September 30, 2008: CANADA!!! Late Friday (the 26th) afternoon, I hit the northern terminus at the US/Canadian border. I finished with an amazing group of people who I got to meet and hike with along my five month long journey. After many rounds of cheers, hoots, and hollers, we camped for the last time about 1/4 mile north of the border. Finishing did not come easy. The last week or so was cold and wet, with snow at the higher elevations and rain everywhere else. Northern Washington was rugged and beautiful, and, although the views were masked by clouds, the remote alpine environments and higher elevations were beautiful. On our last day, the clouds parted way and the sun shone through. It was an amazing gift that was appreciated greatly. What an amazing journey this has been. As I write this, I am sitting at the Albina Press, one of my favorite coffee shops in Portland. It is surreal to be here now, and I am excited to be home. The Pacific Crest Trail is an amazing way to see the landscape and mountains of the west coast. I have made so many friends and have been to so many wild places; I have been blessed with the support of my friends and family, and trail angels who didn't even know me who opened their hearts and homes to me along the way. I am so thankful for everything, and grateful, that I cannot find the words to share how I feel. Writing this last entry here, I am reminded that every great adventure starts with a single step, and as I walk around the streets of Portland, I look forward to all the adventures I know I will have here, and elsewhere. Thank you all for following me along my journey, the support you have given me means a lot. May you all experience as many blessings on your journey through life as I have on mine. It's an amazing world out there, go check it out!
September 17, 2008: Here in Skykomish at the Dinsmore's. What a welcoming rest! The weather has been treating us well so far, and the hiking has been beautiful. The views in Washington and the trail has been amazing! The terrain has proven to be a challenge, with multiple thousand foot ups and downs everyday to keep the legs feeling worked. I am pretty tired and sore, however I am feeling good for the last 190 miles. I plan on finishing in 10 days. New pictures!
September 8, 2008: I've made it to Washingotn! Actually, I'm 150 miles into WA, and only about 360 miles from finishing. The trail has been very good to me for this past section. A few days of off-and-on rain kicked off the go from Timberline, as it did for the first few days in Washington. Blessings shined upon me, and the weather has been terrific! The hiking itself has been a little more rugged than Oregon, with more and larger elevation gains and drops. The weather has been getting cooler, and it is really starting to feel like the "North Country." The end of this past section was marked by an unbelievably beautiful above-treeline traverse high on a ridge in Goat Rocks, crossing above and beside some glaciers, and, although I was up in and passing through some clouds, it had some wonderful views. I have tried to get up some pictures here at the local Packwood Library, however, it didn't go too well. Hopefully within the few weeks I'll get somewhere where I can upload files.
August 26, 2008: After leaving Santiam Pass from Sisters, severe thunder and lightning warnings went into effect as I hiked up towards Three Fingered Jack with Chief Chi Hua Hua. Over the next few days the first real storm of the trip nailed me with pin-point accuracy. I camped at higher elevations, taking the direct brunt of the thunder, lightning, rain, and high winds. It was a good test for my TarpTent, and it held up well. As the lightning passed by, the rain did not. It persisted with a fair amount of consistancy all the way to Timberline. I did however have the opportunity to share the lovely rain for a few days in the company of my girlfriend and a few of my close friends, who came out to hike about 50 miles with me. We arrived at Timberline Lodge on Friday morning, just in time to take a good chunk out of their famous breakfast buffet. Now, I've been on vacation here in Portland for the past five days and it's been really great. I've eaten a lot, got some new shoes and ressuplied, rode my bike a ton, and managed to reunite with Low Bridge (and about a dozen other hikers). I've also managed to catch up with my other close friend, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, and get some of my Oregon pictures up, so check it out. I am planning on hiking out tomorrow, and will be only about 50 miles away from Washington. The end is near, and I expect to finish the trail about the third week of September.
