Optiventure Journeys

You know what’s a great deal? Half price breakfast. To my surprise this restaurant had half priced breakfast if you came before 7:30, and as someone who gets up with the sunrise I am unable to sleep in so this was perfect. Our waitress was memorable and made great jokes, this was probably the most fun I’ve had chatting with a server lately she was hilarious. We had bought a cupcake for our friends birthday and he had that for a post breakfast snack. We decided to go to the bakery nearby before hitch hiking back to the trail, the owner was so kind and she gave us each a free cookie. Sometimes it’s weird how many times people give us things for free, I am certainly okay financially I’ve saved a while for this but the generosity is truly impeccable.

Leaving Truckee another hiker from my group and I stopped at a rest stop along the highway to get water, maybe four miles out of town. A guy in a truck (Jerry) chatted with us and offered us a soda! Turns out his partner is hiking as well and is not far behind, she’d be coming in shortly. This is her last of the triple crown (completing all three long distance trails in the USA) and he follows along with their camper and goes fishing or biking in the areas.

We’ve started to see more blow down trees across trail lately which slow us down slightly but thankfully it hasn’t been too bad. My shoes have held up okay thankfully, and I only have one more day before I get my new pair. We camped about four miles from Sierra City since it doesn’t make sense to hike into the town at 8pm when nothing is open.

The next morning we quickly made it to town and of course stopped for breakfast to wait until the post office opens. I finally get to get rid of my bear can! I weighed the items I’d be getting rid of from my backpack and it was two pounds… no more mittens, pants, second base layer, as well as my puffy jacket, I would mail them ahead to Oregon and pick them up later! A friend of mine is met in 2023 on the pct mailed me an ursack (bear bag) to use since it’s lighter and easier to pack, as well as some dehydrated meals he’d made. I was very grateful since the small convenience store had the bare minimum for resupply of food…. I bought a few snacks to supplement what I needed and it was very pricey.

We knew we had a big climb leaving town, about 7 miles of straight uphill. We stayed in town playing cards until about 2:30, finally deciding it was time to head back to the trail. I thought the climb was going to be brutal but the temperature wasn’t too bad and the slope grade was truthfully pretty pleasant. We ended up hiking 12 miles which I feel like is pretty good considering we started just after 3pm. The luxury of staying at a campground that’s accessible to vehicles is there is usually a trash can and a toilet…. I am always happy to take advantage when I can.

The next day I was suprised it rained on and off for a bit in the morning. Thankfully nothing crazy I didn’t even need to put my rain jacket on. The trees are now covered with lichen that is a beautiful lime green (or at least I think it’s lichen) and it makes for a beautiful forest to walk through. The poison oak has also returned with a vengeance, it’s everywhere sometimes. The blown over trees covering trail have also been worse this section, some of which are large and difficult to climb over. One of my friends hit his head on a few trees overhanging the trail while trying to maneuver around some blown over trees, which is not great given he has a history of some pretty gnarly concussions.
I had realized soon into this three day stretch I had not bought enough snacks. This is a first for me, normally I have too much food. Two snacks all day is enough to get by but not enough for me to enjoy hiking 26 miles a day (42km) so I decided I would quickly go into one of the earlier towns since it was easily accessible, rather than ration my food. Turns out this was a great choice. Quincy has a general store that has a shower and laundry for hikers to use for free and a table inside to hangout at. It’s so wild how friendly most of the small towns are for hikers, but this was amazing. We ended up spending almost eight hours in town. The owner of the store texted a few locals if anyone was free to give us a ride back to trail and I think she had four people in under fifteen minutes.

The last stretch ended in Lake Tahoe and we ended up taking three full days off. We initially planned to do one and a half but it was nice to enjoy a big town. Usually chores take up most of the first day off in town anyhow so this truly felt like we had time off to do nothing, or whatever we wanted. Lake aloha is just outside of Lake Tahoe and a beautiful area, originally I had planned to hike out and camp here but taking the extra day off changed that plan. We ran into our second ranger in this area, it’s well known to have bears that are a bit problematic and a super popular area since it aligns with a portion of the Tahoe rim trail, so I’m not suprised they have rangers checking permits and bear cans.

My right shoe has busted again, but I will have new shoes in the next town stop so I’ve taped it up and can hopefully prevent the inch long hole from turning into a catastrophic mess….. I’m not sure if it’s because my orthotic insoles are a bit differently shaped or the shoe brand has changed something slightly but I never had this issue in 2023. I could easily make 500 miles with no issues besides worn down tread and a bit of the heel foam degrading but this is now the second pair that’s busted on the side.

I think we only had two and a half days before we made it to the highway where we could go into Truckee, I had been hiking with a friend for the final few miles and was ready for a break. We got to the parking lot near the highway and there was trail magic! One of the guys who’s retired and following along the trail helping out hikers is going to be in this area for two months he said. Crazy! He has a whole setup in his vehicle and is so generous. He had cold drinks and plenty of snacks, and even was giving fuel cans to hikers if they needed a new one. Again I am overwhelmed with how kind people can be, the community and the desire to pay it forward is something I can go on and on about how many times I’ve seen it happen. It’s beautiful.

We got a ride into town, originally planning to head back out to trail that day but town got the better of us. It was our friends birthday the next day so we naturally stayed at a hostel and I taught the three others how to play euchre, since I had decided to carry a deck of cards from the previous town. I’m a sucked for games and will happily carry the weight if people will play.

