101 TRULY COMPELLING REASONS TO DO A LONG-DISTANCE HIKE

Pulled from The New Nomads blog

http://thenewnomads.com/?page_id=215

THE NEW NOMAD’S LIST OF 101 TRULY COMPELLING REASONS TO DO A LONG-DISTANCE HIKE

1. Confuse loved ones
2. Look for your purpose in life through solitude in nature.
3. Get time off work without having to feign illness
4. Puff out a flat butt
5. Lose weight
6. Gain respect and awe from others without having to really do anything other than walk around
7. Make people miss you
8. Make people worry about you
9. Bond with strangers you wouldn’t ordinarily even say hello to in passing
10. Good excuse to not bathe
11. Good excuse to talk and sing out loud to oneself
12. Let bad hair color grow out
13. Learn to value the little things in life
14. Only have little things in life
15. Learn to value and respect nature
16. Have mystical experiences
17. Easy to bluff mystical experiences to those at home
18. Easy way to disappear with secret lover
19. Meet soulmate
20. Unload soulmate
21. Wean yourself away from the poisoned nipple of modern media
22. Quality time with recently purchased $500 gadget
23. Hide from debt collectors, ex-wives, and angry roommates
24. Keep your adult children from moving back in with you
25. Put off adulthood
26. Create more empathy with the homeless
27. Learn to accept help from others
28. Learn how to balance a pack on your head
29. Develop an admirable tolerance for wet and cold legs
30. Finally get to listen to a song all the way through to the end
31. Create your own religion
32. Make yourself qualified to write a book
33. Join interesting community of people who are just as antisocial as you are
34. Interesting blog topic
35. Find Yourself
36. Find God
37. Find cool things left behind by other hikers
38. Make peace with the voices in your head
39. Avoid being constantly tempted by ice cream
40. Learn to simplify
41. Learn how complex protecting a bag of M & M’s can be
42. Be judged not by the amount of money you make, but by the weight on your back
43. People just have to take your word for it when you tell them where you are
44. Become intoxicated with beauty
45. Become intoxicated with exhaustion
46. Become intoxicated by idle thoughts of hot water
47. Create a 3rd use for the Power Ranger costume
48. No reason
49. Nothing better to do
50. Empty nesting
51. Avoiding nesting
52. Way to stretch unemployment check
53. Raise money for charity
54. Become a charity
55. Squatting is good for developing balance
56. Break Facebook addiction
57. Release from the claws of culture
58. Ample meditation time
59. Orgy of tree hugging
60. Excuse to wear nothing but tights
61. Breathe clean air
62. Create natural dreadlocks
63. “hobo” = “athlete”
64. Inspire excitement over 10 for $1 ramen noodles
65. Belong to the earth
66. Belong to nothing
67. Belong to whoever has chocolate
68. Discover yet another 10 uses for duct tape
69. Save gas
70. Pay no utilities
71. Become more in tune with a natural existence
72. Able to not look at yourself in the mirror for many months
73. Restore feeling of love for life
74. Learn how to eat wild plants without dying
75. Great opportunity to practice otherwise useless skills learned at scout camp
76. Low exposure to electromagnetic fields
77. No chance of drunk texting anyone
78. Confront and overcome fears of the dark, animals, death, storms, and loneliness
79. Fun
80. Acquire an unflattering nickname based on a stranger’s misperception of your primary qualities
81. Develop some mighty fine looking legs
82. Get that look in your eyes
83. Give your mother an actually real reason to worry about you
84. Learn to live high on convenience store fare
85. You can completely change your personality and blame it on “What happened out there”
86. Great excuse to avoid commitment in relationships
87. Learn the distinctions between fine granolas
88. Eat absolutely whatever you want with no ill effect
89. Can practice many variations on the lyrics of “Tom’s Diner”
90. Acquire stories to share for a long long time
91. Justify purchase of expensive camera
92. Take your mind off anything challenging going on in your life
93. Learn perseverance
94. Potential for pranks on other hikers are varied and numerous and almost always invite use of your Diablo voice
95. See men in kilts without going to Scotland
96. Redefine cleanliness, hunger, and entertainment for yourself
97. Gape in awe at the amount of useless things you own when you return home
98. Learn to sink into a night sky
99. Gain survival confidence
100. Get a groove in your move

BUT MOSTLY:

101. Get SANE

Another Hiker's Dream

One of the more famed trail personalities on the PCT, is planning to do a through hike of the Appalachian Trail. Scott "Squatch" Herriott, of "Walk" fame, and "Sidetrails" fame has decided to attack the AT, with the intent of generating another trail documentary of great humor, and beautiful trail culture.

Take a look at his kickstarter website to read a little more about it.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1676344846/flip-flop-flippin-one-mans-look-for-characters-on


And if you have not seen any of his films, and would like to "rofl", I suggest you pick up any of his fine films
Read up on him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Herriott
Or purchase some of his documentaries:
http://www.walkpct.com/
http://sidetrails.net/

Apricots and Psycho are in one of the sidetrails documentaries... and Psycho hiked with many of the people featured in the walkpct documentaries.

Seriously folks, this man is brilliant, plus he's tall. .... And if you want to conquer the world someday, it would be a good idea to have a connection to this man.
Oh, and for the ladies, he's a sexy sexy man with delicious hiker calves.

