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Fire Afoot – Shelter Cove to Bend
Wildfires were on our heels, smoke was in our lungs. We were maintaining a relatively relaxed pace to meet friends off trail, so it almost seemed inevitable the flames would catch up to us… Day 126 – 23 miles/1934 (7/31/22) We woke up to a smokey morning on Rosary Lake. There were some mosquitoes, but…
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Hail from the Heavens, Mosquitoes from Hell – Crater Lake to Shelter Cove
With ample time on our hands, we were able to enjoy some of the high points in the Oregon Casades. In the karmic tradition of the PCT, all that was good was balanced with a healthy dose of reality… Day 120 – 0(+2) miles/1821 (7/25/22) No alarms on this day. Maggie and I started stirring…
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Extrusive Volcanic Exclusive – Ashland to Crater Lake
Oregon has a reputation amongst PCT hikers for being flat and boring. I would tend to agree, for some stretches anyways. Nevertheless, the Cascades delivered the volcanic goods on occasion throughout this 100 mile walk to Crater Lake. Day 114 – 0 miles/1718 (7/19/22) Laundry was our top priority. Have I mentioned that we wear…
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Beaver State Bound – Etna to Ashland
It is true, we were still in California after more than 100 days of hiking. Geopolitical boundaries seem arbitrary to a dirt path, but walking to Oregon from the Mexican border felt like a major milestone, and it was finally within reach… Day 108 – 22 miles/1624 (7/13/22) Our day started with passing through a…
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Traversing the Trinity Alps – Mt. Shasta to Etna
This section is perhaps one of my favorite hidden gems of northern California. The shift in geology from the white granite Sierras to the extrusive igneous (volcanic) andesite and basalt of the Cascades was instantly noticeable. However, the extrusive volcanic rocks are not continuous across the entire length of the Cascades. Enter the Trinity Alps:…
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Timberland, Old Growth, and Old Friends – Burney Falls to Mt. Shasta
Day 98 – 21 miles/1440 (7/3/22) Maggie and I woke up early to beat the crowds to Burney Falls. We packed up around 7 and checked out the falls, the cool mist chilling us in the shady morning light. It was amazing to see so much flowing water in a part of California that otherwise…
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Burn, Baby, Burn – Chester to Burney
Day 93 – 9 miles/1340 In order to avoid any potential issues with stealth camping in the Chester City Park, we packed up just before 7 am. Most restaurants in town were closed Mon/Tue so we went to the Kopper Kettle, open 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The food was decent,…
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Living on a Prayer – Sierra City to Chester
Day 86 – ~17 miles/1212 It was a slow morning in Sierra City. We at least had a good reason this time – the post office didn’t open until 10am. Back across the street at the general store, it was an hour wait for breakfast. We opted for sandwiches this time rather than the monster…
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Desolation, Cobras, and Summer Snow – South Lake Tahoe to Sierra City
Day 79 – 10 miles/1101 Again, we had a tough time getting out of the hotel room, but we were packed up and out on the town a little earlier than usual. We got some bangin’ breakfast sandwiches Tahoe Bagel Co. before heading out of town. As we were walking to the bus stop across…
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1000 and Beyond – Yosemite National Park to South Lake Tahoe
Day 73 – 19 miles/1016 Our day started with an easy walk up Dorothy Lake Pass. Here we left Yosemite and entered Stanislaus National Forest. It was an easy walk down as well, minor snow, but a couple interesting little water crossings. We wandered a couple miles through the forest where we finally stumbled upon…
Boldly going nowhere in particular