August 16, 2008: Here at the lovely library in the great town of Sisters, mile 2006. The past few days of hiking have been beautiful; walking past big volcanos, through huge lava fields, and past numerous ponds and lakes. It has been very hot, though, and the mosquitos are about as bad as it gets, due to a lot of snow this past winter and a very wet spring. My mileage has been steadily increasing, averaging over 25 miles a day, and hiking occasional 30s. I'm getting to places that grow more and more familiar, and I am only 100 miles away from Mt. Hood, and a few days off in Portland. I have some great new pictures to put up, although here at the library, I don't have the ability to access my memroy card, so it will have to wait until Portland.
August 1, 2008: OREGON!!! Finally, another state! I hiked late into the night on Wednesday so I could camp in Oregon. It was a great feeling. California is one big state! The past few days of hiking have been nice, and the further I get north the more the smoke clears. I still haven't gotten the great views the past section of trail has to offer, but breathing is a bit easier. There was also some great trail magic (soda and beer) 20 miles before I-5. Refreshing.
July 26, 2008: It's been exactly one month since I've had an opportunity to use a computer for more than 15 minutes, so there's a lot to catch up on. Here's a rundown: A few days after leaving Mammoth, I left the PCT to finish the John Muir Trail. On the way down to Yosemite Valley, I climbed Clouds Rest and Half Dome. It was an incredible time. After taking a day off in the valley, I got a ride back to Tuolumne Meadows with a climber who lived and worked there. The next section of trail continued to be a challenge. I have never seen so many mosquitoes, and even the downhills felt like steep climbs! Thank goodness for deet and bug head-nets! After leaving Yosemite, the mountains and landscape became more volcanic. The last five or so miles before Sonora Pass were especially beautiful. Continuing on, I arrived in South Lake Tahoe, which was incredibly smoky. The forest fires in California are raging and after another section of hiking, I reached a major trail closure. Over 100 miles of trail were closed and burning between Sierra City and Chester. After a multiple hour bus detour, I got to climb Mt. Lassen, check out some lava caves and hike past Burney Falls. Now I am here in Mt. Shasta City. Unfortunately, you really can't see Mt. Shasta or Castle Crags too well, due to the intense smoke. The fires aren't out yet, and there is another large trail closure before I'll hit the Oregon border. After nearly 1700 miles of California, I am very excited to get to another state!
June 26, 2008: Here in lovely Mammoth, CA, after two weeks of hiking in the Sierra. What an experience! I left Kennedy Meadows with 12 days of food and a 50 pound pack, ready for something other than desert. After walking through a 1000 acre forest fire, and a brief encounter with a large bear, we could tell the scenery was changing. The mountains were bigger, there was more water. As we got more and more into the High Sierra, the mountains and snow increased tremendously. A 14-16 mile day here was like a 20+ mile day in the desert. Climbing Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the continental US at 14,495 feet, was awesome. You could really feel the altitude, even though we were all well acclimated. Every day we climbed high passes, forded rivers, and ducked down into lovely valleys and meadows with beautiful lakes. Being out for that long was a real challenge; especially rationing food. Hitting the trail tommorow back at Red's Meadow, around mile 906. I'm around a third done with the trail now, and halfway through California.
May 30, 2008: Mama HillyBeans coffee shop here in Tehachapi is great. I would highly recommend this place to anyone passing through looking for some great coffee and a cool place to kick it for a hot minute. At least that's what Low Bridge and myself are doing. There has been some recent snow in The Sierra, so we're trying hard to go slow. The weather so far has definitely been in our favor. Crossing The Mojave along The LA Aqueduct, generally the hottest part of the desert, was unusually chilly. The past week or so, actually, has been cool and cloudy, and it even rained and hailed on us! Very unusual indeed; I thought this was the desert!