On “Alexander Supertramp” or Christopher McCandless

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun."
— Chris McCandless

 

 

I sat at Vermilion Valley Resort talking with a John Muir Trail hiker. We have met many strangers along the way who took interest in our attempt at through hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. However, his interest in our hike was fresh and genuine. He asked the usual questions of "when did you start?", "how many miles a day?", etc. However, his questions tended to get a little more probing. Finding myself nearing the final day of our hike, I spent time talking with him while he was still in the early stages of his JMT through hike. In fact, he was fairly new to long distance backpacking. As such, he was full of questions for us. I had been thinking about my hike, my experiences, and my overall impression of a PCT through hike, and his questions helped me process my hike just a little more thoroughly.  I, too, was interested in his hike. When we came full circle to "where it all started," I asked him what inspired him to hike the JMT. His motivations were similar to many through hikers, but he also stated that he was very inspired by the book (and movie) "Into the Wild." For those who are unaware of this book, I highly recommend reading it (or watching the movie, if you need instant gratification). The story documents Christopher McCandless' life and controversial death. After the discovery of his body, public opinion was (and still remains) heavily divided. Many people feel that Chris' decisions were immature, unrealistic, and ultimately life ending.

 

I do not wish to comment on his decisions, as there is already enough unnecessary debate regarding that. I do, however, wish to talk about Chris and why I find him to be such an inspiration. From my understanding, Chris had a dream, and he did whatever it took to pursue that dream. I believe that the greatest problem in life is dreams that never become actualized. Our spirits die when we fail to have direction. We need a carrot at the end of the stick. Often times we find ourselves going through life with too many sticks and not enough carrots, which lends us to a life without direction. At some point in our life, we just might find the stick which actually has a carrot at the end of it; a dream or goal that we desire. If we choose to pursue that "dream realized," we will have a direction to move. It is important that at some point we actually get the carrot – a "dream actualized." It is equally detrimental to have never realized a dream or actualized a dream.

 

Chris did whatever it took to actualize his dream, leading a wandering life taking sacrifices in social connection to achieve his ultimate goal of going "into the wild" in Alaska. I am inspired by Chris because of his severe focus on attaining his dream. It seems he went through life chasing his dreams, making decisions which ultimately led him to his big dream. I find Chris to be an inspiration because of his unrelenting pursuit of his dream.

 

Many would argue that he made bad decisions along the way, sacrificing good things, sacrificing beautiful relationships with people. He sought happiness, freedom, and truth over love, money, faith, and fairness. When Chris meets his fate in the end, he undergoes a paradigm shift in his understanding of the world. One of the last things he writes in his journal before dying is "Happiness only real when shared."

 

It is this realization at the end, which rounds out Chris as an inspiration to me. He pursued his dreams with unrelenting passion, and in attaining his dreams he experienced growth. He developed a better understanding of the world, a better understanding of nature, and a better understanding of his relationships. In 2005, I hiked 1000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, the latter third was spent largely solo hiking. Ultimately I left the trail, largely because I was no longer happy. This time, while hiking, I was able to spend my time with Apricots. The happiness associated with a shared hike exceeded my expectations. While I did find myself hiking at times wishing I could share what I was experiencing with others, with my family, and with other hiking friends, I knew that Apricots' was always at my side sharing the experience with me.

On “Reassimilating” or Life after the trail

“To a person uninstructed in natural history, his country, or seaside stroll is a walk through a gallery filled with wonderful works of art, nine-tenths of which have their faces turned to the walls. “

— Thomas Huxley

Leaving the trail is one of the most difficult experiences of the trail. I had adjusted to a life on the trail. I was used to the routine, the regimented lifestyle, and the repeated phases of the trail. Life was simple. It was hard, but simple. Eventually the hike must come to an end, and we are forced to return to “real life.” That return seems to have been broken down into phases of re-assimilation to me, each having their unique flavor.


The first phase was shock, amazement, relief, rest, and celebration. We had just completed an amazing journey, our bodies were sore, our spirits were lifted, and our dreams were actualized. It is not possible to celebrate continually, so once the fizz of the champagne had settled, we needed to enter into non-trail life.


It has been nearly two months since we completed our hike. For the first two weeks after the trail, I still had pains. When I woke up in the morning, I would stand up on feet that have hiked over 2600 miles, have been my greatest asset, and greatest enemy for six months. I placed my hands on nearby furniture to brace my body as I hobbled out of the bed room. Fortunately this has passed, and I no longer have immediate aches when I wake. Occasionally, I sense some faint pain in my knees, reminding me of my accomplishments.


The most noticeable change between life on the trail and life off the trail in this phase is sleep. One would believe that I would be getting more sleep now, with the opportunity to sleep in, but that is not the case. After a fairly lethargic day (any day you don’t hike 20 miles is lethargic), my body has an abundance of energy. As such, I find it hard to go to sleep at a decent hour. If I do go to bed early, I lay restless in bed, mind wandering.


My body is still used to waking at first light, so as soon as light starts hitting my eyes, I wake up. This results in a complete lack of quality sleep. I stay up late, I sleep poorly, and I wake early. Then, around midday, I am tired from poor sleep. I want to take a nap, but know if I do it will only compound the problems of poor sleep. Two months after leaving the trail, I am still waking up early, but I am getting better sleep now.


After settling down in the daily routine of life, I have entered the reflective phase of post trail life. Life is routine enough that mundane time is spent thinking about how I spent my year.


I spent nearly six months of my life, receiving incredible support from nearly everyone who knows me, as well as an enormous collection of complete strangers. I was told on a nearly daily basis how amazing I was or how great it was to be pursuing my dreams against all odds and struggles. There was not a week that went by where someone didn’t say to me, “What you are doing is amazing,” “I could never do that,” “Congratulations to you for the huge endeavor you are undertaking ,” or “You are living your life to the fullest.”


A huge collective of people dedicated their time and resources to helping me fulfill my crazy dream of walking 2600 miles in the woods. I was a complete (dirty and smelly) stranger to them. Why did they help me? What was special about me? How did they arrive at the conclusion that I was someone that should receive their assistance? I know it wasn’t something unique to me, because several hundred other hikers received their own magic, their own assistance, and their own blessings from their own complete strangers.


