- I just climbed Whitney,
had a hot bowl of ramen.
Was all cozy in my tent.
It was in my sleeping bag even.
But I'll tell you, this fresh snowfall...
Has done something that
I never even considered.
It has covered up all the
smells on the forest floor.
So all I'm smelling
right now is this crisp,
sweet aroma
of pine trees.
It smells good. It
smells really, really good.
And I would not have
experienced that had I not gotten...
Pushed out of my comfort zone.
Out of my big Agnes Copper Spur UL2.
It's the best forest
smell I've ever smelled
and that says a lot 'cause
I'm from the northwest.
But it is fresh
and it is fragrant.
And I'm gonna enjoy it all
the way to the ranger station
here on day 58.
At Mount Whitney, just
off the Pacific Crest Trail
in California.
Good morning.
I'm at the Mexico border.
I spent the night here last night.
You can see the wall behind me.
And just where that truck
is, I think they just dropped off
somebody who's gonna through hike to PCT.
The monument is back
there. I came in the night.
I was the only one
here, so I spent the night.
A few people have been
dropped off, but this is it.
Gonna pack up my tent.
Maybe sh**t a photo of the monument.
And start walking north.
To Canada.
Feels weird to be the only one out here.
All right, here's the monument right here.
Trail is behind me. That
little tiny sign back there.
I don't know how far we'll
get today. Maybe 10 miles.
Not make it too extreme on the first day.
But because of the water situation,
it looks like I'm gonna
be doing a 20 mile day.
Place where I was planning
on stopping is apparently,
seasonal,
which means...
This is not the season.
I found a cactus.
Hm.
It's not bad.
I think I'll have some more
and hopefully make it to the lake.
And refill my water.
Don't hike without water, people.
Eventually,
I made it to Lake Marina
and collapsed.
I barely had the strength
to fill my water bottle,
but when I did, I drank deeply.
Then vomited shortly later.
Apparently, drinking too much water
in a dehydrated state is bad.
Trail angels, Robert
and Elizabeth, saved me.
I drank four 7-Ups and
two Coca-Cola Classics
and then ate a hot dog.
After chatting with Elizabeth,
I discovered she lost her
mother and grandmother in
a house fire the week prior.
"My mom would've wanted
me to do this," she said.
Angel, indeed.
- Well, if this is not
stunning, I don't know what is.
Maybe it's because I'm
from the Pacific Northwest
and we don't get a
whole lot of vistas like this.
Of course, I'll be singing a different song
when it comes to switch backing up that
little hill over there.
Right now we're at 2,300 feet.
I'm not sure what that's at.
I guess we'll find out.
There's no sense in worrying about it.
Here's Mike and Connor
waiting for me as usual.
- Just took a baby wipe
shower, it was divine.
What is a baby wipe shower?
- They got baby wipes right there.
Baby wipes there.
- I just wipe up.
- So this is what is known as trail magic,
I guess, right?
- Yup, this is trail magic.
- Yeah, I guess it does.
And we've got water here.
What else do we have? Baby powder.
- Baby powder.
- The cooler's pretty dirty.
What's in the cooler?
Some pistachios and a little.
Cool.
- It's awesome.
And a place to dump our trash.
- Oh, yeah.
Dude, this place is amazing.
- Yeah, the desert's insane.
This is so
much cooler than I ever
thought it was gonna be.
- Yeah, it's right out
of a John Wayne film.
Beautiful.
How many
miles did we hike today?
- 16, I think.
16, 17, around that.
- 16, 17.
I'm gettin' kinda used to
it. It was a better day today.
Yeah, I felt fine.
Yeah, you felt fine.
- Yeah.
- Here's our campsite.
Camping in the desert next to cacti.
- It's makeshift.
How much water do we have here?
- We got a couple liters,
enough to make dinner.
Yeah.
- Dinner and drink water.
- Right.
We are not nearby
any sort of spring or lake
or river or anything.
There's real remote camping.
- This is it. - Yeah, this is it.
- Nice. - This is off the beaten path.
The beaten path was just...
Right behind Mike.
In fact, people will probably walk by
and not even see us tomorrow.
I'll tell you somethin',
there is a case to be made
for not starting in April
and starting in March.
The desert is actually
quite pleasant and mild
but last night was the most pleasant night.
All three of us had a great night's sleep.
Moon was out, stars were out.
It was warm, no wind.
Didn't wake up with ice on
our sleeping bags or on our tent.
It was great.
Mike and Connor are ahead of me.
There's a guy from Texas
who goes by Chaucer,
who is hiking with them.
They have a much quicker pace than I do.
Whenever they stop,
I'll catch up with them.
I'm probably five or 10
minutes behind 'em at this point.
Somewhere down in that
valley below is the town
of Warner Springs.
That is the goal for tomorrow.