We had four miles into Kennedy meadows north and we got the last of a few big snow traverses, and one final glissade down a snow patch about 40 ft. I was very excited to ditch my microspikes and ice axe in Kennedy meadows north. We looked at all the comments for beyond this and decided we no longer needed those snow gear items. A relief to have a pound less of weight to carry. As wasteful as it seemed to put them in a hiker box (donation/free bin open to anyone to take from) it isn’t really worth paying to mail them home to Canada where I have both already. In about 200 miles I would also get rid of my bear can and mail a bunch of items I don’t need up to Oregon, I am so excited to have even less weight to carry…. It makes the miles come so much easier.

We just missed a rainstorm while leaving town and I was happy to be just ahead, if I had left any later I probably would have stayed in town to avoid the rain and truthfully there isn’t much going on at Kennedy meadows north. I actually forgot how pretty this section is. I think it’s easy to get caught up in the big alpine peaks but the sandstone peaks and forest ridge lines blooming with wildflowers has been a great change of pace.

My parents let me know they had a lithium battery explode and start a small fire in the basement of their home. I had no idea this actually happened and how annoying the implications it has. Apparently they’ll have to get rid of a lot of things and clean everything else, not being able to be in the home for months! I have a few things still at their home (my mom would argue more than a few) so most of it will be disposed of minus the important items like my car ownership…. Thankfully they have a place to stay, but what a crazy few weeks it’s been for them. Surgery, a fall that resulted in another trip to the hospital, and a battery explosion. A big reminder that life still goes on even when I’m out hiking and blissfully unaware of the day to day realities. It’s also looking more promising I’ll finish the PCT before heading back to do my own work up to see if I’m eligible to donate. My mom has started her work up but it might actually be a while, and they won’t use the dialysis tube unless she starts feeling unwell so it’s been a nice relief not to worry as much.

The last few days of this section had a bunch of really nice lakes,l and I try to swim in as many as I can. I had gone swimming before making my way down trail to an information centre where there were pit toilets and a picnic table off a highway. I didn’t realize it closed at 4pm so I missed it by about ten minutes, the swim was totally worth it though. Two of my friends were very kind and had saved a soda for me and the other hiker in our group. A generous free Dr Pepper to enjoy. Now that it stays lighter for more of the day it’s been nice to take more breaks and hike almost to sunset. Normally I don’t like a late dinner but out on trail it’s not bad, enjoying a meal as the sunlight hits the redlines and painting the sky.

After doing eight days between towns we stumbled into Mammoth Lakes eager for a day off. Comments in the app hikers use made it seem like the free trolley from trail into town came every hour on the hour, turns out it was every half hour and we were just in time to make it to catch a bus that had been running late. We were in town by noon and went straight to the brewery for burgers. Cramming ten of us into an air bnb we had a potluck dinner and enjoyed the next day off from hiking.

Our next stretch would be at a decently lower altitude which meant hopefully the uphills wouldn’t be as taxing on the body. I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy the next sections since the Sierra was always my goal, but figured I’d just see how it went. Turns out I did really enjoy the stretch. This week was more about rivers to cross and smaller mountains to climb between, and finally we passed through Yosemite which is an iconic area known for the infamous El Cap. Thousand Island lake is one of the top lakes along the PCT in many opinions, so a bunch of us had planned to camp there. Unfortunately it was a bit too chilly for my liking to swim in a lake that still had chunks of snow floating around but the sunrise was incredible the next morning.

We slowly made our way past 1000 miles, which I know is a lot of miles but it’s 325 shy of the halfway point so the reality starts to sink in of just how much has yet to come. Lately I’ve been hiking around quite a few people who are out here for a second, or third time. This year seems to have many repeaters (as I call them) and it’s fun to hear why others come back. I think it speaks overall to the community of thru hiking and how special these experiences can be. I do think certain people are more drawn to continue to hike more long trails, more of a lifestyle than just a once in a lifetime opportunity which I’m grateful to have a job that allows me to do so.

I think it’s overall just nice to be back around people who live differently and who understand the draw of a long distance trail. Society puts a lot of pressure to fit in in certain ways and I don’t think thru hikers follow a lot of those timelines. Certainly some do, and some hike after retirement having lived a more traditional lifestyle up until then, but I think anyone who starts a long distance trail has made some sort of major life change and decided to just go for a big goal… Which is why I think regardless of if someone finishes a trail sometimes the hardest part is just getting to the start. Quitting jobs or giving up homes, it’s all huge, especially when you’re doing it to go live in a tent for months and a lot of people don’t quite understand why. Maybe it’s just something people have to experience themselves to fully understand why.

We ended the stretch at Kennedy Meadows North, the official end of the High Sierra, planning to camp at a ridge line 4 miles before town. Eight of us cowboy camped under the stars behind a few bushes and the sunset was probably my favourite yet. The lighting was pristine, perfect for photography with a beautiful mountain range for a background. I set an alarm for 1:30am to look at the stars, the Milky Way beautifully visible. I think this was the best campsite yet. These are my favourite moments and for me I don’t think it gets much better.

What was supposed to be one day off in bishop quickly turned into four…. A storm was approaching with freezing temperatures and plenty of fresh powder to coat the trail. Four days were spent at the hostel playing board games, watching movies, bowling, and eating way too much frozen yogurt. We planned our next stretch and I was happy to slow down the pace a bit. The Sierra Nevada was a big reason I felt drawn to come back to the pct, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wanted to go through those mountains in the spring with snow covering the peaks. Up until now I felt I didn’t have infinite time. I wanted to get to the Sierra while there was still snow and with a low snow pack to start it was a race against time. I didn’t need more breaks in the desert but I also was itching to get to the Sierra. Now it feels like the timing is perfect, I’m in the Sierra range and that was always the goal so slowing down a bit to enjoy the views and take my time was all I wanted.

