(work in progress)

Day 19, 6/4

  • Still feeling bad from noro
  • Silverwood lake
  • Cajon Pass
  • Fruit vendor
  • McDonalds
  • Memorial bench
  • Swarthout Canyon

Day 20, 6/5

  • Climb into Wrightwood
  • 5000 ft, kicked my ass
  • Started too late, stuck with sun the whole way
  • Ran out of water, ate some snow
  • Acorn trail, 3mi into town, steep downhill
  • Stayed with Mandy, her son, and dogs
  • Met Wayback and Hoo
  • They shared pizza and beer

Day 21, 6/6

  • Breakfast at Mandy’s – waffle, eggs, watermelon
  • Resupply, eat a pint of ice cream
  • Hitch out of Wrightwood, skip 6 mi
  • Mt Baden-Powell
  • Met Graffiti
  • Little Jimmy

Day 22, 6/7

  • Frog bypass – road walk on Hwy 2 to avoid area where endangered Yellow Mountain Frog is common. Added a few “bonus” miles, a good penance for yesterday’s skip.
  • Christian camp

Day 23, 6/8

Mill Creek Fire Station, Pony Park, Pacifico, Gleason

Day 24, 6/9

  • Hike out of Angeles Nat’l Forest
  • Ranger station, missed opportunity for coke
  • Uber from KOA with Halfway and Quarter Tank
  • Eat and camp at 49ers Saloon in Acton

Quarter Tank, Halfway, Hoo, Wayback, Jedi, Neon, Jinx, Speedgoat, Riveter, Sound Effects

Day 25, 6/10

  • Antelope Hwy
  • Vazquez Rocks
  • Visitor center closed, no hang tag for me
  • Pass through Agua Dulce, road walk
  • So damn hot, super exposed climb out of the valley

Day 26, 6/11

  • Walk into Green Valley with Halfway
  • Stop at the gas station for snacks and ice cream
  • Green Valley Smokehouse – excellent brisket, packed out pulled pork
  • Filled gas at hiker box, charged electronics, filled bottles
  • Owner’s mom drove us back to the fire station
  • Night hike for fun
  • Star watching
  • No camp anywhere to be found, kept hiking to 2am

Day 27, 6/12

  • 23 mile hike down into Hikertown
  • Ran into QT and Neon at the first water source
  • So much poodle dog bush. Seems to thrive in burn zones
  • Hikertown was pretty cool. I didn’t stick around long, but I did get a burger and hand wash some laundry
  • Weird rivalry between Hikertown and Weeville
  • Marta running Hikertown didn’t speak much english, so I got to practice a little spanish
  • Met Flintstones and German-Australian dude
  • Hiked out of Hikertown at sunset
  • Talked with Matt for the first several miles. He told me about getting kidney stones on trail
  • Walked on autopilot until I started powernodding, and set up camp
  • 36 miles total, my longest day on the PCT so far

Day 28, 6/13

  • 18 miles from Aqueduct to mountains before Tehachapi
  • Followed Aqueduct out to wind farm
  • Water faucet with non-potable water
  • Steep hike with dry, loose soil, torn up by dirtbikes
  • Trail magic at the top. Got a root beer and some doritos, filled my bottles with the cached water, left a donation in the box

Day 29, 6/14

  • Final 9 miles into Tehachapi
  • Biggest wind farm I’ve ever seen
  • Got a hitch into town without even sticking out my thumb
  • Booked two nights at the Best Western
  • Showered and soaked in the tub, shaved
  • Got Thai food, then hit up diner for pie and a burger to go
  • Lazed around, watched some Star Wars
  • Ran into Flintstones on the way to Walmart. She was carrying a big bag of epsom salts
  • Hot tub was fantastic, met German-Austrailian dude, Bryan, and a girl from MIT class of 2014

Day 30, 6/15

  • Hotel breakfast was great
  • 8-mile slackpack via bus. Met Goldilocks – older woman section hiking the trail, this was her fourth year, finally starting the Sierra.
  • Ran into a bunch of hikers at the end, and we hitched back into town with a woman who was planning to hike the Camino later this year
  • Hoo invited me to go hang out with their group at the brewery. Met Big Bird. We ordered burgers to the brewery.
  • Went back to the hotel to chill
  • Got a meatlover’s pizza

Day 31, 6/16

21 miles from Tehachapi to camp near turbine.

