Day 73: Up Onto Hat Creek Rim

July 11, 2017July 11, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / 3 Comments

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.

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Day 71: Into Lassen We Go

July 6, 2017July 5, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / Leave a comment

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!

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Days 65-70: Wedding Zeros, Part 2

July 5, 2017July 5, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / 2 Comments

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.

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Day 64: Halfway to Canada! (Sort Of)

July 5, 2017July 5, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / Leave a comment

June 20, 2017

Total daily miles: 18.4 miles

Total PCT miles: 921.9 miles

Start: Robbers Spring (mile 1310.7)

End: Chester (mile 1328.8)

Total elevation gain/loss: 2705.1/3753.3 ft

We woke up at 4:30 again this morning even though we only had about 18 miles to get to town. We knew that there were another few miles of snow and we wanted to get to it while it was still crunchy. The climb up from the spring seemed like a steep way to start our day, but soon we were cruising.

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Day 55: Hitching to Sierra City

June 19, 2017June 22, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / 1 Comment

June 11, 2017

Considering how little experience we had with hitchhiking prior to starting the PCT, today’s goal was a big one: hitchhike over 400 miles from Bishop to Sierra City.

After breakfast, we headed to the north end of town and stuck out our thumbs. Lots of cars passed. Michael got to work on making our Tyvek ground sheet into a sign that read “PCT Hikers” in the hope that would attract more interest. Before he could finish the sign, a woman pulled over and we had our first ride! She was only going to Mammoth, but that would at least get us going.

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Day 43: Buggin’ Out

June 9, 2017June 9, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / 2 Comments

May 30, 2017

Total miles: 24.7 miles

Start: mile 664.4

End: mile 689.1

Total elevation gain/loss: 6009.5/3982.9 ft

It was another warm night. Even without my bottom base layer I was sweating under (not in) my bag.

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Day 41: Thank Goodness for Water Caches

June 2, 2017June 1, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / 2 Comments

May 28, 2017

Total miles: 23.5 miles

Start: Kelso Road (mile 615.9)

End: mile 639.4

Total elevation gain/loss: 4938.3/3309.4 ft

Last night was the warmest night we’ve had so far on the trail. I basically couldn’t stay in my sleeping bag and had to keep my arms out of the bag — unheard of with all our cold nights thus far. When we got up with our 4:30 alarm, it was still only slightly chilly.

Now I know why we talk about “purple” mountains.

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Day 16: Marathon Into Big Bear

May 10, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / 3 Comments

Total miles: 26.2 miles

Start: Mission Camp (mile 239.9)

End: Big Bear Lake (mile 266.1)

Total elevation gain/loss: 3334.3/4444.9ft

We were up before the sun again at 4:30 to greet another beautiful morning. This morning took us up and down the mountains surrounding Big Bear. We encountered more signs about the fire today, but they only added to our confusion about what the camping restriction was supposed to mean.