If we reach it tomorrow,
that will be 110 miles
since Campo, since the Mexican border.
And tomorrow there's a
restaurant waiting for us.
It's amazing what
motivates a person out here.
Day number eight, Section A.
Our last day in Section A.
In California on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Warner Springs is over there.
And that is where pizza and beer,
and Wi-Fi and hopefully,
some way to get clean awaits us.
We really wanna get clean.
In a big way. - Much needed.
- Much needed.
We stink.
PCT, Section B, Southern California.
Day ocho?
I'm pretty sure.
Left the town of Warner Springs
several hours ago.
And it's a great little
hiker town, by the way.
There is a hot spring
there, which has kinda been
closed down but I'm told
is reopening this summer.
The best thing, in my
opinion, was the bucket shower
at the community center.
Thanks to all the folks
there who provide all of that.
And also had a delicious
dinner and breakfast
at the bar and grill at the
golf club at the 19th Hole.
And maybe we'll report
back from our campsite.
See what the boys have found.
They're very restless.
Mike's in time out.
I don't know what he
did. What'd you do, Mike?
- You don't wanna know.
Connor's decided
to do some cowboy campin'.
Let's check out his setup here.
Yeah, there's been a couple of mozzies out,
but only a couple.
- Just a couple there.
- It hasn't been too bad.
- Gonna be a gorgeous
night, get some stars in.
- Yeah. - It feels good to be
on the trail again.
A lot of folks seek the trail
to prove their independence
but I found the exact opposite to be true.
I think the trail proves just
how much we need each other.
From water caches to trail beta,
to just human interaction,
to pooling resources, we need each other
and it is a huge benefit
to be a team player.
- The great city of Idyllwild, CA.
I think we're two weeks in at this point.
We're staying at this place
called the Silver Pine Lodge.
Just right in town, actually,
everything is in town here
in Idyllwild, where the dog is a mayor.
Anyway, this is our room
right here, number nine.
Let's go in and see what's
happenin' on the inside.
This is what you get when you have...
Five dudes splitting a hotel room.
Five Pacific Crest Trail hikers. Let's see.
It looks like it's food planning day.
- Oh, yeah! - Let's take a look
what we have here on the menu.
Chaucer's got a custom made...
- We have food for next five days
and we have resupplied a week ahead.
So pretty good.
And how many
days is in that bag right there?
- This is five days.
- Yeah. - Probably about 12 pounds.
12 pounds.
- A little bit extra and
two pounds of food a day.
Nice.
Any favorite item that
you're looking forward to?
- More and more Duke's Original Recipe.
Nice!
- Delicious. - Excellent.
- It's a little overwhelming
right now. A bit too much.
Let's take a look at Mike.
Mike is eating super healthy.
- Candy. - This is five days
worth of food?
- Five days worth. - Mike, that's literally
88% candy. - Five days
worth of food. - You need calories, right?
- Eight different types of candy.
I like Mike's style.
- Four cheese.
Wow.
- I fully require four cheese daily.
- That's basically the four food groups
right there, the way I'm lookin' at it.
We have coffee, Crystal Light,
lots of different stuff, salami and cheese.
Baby food. Renee taught me this trick.
She said, "For your fruits and vegetables",
"go for some baby food."
This is what hikers eat for five days.
Next stop is Big Bear, CA
and we will repeat this process
again and again and again
all the way down the trail.
April 4th, day 15.
I'm so excited to be back in my tent.
Town is nice. Showers, food, et cetera.
But there's a definite pull that is felt.
The pull of the wilderness,
the pull of the trail.
I hiked with Shenanigans
for a few hours today.
He's got dreads, beard,
red hair, in his mid 40s,
total hippie and he and I
had a great conversation.
He hadn't talked to his dad in 14 years
but reached out before his hike.
Now there is reconciliation
and hope where there was none.
Camp tonight consisted
of Connor, Mike, Chaucer,
James and Kaylee from England, Lucas,
Switzerland, and Rick from Coleville.
Rick made a fire ring
and a great evening fire.
All of us had a great
dinner around the fire.
Life is so simple and so amazing.
I feel like the trail is its own country
and only we are its citizens.
We are becoming a tight-knit community
and the community is an adventurous kind.
Nobody else is going through this but us.
Our worlds have become
very simple and very small
and we share it together.
- Day 16, Pacific Crest
Trail, California, Section B.
Last day for Section B.
We started the day close to 9,000 feet
and we have got a bone
jarring descent today.
All the way down to Interstate 10.
And it's gonna be a 20 mile day.
Mostly downhill, which is not my favorite.
Definitely prefer going uphill.
But the good news is the wind stopped.
We had a very windy night last night.
It looks like we're gonna have some...
Some great vistas.
As you can see.
I feel like we're already in the Sierras.
I know we're a long ways from them.