We planned to just do one mountain pass a day, which meant our first three days were all under 15 miles total to hike. Excellent! The storm had dropped about seven to eight inches or so of fresh snow along the mountains so the 7 mile trail we needed to hike to get back onto the PCT was no longer a dry trail but rather a snow covered mix of powder, slush and wet mud. Since we only planned to do about 9 miles total that day we got to camp nice and early. Three of us crammed into my two person tent to watch a movie since we’d gotten to camp at 3:30pm and it was quite chilly.

The days that followed were beautiful and physically challenging. Watching friends traverse across Glen pass will forever be etched into my brain. The descent off Glen was probably the steepest, and covered with some powdered snow that hadn’t quite frozen over made for a soft layer that was unable to fully grip into with our microspikes. Slowly but surely I made my way down. I think my ice axe is more of a mental safety guard than actually necessary, I’m more confident with my steps knowing I have it incase I fall. It still surprises me that some people didnt carry one and were perfectly comfortable on the slopes…. I am surely not one of them.

All of our mountain passes went up to around 11,000-13,000ft and were snow covered on the backside. Mather pass was quite steep on the ascent we scrambled up loose rock to avoid going straight up snow. Muir pass was one of my favourites as the snow covered probably eight miles of the ascent and descent but it isnt a very steep pass. I was really happy there was snow, sometimes secretly wishing for more but mostly trying to be present and just enjoy everything as it was. I’ll be forever grateful for the cold mornings, watching the snow glow and glitter as the sun starts to hit it, and sliding down the snow on the back of mountain passes when safe to do so.

It’s been a change to hike in a group and do most of the miles together, making sure no one got into a risky situation on the snowy passes. The Sierra Nevada is a beautiful and physically demanding stretch and it’s worth every sacrifice. I think part of me thought that my limit for hiking would be in the Sierra when covered in snow, sometimes I think that’s the drawn of big hikes like the pct or significant challenges. Perhaps certain people are just drawn to pushing and finding their ultimate limit, how far can I truly push myself and who will I be on the other side? How much is my body truly capable of? I’m not sure I found my limit since I generally was comfortable and not fearful on the passes, but I have many other things I want to do in life that might push me beyond my comfort limit so I guess that’s just a part of who I am.

After spending a day and a half not hiking, doing chores and prepping for the next section I was so happy I got to see two of my friends make it to the general store just before I left. I wasn’t sure if they would catch up in time but I cheered as loud as I could as they both walked in, people I’d known since my first days on trail and spent many moments along the way with. I weighed my pack before leaving and was thrilled to see it only weighed 32 pounds with all my gear and six and a half days of food inside the bear can. I left Kennedy Meadows with a group of five that I’d been around the last week and a half, excited with what was to come.

Our first day leaving we aimed for fifteen miles, which compared to what we had been doing was about a half day for us. It was sunny and just warm enough for us to be convinced to take a quick dip in the cold river at lunch. We camped just after a beautiful open meadow, down by a river that has a nice bridge built over it. I probably should’ve looked at the milage better, because I realized the next day how much effort it would take to do 25 miles a day back to back. Of course we never “have” to hiked any specific distance but doing two 25 mile days was the setup that made the most sense to summit Mt Whitney early in the morning the day after.

That second day the climbs felt way harder than normal. We were up above 10,000ft and I’m no stranger to hiking at altitude but it was a humbling reminder of how much it can affect your body. I felt nauseous and had a slight headache the last few miles into camp. I finally got to camp and drank a litre of water, hoping that would also help. It took all the energy I had to put up my tent and cook dinner but thankfully after eating I felt so much better. I don’t have much of an appetite in general so it’s sometimes hard for me to gauge when I’m hiking if I’m actually eating enough (although no one really is technically eating enough at this level….) I decided that if I felt the same way tomorrow evening that would be my sign that summiting Whitney would not be a good choice, since it stands at 14,505 ft tall and I was already pushing my limits of what I should be doing at altitude. I’ve already summitted My Whitney so I was not feeling any pressure to do so if I wasn’t feeling well.

The next day it finally felt like we were up in the high mountains. We had left the forrests and meadows for views large granite peaks with snow on the top. We got into camp at 7pm with just enough time to make dinner before an early bedtime. The plan was to leave at 4:30 to climb to Mt Whitney, six miles to the peak and the highest point in the USA outside of Alaska. Thankfully we could leave a lot of our gear at camp as we would be going up and back down, which meant only having maybe 5 pounds in the backpack.

It wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be but I was glad to be hiking in leggings instead of shorts. The cotton candy sky painted a backdrop to the mountain range about half an hour after we started hiking, reminding me of how much I enjoy seeing sunrise and sunset every day when I’m thru hiking. There were about four snow crossings we had to do along the way. None were too bad but I was happy to have my ice axe just for comfort incase I slipped. We made it to the top by 9:30 and enjoyed the panoramic view for about half an hour before heading back down.

The snow on the way down felt completely different since the steps were now at a downward angle, on the first one I cursed myself for not putting my spikes on but I took my time and didn’t have any issues. A friend of mine dropped his trekking pole down a snow chute and was determined he could retrieve it. I tried to convince him not to, even offering to just buy him a new one in town but he somehow managed to climb sideways across the snow slope and not fall, successfully getting the pole while I held my breath hoping he didn’t fall.

