Background The first part of the PCT is primarily a desert starting at the Mexico border at Campo, Ca. The trail continues north for 250 miles to Big Bear Lake, where it turns directly west towards LA. About 30mi North of LA the trail again heads North, then Northeast another 300 miles to the southern…
The past 68 days since we started the Pacific Coast Trail have, on the whole, been fantastic. Every day I experience joy, calm, love, and wonder. However, there are moments, sometimes hours, that are just plain hard. This past week I’ve had a few rough times and have also heard from many other hikers who…
After leaving the trail at Walker Pass (trail mile 650), we rejoined 285 miles NW at Donner Pass near Truckee, CA (500 trail miles north). We spent a couple of days on the snow, found more familiar trees and lots of mosquitoes Here is a short video from the trail https://youtu.be/2lWzL_s7Uvw
After deciding to skip the High Sierra (for now -we’ll be back for it someday!) we were very happy to spend about a week in Sacramento with friends (thank you Virginia, Matt, Emmitt,and Fiona for hosting and letting us turn a 2 night stay into six days!). While there we determined our next starting point…
Here are 50 of my favorite scenes from the desert section of our Pacific Crest Trail adventure (from the Mexico border to Walker Pass, roughly 650 miles). Some words that stick out from this section are: Flowering Cacti. Grape soda lupine. Evergreen trees. Manazanita. Lizards – so darn cute. Wind: either welcome relief or tent-destroying…
7 minutes covering many of our favorite parts of the desert including the trail, campsites, water, plants, small animals, and people-sized animals
After finishing 40 days and nights of walking through the desert we took a much needed day off or “zero” day in Tehachapi. Our roughly 48 hour schedule included showers, laundry, eating salads, shopping for our next week of food, naps, and hanging out with some new friends from the trail – all of whom…
All the mushrooms we have found during our first 40 days on the PCT Campo to Tehachapi, Ca Trail miles 1-566 May 6 – June 15 2023 Learn more about what mushrooms we found here
Over the past 40 days and 40 nights I have been recording short clips of the trail to help capture the general feel of the trail. The terrain is wildly varied and can change with small differences in elevation, aspect of the slope, and of course in close proximity to water. Below is a recording…
At mile 517 along the Pacific Crest Trail there is a quirky hiker oasis known as Hikertown. Up to 40(?) PCT hikers may pass through daily descending out of the San Gabriel Mountains NE of Los Angeles, heading north across a narrow stretch of the Mojave Desert, and into the Tehachapi Mountains.