We're not even to the Mojave yet
but sure feels like it with
all these big granite boulders
everywhere and large pine trees everywhere.
So this is a 20 mile hike with no water.
Right now I've got three liters.
It'd be probably better to have four.
But since it is downhill
and it's not that hot,
three should suffice and can usually
find some sort of water
that's not on the map
or not on the app.
And plus, the boys...
I think they each have five liters.
I will continue this bone jarring descent.
And hopefully, report back, if not sooner,
down at the bottom at Interstate 10
and the beginning of Section C.
Hey, Connor, what day is it?
- Day 18 or 19?
- 19, I think.
- 19? - I think it's 19.
- I guess we're going with day 19.
19. What's
our plan today, fellas?
- 20 mile day. - 20.
- Go past Onyx Peak.
- Onyx Peak. - Yup.
- It's closed.
- So we're goin' through it.
- Fire closure. Gotta push 20 miles.
Yup, it is 8:30.
- That's early. That's
a early start for us.
We're the last ones to leave.
- Killin' it. - Again.
- Killin' it. - 12 tents in here.
- Yeah.
- Yeah. - 12 tents in this little-
- Yeah, we had a ton.
Was there 12 tents?
- Yeah, you were the 12th, yeah.
- There was 12 tents in
here? Oh, my goodness.
And you can see yet another forest fire.
How long ago was this fire, do you think?
Two years ago, maybe? - Think it was three.
Three years ago?
I'm gettin' better at identifying 'em.
The bark is still on the trees.
Apparently,
three years after a burn
is when the trees start to fall.
Oh, three years after the burn,
the trees start to fall
and I thought, yeah,
'cause there's still bark on this.
- Yeah. - I noticed that on the older
fires, the bark falls off.
So it's kinda nice hiking
through a forest fire, actually.
Still can see the sky.
Opened, blue.
Today it is, at least.
It has been almost
every day for us, actually.
Yeah.
- It's been pretty nice.
How you feeling, Mike?
- Feeling great. Feeling grand.
Any particular reason for that?
- You know, nature.
- It's nature! - Isn't it neat?
- Nature.
Nature, people.
What do you do when
you're in the wilderness...
And you're at your last water stop
and it's 20 miles to the next water stop?
The first thing you do, is you camel up.
That means you pound a liter of water.
So here's the remaining part of my liter.
Oh, boy, that's good.
And the next thing you do...
Is you bring three or four
liters of water with you.
And look at this lovely water supply.
Ew.
But this is all we have out here.
This is why we bring a
water filtration system.
So, yes, people...
I am gonna drink this stuff.
This fancy attachment on
the top of this bottle, it's just
a screen, it's just a pre-filter
to get all the sediment.
You could do the same
thing with a handkerchief
or a bandana or a piece of cheesecloth.
So I'll put my water bottle in here.
And now I've got a
full liter of unpurified,
really unfiltered water.
I've had this for over 10 years.
So I know it works. I trust it.
It's called a Steripen.
It's battery operated. You push a button.
And then you stick it in
the water and essentially,
it's an ultraviolet light
that kills everything.
It kills viruses, it kills bacteria,
it kills organisms, it kills amoebas.
It'll k*ll A*DS. It'll k*ll Ebola.
It's a nuclear option.
It is...
It just kills everything.
The little dead...
You know, pieces of whatever
are still in there, so
you're still drinking
a dead amoeba but it's
dead, it's inert, it's inactive
and it's okay to drink
and I'm here to testify that
'cause I've been using it for a long time.
And believe it or not, I've consumed water
outta stuff that's even worse than this.
And I've never gotten
giardia. I've never gotten sick.
Anyway, this is the process.
I've already cameled up with one liter,
I've got 20 more miles to go.
So I'll probably bring
three liters, maybe four.
Depends on how heavy my pack feels
and how patient I am in filtering.
Yeah, that's the procedure
out here in the wilderness.
You gotta take what you
can get when you get it
because if you don't, then
you're gonna be very thirsty
with nothin' to drink.
Over 200 miles hiked.
I don't know if I can do long days.
Today was 18 plus miles.
I felt great for the first
10 but the rest hurt.
It's not muscle fatigue,
it's joints, hips, knees,
bottom of the feet.
It's like every injury I've had in the past
comes roaring back to life.
I keep telling myself if I
push on and press through
the pain, it will get better, right?
- A little insight as to
how I try to keep myself
clean out here in the wilderness.
I like to try to stay as clean as possible.
Hygiene is always a challenge out here.
But it is doable if you
have a few simple things
and you're an opportunist.
And this morning the
opportunity has presented itself
with a beautiful little creek here.
This is Holcomb Creek, I camp nearby.
I have a few things that
I always carry with me.
Some sort of soap.
Typically, it's camp soap.
In this case it's castile
hemp peppermint soap.