I did not experience firsthand the magic other hikers received. As a result of that, my journey felt personalized. Every person I met that helped me along the way seemed to be placed on the trail specifically for my journey. They may have only been around to help Apricots and I, and no one else. This constant support from strangers gave me the illusion that I was someone special. In the back of my mind, I knew I was no different than any other through hiker. Yet, at the front of my mind, I was special. This carries over into post trail life, lending itself to what many call post trail depression.


I am not “depressed.”


I am not “hitting the bottle.”


I am not in need of “little happy pills.”


I am getting slapped in the face with reality though. I spent six months of my life hearing how special I am from complete strangers. Now I am back in the real world, seeking a job in a horrible market. I am faced daily with the challenge of competing with other people to prove myself to someone else. This is the opposite of what the trail was. On the trail, I was faced daily with the challenge of competing with nature to prove myself to myself. I had a shared experience with others, where we all lifted one another up (literally and metaphorically). Now, I am in a world where we are forced to claw our way to the top, trying to hold others down.


What is the next phase? I just hope the next phase is being a mindless automaton in a working society again. Grinding through the daily drudge of work, so that I could start paying down my debts and saving up for the next “big hike.”

On "A PCT Through Hike" or Walking for Six Moons

It is Psycho's birthday today, so for his birthday he would like to present you with his first entry on post trail thoughts:

On “A PCT Through Hike” or Walking for Six Moons

"I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in."
— John Muir


Looking back on a six month hike, and reflecting on changes, experiences, growth, and lessons learned is no easy task. I have been sitting at home reflecting on my hike, and even did so as I hiked. When we were at Snoqualmie Pass, my parents surprised us with a visit. It was my mother’s birthday wish to see her son in the midst of his hike, so they drove from their house to the trail. Over lunch, I turned to my mother and asked her, “What is something new you have learned in the last year of your life that you would like to share with us?”

She looked admiringly at me and said, “You would be the one to ask such a question, forcing upon me a moment of reflection. This is no easy question, let me think on it.”

As she scanned her memory of the experiences she had over the last year, I thought to myself, “How would I answer the same question?” Now I sit here trying to answer that very question.

Long distance backpacking is a unique endeavor. It is a complete wilderness experience that tests your mental limits and pushes your physical abilities. Along the trail, I met many people who said they could never do what I was doing. I once believed the same thing myself, but I challenged myself to do it. I tried once, and several circumstances led to an incomplete through hike. While I left the trail incomplete, I felt that I had learned much about myself and I had become infected with the long-distance-backpacking-bug. I spent the next several years telling friends and family about the hike, and my ultimate goal to go back and finish the miles I missed. I had an incomplete puzzle, and I needed to place the missing pieces to understand the bigger picture. It took me five years to get myself back to the trail.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again. This time was different though, as I had a hiking partner for the entire endeavor, and I believe that is what made it a successful through hike. Most of the people I meet along the way who say “I could never do that,” think largely of the physicality of such a hike. The truth of the matter is that the physicality of the hike is only about ten percent of the struggle. The remaining ninety percent is the daily mental battle. I tell people along the way, your body can handle a through hike. Thousands of years of nomadic ancestry honed our bodies into walking machines. It does take a bit of time to adapt to a walking lifestyle, but the body quickly gets used to walking for nearly endless hours among seemingly endless days. Before you know it, the day has passed and the physical pain that you experienced when you crawled out of the tent is long gone. The body gets a rhythm, and while the pain nags (and sometimes screams), the body gets stronger. If you take proper care of your body while hiking, it can endure countless days of hiking.

The real struggle, the struggle that is ninety percent of the through hike, is the mental struggle. Every day you wake up with pain, or challenges ahead, or a general lack of motivation. You have to have the mental willpower to convince yourself that what you are doing is worth it. Sometimes you could walk for days in bad weather, extreme heat, or boring viewless trail. It is hard to understand that these are part of the full through hiking experience, and you need to endure the trials to experience growth. I would be lying if I said that I never wanted to get off the trail. In truth, I probably had that feeling every day at some point. At least once a week, I felt like it was time to give up and get off. I can recall a few times on the trail when I really really really wanted to quit. It was times like these, where I found strength in having a partner who knew I didn’t really want to quit, but rather was just completely miserable with my physical condition at those times. She had listened to me rave about the greatness of through hiking for years, and how disappointed I was to have left the trail last time. Every time I wanted to quit, she reminded me that I would regret it and that my misery was only temporary.

She was right. Often times things would turn around for the better within a couple hours. My physical pain would be gone (or at least forgotten), the weather would change, or the trail offered up some sort of magic which restored my desire to hike – a cold drink, a warm sun, a trailside cache, a spectacular view, or a heartwarming exchange with another hiker. It wasn’t always a couple hours. At times I would hike for a day or two experiencing gloom, wanting nothing more than to find the nearest road and get off the trail. Sometimes we did cut off the trail early, to restore our bodies and minds.

The interesting fact about going into a town full of luxuries, running water, cooked food, and shelter from the elements, is it did nothing for me other than remind me of why I was hiking. Trail towns are amazing healers for the broken spirit, but they also seem to carry a haunting feeling of emptiness. I enjoyed my zero days, and was thankful for the towns, but I was surprised how quickly the hustle and bustle of even the quietest towns made me yearn for the open quiet outdoors. Life is simple on the trail, and the senses are at peace. In towns, it is complicated and I would experience some sort of sensory overload. Often times, Apricots would comment on how I walked around in trail towns with a glazed over zombie like look on my face. I found it difficult to make decisions because I had an abundance of information being thrown at me, forcing me to constantly process what was important from what was not.