After making it back to camp we rested for maybe an hour before pushing on five more miles. We wanted to get closer to the base of Forester pass so that we could have harder snow early in the morning to make it easier to get up and over the mountain pass. Most of our mornings start around 5:30 and this was no exception, a lot of years people start hiking even earlier to avoid slushy slow but since it’s a relatively low snow pack we weren’t too worried about it. Two miles before the pass we finally hit the snow and I was so happy. It was everything I could’ve wanted, to me the mountains are most beautiful covered in the snow. The ascent itself was short and steep but I felt really solid going up, we used our spikes but didn’t need the ice axes. Looking over the north side of the pass it was full of snow, my favourite day yet.

We glissaded (sliding down on your but along the soft snow) and then got to a section that looked a bit too steep to want to keep sliding so we began kicking steps across the snow to traverse back to the already kicked in boot pack. Buzz and I ended up following the steps a bit too far, and backtracked then thinking we could connect to the trail by scrambling down the side of the hill (cliff?) the scramble was okay until the last five feet, I’m not the biggest fan of going down on that type of terrain and I was so glad buzz was with me. He’s taller so I took my backpack off and handed it down to him to put on the snow so I could be more comfortable on the last five feet off (the photo is included for our route….). One more glissade and we were off the steep slope.

We walked across and saw one final glissade path, I went first, the snow wasn’t quite soft enough and I picked up a bit of speed. Quickly I realized I was headed towards a rock so I turned over and used the ice axe to stop myself to make sure I didn’t slide right into it. I yelled at buzz not to glissade, all he had was trekking poles to slow himself down so he took a different route.

Today we had the option of either camping right before our trail into town, or pushing 22 miles over two mountain passes to make it into town late in the evening. We got to the junction around 3pm and decided we would push the 8 extra miles up and over Kearsarge pass to hopefully hitch a ride into town. It got cold and gloomy with grey skies, snowing on us halfway up the pass and most of the way down. We made it to the campground parking lot just before 6pm. We had thought we might make it to town on the Monday, but here we were on Sunday evening with no plans of where we would stay in town. We worried everything would be booked up since the Monday was a holiday of a long weekend. Our backup plan was to just ask some campers if we could pitch our tents on their campsite for the evening.

Thankfully within ten minutes a couple that was hiking offered us a ride into town. They said they would be back in an hour from their hike, I said if we were still there we would love a ride into independence, one of three town options along the highway. We were hoping to go to bishop the day after but we would take whatever ride we could get. Not even five minutes later a hiker gets out of a vehicle and I asked the driver if he was going back into town. He said yes and asked if we needed a ride, how many, and where we were trying to go. I told him three, and that our goal was bishop but we would take a ride to independence as well. We all got in, and along the way he asked us what our plan was for town. After hearing that we were just going to look once we had service for a place to stay, he offered us his spare room that had space for all of us. It was in a town further south but I knew there was a bus that could take us to bishop the next morning. I couldn’t believe our luck, I thanked him and we said we would love to stay at his home. He mentioned he and his roommate had been talking about hosting PCT hikers but had yet to do so.

I love these kinds of interactions so much. They are the most spontaneous and genuine experiences I have ever come across. There are plenty of locals that post online that hikers can stay with them, but to have it happen by pure chance is always so much more fun. We took him and his roommate out for dinner as a thank you and so began our unknown soon to be four days off in town……

In the job I work in sometimes the unknown is worse than knowing what you’re facing and what the plan is. The unknown of trail life is an aspect I love and look forward to, never knowing who you’re going to meet or reunite with, what view comes ahead and what each day will bring… but in health that’s not the case. The more information I’ve gotten the more I’ve been able to process about whether or not I’ll be heading home. With a scheduled surgery and a beginning of a plan I feel okay moving forward and taking it one week at a time to hike on, at least for now.

I decided I would do a bit bigger days than I had been doing to try and get as far as I can in the next couple weeks. This meant leaving a group including two people I’d met on day one of the trail. The trail has a funny way of reuniting people seemingly out of the blue, but with the possibility of going home goodbyes feel a bit more permanent.

I set off from Tehachapi with plenty of climbs along the way. Over the next few days I cowboy camped on the ground every night which is a huge change for me, having only done that once in the five months I camped along the PCT in 2023. I quite enjoy not having to take down a tent that has condensation on it every morning. In this stretch there are two notorious water caches that are maintained by locals, without these hikers would have to go approximately 35 miles between natural water sources. This is of course doable but would require either carrying 8 or so litres of water, or primarily hiking overnight when it is cooler temperatures. It’s a generous gesture from the locals to maintain a supply of water in multi gallon containers at two road crossings in that section.

After leaving the last water cache I was 1 mile into the climb when I could see a black vehicle back down at the road… I assumed it was my friends partner from Australia as that was the type of vehicle he had rented. I debated whether it was stupid to back track a full mile just for a soda and fruit. In the end I kept moving forward, since I had decided not to carry food all the way to Kennedy Meadows I would be going into Ridgecrest the next morning so could get whatever food I wanted.

The next morning I got to the campground where the road access was by 8am. I joked to the other hiker with me that the first car would pull over to pick us up. We were maybe twenty feet from the road when I see a white sprinter van going the direction I wanted to go, I had my thumb up and not expecting anything to come from it but to my suprise the driver pointed in the direction and I nodded and was waving my hands to say yes we were going that way. I couldn’t believe she pulled off on the side of the road. She was going into Walmart which was exactly where we wanted to go. To push our luck even further, she mentioned if she saw us when she was leaving she would be happy to drive us back to the trailhead since that was on her way home anyhow. I bought my supplies as quickly as I could, happy to have a ride secured so easily. I was paying when I saw her in the lane next to me also checking out. I may have followed and walked quickly behind her to catch up on her way back to the van…. She wouldn’t accept any cash for gas but she did accept an ice cream sandwich from me. All in all, we had the most efficient detour into town I think I’ve ever had.