Smells great.
I always have a bandana.
I have my handy dandy razor here.
This is the same blade.
This is a tough razor.
I've been using it for three
weeks with no shaving cream.
Still works great.
And then I'll also have this.
This is an emergency signaling mirror,
but it also doubles as a shaving mirror.
So, typically what I'll do
is, I'll take my bandana
and my soap...
And soap it up.
Get it wet and sorta rub it together.
It does a couple different things.
Number one, it cleans my bandana.
And number two, it cleans my face.
And oftentimes I'll try to do this at night
whenever possible 'cause I like to get
into the sleeping bag nice and clean.
But I'll get my face nice and wet.
You can do this without soap.
I've done it without soap many
times, it works just as good.
You get a nice, kind of a lather going.
Then I'll take my razor
and just shave.
Just using this, in this
case, this crick water.
Just to kind of rinse it off.
And you know, I like to stay clean,
clean shaven.
I'm not a hiker that likes to
have a big Forrest Gump beard
and be stinky, nothing against the gals
and the guys who prefer that method.
But just for me, I like to try
to stay as clean as possible.
It makes me feel good. It
makes me feel a little bit more
like a human, not a
barbarian or a neanderthal.
But again, you know,
nothing against the people
who don't choose to do this stuff.
But I'll go ahead and
shave and then I'll use
my little mirror just to touch up the...
The sideburns because...
It's all about looking good out here.
And that's pretty much it.
Then I'll go ahead and brush my teeth.
And the rest of my bathing program,
I'm not gonna show you.
'Cause it involves taking
off articles of clothing.
But you get the same
idea. A bandana, some soap.
Do that once a day and boy,
I'm smilin', I'm feelin' good.
I'm feelin' like I'm ahead of the game.
And then of course, you know,
swimming whenever possible
is a great way to clean off, too.
But yes, it is possible to stay clean
out here in the wilderness.
I know that's why a lot of
people don't go backpacking
'cause they're afraid that they're
not gonna be able to stay clean.
If you are a little prepared
and you're an opportunist
and you gotta be a little bit tough,
sometimes the water's really cold,
but it can be done, people, it's possible.
You can stay squeaky,
freshly clean out here
in the wilds of the wilderness.
Anyway, just thought I'd
kinda share that with ya
on the Pacific Crest Trail.
At the I-18 Interchange
on the Pacific Crest Trail
just outside of Big Bear, California.
A super nice person named, Amy, who works
at the Frontier Lodge, gave us a ride here.
- Thank you, Amy. - Thank you, Amy.
- Saved us so much time.
- Thank you so much, life saver.
- Thanks, Amy. All good.
- Amy, you already
know how I feel about you.
So thank you very much.
How is that? How do you feel?
- Oh, nothing but love, Amy.
- There you go. - Pure love.
So hopefully, we'll see you
again sometime. Thank you.
You can see behind me.
Ta-da. That would be Big Bear Lake.
In the town of Big Bear Lake.
April
11th, day 22, 294 miles in.
I'm camping alone tonight and I love it!
Not a soul anywhere around.
I have a terrific spot
on the flat sandy ground.
There's a creek just a few feet away.
My tent is protected behind
a large granite boulder.
The best part, an awesome fire.
It's built like an oven with small rocks
creating three walls.
I felt like a cowboy on the frontier,
camping with a fire under the stars.
It is a feeling of simple
peace and freedom.
- Morning.
It's day 23 on Section C
of this Pacific Crest Trail.
I woke up in an absolute
panic this morning because
a few raindrops had hit
the tent and let me tell you,
nothing motivates a backpacker
to get packed up like rain.
So I'm wearing all this rain
gear and as you can see,
it's all of a sudden nice out.
So the skies are clearing.
Looks like a good
morning. I got a fire going.
I've got some delicious Starbucks VIA
and the breakfast of champions.
The honey bun.
Can't recommend the honey bun enough.
Today, hopefully, I'll meet
up with the fellas again.
But there's a hot spring in order today.
Somewhere down the
trail, a natural hot spring
with many different pools
of temperatures of water.
And even a swimming hole.
So really looking forward to that.
These are the little treats on the trail
that are gems that you look forward to
for days in advance.
- It's really nice.
- Oh, man, how nice is this?
This is absolutely incredible.
This is so much...
Beyond what I had imagined when somebody
said that there was a hot spring.
I was picturing like a
muddy hole in the ground
with some stinky smelling
water bubbling out of it.
The water doesn't smell at
all. There's no hint of sulfur.
There's no road that goes
here. Only hiking trails.
The box was saying there's no cell service.
This place is absolutely unbelievable.
Definitely spending the night here tonight.
I might even fall asleep in this pool.
If I don't come back, I'm probably here.
- Yeah, okay. - I.C.B., Four Shoes.