So while I found myself yearning for rest days, and town stops while I was hiking, I too yearned for the trail when I was not hiking. This dichotomy existed for the entire hike. Even now that I am off trail, Apricots and I are already discussing future hikes, future long distance backpacking, and future camping. If the trail taught us anything, it taught us that camping is far more relaxing than through hiking.

More Pictures

Thank You

The long list of thank you’s --- I am sure we missed some, but I have done my best to include everyone who assisted us in our journey in some way. I have not included every business, but we are thankful for your continued support of the thru-hiking community through tolerating our voracious appetites and our often under-showered bodies.

First and Foremost, we would like to thank our family and all who sent emails of encouragement. It is hard to describe how motivating a single sentence can be when delivered at the right time. We would like to also call out attention to Psycho’s parents who did an amazing job at assisting with mailing packages for resupply. Finally we would like to thank all our dedicated readers, and Apricots’ mother who religiously commented on every blog post.

Below is an almost complete list of those who helped us out along the way. The list is over 200 people long. Thank you everyone that helped… Over 200 people contributed to our dream of thru-hiking the PCT

1. The Binschus Family
2. The Wright Family
3. The Judge Family
4. Cherryville Heartsongs
5. Jillian Wright/Erik Memmott – Hosting us on the drive down
6. Mark Wright – Hosting us, and taking us to the trail head, and offering magic at Casa De Luna
7. Tom Delacey/Diane Delacey – Picked us up in Bishop, and hosted us in Reno
8. Jason “NaborJ” Waicunas – Encouraging Emails, and Trail Magic
9. Debi “Ladyface” Vinson – Encouraging emails and phone calls
10. Jeff “Rabbit” Dishman – Encouraging phone calls
11. Kitty Boryer – Encouraging Emails
12. Lake Morena Campground – Host to ADZPCTKO
13. PCT Association
14. Oregon Mule Skinners
15. Backcountry Horesemen
16. All trail crew volunteers and workers
17. Luka – Stranger we had dinner with in Idyllwild who offered supportive emails along the way.
18. Older Gentleman at bar in Wrightwood, who bought a round of drinks for several hikers
19. Drakesbad Guest Ranch – Stellar service for thru-hikers
20. Red Moose Café in Sierra City – Above standard service for thru-hikers
21. Berkeley Echo Lake Camp
22. The stranger who gave us M&Ms and Gatorade at Diamond Lake while we tried to hitch a ride
23. Big Lake Youth Camp


Care Packages/Trail Gifts

1. Cody Matteucci
2. Jacob “PseudoGnome” Courtney
3. Andrea Harrison and Leslie Altnow
4. Kristine Nystrom
5. Paul and Kelly Wright
6. David and Carol Binschus
7. Carolyn Madden
8. Adrienne Kierst and Barbara Bergquist
9. Jacob Lupton


Established Trail Angels

1. Casa (Mike) Herrara, Inc (including Gourmet)
2. Ray and Susan Goodwin
3. Jeff and Donna Saufley – Hiker Heaven (including Burrito and JJ)
4. Joe and Terrie Anderson – Casa de Luna (including Doug)
5. Richard Skaggs - Hikertown
6. Thomas “Bombadil” Figueroa
7. Dennis and Georgi Heitman - Hiker Hideaway (including SugarMomma)
8. Brenda Braaten – Little Haven
9. Williams’ Family – Honker Pass at Bucks Lake
10. Bill and Molly Person – Pooh Corner
11. Hiker Hut in Etna
12. Lloyd Gust
13. Jerry and Andrea Dinsmore – Hiker Haven


Hikers we hiked with at one point or another (the list is probably incomplete, and not everyone has online journals, but I thought I would link to them if I could find them)

1. Amoeba - http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=10449
2. Axilla
3. Bag Lady - http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=bf575f267849a6daf9a04da5afbd2044&event_id=597
4. Beaker
5. Billy Goat
6. Boston - http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=9803
7. Buckeye - http://inspireout.com/
8. Calorie - http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=bf575f267849a6daf9a04da5afbd2044&event_id=700
9. Catch Up
10. Colter
11. Compass
12. Crowdog
13. Cubby - http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=9803
14. Daredevil
15. Darko
16. D’Israeli Gears (three hikers)
17. Dick Wizard
18. Double Check
19. Dreams - http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=bf575f267849a6daf9a04da5afbd2044&event_id=678
20. Duff
21. Epic - http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=10447
22. Fidget
23. Freebird - http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=9246
24. Furniture
25. General Lee
26. Genius - http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=bf575f267849a6daf9a04da5afbd2044&event_id=634
27. Golden Child – http://aslowbeginning.blogspot.com
28. Gramma Lissa - http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=10918
29. Granite - http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=bf575f267849a6daf9a04da5afbd2044&event_id=547
30. Grateful
31. Hot Mess - http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=bf575f267849a6daf9a04da5afbd2044&event_id=603
32. Ishmael
33. Jackass
34. Joker
35. Johnny Law
36. Kiwi - http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=bf575f267849a6daf9a04da5afbd2044&event_id=656
37. Lakewood - http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=10398
38. Mango - http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=9761
39. Maybelline
40. The Mayor
41. Mike
42. Missing Link
43. Moa
44. Molasses
45. Motor Giggle Bootie Butt
46. NonStop
47. No Trace - http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=9709
48. Old Scout
49. Papparazi (aka Alabama)
50. Pat Burglar
51. Passant
52. Pika
53. Rally
54. Riffraff
55. Shroomer
56. SlimJim – http://5000milesummer.blogspot.com
57. Square Peg
58. Stick
59. SubZero
60. Sunshine
61. Swift - http://inspireout.com/
62. Terrapin Flyer - http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=bf575f267849a6daf9a04da5afbd2044&event_id=547
63. Train
64. Trailhacker - http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=10732
65. Tumbleweed
66. UltraBuns
67. Unbreakable - http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=9709
68. Uncle Tom - http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=9956
69. Weather Carrot
70. Wild Child
71. Wolf Taffy
72. Wyoming
73. Yellowstone - http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=bf575f267849a6daf9a04da5afbd2044&event_id=553
74. Yeti
75. Yowzers - http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=bf575f267849a6daf9a04da5afbd2044&event_id=667