She dropped us off at the campground and not even 30 minutes later a man with his two daughters rolled up and mentioned they were going to be making burgers, hot dogs, and salad as trail magic for hikers. There was maybe 12 of us that stayed for lunch before heading into an 8 mile climb. Ending the day with a beautiful sunset and ten hikers all camping under the stars.

The next day miles came easy in the morning but towards the end of day the wind gusts were so strong it took double the effort to move forward and just stay standing upright at times. I stopped a bit earlier than planned to keep a friend company as he didn’t want to hike further, but we were in good shape still for the next day. We were hoping to have majority of the following day to relax once arriving to Kennedy Meadows: where the desert officially ends and the high mountains begin.

Making it to Kennedy Meadows is a huge milestone for hikers. There is a general store with a patio of picnic tables where it’s tradition for everyone to clap, cheer, and ring bells when hikers walk up towards the patio. A celebration for making it 700 miles to the start of the Sierra Nevada. I’ve cheered so many, and to this day it still makes me tear up. The milestones don’t feel the same for me now having already completed a thru hike, but it’s a monumental achievement and a wonderful reminder of how much we are all capable of. Last time I was here I didn’t go straight into the Sierra, I jumped up to avoid dangerous levels of snow/snow melt and returned in the fall to complete this section in 2023. This year I was so excited to be entering straight from Kennedy meadows in spring conditions. I actually had been hoping there would be more snow but this year is quite a low snow pack. I remained hopeful there would still be snow on the top of the mountain passes.

We took the next day off to do chores, relax, and enjoy the unlimited pancake breakfast. I still look back and am surprised that in the 700 miles of desert so far I had only taken two days off from hiking. The desert didn’t feel like a desert, it was cool temperatures this year so it wasn’t as hard as it was in 2023, but I was more than ready to be up in the high mountains. The Sierra Nevada, here I come!

This was the first cowboy camp I’ve done this trail, and my second ever despite having hiked over 4,500 miles the last few years. My fear of scorpions, snakes and bugs crawling on my face or near my quilt has always made me weary of camping without a tent. I was so glad to have done it though, sleeping under the stairs and waking to sunrise is about as good as it gets. Only having 13 miles to town the morning was smooth sailing. On the last downhill I twisted my ankle (no injury) and shortly after thought it felt like my shoe had expanded. It wasn’t until hours later that I noticed I had busted a two inch hole in the side of my shoe, thankfully I had a new pair waiting for me in town.

Wrightwood is the perfect trail town, small and compact so you can walk everywhere and nothing is far away. We had about 13 of us in the cutest air bnb where we could make group meals and rest. Leaving Wrightwood meant a soon summit of Baden Powell, a drastic difference to my 2023 experience. I don’t think I even knew there was a flag at the top of this peak because it had been covered in snow in 2023, whereas now it was minimal snow on the ascent and the peak completely snow free. We spent the day above the clouds as they were low set all around the mountain. Waking the next day to a chilly, misty, beautifully moody day. The section that followed was notorious for being along a closed highway, giving an apocalyptic sense amplified by the mist. It made a great day for photos though, probably my favourite day of photos yet.

That evening I was let in on a wonderful plot… a friends partner had messaged me on social media to let me know he was flying out from Australia to suprise her. Dreaming and scheming in my duplex tent I gave all of the info I could on possible roads to meet her at depending on when he got in. She is a very fast hiker though so on the day he arrived she had managed to get about 7 miles ahead of me so I hoped his plan still worked out. In the end it worked and although I was bummed to not see the suprise initially I was so happy to have helped.

So then began the week of being spoiled by support (in the best way possible) as now two hikers had their partners visiting with vehicles and they were generous in helping the rest of us. Fueling us with treats, fruits, and cold drinks as we made our way towards the infamous LA aqueduct.

The morning of the aqueduct I hiked 6 miles into Hiker town and spent the rest of the day in the shade hydrating my apparently dehydrated body and resting before the night hiking began. A 17 mile flat stretch with minimal water, traditionally hiked at night when the weather is hot, which is was extremely hot. I drenched my shirt with water multiple times and within 15 minutes even in the shade my shirt was already dry. At 5pm a few groups had blended together to start the hike and we happily took glow sticks from a hikers partner. 15 of us started, I assumed within a few miles we would split at different paces but to my suprise we all marched on. Banded together by a speaker playing music we all managed to hike 26 miles together fueled and suprised by not only one, but three separate gifts of trail magic. I couldn’t believe it. It was the most fun I think I’ve had out here yet.

We made it to camp by 3am just enough time to get a quick 2 hour nap. I feel like as I laid my head down I closed my eyes and the sun was up within minutes, two hours not quite long enough but the shining sun meant heat was coming and there was no time to waste if I wanted to get into town. So the final 17 miles began…. The final three miles into town finally caught up to me where I became tired and had sore feet, which was way better than I expected. I’ve done my fair share of overnight work and usually I feel quite gross the next day but somehow I felt okay. I think this is a new record, 42 miles in a 19 hour time period. A cold Gatorade in the parking lot before town revived my energy even more.

Ready for a day off, tehachapi was calling. It was here that unfortunately I got news I had hoped would come later but was sadly not surprising. My mom would finally be starting dialysis. Her kidney function has been close to this point for a while but it is finally time for this chapter. With emotions being a bit all over the place I’ve come to accept that maybe I won’t actually be able to finish this trail and I’ll have to head home early. Trails will remain to come back to, but loved ones and health will always be more important.

