Month: May 2018

One year ago today  I completed the first 750 miles of the PCT, from Campo on the Mexican Border

to Chicken Spring Lake in the Sierra Nevada mountains (750 trail miles north)

In September, I returned and hiked the next 100 miles (plus) to exit at Bishop Pass, bagging Mt. Whitney on the way

Ever since I’ve been planning my return to finish the Pacific Crest Trail. I have completed the sections from Mexico to South Lake Tahoe. On Sunday, May 20th I start my three and one half month hike from Lake Tahoe to Canada, a 1,600 Mile journey.

I’ve learned a lot from my previous trips.  I have shaved pounds off my my pack weight: I now have a “base weight” (backpack weight without food, water or fuel) of just over 20 pounds.  That means for a 5-day stretch with food and water my pack will weigh about 30 pounds.  Not bad at all! Here’s my gear (I forgot the sleeping bag in this photo).

There are a lot more food resupply points on this trail segment as compared to last year. This year I will be starting my hike stove-less: no hot meals on the trail. I’ve found that snacking seems to work better for me. My plan is to purchase food at stores along the way at 9 places, and mail packages to Post Offices (General Delivery) for the rest. Half of those will be mailed from home by my wife Liz (thank you!) and the rest I will mail to myself from somewhere on the trail that has a good supermarket.

I’m both excited and a bit nervous: the late season snows in the Sierras are still going on, so I’ll be dealing with that (stay tuned!), then I may find myself re-routing to avoid summer fire closures…

I’ll be updating this blog along the way, so please follow along! Feel free to post questions and comments !

Thanks for reading!