Caches, Stashes, and Trailside Magic (at least 28 instances, often supported by more than one person)

1. Pioneer Mail Campground Water Cache Trail Angel
2. Scissors Crossing Water Cache Trail Angel
3. Third Gate Water Cache Trail Angel
4. Third Gate Lead Cache Trail Angel
5. Pioneer Mail cyclists who offered us water.
6. Wayne of Pie Town Gear – Trailside store and showers
7. Luka – Stranger we had dinner with in Idyllwild who offered supportive emails along the way.
8. Interstate 10 Water/Soda/Food Cache Trail Angel
9. Mesa Wind Farm
10. Onyx Peak Water Cache Trail Angel
11. Onyx Peak Water/Soda/Food Cache Trail Angel
12. Van Duysen Canyon Water Cache Trail Angel
13. Silverwood Lake Cache Trail Angel
14. Older Gentleman at bar in Wrightwood, who bought a round of drinks for several hikers
15. “Law” and “Order” – Roadside trail angels on the Station Fire Detour
16. Bouqet Canyon Water Cache Trail Angel
17. Oasis Cache Trail Angel
18. San Francisquito Canyon Road Water Cache Trail Angel
19. Dove Spring Canyon Rd Water Cache Trail Angel
20. Cache 22 Water Cache Trail Angel
21. Hat Creek Rim Water Cache Trail Angel
22. The stranger who gave us M&Ms and Gatorade while we tried to hitch a ride
23. Lloyd Gust for rides and maintaining trailside Caches
24. “Catdog” for his trailside food/water cache
25. The tourists who gave us water at Barlow Pass
26. The trail angel who maintains a PCT Hiker Stash by NF RD 23
27. Trout Lake Abbey for maintaining a cache by NF RD 24
28. The trail angel who maintains a food/water cache near Snoqualmie Pass


Hitches (I am sure there were more)

1. The Driver who drove us into Warner Springs
2. Ken Smith - The Driver who drove us from Warner Springs back to ADZPCTKO
3. Squatch – The Driver who drove us from ADZPCTKO back to Warner Springs
4. The Driver who drove us into Idyllwild (from Hwy 74)
5. The first Driver who drove us part of the way out of Idyllwild
6. The second Driver who drove us part of the way out of Idyllwild
7. The driver who drove us into Idyllwild (from Devils Slide Trail)
8. David Ledbetter – Idyllwild Trail Angel/ride up Black Mountain Road
9. The Driver who drove us into Big Bear as well as back to the trail
10. Ormond – The driver who shuttled us around Big Bear to help with Errands
11. The Driver who took us into Wrightwood (via Lone Pine Canyon Road)
12. The crazy woman who gave us a ride to and from the trail for a Wrightwood Slackpack
13. The Driver who drove us into Tehachapi
14. Georgette – Slackpacked us outside Tehachapi, and drove us back to the trail the next day
15. The driver who drove us into Onyx
16. Bessie (“Queen Heffer of them all”)- drove us from Onyx to the trail
17. The driver who took us down from Kearsarge Pass
18. The driver who took us from Independence to Bishop
19. Sue Yeoman – rides to and from the trail, as well as around town in Ashland
20. Jim Flett – ride from Seiad Valley to Dunsmuir, and overnight host
21. The driver who took us from Burney Falls State Park to Burney
22. The driver who took us part of the way from Burney back to Burney Falls State Park
23. The other driver who took us part of the way back to BF state park
24. “Piper’s Mom” who drove us into Chester, and maintains a trail cache for hikers
25. “Piper’s Mom’s Husband” who drove us back to the trail
26. The driver who drove us from Dunsmuir back to the trail
27. The driver who drove us into Etna
28. The driver who drove us from Etna back to the trail
29. The driver who drove us from Seiad Valley to I-5
30. The driver who drove us from I-5 to Ashland
31. The driver who took us from Diamond Lake to the Trail
32. The first driver who took drove us around crater lake, back to the trail
33. The second driver who took drove us around crater lake, back to the trail
34. The third driver who took drove us around crater lake, back to the trail
35. The driver who drove us from Barlow Pass to Government Camp
36. The driver who drove us from Government Camp to Barlow Pass
37. The driver who took us into Trout Lake
38. The driver who took us from Trout Lake back to the trail
39. The driver who took us partly from Chinook Pass to Packwood
40. The second driver who took us the rest of the way to Packwood
41. The driver who took us into Snoqualmie Pass
42. The driver who took us from Stevens Pass to Baring
43. The driver who took us from Baring back to the trail
44. The driver who took us from the trail back to Baring
45. The driver who gave us a ride at Hart’s Pass
46. The driver who drove us to Yosemite Park
47. The driver who drove us part of the way from Yosemite Park, back to Tuolumne Meadows
48. The second driver who drove us part of the way from Yosemite Park, back to Tuolumne Meadows
49. The third driver who drove us part of the way from Yosemite Park, back to Tuolumne Meadows
50. The driver who drove us part of the way from Sonora Pass to Walker, CA
51. The second driver who drove us part of the way from Sonora Pass to Walker, CA and offered trail magic
52. Mark - drove us from Walker CA to South Lake Tahoe
53. The driver who drove us part of the way from South Lake Tahoe to Rocklin
54. The second driver who drove us part of the way from South Lake Tahoe to Rocklin

Our Last morning on the PCT - Video

Sierras Pictures

Fate is Cruel Sometimes

Day 175-October 5th
Destination: Walker, CA
Miles: 0
Cumulative Miles: 2586

Like a bizarre twist of fate, we spent all of yesterday praying for a safe delivery through the storm to a town with a hot shower. We made it through the thick of it all and were dropped in the small town of Walker, CA. We planned to go to Bridgeport, but we were told hotels were far cheaper here and that the burger joint had great burgers, rivaled only by the BBQ joint.