  • Hit the hotel breakfast again
  • Took bus out to trail and went north this time
  • Long walk near the highway before climbing into the mountains
  • Set up camp a couple hundred yards from a turbine. They’re loud, but in a soothing kind of way

Day 32, 6/17

  • 26 miles to camp near water cache.
  • Without the water caches, this would have been a 36-mile water carry (!)

Day 33, 6/18

  • 26 miles to camp before Walker pass.
  • Was considering skipping Walker pass, but my appetite is increasing, and I’m burning through the snacks pretty quickly
  • We’re technically already in the Sierra, but it still looks and feels like the desert. It’s starting to get rockier and grassier though, so its clear we’re in a transition zone

Day 34, 6/19

  • 18 miles
  • Hitched to Ridgecrest out of Walker pass with Big Bird, Coldfeet, and Bad Eric
  • Big Bird was getting off trail to go hang out with his girlfriend
  • Got a resupply from Walmart and hanged out at Panda Express with Coldfeet, Rocky Raccoon, Milkpig, and Good Eric
  • Coldfeet met Kevin at Walmart and talked him into giving us a ride back to trail
  • Ridgecrest was very much a military town. Supposedly a lot of Top Gun was shot there.
  • Hiked 5 miles out of the pass and set up camp

Day 35, 6/20

  • 25 miles to Chimney Creek Campground.
  • 1/4 of the trail done! (2650/4 = 662.5)
  • Ran into Quarter Tank, Jinx, Jedi, Speedgoat, and Riveter. Jinx was meeting her husband Donnie at Chimney Creek campground. They invited me along to grab a beer and a burger.
  • The campground was deserted, probably because the other hikers were avoiding it because of reports of a very persistent bear. Never had any encounters.

Day 36, 6/21

  • 21 miles to Kennedy Meadows.
  • Got up at 4am and hiked up the 2500ft hill before the sun got hot.
  • Gastrointenstinal problems. Never trust a fart.
  • Jedi has been tracking me by my smooth footprints from my destroyed shoes. Suggested “Barefoot” as my trail name. I think I might take it.
  • Hiked fast and made it into KM around 1pm despite heat
  • Got a cream soda and burger at the General Store
  • Sooo many new hikers I haven’t met before. This place is a vortex.
  • Donnie gave us a ride down the road to Grumpy’s.
  • Got my packages. Finally replaced my shoes.
  • Got a shower and camped behind Grumpy’s. Largest tent city I’ve seen since I was at Trail Days on the AT.

About the Sierra

After Kennedy Meadows, I’ll be hiking in the Sierra. The Sierra is often considered the most spectacular part of the PCT, but it’s also the most difficult in a lot of ways.

Towns are very far off the trail in the Sierra. It usually takes the better part of a day of hiking on a side trail to get from the PCT to a trailhead where it’s possible to hitch into town. Unlike the desert where I could get into and out of town in a single evening, in the Sierra, a town visit usually takes as much as three days.

The Sierra also has the highest peaks on the PCT. Forester Pass is the highest point on the PCT at over 14,000 ft. Mt Whitney is the tallest mountain in the continental US and is an 8-mile hike off the PCT on a side trail in the Sierra. I expect to be doing a lot of difficult climbing in the Sierra.

Stats for nerds

Stat Value
Miles hiked 703.4
Days hiked 36
Fraction of trail completed 703.4 / 2650 = 26.5%
Ave. miles / day 703.4 / 36 = 19.5
Planned finish 137 days
Pace needed to finish (2650 - 703.4)/(137 - 36) = 19.27 mi/day

Milage histogram