In the summer of 2015, I set out to hike the Pacific Crest Trail southbound from Canada to Mexico. Not to spoil the suspense or anything, but — I didn’t make it. After hiking 450+ miles across Washington, I decided to bike to the Sierras and pick up the trail there. Injury and logistical difficulties ended up cutting that plan short, too. My hike across Washington was an incredible and incredibly challenging experience, and I know I’ll get back on the trail someday. Below are all the posts I wrote about my first summer on the Pacific Crest.
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gear: gear gear gear
prelude: take your heart’s candle & relight it
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Pacific Crest Trail
Hart’s Pass → Monument 78 → Road 23 north of Trout Lake
July 12th – August 14th
day 1: a lot of driving, a little hiking
day 2: deer poop and other mistakes
day 3: slackpacking to Canada
day 4: ploddling along OR Hart’s Pass 2: the Return to Hart’s Pass
day 5: mountains and marmots and meadows, oh my!
day 6: bear-y berry country
day 7: hot and dusty
day 8: zero in Stehekin
day 9: how to be butterfly strong
day 10: ten up, ten down
day 11: Fledgling and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
day 12: yes we’ll hike hike hike all the whole day
day 13: buckets of rain
day 14: whatever will be, will be
day 15: almost there
day 16: hiker havens
day 17: good day sunshine
day 18: beginner’s mind, shmeginner’s shmind
day 19: rock ‘n’ (ankle) roll
day 20: alternatively
day 21: hot springs
day 22: three weeks on the trail
day 23: where I used to live
day 24: here we go again
day 25: logged land
day 26: civilization and huckleberries
day 27: a marathon day
day 28: a less-than-marathon day
day 29: brownies ‘n’ beer
day 30: zero zero
day 31: fire in the sky
day 32: on top of Old Snowy, all covered in smoke
day 33: haze
day 34: Pacific Crest River
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Sierra-Cascades bike route
Road 23 north of Trout Lake → Detroit, OR
September 5th – 9th
day 1: here I go again, on my own
day 2: September in Oregon / hubris
day 3: how long till my soul gets it right?
day 4: I quit
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the next day: whatever I’m doing, day whatever
postlude: how I spent my summer vacation