As fate would have it, we got our hot shower, but all four restaurants in town were closed last night, and all day today. We had to subsist on untasty microwave meals and nasty gas station frozen foods. Apricots points out that we forgot to pray for good food. All our prayers were answered, but we forgot to pray for good eats.

We holed up in our hotel room with the heat cranked to dry out our gear. We couldn't dry it outside because it rained most of the day. In fact, when we woke, we saw that the snow line had dropped to around 7000 feet. The weather is supposed to continue for the next three or four days, which means that snow is piling up at the trail. The highway back to the trail is closed, and lightening continues to flash up at the trail.

We have regrettably made the decision to conclude our hike, four days from the end. As we cannot get a ride back to the trail, we would be required to road walk back to the trail. Then we would have to navigate 75 miles of trail in fresh snow and bad weather. Sadly, we cannot wait out the weather because of post trail commitments which loom near. It is a hard decision, but we both feel very accomplished and feel that we have completed a thru-hike of the PCT. Many other hikers we know who have completed the hike have missed miles here and there. Not everyone succeeds at hiking the full distance in one season, but most will agree that 2600 miles is good enough to call it complete.

Over the next few weeks we will be regathering our thoughts. We will not have daily posts, but there will definitely be a few more posts. It would be impossible to thank everyone who helped us on this hike, but we intend to try in a post. Also, we will be posting pictures from our final leg. We're sure there will be a few other posts regarding our post-trail emotions.

For now, thank you for reading. It would be nice to know how many readers we had, so if you could post a comment to this blog, or sign our trailjournals guestbook it would be appreciated.

Thank you. Talk to you again soon.
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Like a Cow in a Snowstorm

Day 174-October 4th
Destination: Walker, CA (via Sonora Pass)
Miles: 21
Cumulative Miles: 2586
We each wish to post our own thoughts on this day...so this post is Apricots' thoughts on day 174 of the PCT.

Though our day did not start until 5:30 a.m., the lightening and thunder storm that woke me at 2:45 a.m. proved to be an indication of the day ahead. I lay trying to remain calm so I could fall back asleep, but found myself counting with each flash...1 one thousand 2 one thousand... Most of the time I got to 7, which meant the lightening was at least a mile away. Occasionally I only got to 4. I thought to myself, "I hope the rain that is falling now stops by morning."

When our alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. we could still hear rain, so we snoozed until 5:30 a.m. Going about our normal morning routine of breakfast, coffee and packing up, Psycho stuck his head out of the tent to get our bear vaults. He had lazily shoved the bear vaults out of the tent door the night before not wanting to go out in the cold rain. When he loudly said, "F@ck", I thought maybe a bear had run off with them, or they had rolled into Dorothy Lake. I asked what was wrong and he said,"it snowed last night." The light patter of rain I had heard in the middle of the night was in fact snow, and so was the still continuing patter on our tent. Knowing this, we took our time getting ready; no sense in hiking in the dark with snow covering the trail making it difficult to see.

Hiking in the snow was not dissimilar to the day of hiking in the rain we had yesterday. The goal was to stay as warm and dry as possible and not slip on the rocks that cover this section of the PCT. The main difference was that my feet were refusing to warm up despite the continual movement, and I started to worry about frost-bite. "Just keep moving, that is all you have to do." I said this to myself not realizing how powerful of a mantra it would become for the day ahead.

Though the snow was frustrating it was manageable the same way the rain had been. The trail was covered, but not enough to really lose and this was a relief. My real concern throughout the day was the lightening that continued off and on. Looking at the sky, I could see this was a serious storm that was not going to pass by. It would be at least an all day thing, if not a several day thing.

The biggest concern was that we were going to be gaining elevation throughout the day. Though the first ten miles were pretty gradual, I knew we had to climb to almost 10,500 feet in order to connect to the road Psycho and I had agreed we were going to exit the mountain on. We chose it because it would bring us quickly down in elevation, while the trail remained high for quite a while longer before dropping.

Each time the sky lit up in a bright flash, I found myself counting again. Often I managed to count to seven, sometimes even twelve, before hearing the crash of thunder. At times I had no warning and just heard the loud crash. I became anxious the handful of times that I only counted to two. As Psycho explained to me, light travels roughly five times faster than sound, so whatever number you count to, you divide it by five and that gives a rough estimate of how far in miles the lightening is. Anything less than five is less than a mile and only counting to two...well you get the idea.

As I walked, I thought about how yesterday had been one of the harder trail days. Between the very rocky terrain, the grueling up and down climbs over slick rocks, the constant rain, and the fact that we hiked 24 miles stopping to rest only once to eat a quick lunch. I realized that today would turn out to be more difficult due to the snow and lightening. Little did I know, the hardest part of all was yet to come.

Though I tried to remain focused and positive as I walked, I was incredibly anxious and worried. Psycho led the way, moving us along as quickly as manageable. I prayed to just about every religious figure I could think of, my family, the universe, the earth, whatever or whoever. Hell, if the Lord of the Underworld was willing to warm things up a bit and keep us a bit safer (ideally without us having to exchange our souls for the deed), I would be glad to accept the help. Funny enough, the words that kept running through my head were, "Giant warm rubber bubble." I was envisioning Psycho and I each in our own giant rubber bubbles that extended out a half mile all the way around. Yeah, I know I am crazy, but it is thoughts like these that keep you moving in a situation like this. Luckily, my feet had finally warmed up enough that I could feel them again.