This may seem like an
insignificant spot on the trail,
but it's very significant.
Why is it significant?
- Because we're eating lunch.
It's true, let's go
ahead and show everybody
our lunch, first of all.
Start with...
Yeah, we'll start with
J. Boogie over there.
He eats dried ramen
for lunch. - For flavor.
And that's all just
straight into the ramen hole.
- Yup.
What are you eating?
- I had pepperoni pizza.
You had a calzone, didn't you?
- On a tortilla.
And wait, how
do you make one of those?
- You take a tortilla...
And you take a string cheese.
What are you doing?
Are you making one?
- No, 'cause I already ate two.
Okay, wait, so you've taken
your tortilla... String cheese.
- Yeah, just like that.
- There's the string cheese.
- Minus the pepperoni, then you just go...
Wrap it up. - Roll it up.
- Yeah and you go right into it.
Plastic and all. - You're touching my food
with your nasty hands.
Are you having the same thing,
a calzone? - No, salami.
With actual, a block of cheddar.
- Nice.
And I am having a delicious meal here.
I'll see if I can show it here.
It's a half a bagel with cream cheese
and then string cheese on the cream cheese
and then a sausage
that looks like a hot dog.
And the reason we're eating
so well today is because...
What mile number are we at?
500!
- 500.
There's no marker out
here commemorating it.
We're just guessing
that maybe this is 500-ish.
There was a few rocks back there.
But 500 miles. We're not even 20% done yet.
Nope, we gotta
do this another four times
and then some.
- Just think of how much dry ramen that is.
It's a lot.
- Day number 30.
Section Delta, Pacific
Crest Trail here in California.
I'm here with Special K.
- Hello, how are you? - From?
- Colorado.
- From the great state of Colorado.
The Rocky Mountain State, people.
And she has made a discovery, which, yeah,
if you follow her trekking
pole, what's out there?
What did you find? What do
you see? Tell us all about it.
- It would be Mount
Whitney as the flow cries?
As the crow flies, 150 miles north.
It is our first 14-er.
It's our first 14-er.
It's the highest point in the lower 48.
- Oh, yes, we did make that-
- Yeah. - Decision, even though
he's angry about it.
- I am bitter about it.
Anybody from the northwest
knows that Mount Rainier
is the proper, it should hold the title,
but unfortunately, Mount Whitney does.
Hiking with Bible. Bible's up there.
This is a little taste of
what the terrain looks like.
It is snowing.
Just a little bit but look around.
I think we're at 9,600 feet right now.
Bible and I have hiked up to our campsite,
which is gonna be
somewhere in these boulders.
Speak of the devil.
He's right here.
He's scoping out a sight
for his tent. - No, no, no, no, no.
You don't wanna go back there and look.
Oh, oh.
Well, look at this beautiful view.
Gorgeous sunset.
Oh, my word.
And it's snowing. - Spectacular.
And it's snowing.
Day 56 here in California in the Sierras.
Sierras are working me over.
I think right now we're at 12,000 feet.
And man, am I feeling this altitude.
Feels like you're
breathing through a straw.
You can never get enough oxygen.
It was a cold night last night on the lake.
But what a beautiful sight to wake up to.
It's our first real alpine lake.
After 760 miles,
finally hit a real
actual natural lake.
Here it is.
Chicken Spring Lake.
So I'm marching onward,
there's actually a ranger station
about a mile and a half up,
sort of at the base of Whitney.
Hopefully, it'll be open.
Hopefully, I can get some info.
Plan is to get some info and then camp
at a place called, Guitar Lake.
And then get up early in
the morning, summit Whitney,
come back down and
come back down on the JMT,
the John Muir Trail and basically,
be on that until Yosemite.
That is the grand plan
here on the Pacific Coast Trail.
Day number 57 in California.
Day 57, California Pacific Crest Trail.
I don't know what lake it is because...
I'm too cold to pull out my map and look.
That's one thing that this
lake and I have in common.
We're both very cold.
Welcome to the High Sierras, people.
This is what I had in
my mind when I pictured
the High Sierras.
Oh, wait, there's a tent down there.
Maybe this is Guitar Lake.
Hallelujah.
Well, whatever it is, I think I'm gonna
camp here for the night.
Crest Trail, day 58.
Heading up towards the
summit of Mount Whitney.
Right now I'm at 12,300
feet or somethin' like that.
Way down there, right there
you can see the icy edge of Guitar Lake,
which is where I camped.
Tried to get an early start this morning.
Got a little bit later than I
anticipated but that's okay.
I like this daylight and the sunrise.
I'm just resting right now.
The route is not technical.
It's just the altitude.
Slow goin'.
And 2,000 more feet of elevation gain.
Get up that guy right there.
This appears to be the most technical...
Part so far.
So I've put away the trekking poles.