May 24, 2008: I'm sitting here in Green Valley, at mile marker 478. I spent last night here at The Anderson's, the second amazing trail angel in the past few days. After leaving Wrightwood, we had an amazing day, hitting heavy snow on our way up Mt. Baden-Powell (9400 feet), then dipping back down to the lower and hotter desert. After night hiking through the beautiful Vasquez Rocks, we arrived at The Saufley's house for a few days of rest. Jeff and L-Rod are amazing, and they have quite the set-up to clean and refresh all the weary bones that roll through their house. Only 24 trail miles later is Green Valley, where Joe and Terrie Anderson let us all camp out in their backyard Manzanita grove. One thing is for sure, rest, clean and get all your business down at The Saufleys, then roll here, to the Casa de Luna where it seems the party never ends... Only 220 miles to go to The Sierra!
May 14, 2008: Ahh, mountains. After leaving Big Bear, the trail stayed in the mountains for a few days before dropping elevation, and putting us back into the high desert. We stopped at Deep Creek Hot Spring for a nice soak, hiked past some Dams, on some highway, and around a beautiful lake before climbing 5000 feet back up into the mountains, complete with big trees, colder temps, strong winds, and yes, even some snow! After some ridgewalking, and a night camping at 8200 feet, Low Bridge and myself got a ride into Wrightwood (where I am now) and have been invited into a lovely home, along with some other hikers, to spend the night, shower and do laundry. Our hosts, Colleen and Jeff, and their family, are absolutely awesome! Staying here is a great blessing. I have gotten some more pictures up, and for more pictures you could check out Asaf's Flickr Page. He is quite a photographer, and there are even a few pictures of me up there.
May 6, 2008: Here in Big Bear, mile 265. Last week, a 750 acre fire started on the PCT at Apache Peak, near Mt San Jacinto. We were forced around this area, and have been trying to get back to it, but it is still closed. The further we go north, the harder it will be to get back. Fires are common in Southern California, and I'm sure this will not be the first unplanned detour... The past few days, we have been hovering around 7000-8000 feet and the environment is much different than the desert. Big trees, cooler temps, and snow-capped peaks have been a welcome respite. I have some great pictures that I was trying to get uploaded, but couldn't. I'll try to get them up when I have another opportunity.
April 27, 2008: Just Got back to Warner Springs from the Kick-Off Party that was back at Lake Morena. It was a great event, with lots of current and past hikers, and a ton of great food. Actually, I'm still quite full from breakfast. The trail is supposedly socked in with snow and ice a few days ahead at Fuller Ridge, and is "impassable," so we are staying the night here at a luxury golf resort. This place has an amazing hiker rate, and there is six of us sharing the room so it is quite cheap. Though the trail calls, I'm looking forward to hitting up the hot tub. I'll get an early start tomorrow, and hopefully we'll get some record-breaking heat that will clear our path ahead.
April 23, 2008: I'm here in Julian, about 78 miles into the trail. We hitched to town to avoid the hottest part of the day, and get a little shade. So far this trail has proven to be spectacular, and the views are amazing! It's quite different than the AT, and it's easier to make miles. Today, for instance, I hiked almost 10 miles by 9:30am! There has also been a lot of familiar faces from the AT. A bunch of the people I have been hiking with I met or hiked with in 2005. A few more days and then back to Lake Morena for the Kick-Off. Should be fun!
April 17, 2008: There is sun in San Diego! What a nice break from the Portland winter! I flew in yesterday, and so far I've been to the beach (twice), went to a barbeque at an old frat house, and explored Balboa Park (thanks Karly!!!). Tomorrow, I'm heading over to Scout and Frodo's house. They are incredibly kind hikers from last year who are putting up hikers and shuttling them to the southern terminus at the Mexican border. Looks like I'm going to hitting the trail bright and early Saturday morning, and I'm stoked!
February 8, 2008: As the spring nears, I am getting more and more amped to spend some quality trail time. Tonight, I went to a North West Mini-Ruck put on by Barefoot Sage, who is embarking on a thru-hike of the AT this year. There was a good turnout, and we had a lot of fun. We swapped stories, ate some great food, and shared some spectacular photos. It's always a pleasure to get together with other hikers and talk trail, although it seems even more so with a thru-hike right around the corner!