Idyllwild is hard to leave, it’s a cute mountain town with delicious food and is very hiker friendly. The trail was calling though so we left back up the 2.5 mile trail to get back onto the PCT. I decided I wanted to do a side quest and summit San Jacinto. It was a 3.2 mile trail to the summit. A lot of hikers do this trail up to the summit and follow a different route to connect with the PCT to avoiding back tracking. I decided I would leave my backpack at the junction and go up to summit and come back down the same route. Partly because I didn’t know how bad that descent would be on my knees with the weight of a backpack but also because I didn’t do the specific section I’d miss back in 2023. In 2023 this section had dangerous amounts of snow and many people did an alternate to avoid a notoriously sketchy area when snow covered. So I added 6.4 bonus miles to my day to summit the peak but I was happy I did it. 

Thankfully my backpack was still at the junction when I returned, not taken by
anyone or bitten through by squirrels trying to get my food. The section between that junction and where I got back on in 2023 was actually a beautiful stretch of trail and I was so happy to complete it this time. I did wonder whether there is a novelty aspect though, knowing something is new and not knowing exactly what it’ll be like does add a different element. I’ve thought about that a lot actually, how I am appreciative to not have the novelty aspect of trail this time around. I think there is something beautiful about returning and appreciating something just as it is even though it’s not new. Loving a trail so much that it doesn’t matter if every view is unexpected or unfamiliar. 

I was surprised at how good my body felt today. I ended up doing 23 miles that day, with 6,000ft of ascent and 4,100 of descent which is a huge elevation change for one day for me. I camped with a beautiful view of San Jacinto and enjoyed the sunset over the peak of the mountain with its snow covered gullies. The next day was basically all downhill, literally. Descending another 5,800 ft and making a pit stop to uber to the In and Out for a burger in the afternoon. 

I was really looking forward to the next section we would tackle tomorrow: Mission Creek. In late 2023 a hurricane had passed through this section and apparently destroyed quite a bit of trail so I was keen to do some hiking in the river as that’s what most do, just follow the river as there is no trail. Mission creek was 14 miles away, and we passed whitewater first. In 2023 the whitewater river was hip deep and swift flow, a bit of a shock to the system. This year, a log was across the trail and you could just walk across without even getting your feet wet. My brain could barely comprehend how it could be so drastically different. 

I made it to mission creek by lunchtime and after a quick break to eat I set out with another hiker to tackle to river. It was about 8 miles of crossing back and forth through the river and just following the riverbed. Not difficult but definitely a slower pace, plenty of rocks to roll an ankle if you’re not careful, which led to a long day. I generally am someone who just embraces the suck though, so I’m not suprised I ended up enjoying this section. Seeing the 10ft high riverbeds be completely washed out and knowing how much damage had been done was a beautiful reminder of how strong of a force nature is. There wasn’t many place to camp in the washed out area so we ended up hiking 24 miles and making it to camp by 6:15pm. 

Most of the washed out area was now complete! It was quite chilly overnight and the next morning, but we had 16 miles of no water so I was grateful for the cooler temperatures. I actually hiked that 16 miles only drinking about 1.5 litres of water because the terrain was relatively flat. I walked into camp at 4:30. I was eager to go on, knowing the next town was only 10 miles away… the weather however made me nervous. The forecast called for rain into snow, with wind gusts up to 80km per hour. The camp spot seemed well protected from wind and I was worried if I carried on I’d be stuck at a campsite completely exposed. So I setup camp and made sure I had plenty of rocks to keep my tent stakes from being ripped from the ground. It definitely was windy, I think I woke up every half hour to the rattling of the wind ripping through the campground and having fearful vision of my tent ripping. By some miracle the rocks did their job and my tent stayed up. 

It was snowing in the morning and another cold day lay ahead. Once I got hiking it was more comfortable temperature wise. The 10 miles into town were flat and came easy, I even sang a little while trotting along the trail. I remember thinking “oh my god how did Taylor swift do this??”.  I made it to the highway by 9:45am and within ten minutes had been picked up by a kind local who drove us into town. 

I was with four other hikers and they were all going a bit further into town. I didn’t want her to go out of her way so said I would get dropped off there as well. She dropped me and one other off before she continued across town to the hostel the others were staying at. I was going to just go grab a coffee and take the free tram to meet my friends on the other side of town. I had been walking for not even a minute when a Tesla pulled over and asked if I needed a ride anywhere in town! He was happy to drive me the five minutes in the other direction to the cafe where my friends were eating. Things like this happen more often than you’d think on trail, very different than regular life. 

We spent the day doing laundry, getting more food for our next stretch, and then resting in the hotel. Its still really cold and I will say, I don’t think I’ve ever felt sillier than wearing my purple wind pants, hot pink/green puffy jacket, and water shoes in the grocery store while my clothes were in the wash. Usually I don’t wander I just wait until the laundry is done but the laundromat was right beside the grocery store so it made sense to make use of the time. 

The next few days were forecasted to be cold as well but shouldn’t be too rainy. Back on trail the sky was blue and the temperature just warm enough to be comfortable hiking and not sweat. We hiked more miles than I expected leaving a town, making 19.5 miles by 4:30pm. That evening was the coldest we’ve had yet judging based off my water bottles freezing overnight. Thankfully I’ve made sleeping with my filter a habit so I never have to worry about leaving it out and accidentally freezing it and no longer working. The day came beautifully and the miles came oddly easily. I’ve been grateful for how different this thru hike compared to the aches and pains of my first. I made it to the hot springs and enjoyed a brief soak for my feet in both the hot springs and the icy cold creek. 

