story time...

The section of trail north of Hw58 just outside of Tehachapi, CA to Walker Pass, and then onto Kennedy Meadows is the final 140 miles of what is considered the 'Southern Section' of the PCT through California. Mile 566 - 704. It starts with zero water for 16 miles and roughly over 4000 feet of elevation gain. Followed by 20 more miles and another 4000 ft elevation gain with no water after that. So only 2 water sources for the first 36 miles and about 8000 feet of elevation gain. 

In 2012, in between the 2 water sources during the 20 mile water carry, I got heat exhaustion. I threw up everything I had inside. It was over 100⁰... After waiting out the heat of the day and trying to ration my water and re-hydrate simultaneously, I left the spot where I got sick with only 1 liter of water and 10 miles to go. Not a good ratio. Generally, you want 1 liter per 5 miles. When it's that hot, I try for a liter every 4. So I knew it was going to be a battle.  

Immediately leaving the break spot, the trail heads up hill for a pretty good clip. Pretty steep and some exposed climbing, then mellows out a bit, and winds through some beautiful oak and pine filled mountain-sides. I made it about 6 miles before running out of water completely. At this time it was nearly 9pm and the fella I was hiking with was down to his final half liter as well so we decided to dry camp and finish the 4 miles in the morning. I was struggling. I was thirsty. I was letting my mind get the better of me. I remember my mind playing tricks with me making me think I was thirstier than I really was. I couldn't sleep. Finally, around 2:30 or 3am, I decided that we should just push now, in the very early morning and get to the water. Of course the next 2 miles were straight up and it started messing with my head again pretty bad. I was dry heaving thinking about how thirsty I was. After a little tough-love from my hiking, buddy, I was able to somehow snap out of it and then just push to the water like, no problem. We arrived around 5am and I couldn't have been more happy in life. I think I drank two and a half liters right then, and then we laid out our sleeping pads and got the rest we really needed, I think staying there until around noon. It was humbling. It was scary. It pushed my limits and taught me a little about myself, pushing the line, and taking care of my body. 

These days, I have hiked about 2500 miles through the desert in my career. I know my body better, know my needs and methods for the variable elements, such as temps, climbs, and how my body responds to exposure. Nowadays, I carry a sun umbrella. So on those hot, exposed moments, without much wind, I can walk in shade, and limit how over-heated my core temprature can become with direct sun exposure. When my core temp rises, my productivity plummets. My thirst spikes and I sweat BAD. My whole life I have been an excessive sweater. Which means being aware and replacing lost salts with electrolytes. Cameling up when at water sources is key as well, by drinking almost more than you can handle.

Today, I tackled the same section that gave me so much problems back in 2012. Much cooler temps, by almost 25⁰ cooler, made for a much more enjoyable experience. I took plenty of water from the first spring and camped 16 miles from the second water source last night. Just about a half hour before camp I witnessed a mountain lion on the trail about thirty yards in front of me going northbound, before it dipped off the trail, west side and went into a brushy ravine. It never once looked at me, just trotted beautifuly up the trail for 20 yards before disappearing. It was very awesome to see. Majestic. On the trail by 6 am, I made it to the next water source by 2:30pm and had a liter to spare. Much more manageable and a much more pleasant experience this time around. Also, I crossed over the 600 mile mark. Not a bad Tuesday.

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'Believe you can, and you're halfway there.' ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Well, I have made it to the half-way point of my trip. I have hiked over 500 miles, and am just over half-way from the border of Mexico and where the PCT crosses HW-88 at Carson Pass in Amador County, mile 1077, then shortly after, HW-50 at Echo Summit in El Dorado County, mile 1092. 

It has been so many things so far. And so many things have had to go just right to even make it this far. The support from my family, friends, followers are truly many of the reasons I am even able to continue hiking along. So thank you all for being part of this. The trip has renewed my love for being outdoors, being healthy, doing hard shit, being more disciplined, and the list goes on. 

I have been saying for a while that everyone in my life deserves a better version of who I have been for the last couple years. A better son, brother, uncle, friend, co-worker.... When I left Alaska to come down and help my mother through the end of her life, I was pretty bitter for a long while. I was so upset for so many reasons. I was being so selfish and in my mind, I was so upset because I felt like my life wasn't my own and I had no control, just reactionary to the blows that felt like they were pointed directly at me. It was all about me. I was mad at my mom, for putting us both in the situations we were in. I was disappointed, hurt, frustrated, scared- in myself, in my mom, my family, in the world. Things had just been rolling along for so long without any real struggle, that I became pretty lost in my own world, wants, and needs. And as time rolled on, and my mom got worse, and more and more punches kept coming, I just kept rotting away on the inside, becoming a shell of who I know I am, who I want to be, who you all deserve. A lot of the decision and reasoning for doing this hike is an opportunity for resetting, processing, and moving past a storm that felt like it may never end. So here I am, smack dab in the middle of the 1st major goal I have set for myself in what feels like forever and ever. And I am not sure if there has been any major realizations or coming-to-jesus moments, but there has been an abundance of time. Almost all day, every day, for the last 5 weeks have been spent hiking and thinking, processing, crying, and trying to understand just how and why I have made it to the current circumstances of my existence. I have hiked alone almost exclusively on this trip. I mingle with other hikers when we all sorta clump up in towns, or at spots on the trail that cause a bit of gathering. But mostly, it's been a very personal and solitary experience this time around. And I know it's because I am not really into the social, hikertrash element of a long hike this time around.  After hiking nearly 10,000 miles in my life now, this last 550 has been the most solitary hiking of my life, even with 5x more people out here hiking than when I did it in 2012. Some of that is due to the new trail culture, influencers, and there not being any major trail angels who open their home, or places where hikers sort of clump up and then leave again for the trail in groups. No PCT kickoff party that sorta introduced us to a majority of hikers in our bubble. No Hiker Haven, No Casa De Luna, these vortex's that made it hard to head back to the trail until you had a group that helped that push. So it has been much easier to just keep rollin', keep to myself, and that's translated to have to rely on myself to keep the stoke up, to stay disciplined and keep moving. This last week has been tough, as the Southern California portion of the trail comes to an end, I've found myself bored, grinding miles, dreaming of getting to the Sierra Nevada mountains where I am not concerned simply on water. Where it's at, where it is next, what kind of source is it, how much to I need, blah blah blah. 

