Mexico to Canada.
The night fell with bicycle bells, the dark had wooden teeth
She held onto my coat that night, like a kid lost in her sleeves
— “Living Proof” by Gregory Alan Isakov
In 2022, I had my 3rd major season on the PCT, hiking roughly 2,200 miles from Mexico to Ashland, Oregon; as well as the entire state of Washington. I had to punt Oregon for a future season on account of fires.
The best part of the journey was the people I met. Here are a few of those magical moments.
All told, the trail went through 6 ecozones, 48 wilderness areas, 60 mountain passes, 25 national forests, and 6 national parks.
Oh Darlin, pardon me
— “Living Proof” by Gregory Alan Isakov
At the Southern Terminus, and 5.5 months later at the Northern Terminus.
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Lastly, if you have the time, these recent films do an excellent job sharing the experience of the trail:
It is the People , a beautiful 2019 film by New Zealander “TipTap”an 11-part series on the trail here. I can’t give it enough praise.
More excellent films:The Art of Walking A Summer on the PCT Thru-Hiker To Measure a Mile Northbound on the PCT 4270 KM documentary
a list of my current gear .Paddles (In The Open Air) TipTap JuiceHikes John Zahorian Alan Long JupiterHikes Darwin
A couple of fun nerdy gear comparison spreadsheets:Battery pack comparison Quilt comparison Backpack comparison (check out Zimmerbuilt under frameless tab)
Here are my final numbers for the 2015 season :
2016 update :do it, do it, DO IT! I am slowly but surely working through my photos, processing them with Lightroom and trying to gradually polish my entries up.
I’ll be posting more in the days ahead about my brief excursion on the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) in April 2016, and entries from this summer’s adventures! I managed to complete California this past August and drive my total trail mileage to over 2,000. It was another terrific season.
Day Overview Date Miles Total Miles:
2014
Pre-Hike Preparations (2014)
2015 Gear
2015
Day 1: A Special Toast at the Southern Terminus 4/15 20 20
Day 2: A Dry Hot Ascent 4/16 16.9 (+1.6) 36.9
Day 3: Of Pine Cones and Drones 4/17 20.6 52.6
Day 4: Bocce ball, a siesta, and a very long hot descent 4/18 15.8 68.4
Day 5: An Insufferable Slogfest to Scissors Crossing 4/19 9 77
Day 6 & 7: Recharging at OxbowBurrito’s in Laguna Niguel 4/20 & 4/21 0 77
Day 8 & 9: Annual Day Zero Kickoff (ADZPCTKO) 4/22 & 4/23 0 77
Day 10: A Very Windy Ridge 4/24 14 91.1
Day 11: A Walk in the Clouds 4/25 18.5 109.5
Day 12: In the Valley of Pink Boulders 4/26 18 127
Day 13: The First Day of ‘Meh’ 4/27 17 (+1) 144
Day 14: Paradise Valley Cafe 4/28 19 161
Day 15: Idyllwild 4/29 15 176
Day 16: 8,000 ft descent from Fuller Ridge 4/30 19 201
Day 17: Reached Highway 10 and Civilization 5/1 5 206
Day 18: A Zero in Big Bear 5/2 0 206
Day 19: More errands and a short walk to Ziggy’s 5/3 4 210
Day 20: In the Land of Windmills 5/4 22 (+1) 232
Day 21: A difficult ascent out of Mission Creek Canyon 5/5 22 253
Day 22: Freezing at 8,500 ft 5/6 13 266
Day 23: Respite at Big Bear Lake 5/7 0 266
Day 24: Spinning wheels in Big Bear Lake 5/8 0 266
Day 25: None Shall Pass 5/9 20 286
Day 26: A waterhole 5/10 20 308
Day 27: Mojave Runoff Dam 5/11 20 328
Day 28: BAM 5/12 19 347
Day 29: Coyote and Wright Mountain 5/13 22 369
Day 30: Awaiting the Snow 5/14 0 369
Day 31: The Storm is a comin’ 5/15 0 369
Day 32: Summit Day 5/16 15 384
Day 33: Cold night 5/17 19 403
Day 34: Poodle Dog Day 5/18 27 430
Day 35: the long descent 5/19 14 444
Day 36: a hot stretch toward Agua Dulce 5/20 10 454
Day 37: The big push to the Andersons 5/21 24 (+1) 478
Day 38: A Hitch to Remember 5/22 ? ?
