July 5, 2017
Sleeping in this morning was marvelous. Granted, it would have probably been nicer if it wasn’t so hot at night and if I miraculously found myself on a more comfortable mattress.
PCT 2017
Day 78: Fourth of July Push to Castella
July 4, 2017
Total daily miles: 19.3 miles
Total PCT miles: 1091.8 miles
Start: mile 1479.4
End: Castle Crags State Park Campground (mile 1498.7)
Total elevation gain/loss: 3902.2/4940 ft
We were up and out of camp before the other hikers were up. We immediately stopped to grab more water and then headed downhill to Squaw Valley Creek. The morning was relatively cool and we stayed in the shade for the first couple hours.
Day 77: Big Descents For Big Miles
July 3, 2017
Total daily miles: 27.8 miles
Total PCT miles: 1072.5 miles
Start: mile 1450.6
End: mile 1479.4
Total elevation gain/loss: 4600.7/7112.9 ft
What a long day — I’m exhausted! We spent the morning walking along the hillside, which was fairly exposed but awarded us with some awesome views. We skipped the first water source of the day (and in 10 miles) because it was off trail and we still had enough water to get us a couple miles further to a small spring flowing across the trail. What can I say, we’re lazy!
Day 76: Bears!
July 2, 2017
Total daily miles: 23.7 miles
Total PCT miles: 1043.7 miles
Start: mile 1427.9
End: mile 1450.6
Total elevation gain/loss: 4013.1/3171.9 ft
We started the morning hiking in trees and heavy brush again. The brush really slows me down and disrupts my hiking rhythm — especially the bushes with thorns!
The trail is in there somewhere…
Continue reading
Day 75: Burney Falls and River Swims
July 1, 2017
Total daily miles: 21.4 miles
Total PCT miles: 1021.0 miles
Start: Burney Mountain Guest Ranch (mile 1407.2)
End: mile 1427.9
Total elevation gain/loss: 3164.4/1725.1 ft
We were a bit slow getting out of the Burney Mountain Guest Ranch this morning (as is typical of our mornings out of town). The allure of some last minute wifi drew us in. Lucky, the Siamese cat, may have also contributed to the delay… We still made it out before any of the other hikers though!
Playing hard to get.
Continue reading
Day 74: … And I Will Walk 500 More!
June 30, 2017
Total daily miles: 13 miles
Total PCT miles: 1000.4 miles
Start: mile 1394.3
End: Burney Mountain Guest Ranch (mile 1407.2)
Total elevation gain/loss: 748.4/1468.5 ft
This morning we set off to finish the Hat Creek Rim and get to the Burney Mountain Guest Ranch to pick up our resupply package. My main concern of the morning was the upcoming section of trail through a lava rock field. It’s reportedly brutal on the feet and I’m still recovering from a heel blister I developed a couple days ago (my foot’s protest to walking again after almost a week off trail).
Day 73: Up Onto Hat Creek Rim
June 29, 2017
Total daily miles: 23.1 miles
Total PCT miles: 987.4 miles
Start: mile 1371.2
End: mile 1394.3
Total elevation gain/loss: 1665.4/2192.3
Today we hiked the infamous Hat Creek Rim. It’s known for being an especially hot and dry segment of the PCT plopped down in the middle of tree-covered mountain passes. We’d been warned to night hike the rim, but we didn’t really set ourselves up well for the timing to night hike and we honestly aren’t huge fans of night hiking to begin with. So daytime hiking it would be.
Day 72: Snow-Free Lassen
June 28, 2017
Total daily miles: 23.4 miles
Total PCT miles: 964.3 miles
Start: Warner Valley Campground (mile 1347.8)
End: mile 1371.2
Total elevation gain/loss: 1945.5/3051.2 ft
There’s something magical about waking up in the morning to find myself in a campground. There’s a picnic table to set my bag down on when I crawl out of my tent (picnic tables are the best!), and most importantly, there’s a toilet nearby. No morning cat hole digging for me!! This morning, we had the added suspense of opening the bear locker to see if our food bag was filled with holes from the local rodents. Did we make the correct choice last night? Yes we did, our bags were fully intact!
Day 71: Into Lassen We Go
June 27, 2017
Total daily miles: 18.8 miles
Total PCT miles: 940.9 miles
Start: Chester (mile 1328.8)
End: Warner Valley Campground (mile 1347.8)
Total elevation gain/loss: 3167/2573.8 ft
We were up to the smell of cinnamon rolls this morning! Yum! It was a nice treat to start my day with something other than trail food. Staying with Sean and Kari was such a treat — we immediately felt at home and like family.
We headed out to the trail head with Sean at about 6:30, trying to beat the heat and get a jump on our first day back on the trail. I was feeling a little creaky in the joints after six zeros, but the first few miles were a nice, easy reintroduction to the trail. It was largely flat and hidden in the woods, which made for a nice, cool morning of walking.
My first equestrian sighting on the PCT!
Continue reading
Days 65-70: Wedding Zeros, Part 2
June 21-26, 2017
We’ve been off trail for the last several days so that we could attend the wedding of a close friend from law school. It’s our second (and hopefully last) wedding of the PCT, and was a bit tricky to get to given that we were getting off trail in Chester, a small town in Northern California, and heading to the Adirondack mountains in northern New York. Not the most straightforward connection!
We were super lucky to be helped out by Terry. He made the 2.5 hour drive from his home in Carson City to pick us up in Chester and then took us back to his home so that we could wash up and get our stuff together. We enjoyed a day of showers (yay!), lots of laundry (including our sleeping bags and backpacks), plenty of food, and a couple naps.
two backpacks, no plan 