As we approached the steeper portion of the hike I heard an animal noise that sounded distinctly like a cow mooing. We were close to 10,000 feet in the Sierra Nevadas in the middle of a snow storm in early October, so I was a bit thrown off. I began to worry that it was actually a bear roar so I looked all around me for the source. Up the hill a little way from the trail was a heard of cows casually grazing the way they would in a field on a warm summer day. Though it was pretty bizarre to see the cows, I thought to myself, "ok, so if these cows are not concerned about this terrible snow and lightening storm, should I be so freaked out?" To which I responded to myself thinking, "Ya Lauren, but cows aren't the most intelligent creatures on the planet. But then again, what am I talking about, I am the idiot that is climbing up a mountain in a horrible snow storm?"

As we finally got past the tree line, I looked up at the mountains ahead and my heart sank. The storm had engulfed the mountains and it was white all around. Out of the seeming protection of the trees, I knew the lighting would be a real danger. I stopped Psycho and asked him if heading up further was a good idea. He looked back at me and told me that we had no choice, the storm was not going to let up and staying on the mountain longer would be unwise. As if to confirm my fears, a loud crash of thunder bounced off of the white walled mountains around us. Psycho turned back to face the storm and trudge onward. At this point the snow had completely covered the ground and the trail was no longer visible. Luckily, Psycho had the GPS and the cows were a blessing of sorts, as they had mainly stayed on the trail leaving prints and cow sh*t to guide us.

The further up we climbed, the more dramatic and intense the situation became until I thought that what I was going through could not be real. It had to be a scene in a movie, right? The wind was blowing the snow sideways and this had caused a lot of the hillside to have deeper snow than everywhere else. Psycho was making the steps, and I was following, so despite how hard it was for me, it was more difficult for him. Eventually we followed the trail for as far as we could make out any semblance of it. We ran into a point where it switch backed up the steep grade in front of us. Instead of switch backing, we climbed straight uphill until we intersected it again. As I walked, the whiteness of the snow and landscape around me was so consuming that, though I remained totally focused on each step, my eyes began to compensate for the brightness. I started being able to see the liquid on my eyes moving around. They were focusing closer than what I was actually looking at because it was too bright and there was no solid object to focus on. It was distracting, but I kept moving.

When we finally reached the saddle where the road intersected the trail I was relieved but at my most frightened. The wind was the strongest it had been all day, that is the nature of a saddle. I was struggling through knee deep snow, completely surrounded by clouds, with occasional flashes of lightening and the wind was blowing me sideways. I panicked but somehow kept moving following Psycho down the other side of the mountain. It was just as frightening as the side we had come from, but we were climbing down and losing elevation as quickly as was safe to move.

After we had traveled several miles, conditions improved and the snow lightened. This was when I accepted that it was all going to be okay. As Psycho noted in his journal, I could not help but think of the three south bound hikers we had passed. I hope they make it through okay because the weather report we saw once in town confirmed that the storm was going to last several more days. We were lucky enough to get rides off the mountain despite the road being closed.

If there is anything that this trail has taught me it is humility. I am now very certain of my place in the natural world. I am also incredibly grateful to every single person that helped us along the way. It is because of this help that we were able hike the miles we did and have the experiences we had. Every step of the way I was surprised by blessing after blessing from many an unexpected source. Blessings sometimes come in unusual forms, like cows in a snow storm...

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Psycho on Day 174

Day 174-October 4th
Destination: Walker, CA (via Sonora Pass)
Miles: 21
Cumulative Miles: 2586

We each wish to post our own thoughts on this day...so this first post is Psycho's thoughts on day 174 of the PCT. Apricots' post will follow soon.

(It's long, but the day was epic...enjoy the read)

I woke to my greatest fear this morning...but not after a restless night. The thunder boomed through the night. We were camped at about 9000 feet, and in somewhat of a canyon. The lightening flashed directly overhead, and thunder crashed immeasurably close behind. We were directly underneath the heart of the storm. As the thunder boomed the tent walls seemed to shake in fear.

The tree under which we camped was split in two locations, perhaps from lightening strikes. Normally I wouldn't wish to camp under a tree struck by lightening, especially one the looked like it had been hit twice. Yet after yesterdays wicked weather, I was too exhausted to think about it and only noticed in retrospect. Fortunately lightening didn't strike three times in the same location.

The cold rain made us not want to cook dinner last night. We did a big "no-no" by eating in our tent in bear country. Our dinner was plantains, jerky, mustard, mayo, and hot sauce rolled into a tortilla. The trail has taught us versatility in dining.

Anyway, back to the beginning of the day. I woke to my greatest fear this morning. When I popped my head out of the tent, there was roughly two inches of snow on the forest floor. I dreaded the trail was going to be lost under snowfall, and we would be forced to navigate via map, compass, and GPS. We were at 9000 feet, and would be climbing to nearly 11,000 feet. The snow had to be deeper up at that elevation.

Rather than route finding in the early morning darkness, we sat in the tent until daybreak and broke camp. It was a mad rush once we were out of the tent as we needed to get moving to get warm. The first ten miles were going to be relatively flat, so it would be hard to maintain body heat, unless we moved fast. Moving fast is hard in snow. I was terrified.

Fortunately, all of yesterdays rain flooded the trails, so the accumulated snow was mostly slush along the trail. Navigating was easy for the first ten miles. We only lost the trail once, as I mistakenly followed a stream thinking it was the trail. We backtracked until we relocated the trail, and forged on. My mistake cost us only five minutes, but in this weather, I did not like losing five minutes.