Gotten out the ice ax just in case.
It's probably fine. Snow's
still really solid and frozen.
But I didn't bring this
thing all the way up here
not to use it.
So the ascent continues.
Here's the summit right here.
This is a...
I think it's known as the Whitney Shelter.
Oh, yeah.
Trail register.
Wait.
It was easy.
- It wasn't easy.
It was difficult.
I'm out of breath right now.
I'm gonna sit down and relax.
And take in these beautiful views.
Absolutely perfect day.
So this is the highest I've ever been.
This is also the biggest
solo climb I've ever done.
And now the fun part is getting down.
As the great northwest
mountaineer, Ed Viesturs says,
"Getting to the summit is optional."
"But getting down is mandatory."
So the quest to get down begins right here.
Day 58, Mount Whitney, California.
Right off of the Pacific Crest Trail.
Well, this is what it looks like after
summiting Mount Whitney.
I had all this ambition of
moving base camp out four miles.
No.
Nope.
It's hunker down in the
tent. So it is ramen time.
Right here in the vestibule.
I had a marmot try to get into my bear can.
It's also marmot proof, people.
It's well worth the money.
I'm just very fortunate that
I had a really nice window
of weather at the top of the mountain.
So tomorrow, base camp is movin' out
and hopefully, I'll get to
the bottom of Forester Pass,
where there's another
huge 13,000 foot climb
to get to that spot.
That's life on the trail.
Day number 50.
Day number 58.
On the Pacific Crest Trail, Mount Whitney.
Here's what we're dealing with.
It's a full on blizzard.
And I really don't know
what to do right now.
I'm in a three season tent.
And the tent is...
Not rated for a snow load.
So I was faced with a choice.
Either stay up all night,
knocking snow off the tent,
worrying about it collapsing,
worrying about wind and snow.
Or I've made a decision
that I'm gonna pack it up
and I looked at the map
and I remember hiking
by this little ranger station,
it's about two miles away.
I don't know if I made
the right call or not.
I suppose I did. Better safe than sorry.
But I'll tell you, this fresh snowfall...
Has done something that
I never even considered.
The smell is...
It's the best forest
smell I've ever smelled
and that says a lot 'cause
I'm from the northwest.
And I'm gonna enjoy it
all the way to the ranger station.
You will note that I am
not at the ranger station.
Actually, I am, I'm
way out in the front yard
by the weather station.
As I was hiking through
the woods in the pitch black,
after crossing several streams
around nine o'clock at night, I could see
three red lights, so
there was people there.
I walked up to the ranger station, I said,
"What's goin' on?"
No response from anybody. Nothing.
I could even see somebody
rustling around their tent,
with the red light on.
Hikers are weird people.
By the way, if somebody comes
out of the pitch black woods
in the middle of nowhere with
a headlamp in the middle of
the night, you might wanna
check and see everything's okay.
Just sayin'.
Anyway, I set up my wet tent.
Actually, I did a pretty
good job of keepin' it dry.
At least the inside part, the fly is soaked
but everything else isn't too bad.
So I'm pitched out here, 1,500
feet lower, there's no snow.
Worst case scenario, it's gonna rain.
Could deal with rain.
Yeah, it was a big adventure today.
Now it's time to get
back in the sleeping bag
and hopefully, have a really
good night's sleep tonight
and get ready for another day tomorrow
on the Pacific Crest Trail,
day number 58, California.
May 19th, day 59.
I saw one of the most beautiful vistas
I've ever seen today.
It was a flat place called Big Horn Flats.
It's a huge open area with no trees,
no boulders, no hills.
Just a vast, flat expanse
of sand and grass.
It's situated on top of a
mountain over 10,000 feet tall.
In every direction, all
around are the rugged
towering Sierra peaks with Mount Whitney
presiding over it all.
If it weren't for the snow and lightning,
I would've camped there.
I was all alone and was suddenly overcome
with a feeling of humility
and gratitude towards God.
I reached my hands to
the sky and gave thanks.
Then knelt on a small stone
to express my thankfulness.
- I'm sure that this is a
geologist's dream out here.
There's just so many interesting things,
different kinds of stones and rocks,
granite, quartz, basalt,
Micah, to name a few.
And a whole lot more. I'm no expert.
But really enjoying this
portion of the High Sierras.
Here you go, the High Sierras.
And back here behind me...
Junction Peak.
When you're at 10,000 feet,
you pretty much have to
be prepared for anything.
I mean, it could be super sunny and hot.
Or it could be hailing
like it is right now.
It's actually more of a
frozen rain type thing.
But whatever it is, it can change
in a moment's notice
at these high altitudes.
The weather, it's its own animal.
You just have to be prepared
for anything and everything.
That's why these high altitude
mountaineering experiences,
you have to carry so
much gear 'cause you just...
You just don't know what's gonna happen.