The next morning I had the realization that based off the day of the week I’d need to push a bit bigger miles than planned to make it to Wrightwood to get there before the post office closed at 5pm on the Friday evening. Thankfully the terrain was gradual, and not too hot and the distance between water was very manageable. Passing silverwood lake was incredible to see the damage from a fire. I was actually at that lake when the fire happened in 2023, getting evacuated and as we were walking out on the road passing a spot where we could see flames growing. Thankfully that fire was under control quickly and we were dropped back off by a local later that evening not much further up. Seeing first hand the destruction and change to the landscape always hits me in the forefront. We all are such small aspects of the world but yet can impact our planet greatly. The concern of plenty of wildfires being the result of human behaviour is never lost on me. 

Feeling good I pushed on and ended the day doing just shy of 28 miles. The iconic McDonald’s on trail was just 7 miles away for the morning. The morning had a beautiful glow and I enjoyed taking my time since I had woken at 5am I was in no rush. The plan was to get breakfast and wait for the switchover to lunch for a second meal before heading on. Hikers congregating at McDonald’s comes down to a corner filled with backpacks, odour, but all smiles as we all eat to our hearts desire. I did get a good laugh joking that the pct McDonald’s is like the scene in mean girls where they pretend it is a jungle. 

Hard to leave the comfort of air conditioning, social fun, and food, but I finally left at 1:30 going against my general rule to not hike in the heat of the day…. I hiked up the final climb of the day with a new group I’d just met that morning and we cowboy camped on a dirt road. Basically a slumber party of us sleeping side by side under the stairs, the Big Dipper well in view as we fell asleep under a bright full moon.

I woke up overnight to the odd sensation that my knees were not secure. Every turn on my sleeping pad felt like my kneecaps were going to give out and I had no idea what happened. I’ve done quite a bit of backpacking and have never had knee issues so this was alarming to come out of seemingly no where. Out of precaution I texted Blaze physio, who works along the trail out of her van doing physio for hikers, and I left to head into Warner Springs. This section has a meadow filled with wild oat grass that was a beautiful golden landscape of rolling hills. Surprisingly for the first 7 miles my knees felt better moving, the last two miles my left knee was quite painful right as I would lift my foot. Crap. I got into Warner springs and was able to quickly shower and wash my clothes in a bucket before chatting with Blaze. Thankfully it seems to be a minor inflammation issue and nothing major. The plan was to try taping, lower milage, and Advil if needed.

So I spent the rest of the afternoon at the community center and hiked out three miles to camp. Thankfully my knees didn’t bother me too much the next day, it was mostly climbing and the ascent didn’t seem to bother the inflamed areas. It’s always so interesting walking and being able to experience ecosystem changes at a 3 mile per hour pace. We walked out from the meadow, to the forrest, and through areas of sand with huge boulders that reminded me of Joshua tree all in less than a day.

The next morning we were only 4 miles away from a restaurant just one mile off trail down a road, so breakfast was a must. We chatted with a man at a table beside us who was out doing trail magic in various spots and was asking us about the section we had just completed. He left and I said thank you on behalf of all the hikers for what he was doing that was so incredibly kind. The waitress told us 15 minutes later he had paid for all of our meals. We were shocked, and wished we could have said thank you.

Hiking out from the restaurant I finally saw my first rattlesnake of the trail. I stepped over a rock and noticed the tail and rattle sticking out after I had already gone over. I walked back around the other side since it was a wide spot and sure enough the rattlesnake was curled up under the rock my foot had just been so close to as I stepped over it. Now I am not a snake person but I do find them very interesting and was glad this one seemed super unbothered by my presence. I took some photos and left, reminding myself this is why I don’t hike either headphones on when it’s hot.

Most of the water along this section was off trail unfortunately. The group I’ve been camping with lately was going to camp at a water source one mile down a steep trail to a spring. Because my knees had been bugging me at Warner springs I decided to leave my backpack at the trail junction and bring my bladder and bottle to grab water and carry it back up the mile long trail, hopefully saving some aches and pains by not carrying my 20 pound pack down and up. I ended up camping along a ridge with a beautiful sunset and sunrise. So beautiful I almost fell off a boulder while photographing the ridge line….. oops.

The next morning I almost stepped on a rattlesnake curled up on the side of a trail, and not even an hour later another rattlesnake was going across the trail into a bush. Ironically I think I have been more scared and jumpy from of the sounds of lizards dashing away into the bushes thinking it is a snake rattling than the actual snakes itself. Perhaps the exposure therapy is working…. So I continue on despite the volume of snakes, hoping I don’t come across one on the cliff edges where there is no where to go around.

I try not to compare this experience to my hike in 2023 but sometimes the lack of snow and water really becomes prominent. This section was one of those times. In 2023 I had to cross a few traverses of snow along a cliff side, and had about 6 miles of snow covered route finding to do into town. This year, no snow on the trail at all. What a difference it makes in pace. Although the 2.5 mile trail down into town definitely felt more like 5 miles.

A quick hitch hike from the car park at the trailhead led us into the town of Idyllwild. Idyllwild is probably one of the biggest vortexes along the trail. You can come into idyllwild from so many spots on trail so you see tons of hikers there. The first week I feel like I mostly jumped between bubbles of hikers, not seeing tons of people more than once. My pace is a bit faster than most typically start out at since my body is a bit more adjusted to this experience, or so I thought until the knee pain… Now its nice to be a bit more consistent in seeing people and knowing who is just ahead and slightly behind. The trail is starting to feel more like a home and I’m grateful. The routine of setting up and breaking down camp, and the sounds of feet crunchy along gravel as I walk all are a welcome familiarity. I had to remind myself that even in 2023 it took a while before I was consistently hiking with the same people, or a trail family as some call it.

