The Desert

We came down from Mt Baden Powell today, bagging a couple of off trail peaks along the way. Today’s hike was 14.5 miles, 23.3 km. A lot of that mileage was on the road due to a section of trail closed to allow an endangered species of frog to recover. We started on trail at Read more

Today we left Wrightwood just before lunchtime, and covered approximately 10 miles, 16 km. Of that, about 5 miles was on a road closed to vehicles due to a fire in the past. We climbed Mt Baden Powell, had dinner at the summit and continued until dark to set up camp at 8855 ft, 2700 Read more

Today ended up becoming a bonus zero day. One thing that has definitely come to light on this trail is that things work out best when you’re not beholden to specific plans. We all packed up this morning and organized a lift to the supermarket in Phelan, a small town outside Wrightwood with much cheaper Read more

Today was a nero day. After another 5 days on trail, we woke up just mile from the only McDonald’s on trail. Yes there’s a McDonald’s on the PCT. We woke up and the weather was slightly cold, and a bit overcast too. Packing up camp was a breeze, but it always is on town Read more

A long day of pretty cruisy hiking today. Got on trail around 7:30 am and hiked 16.3 miles, 26.2 km, with only a few hundred meters elevation. We spent about 12 hours on the trail, with long breaks for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Today was the first time arriving at camp after dark. The trail Read more

Today we covered 17.1 miles, 27.5 km. We climbed out from the hot pools and finished our hike through Deep Creek. After exiting the valley, we continued toward Silverwood Lake around hot and exposed hillsides. The climb out of Deep Creek was fairly gradual, but still gained us some height quite quickly. We got good Read more

Today we hiked from one swim spot to another, only 9.5 miles, 15.2 km. It was too good to pass up an opportunity to swim at camp for a second night running. We also passed the 300 mile marker this morning. We got on trail around 8:30 am, and as soon as we climbed out Read more

We covered 12.6 miles, 20.2 km today. Once again the day was mostly downhill, on nice level trail. We had originally planned to walk 16 miles, but after a couple of really nice breaks on the way, we decided a shorter day finished off with a swim in the creek would be better. The first Read more

Today was a fantastic day. I slept so well, and woke up feeling strong from the 2 days rest and all that good town food. We covered 17.2 miles, 27.7 km on mostly flat and well graded trail. We got on trail at 7:30 am, and started with a fairly small climb. Just enough to Read more

The plan today is to leave town in the afternoon and hike just a little way from the trailhead to camp. A great plan, because somehow I woke up slightly hungover from last night. The morning is spent hanging out in the kitchen and eating free pancakes, an ITH Hostel breakfast staple. After breakfast, I Read more