I do feel like I am getting back to that stronger version of myself that you all deserve. The one who doesn't just turn inward and duck away from genuine connections and relationships. The guy who has experienced so much life and so many places and people, which leads to confidence knowing I have so much to offer. I appreciate those of you who have been frustrated with or even concerned about me over the last few years. Those who have still been there, regardless of what shitty news, attitude or negativity I keep bringing to the table. I appreciate and love you all so much and I hope to do better going forward. 

So I am about 150 miles from entry into the High Sierra, and then its 400 mile push through some of the most beautiful places on Mother Earth, and then I will be back into the real world, whatever that even means. I do know it means I have another full month to keep healing on my terms. To keep getting stronger, healthier, and inspired. I have a whole list of new goals going forward. Some small. Some large. But healthier habits and mindset is now of the forefront of my outlook. 

Thanks for your patience. 

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Finding the Groove.

Well Thursday the 14th will mark 4 weeks on trail! I made this long post a about 5 days ago when I had no service, and I uploaded some pictures and saved it as a draft, only for it to disappear and not be saved even though I checked once I was done and it was there in the draft section. When I had service again, i went to upload and it was not there at all. That was pretty disappointing and so that turned me off from wanting to type anything else for a bit since I had spent  a decent amount of time writing and editing that update. So that's why it's been a little bit since i've posted anything. 

The majority of that post talked about me hitting the trail in mid April completely out of shape, gluttonous, and extremely overweight and suffering for the first 15 days. It went on to stare that I was finally feeling like I was getting stronger and settling into the groove. I posted a few days of twenty plus miles and am genuinely starting to dread the up-hill climbs less and less, and settling back into my daily routines. In one week alone I put in over 150 miles, which is quite a bit for me.

As I post this now, I am sitting in Green Valley, just before mile 500. It's been pretty rad hiking this trail a second time, fourteen years later, because it 's a completely different experience in every way. In 2012, Casa De Luna and Hiker Haven were trail angel staples in this exact area. The Saufleys would open their home in Agua Dulce to nurse our wounds and get our resupplies for the entrance to the Sierra all squared away, before hiking 24 miles to the next town where the Andersons opened their homes to the hikers at what they called Casa De Luna or Hippy Day Care. Both places could be vortex's, a place where it's hard to get back on trail after just a day off. Leading to some people to take more than a week to cover 30 miles.

Sadly neither of those places exist anymore. A few years ago we lost Donna Saufley all together and the Andersons have moved on in their life, and with the expanding hiker numbers, the hospitality they offered just isn't managed or sustainable in the evolution of the trail. I am so lucky to have got to experience both places, with such magical people. I'll be honest, not having them here takes away some of the charm and best memories I made on that hike in 2012. That being said, not having them here also leaves open the potential for new, unexpected possibilities and memories to be made. 

I am finding this trail to be actually quite lonely even with so many hikers out here. With the permit system creating only so many people starting a per day, no kickoff party, no major trail angels bunching the hikers up, and me being a solo hiker, not part of any trail family, I find it pretty isolated. I see a handful or more hikers every day still, often just exchanging a 'hey' or 'when does the climb end' type pleasantry. I am a bit in front of the quote-un-quote bubble of hikers, but still find most hikers doing smaller days, starting later in the morning, and haven't met anyone that has quite synced up with my pace, some going quite faster, most going just a bit slower. And with alllll the town options these days, it's easy to get distracted by town food and drink. But I am still just over 200 miles from entering the Sierras, and people generally bunch up at Kennedy Meadows and head into them in groups, which I am sure will happen with me. Also, me only hiking back to Tahoe and no intentions of continuing to Canada, sort of keeps me from connecting with a lot of people out here as well. The PCT is the first long-distace hike for a lot of folks out here, so it takes a while to adapt, find what does and doesn't work for you. Learning your body, and water needs, food needs, sleep needs all takes time and experience. Something that I have a decent grasp on at this point. 

So in the next few days I will be MY half-way point, from the border of California and Mexico to hw50 at Echo Summit, mile 1092. Which is just about on pace for the 2 month goal I loosely set for myself. With a few 0 mileage days and Near-O's (10 miles or less) and also getting into shape still, I am feeling pretty confident I should hit the Tahoe area by June 21st which has always been the day I had in mind, shaving about 2 full weeks off my pace from 2012. 

All in all, things are going well. I only want to stop hiking all-together about 10 times a day now rather than 20 or 30 lol.

225 miles until the Sierra. 613 until hw50. 200 miles of tough desert left, then 450 miles of the beautiful High Sierra wilderness. Pow Pow.

 

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