You hope for the best
but prepare for the worst.
Said, "I'd rather deal with
the snow in the mountains"
"than the heat in the desert,"
at one point on this trip.
At day 61.
And I'll tell ya...
Right now, I'm rethinking that statement.
It's hard to see the trail.
Gonna have to use some nav skills out here.
Because the trail has disappeared.
Well, one way or the
other, I hope to get to some
civilization today 'cause
I'm about out of food.
And all my stuff is wet
and dirty.
This is proving to be one of the most
difficult days on trail so far.
I did manage to make it to
the top of Kearsarge Pass.
I have no idea how much
altitude I climbed today
but well over 2,000 feet.
So I came up from this direction.
And we're approaching
whiteout conditions right now.
But with waking up with wet
tent, wet gear, limited food,
a relentless snowfall,
white out conditions,
poor navigation, breaking trail
and it's 3:30 and there's still...
I'm not even halfway
done yet to get into town.
I mean, there's still at
least six miles of hiking
to a campground where
maybe I can get a ride.
So this is a long day out here
in the wilderness.
One little caveat though.
I'll be following tracks down.
There were some people coming up.
From this side, so I
won't have to do so much
route finding and trailblazing.
I'll, hopefully, be able to just walk
in their boot tracks all the way down.
But as a general rule, don't find yourself
at the top of a mountain pass
during inclement weather,
that's my advice to you.
Day 65.
After the storm passed, I
took a bus to Independence.
It was full of PCT hikers
who were skipping the Sierras.
J.J. was going to Hawaii.
Ferrari and Street Fighter were going
to Arizona's Grand Canyon and so on.
I made a decision that if I
could get a pair of snowshoes,
I would continue hiking.
I sat outside the Independence Post Office
with a cardboard sign that
said, "Snowshoes Wanted."
After a few hours, a guy
named Dan said he had some.
I bartered my compass
and an REI gift card for them.
There were no banks to
be found in this small town.
Dan gave me a ride up to Onion Valley
where I hiked my heavy 70 pound pack
up to beautiful Lake Gilbert for the night.
Now it is a beautiful morning
and Kearsarge Pass awaits again.
- Day number 66 out
here on the Pacific Crest,
John Muir Trail.
Soaking in some much
needed vitamin D right now.
Also, I have...
The most beautiful
campsite of the trip so far.
This is gonna be a short day for me.
It's gonna be hard to
go away from this spot.
I may end up just
recouping, fixing some gear.
Soaking in some of this
much needed sunshine as long as it lasts.
May 27th, day 67.
I just got the awful news tonight
that Bible has been reported missing.
He was last seen near
Kearsarge on the 18th, low on food.
He never picked up his
resupply box in Independence.
This is very bad.
He's very methodical. Almost OCD.
There is no way he would miss that
unless something went very wrong.
My prayers are with that kind
man. Wherever he may be.
Please, Jesus, bring him home safe.
- This is called, the
mountain beat me up today
and this is the best I can do.
I just don't have it-
- May 29, day 69.
Today, I'm going to try
and climb Mather Pass.
Summiting these mountain
passes are exhausting
and I'm making much slower
progress than anticipated.
I'm worried that I won't have enough food
to make it to Mammoth.
Today was a hard day in the mountains.
I had low energy from the start.
On top of that, I was post-holing
all day in the soft snow.
And there were more river
crossings than I could count.
I camped on slush, trying
to warm my icicle feet.
I'm missing civilization and right now,
it's tough doing this alone.
But tomorrow is a new
day. This too shall pass.
After many nights of
worry, I contacted Katherine,
Bible's wife, via satellite
messenger to see
if there was any news
regarding his disappearance.
She quickly responded that
he was currently in a hostel
in Bishop, California,
recovering from his ordeal
in the mountains.
What fantastic news this was.
He sent me this text message.
"On March 28th at 1:30 PM,"
"I walked out of the Sierra
Mountains in California."
"I walked 5.6 miles
that day after a 17 day"
"trial of faith through the wilderness."
"I have never been the same since"
"or like I used to be before March 28th."
Stephen "Bible" McGuire.
He was malnourished, without food,
suffering from exposure and frostnip.
He was the happiest
he'd ever been in his life.
- Found this...
Sun shower thing in that bear vault.
So I filled it up and
warmed it up this morning
and took a piping lukewarm shower.
And I'm here today with
actual human beings.
Pony Express, right
here, stretchin' it out.
What's up, Pony Express?
- What's up, Knoxville?
How late were we at?
9:30?
It was 9:30? - 9:30.
Oh, my gosh.
Livin' large.
Is that hiker 3:00 AM?
Yeah.
- What's that? - It was a party.
- It was a party.
And just for the record,
Pony Express, where are you from?
- I'm from Pennsylvania,
now live in Burbank, California.