Ending the week with a zero in town to wait out a storm that was passing through. We had five hikers into a small cabin in town and enjoyed the surplus of food options, clean clothes, and a bed to sleep on.

Total miles hiked by end of week 2: 179.

Number of cactuses that got stuck in me: just one, in my shin (surprisingly this never happened in 2023)

Happy trails!

It didn’t feel real that I was actually going back to the PCT. For the better part of two years I felt like all I wanted was to get back to the PCT and yet now here I am. I thought I would have this relief and sense of feeling this is where I’m supposed to be. Truthfully, I didn’t. I’ve come to realize that’s okay though. I think I’m just in a stage in my life where I’m not sure where I’m going to end up. I thought a lot about what trail I wanted to do next when I was given six months off work. I was close to going to hike the CDT but ultimately ended up back on the PCT. I hope to be able to thru hike after donating a kidney to my mom, if that happens, but incase this is my last big thru hike I decided the PCT was where I wanted to spend this time.

The community out here is something I don’t think people can quite fully grasp unless they’ve experienced it. I’ve been brought to tears by the kindness of strangers and in times where the world can feel scary it is a beautiful thing to be reminded that people truly can be so deeply kind.

So….. to start the PCT I told myself I would take it slow and aim to camp 16-18 miles in. That all changed when I met a father and son hiking at mile 14 and the dad started talking about milkshakes and burgers at the cafe 20 miles in. I made it to 18 miles by around 3:30pm and the thought of a cold milkshake was enough to tempt me to break my plans. My body aches reminded me the next day that I had intended to take it slow, but I think the milkshake was worth it.

Spending time at the cafe was a great evening meeting other hikers. I love the social aspect of trail and how people you just meet are so open in sharing their stories. You meet some of the most incredible people on long trails. I spent the next few days hiking around a man who spent most of his life as a paragliding instructor with a perfect record of no injuries while teaching, and he is officially six months in remission from cancer. One night he talked about how much some of the hormone therapy affected him and he shared how much more empathy he now has for women and a new found appreciation for what his daughter would have went through as a teenager. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have gone through cancer treatment that recently and then be out on a physically demanding long trail, but I loved hearing him say he felt like a kid in a candy store and just how grateful he was to be out hiking.

On my third night we camped at an established campground with water and washrooms, it was chilly when we arrived but not too windy. We all setup camp and just beat the start of the rain. I fell asleep by 8pm and woke up at 12:45 to half of my tent having collapsed. I cursed myself for not taking the time to find rocks to have nearby incase it got windy. So I re-staked out the side that had been pulled from the ground and contemplated my choices, I could either hope the wind died down, put my rain jacket on and go try and find some rocks, or…. Since I already had 5 hours of sleep and was now wide awake, I could just go hangout under the shelter of the washroom and watch a few shows and movies I had downloaded. I opted for taking refuge in the washroom. Now I’m sure most people would think that’s ridiculous, but I was too nervous that if both sides of the tent collapsed my sleeping bag would get pretty wet and my sleeping bag is my main way of staying warm so I wasn’t about to let that happen.

By 7am I got a weather report from my Garmin that said it was supposed to clear by 8:30, great! So by 8:30 I set out into a windy, misty, cold day. The clouds didn’t look great and by 1pm I was caught in freezing rain and what I would guess was 40mph winds. Not good. I didn’t have service so was unsure how long this weather would last since my Garmin was clearly way off with its forecast... I remember thinking this is weather you need to be out of, or walk nonstop to prevent getting too cold. I decided to take a 1/4 mile side trail to a trailhead where there was a washroom and I hoped service to see the radar for this storm. So here I was yet again taking shelter in a bathroom (pit toilet)…. Which lead to me being suggested to take the trail name “pit stop”. To be determined if I will accept.

Thankfully that weather cleared by 3pm and I was able to get to camp dry and significantly happier. I got hailed on a total of four times that day. The next morning I was only a few miles out of our first town, Julian. I haven’t hitch hiked in a while and was so excited to get a ride from a nice local in a truck so I got to ride in the truck bed with another hiker for the 12 miles into town. We spent most of the day in town before getting a ride out at 5pm to get a start on the climb.

The climb out of Julian is a beautiful and dry section filled with cacti and a lovely ridge walk. After getting out of that dry section and crossing the 100 mile mark I was lucky enough to come across two different groups of locals doing trail magic in the two days following. The happiness a peice of fresh fruit brings me when being days out from the next town is unbeatable. I was shocked by the amount of food these two groups managed to bring out to the trail. One couple came to the trail at 6:30am with coffee, hard boiled eggs, bacon, fruit and so many other snacks I couldn’t believe it. Their son had hiked the pct in 2017 and they said they just enjoy paying forward some of the kindness that their son received on trail and they’ve been doing trail magic every year since he hiked. I am always in awe of these people, the pay it forward and community aspect of this trail is enough to restore your faith in humanity.

I truly think thru hiking makes the world a better place, and look forward to all of the ways I can continue to pay it forward. Thank you to all of those I have crossed paths with so far. I am inspired by you all! Until next time!

Miles hiked by end of week one: 113

Total items lost in week one: one lens cap (accidentally left it on a rock at mile one, thankfully it was picked up and returned to me a day later)