Day 39: Into the Mojave 5/23 ? 542
Day 40: Tehachapi! 5/24 16 558
Day 41: A Casual Day 5/25 8 566
Day 42: Stashing Water in the Desert 5/26 0 566
Day 43: It Gets Real Today 5/27 27 593
Day 44: More fun in the sun 5/28 23 616
Day 45: The Desert’s Last Kiss 5/29 22 638
Day 46: Walker Pass Extraction 5/30 13 651
Day 47-48: Double Zero 5/31 & 6/1 0 651
Day 49: The Final Push to Kennedy Meadows 6/2 25 677
Day 50: Goal #1 Completed! Mexico to the High Sierra 6/3 26.5 702
Day 51: A Half-day at Kennedy Meadows 6/4 3 705
Day 52: Kern River Day 6/5 20? 725
Day 53: Day 2 of the High Sierra 6/6 20 745
Day 54: Preparing for Whitney 6/7 21 (+1.2) 766
Day 55: An on-trail nero 6/8 8 (+2) 774
Day 56: Forester Pass & Kearsarge Pass 6/9 16 (+5) 788
Day 57: A zero in Bishop 6/10 0 788
Day 58: a second Zero in Bishop 6/11 0 788
Day 59: A triple zero, what?! 6/12 0 788
Day 60: Time to get back to work 6/13 (5) +2 790
Day 61: Glen Pass 6/14 10 800
Day 62: Pinchot Pass 6/15 11 811
Day 63: Mather Pass 6/16 15 826
Day 64: Muir Pass 6/17 19.5 845.5
Day 65: Selden Pass 6/18 22.5 868
Day 66: Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) 6/19 11 (+6) 878
Day 67: Silver Pass 6/20 13 (+2) 891
Day 68: Red’s Meadow 6/21 17 906
Day 69: Birthdays in Mammoth 6/22 0 906
Day 70: A 2nd Day of Recharging 6/23 0 906
Day 71: Headed to Tuolumne Meadows 6/24 14 920
Day 72: Donahue Pass 6/25 22 942
Day 73: Yosemite Valley 6/26 0 942
Day 74: An Unexpected 2nd Day of Rest 6/27 0 942
Day 75: Glen Aulin 6/28 20 962
Day 76: Benson Pass and Seavey Pass 6/29 20 982
Day 77: Mile 1000! 6/30 21 1003
Day 78: Sonora Pass 7/1 14 1017
Day 79: A Long Series of Hitches 7/2 0 1017
Intermission 7/3-7/13 0 1017
Day 80: Sierra City 7/14 8 1024
Day 81: the Milky Way and Guns 7/15 27 1051
Day 82: Back in the Saddle 7/16 21 1072
Day 83: An Unexpected Stay at Buck Lake 7/17 11? 1083
Day 84: Belden 7/18 20 1103
Day 85: We raved! We were raving! 7/19 6 1109
Day 86: Tough climb out of Belden 7/20 15 1124
Day 87: Farther than Cheryl 7/21 24 1148
Day 88: Drakesbad 7/22 18 1166
Day 89: Old Station 7/23 24 1190
Day 90: Hat Creek Rim 7/24 23 1213
Day 91: Burney 7/25 15 1228
Day 92: A Zero in Burney 7/26 0 1228
Day 93: Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more… 7/27 16 1244
Day 94: Hot Hot Hot! 7/28 24 1268
Day 95: Hotter, hotter, hotter! 7/29 26.2 1294
Day 96: We’re in the Cascades! 7/30 25 (+1) 1319
Day 97: HALF WAY, YEAH BABY! 7/31 6 1325
Day 98: Back in the Saddle Again 8/9 19 1344
Day 99: Every Way But North 8/10 23 1367
Day 100: Oh Oregon, Where Art Thou? 8/11 22 1389