The rain was mixed with freezing rain and snow, and the wind was blowing our ponchos off our shoulders. Every ten minutes lightening flashed, and thunder followed close behind. With every flash, I counted the seconds until the thunder. I don't think the lightening was ever more than half a mile away. For one brief moment the sky showed blue, and we saw our shadows. Yet, it was so brief we didn't even get an opportunity to get our hopes up.

I moved quickly, but Apricots was struggling behind me as her feet were frozen. She told me that she couldn't feel her toes and was afraid of frost-bite. At one point she said she may want to stop to set up the tent and thaw out her toes. I really didn't like that idea, as I knew the longer we waited, the more snow would accumulate at the higher elevations.

It didn't help that all the rain had caused the creeks to be gushing like rivers. The log crossings were covered with snow, as were the rocks to hop across. Going either route would put us at risk of slipping into the water. We were forced to ford the streams. I walked into the creeks, feeling the icy water replace the semi-warm water which already soaked my boots. Every stream crossing offered us an opportunity to replace the warm boots with freshly cold boots. Fortunately, most streams were managed without full on fords.

After making our way across ten miles of drenched trail, we began our climb into the higher exposed ridges. The thunder had died down, and while I would like to say we were in the clear, we had reached a point where the trail was no longer visible. The snow was now six inches deep.

We heard a noise, and at first thought we spooked a cub bear, but realized it was actually free-range cows grazing. There presence in the snow storm was surreal, but I was happy they were there. They tended to stick to the trail, so I was able to lead the way up the mountain by following their hoof prints in the snow. I was, however, slightly fearful of getting trampled by terrified cows. Would my orange pack cover look like a red matadors cape to them?

"Should we walk around the herd?" I asked.

"Just go through them," Apricots replied.

At this point we had reached the timber line, and the thunder had stopped. Apricots still felt a little uneasy about climbing to the ridge, but I told her that it was only going to get worse, and we couldn't stop to wait out the storm.

"We'll be fine, we just have to keep moving," I said. As if to taunt me, the sky lit up and thunder boomed overhead, justifying Apricots' terror over our condition.

We continued on. We had about 900 feet to climb to the pass, where we would follow a jeep road out. Following the ridge in the snow and thunder would be too dangerous. Besides it was impossible to see the trail by then. The trail was following the jeep road for roughly a mile, which made it easier to find. The snow was now about a foot deep, and the wind had caused the snow to drift up to 24-30 inches deep at times.

As we climbed higher, the thunder boomed louder and the wind picked up. We were still a mile from the top when the snow turned into a horrid mix of freezing rain, sleet, ice, snow, and every other miserable form of precipitation. The wind blew it directly into our face, and we were in white out conditions. I turned my face down and guided us up the mountain by keeping my eyes glued to the GPS, and occasionally looking up to read the land.

When we hit the top, the trail went one way, and the jeep road went the other way. By now, the snow was too deep to read any semblance of a road in the conditions, and I had to hope that the GPS accurately reflected the course of the road (which it rarely does). The wind gusts were strong enough to blow us down if we didn't keep three points of contact.

We could see a lake in the distance and knew the road went by it, so we cut cross country down the hill. Every once and a while we found the road and followed it, but the wind had caused snow drifts that were three feet deep, so it was virtually impossible to trudge through the snow on the road.

Gradually we lost elevation, and the snow depth started to subside. Unfortunately, with the drop in elevation, the temperature went up enough that the dry snow flakes were now mixed with wet slushy flakes and thick raindrops.

We started getting wet again. As we were no longer climbing, we were no longer generating body heat. My shorts were pretty much soaked, but my core temperature was still warm enough that I didn't worry too much. I had relocated the jeep road, and the snow was now mixed with slush, so the road was easy to follow.

Then it hit me. With weather like this, the highway at Sonora Pass would likely be closed. When we reached the highway, we would not be done. We would have to hike another fifteen miles to get to any sort of civilization. I had kept us moving all morning, and we were soaked. The jeep road trimmed miles off our day, but we still had hiked about seventeen miles without stopping for lunch (or breaks), or properly hydrating.

We hit the highway. No traffic. I was afraid that we would have to spend the night again in the rain and snow. We were now down to about 8500 feet, and most of the falling snow was not sticking anymore. I told Apricots we should hike down the road a bit to lose more elevation before stopping to eat anything.

Within a mile we saw a vehicle, a road cleaner of sorts. The driver was shocked that we had just come off the trail. He told us the highway was closed, and we would not see any traffic for at least five miles. There was still daylight enough to cover five miles of road walking, if we didn't stop to eat. Ultimately we wanted to get to a hotel for the night. Apricots sang somewhat jubilantly (to the tune of "White Christmas"), "I'm dreaming of a hot shower, just like the ones I used to know."

The road cleaner made it to the top of the pass and came back down. Taking pity on us, he allowed us to catch a ride with him. The illegal ride in the back of his truck was frigid, and probably against company policy, but he was seriously saving us. As we approached civilization, a van started following the truck. The driver pulled over and asked where we were heading. She told us to get out of the wet cold bed of the truck and hop in her warm van, where seat belts and legality awaited us.

She drove us to Walker, CA and dropped us at a hotel, traveling 20 miles out of her way to ensure that we found a warm shower. Her trail magic was just what our frozen bodies needed. The shower that followed was probably the best on the whole trail. The woman who dropped us off knocked on our hotel door and gave us some quality organic goods to enjoy now that we were in the warmth and safety of a hotel room.

What an epic day.

I was praying at least 90 percent of the walk out, and now that we are out, I am worried for the three other hikers that I know are still up there. They are two to three days from a way out, with wicked climbs and drops ahead of them. The weather forecasted for the next four days is nothing shy of horrible. If you are the praying type, there are at least three hikers who could probably benefit from your thoughts.
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