PCT Day 31

Miles: 369.3 - 341.9 (SOBO)

Photo: Tracks Before Cajon Pass

Woke up, feet felt okay to hike, so I decided today was the day to go all the way from Wrightwood back to Cajon Pass. I slackpacked it down the mountain which made for 11.5 hours of leisurely hiking. I turned the brutal sun-exposed, 7,000 ft elevation gain, 17.4 mile water carry hike into a walk in the park. My best routing on trail yet!


During my descent, I got to see all the friends I’ve met over the last week who were either slightly ahead of me, or slightly behind me. It was fun seeing everyone’s reaction to what I was doing. It ranged from happiness to friendly envy, to just pure amazement. I knew I had something special going on when people were telling me things like “enjoy your walk” (instead of hike), “wooooooow!”, and “fuck you, you smart bastard”. Made me feel like I was legitimately cheating on the trail, but hey hike your own hike ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


I ended the day again with the celebratory McDonald’s. Didn’t hit nearly as much the second time around. Maybe that was my small punishment for embodying Cpt. Leisure today. 





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCT Day 33

Image
Miles : 0   Photo : Walking Down From Wrightwood I tried walking this morning and my feet still felt a bit funky so I thought another zero would be a good idea. My mind wants to keep going on to crank out big miles, but I need to listen to what my body tells me. I also figured the next town that will be worthwhile to zero in won’t be until Tehachapi (200 miles from here) so I might as well take advantage of the good rest now while I can. It wasn’t another day of just kicking up my feet and resting. I tried to be a bit more active, alive, and present. First was a gear shakedown with a group of friends I had met briefly back at the I-10 near Cabazon (Spider-Man, Ryan, and Kitchen Sink). For those who don’t know, a gear shakedown is going through your entire backpack to evaluate every p iece of gear within it to see if you can justify why you carry it. If it’s not needed, it’s thrown away, given away, or shipped away. The shakedown was for the appropriately named Kitchen Sink. It was us j
Read more

PCT Day 37

Image
Miles : 716.5 - 730.8 Photo : Serendipity after the climb Much harder day than yesterday. The first 9 miles were a long and steep climb up to Olancha Peak.  During the climb, we took many breaks just like yesterday. The change in altitude is no joke as we’re all still getting acclimatized.  We eventually made it to the top though and were excited for a nice view on top of the mountain. The trail at the peak didn’t have a view as we were still in a forest, so feral_mike and dabenor went scouting for a good viewpoint and luckily found one! Such an amazing reward for the difficult day of hiking.  After that, we slogged it down to the campsite to have a fairly late dinner, all while sharing hilarious stories. The second day in the Sierras was a success!
Read more

PCT Day 35

Image
Miles : 0 Photos : Dad dropping me off at Kennedy Meadows + Optimism in Kennedy Meadows Finally back on the PCT! During my last update, I thought I would only be out a week, but one turned into two, then three, and finally…four. I skipped ahead to the Sierra Nevadas, shaving off 330 miles of the desert section. If the rest of the hike goes well, I plan to do those miles southbound sometime in October. During my time away I was able to get an appointment with a podiatrist. One of the best near my Dad’s home! The diagnosis was post-tib tendonitis. The fix was to rest, ramp up my mileage slowly once I get back on trail, and get a pair of custom insoles. They gave the analogy of my tendons being like a rubber band. You can only stretch a rubber band so far before it loses its elasticity, or worse it breaks! When I did my two ambitious 27-mile days I definitely overworked my feet, stretching the rubber band too far. I’m making sure that this time I don’t do anything like that again.  My fir
Read more