after having pushed myself so hard the previous day and sleeping in a tent for the last several months, but I …
Continue reading PCT 12: Breaks From the Trail and Bonus Miles
The first day in Oregon was a beautiful one. We could still see Shasta poking up over the horizon and yet it felt different since we were viewing it from another state. Town and I were still hiking with Snowcat and company who were all shooting for getting to Ashland on the same day. I …
After a quick goodbye with Bunyon and her parents I began climbing out of Dunsmuir with Bolo, Happy Feet, Town and Snowcat who was another PCT hiker who had gotten a ride with us. Saying goodbye to Bunyon changed up many things on the trail. Bunyon had been the person to hold our trail family …
Continue reading PCT 10: Trail Solitude and the Push to Oregon
We were having our definition of through hiking challenged by being at the halfway point in Northern California and realizing how much more there was to go. The biggest change in attitude with reaching the halfway point was that we had no more major obstacles between us and the Northern terminus, just 1,330 more miles. …
Get out of the snow! Find joy on the trail once more. That was the priority after a month of walking on snow, sleeping on snow and breaking trail through snow. Dealing with wet frozen feet all day long and forcing our way across overflowing rivers full of snow melt. This was becoming far more …
As we descended from the parking lot at Kiersarge Pass we looked back up to where we had come from. While dropping in elevation the mountains seemed to rise up higher and higher, truly letting us appreciate their size and dominance over the landscape. We called them home for the last week and a half …
Continue reading PCT 5: The Breaking of the Trail Family Fellowship
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