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 38: Time to Leave Tehachapi

May 31, 2017May 31, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / Leave a comment

May 25, 2017

Total miles: 3.5 miles

Start: Tehachapi (mile 566.5)

End: mile 570.1

Total elevation gain/loss: 964.6/139.4ft

Getting out of town after two zero days is tough! Today’s remaining town chores consisted of an assortment of packing/cleaning remaining gear items and various online tasks. We still weren’t done when our noon checkout rolled around, so we just moved on over to the lobby.

Avocado from the hiker box!

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Day 36 & 37: Double Zeros in Tehachapi

May 28, 2017May 26, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / Leave a comment

May 23 & 24, 2017

It’s amazing how quickly a zero day (a day with no walking) can pass!

After hiking into Tehachapi we were exhausted. We got up in time for breakfast at our hotel on the morning (surprisingly good) and then the hours quickly slipped away. While Michael set to work cleaning our backpacks (getting stinky), I headed to the Post Office.

My dreams of making Michael do chores such as going to pick up packages have quickly slipped away. It turns out that it’s much easier for innocent and harmless-looking me to get a hitch ;). This time actually took awhile, but I caught quite the ride!

Sweet ride!

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Day 35: Trail Angels to the Rescue!

May 27, 2017May 25, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / 2 Comments

May 22, 2017

Total miles: 24.8 miles

Start: mile 541.5

End: Tehachapi (mile 566.5)

Total elevation gain/loss: 3835.3/4846.8ft

What a windy night! I’m not sure what time the wind finally stopped, but it did its best to keep us up. When our alarm went off at 4:30 we were still exhausted, but fear of the oncoming heat got us out of bed (after hitting the snooze button a couple times).

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Day 31: Race For Taco Salad

May 24, 2017May 25, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / Leave a comment

May 18, 2017

Total miles: 23.7 miles

Start: Hiker Heaven (mile 454.5)

End: Case de Luna (mile 478.2)

Total elevation gain/loss: 4797.6/3936.7ft

Today’s goal ended up revolving around getting from one trail angel’s home to another’s so that we could end our day with the famous taco salad at Case de Luna. This would mean a 24-mile day over a segment known for being hot and dry. We’d need to leave super early.