All about hiking and backpacking the 2600+ mile long Pacific Crest Trail
PCT day 16 Mile: 197.2 to 209.6 (12.4 miles) Start: Windy campsite 4800 feet up Mount San Jacinto Finish: Comfy soft bed in Palm Desert Via Tamarack Rd past the I-10 highway overpass, Whitewater, CA We descended the mountain early in the morning following a blustery night of hurricane winds threatening to topple over our […]
PCT Day 16 – Drinking water out of doggie bowls Read More »
PCT Day 15 Mile: 181.2 (plus 3.2 miles side trail) to 197.2 (19.2 total miles) Start: Just below the summit of Mount San Jacinto Finish: Tentsite nestled in some manzanita at 4800 feet spared by the 2020 Snow Fire At 5am the alarm went off and we sleepily packed up our bags amongst the patches
PCT Day 15 – Tornado winds on Mount San Jacinto Read More »
PCT Day 14 Mile: 162.7 to 181.2, plus a 3.7 mile detour to the summit of Mount San Jacinto (22.2 miles) Start: Cedar Spring remote campsite Finish: Tenting just below Mount San Jacinto summit Shannon and I woke up at 5:15am, grabbed some additional water to tank up for the next 15 miles and hung
PCT Day 14 – Mount San Jacinto: Rockslides to snow angels Read More »
PCT Day 13 Mile: 151.8 to 162.7 (+1.3 miles side trail to water and camp) (12.2 total miles) Start: Woods paneled hotel room at Silver Pines Inn, Idyllwild, CA Stop: Tenting under huge pine trees at Cedar Springs remote campsite Shannon and I woke up late this morning after recovering from last night’s hiker party
PCT Day 13 – Grumpy the Trail Angel and his cavemen (and cavewomen) Read More »
PCT Day 12 Mile 140.2 to 151.8 (11.6 miles) Start: Nance Canyon tentsite Finish: Paradise Valley Cafe and Silved Pines Inn, Idyllwild, California We woke up late again to all the hikers camped near us having already packed up and left the nice flat soft sands of Nance Canyon. I think we just need a
PCT Day 12 – Pig Royalty Read More »
PCT Day 11 Mile 119.6 to 140.2 (20.6 miles) Start: Lost Valley Spring tentsite & overlook Finish: Nance Canyon tentsite on a sandy dry creek bottom We woke up at 7am and of course we were the last ones out of camp and everyone was already gone to hike in the cool morning shadows. About
PCT Day 11 – Shrek’s Swamp and Mike’s Place and Nance’s Canyon Read More »
PCT Day 10 Mile 109.3 to 119.6 Start: Endangered toad campsite near Warner Springs, CA Finish: Lost Valley springs tentsite You could feel the excitement at camp building this morning as hikers waited in anticipation for the Post Office to open. Oh boy – you can tell how exciting things get out here on the
PCT Day 10 – Breakfast of Champions: Gas station hot dogs and Modelo tall boys Read More »
PCT Day 9 Mile 91.2 to 109.5 Start: Cactus filled campsite at the third gate water cache Finish: Creekside tentsite by Warner Springs, CA Princess and I woke up in the morning to hear Kinsey, Cambridge (aka Eliza) and Sasquatch with his vibram five finger toe shoes sneak by to go the water cache. They
PCT Day 9 – The Princess and the Frog Read More »
PCT Day 8 Mile 77.3 to 91.2 Start: Julian California – Oak Hill Inn Finish: The legendary third gate water cache We grabbed breakfast in town, had a relaxing morning, settled up at the hotel and were our way back to the trail with some minor detours for lunch in town. We caught the 1:30pm
PCT Day 8 – Accidentally sitting on a cactus Read More »
PCT Day 7 Mile: 77.3 to 77.3 aka rest day Start: comfy hotel room at the Oak Hill Inn, Julian, CA Finish: comfy hotel room at the Oak Hill Inn, Julian, CA When we woke up at 6:30am, our bodies were still extremely sore and we decided that we still needed another day of rest.
PCT Day 7 – Slice n Dice Babayyy Read More »
PCT Day 6 Mile: 73.4 to 77.3 Start: Campsite just outside the Scissors and Julian road crossing Finish: Comfy hotel room in Oak Hill Inn Julian, California Weather: Hot and mountain lion-y We slept in a bit this morning (if sleeping till 6am is considered sleeping in) and when the hot desert sun started to
PCT Day 5 – Mile 55.9 to 73.4 5/5/21. Start: Oriflamme Canyon Finish: Tentsite just above the Scissors-Julian, CA road crossing The sunrise of Oriflamme Canyon was absolutely gorgeous and we felt accomplished as we hiked out of camp earlyish today around 6:15am to get some miles in while the desert air was still cool.
PCT Day 5 – UFOs in the desert Read More »
PCT Day 4 Mile 37.1 to 55.9 5/4/21 Start: Long Canyon Creek campsite Finish: Oriflamme Canyon The sun wakes up around 5:30 most mornings in the desert, so we try to be like the sun and wake up early but we’re definitely struggling with the whole waking up early thing. We drank coffee and tea,
PCT Day 4 – 50 miles down, only 2600 to go! Read More »
Day 3 PCT – mile 20.0 to 37.1. 5/3/21. Start: Lake Morena PCT hiker campsite End: Long Canyon Creek tent site Weather: it’s getting warm out there! The fog burned quickly off Lake Morena in the morning to a searing dry desert heat. I woke up at 5:15 AM but Shannon was still asleep so
PCT Day 3 – The desert heat kicks everyone’s butts Read More »
Day 2 PCT – Mile 0.5 to mile 20.0. 5/2/21. Start: C.L.E.E.F. Equestrian camp End: Lake Morena Campground. Weather: cool, foggy, see and overcast a.k.a. the perfect hiking weather. This morning all the PCT hikers at the equestrian camp were so excited to start the PCT that Shannon and I ended up being the last
PCT Day 2 – Border Patrol is watching you… Read More »
Day 1 PCT mile 0 to 0.5 (lol) 5/1/21 Start point: El Cajon hotel and US-Mexico border Stop: C.L.E.E.F. equestrian campsite Weather: Hot and dry Day one on the PCT was definitely fewer miles than we planned but we enjoyed a fun day of low budget carpentry lessons, learning about the SoCal beach bum lifestyles,
PCT Day 1 – Snake Wrangling at the Mexican border Read More »