Day 101: Farther than I-5! 8/12 26 (+.2) 1415
Day 102: Etna 8/13 20 1435
Day 103: We Got This 8/14 24 1458
Day 104: Seiad Valley 8/15 17 1475
Off-trail for now 8/16 (+25) 1500
More photos and videos to share! 8/17 1500
Where are they now? 8/18 1500
Recon’s Crowning Glory! 8/19 1500
Photos old and new 8/20 1500
The Best of Times 8/21 1500
My 2015 PCT Journey 8/22 1500
2016 CDT miles
Off-season Hiking 2/22 & 3/12
Day 0: Albuquerque to Lordsburg 4/10
Day 1: Heisenberg's Stomping Grounds 4/11 14 14
Day 2: The Hail, the Hail 4/12 18 32
Day 3: A Bike in the Incessant Sun 4/13 21 53
Day 4: Hiding from Hades 4/14 18 71
Day 5: Redemption, ye Golden Arches 4/15 13.5 84.5
Day 6: A Zero in Lordsburg 4/16 0 84.5
Day 7: Another Zero 4/17 0 84.5
Day 8: Desert Sky 4/18 18.5 103
Day 9: A Siesta and a Night Hike 4/19 19 122
Day 10: A Roadwalk to Remember 4/20 13? Silver City
Day 11: Dirtbags in the Marketsquare 4/21 0 Silver City
Day 12: Silver City 4/22 0 Silver City
Day 13: Fields of Gold 4/23 17
Day 14: The Middle Fork of the Gila River 4/24 ? ?
Day 15: Oh, Doc! The resident hypocrite 4/25 ? Doc Campbell's
PCT miles
Eagle Creek revisited 5/14-5/15
Day 105: Dusting off the cobwebs at Tahoe 6/28 10 1510
Day 106: Ordnance and Snowfields 6/29 19 1529
Day 107: Ebbetts Pass and the Dregs of Humanity 6/30 19 1548
Day 108: Mosquito Fodder and Sweeping Vistas 7/1 16 1564
Day 109: A Final Push to Sonora Pass 7/2 11 1575
Day 110: Northward now from Echo Lake 7/3 9 1584
Day 111: Dicks Pass 7/4 24 1608
Day 112: Mr. Google and Squaw Valley 7/5 19 1627
Day 113: Truckee and the Peter Grubb Hut 7/6 17 1644
Day 114: Unconformity Spring 7/7 24 1668
Day 115: Sierra City Redux 7/8 16 (+1.5) 1683
Mt. Si with Undertaker 7/17
Day 116: Ascent from Seiad Valley 8/8 15 (+4) 1698
Day 117: Farewell, California! 8/9 23 1721
Day 118: A Humble Arrival to Callahan's 8/10 18? 1739
Resting in Ashland 8/11
Day 119: Crest Horse Camp 8/20 8 1747
Day 120: Trout Lake 8/21 13 1760
Day 121: On the Cusp of Adams 8/22 16 1776
Day 122: Undertaking a Marathon 8/23 26.2 1802
Day 123: The Knife's Edge 8/24 19 1821
Day 124: White Pass 8/25 15 (+2.4) 1836
Day 125: Timberline Lodge 9/3 17 1853
Day 126: The Bridge of the Gods 9/4 29 1882
2017
Day 127: Descent to Callahan's 8/15 11 1893
Day 128: A Lonely Ascent 8/16 21.5 1915
Day 129: Lava Rocks 8/17 23.5 1938
Day 130: A Day of Thirst 8/18 22 1960
Day 131: A Burned Forest and a Trail Divided 8/19 22 1982
Day 132: Road walk to Mazama 8/20 13? 1995
I’m very appreciative of the numerous trail angels who lent their support and the friends who came to trail.