Past the Pasayten Wilderness to Monument 78
For five months, my job had been to hike toward Canada. I climbed up and over every ridge, crossed each river and stream, and marched under or over all the highways and roads, going ever...
Category: Note from the trail
Through Glacier Peak Wilderness to Stehekin
Between Highway 2 and the western tip of Lake Chelan, the scenery blew my mind, and the temperatures dropped. Here were the starvation, freezing nights, and bitter wind, the soaring hawks, endless vistas, and sketchy...
Up the Goldmyer Hot Springs Alternate to Stevens Pass
From crossing I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass, through Stevens Pass and the Lake Chelan resort town of Stehekin, and on to the Canadian border, the hike got seriously difficult. Night was falling earlier, and dawn...
Cascade Locks to Snoqualmie Pass
Washington State was the most difficult and most beautiful section of the PCT for me. It was the state where I ran out of food, shivered in sub-freezing winds, and saw yet another cougar...
Across Oregon to the Columbia River
Why don’t PCT hikers talk about Oregon? It’s green, relatively flat, and dotted with spectacular volcanos: the Sisters, Three Finger Jack, Jefferson, and Hood. Berries are everywhere, and ferns, moss, and waterfalls. I love...
Holy shit, I walked to Oregon
I’ve walked the entire length of California now. All 1698 PCT miles of it, about double the actual length. One state down, two to go!
Seeing a mountain lion near Mt. Shasta, and a trip off-trail
After Chester and the halfway point, I started hitting my stride. Finally the grade and elevation (and my fitness) were such that I could hike 25 mile days regularly, and being closer to Canada...
A visit from a bear, and halfway to Canada in Chester CA
It was wonderful having my friend Aiko hike with me between South Lake Tahoe and Truckee, and I was looking forward to kicking up my pace and seeing how quickly I could get up...
Over a thousand miles in Truckee CA
From Mammoth, I hiked north over Donahue Pass and thru Lyell Canyon to Tuolumne Meadows. This spot marked the end of the PCT miles I had hiked as part of the John Muir Trail,...
Past the high passes in Mammoth Lakes
Note: This post was originally published in June 2014, but the original has since escaped into the ether. I’m reposting it now in its original form.