- And dare I ask where you're from?
- Seattle.
Another Washingtonian on trail.
- There's a lot of us.
Think we like the Sierras
'cause we have the Cascades.
Anyway, that's the report
here on lazy Sunday afternoon.
Actually, Sunday morning.
Day number 74, here out the JMT slash PCT.
Day number 74, as I drop in elevation,
I have found myself in the
land of some cedar trees.
As you can see.
And one thing that I like to do...
If I know I'm gonna be
camping tonight or tomorrow,
which I will be, of course,
and there's a possibility of a campfire,
which there is because
we're below 10,000 feet
in the Sierras,
is I like to take a little bit of this
cedar bark, which is...
A lot like paper.
Yeah, it's very dry.
It's very fibrous.
It's also very flammable.
So what I'll typically do
is I'll just take some of this
and save it.
And I'll save it for tinder
for starting tonight's fire.
And sometimes I'll put it in a Ziploc bag.
Sometimes I'll put it in with my garbage.
Sometimes I'll just put it in my pocket.
But it works marvelously
for a fire starter,
especially if you separate
the strands a little bit.
It burns just like tissue paper would.
Just a little...
Little trick, you're always
kinda thinking about
these things because you
have a lot of time to think.
Day number 83.
This was the campsite for last night.
A fabulous view of Silver Falls.
Right outside the front door.
Fell asleep to the sound of the roaring
waterfall last night.
I said I was going to talk
a little bit about Mammoth.
I've never been so excited to
go to a town in my whole life.
It was over two weeks
in the wilderness for me.
14 days, I think it might have been 15 days
that I was out on the trail.
Didn't go into town for a resupply,
just hiked through the Sierras in the snow.
In the nice weather, in early morning,
late at night, snowshoes,
ice ax, crampons.
It was the longest time I've
ever spent in the wilderness.
And I think that's about
my limit. Two weeks.
I came into Mammoth.
I had just run out of fuel and
I had one ramen packet left.
Pony Express had given it to me.
And that was it, so I was
running on fumes when I came in.
And boy, was it nice
to take a couple zeros,
put some pounds back on, eat some food,
rest the feet, rest the right hip.
And it feels really good
to be back on the trail.
Although, this time it's
only gonna be a week or less
and probably moving
forward, a week or less.
So I'm really happy that I did that.
I think, looking back, that
14 day stretch in the Sierras
is gonna be the most
difficult and also probably
my favorite part of the whole trip.
I was solo for over 90% of that time,
which at times was
challenging but I learned a lot
and I would definitely
do it all over again.
And hopefully, someday
we'll get the opportunity
to come back...
To the Sierras and...
Hike more of it.
There's so much to see. I've
just only seen just a fraction.
Anyway.
Today's a new day.
Gonna put some new miles
on and see what lies ahead
on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Still about three miles off trail,
two miles off trail right
now at Rainbow Falls,
here at day number 83.
On the mighty, just off the mighty
Pacific Crest slash John Muir Trail.
Where's the snow?
Snow is dissipating
the farther north we get.
You can see this is kinda cool.
This is all marmot
droppings, I'm pretty sure.
And this is one of the most square
cairns I've ever seen.
Kinda neat marking the path.
Day number 85, right here
on the Pacific Crest Trail.
This is the campsite today.
It looks like a legitimate campsite.
Got some laundry
hanging. Got my tent pitched.
Here's Hopper over here.
She's camping with me
today. She pitched her tent.
I've prepared a nice campfire,
which I was gonna show
you my preferred method
for building a campfire.
What I like to do is, first
of all, if there's no ring,
build a ring.
If there is one, I get
a flat rock like this.
Because this is a great tortilla warmer.
And then I will fill
the ring with this really dry pine needle.
This works well in the
Sierra. These are everywhere.
And then stack dry twigs on top of it.
And then prep. I prep all the firewood.
Because there's nothing
worse than running out
of a good campfire.
This is the top of Nevada Falls right here.
And the nick point is almost...
Day number 100 on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Coming off the trail, we
could see this trail magic van.
Burgers on the grill.
Pizza...
On the grill.
They've had people donate some stuff.
They did most of this themselves,
Alan and Bonnie, out of pocket.
And there's just massive amounts of food.
In the morning time,
they cooked bacon and eggs for everybody.
And this is completely unexpected.
Nobody expected somethin' like this.
Usually trail magic
is a cooler full of water
in the middle of a dry spell.
But this is above and
beyond. This is next level.
And it does exist.
And I can't believe
it but I finally hit it.
We even got bandanas.
I mean, talk about thoughtful.
Day number 100 has been a good day.
In fact, what a way to celebrate it.
Look at this beautiful spot.
And even the company's not bad on day 100.
What do you think? Not bad, huh?
Not bad.
- Not bad. - Not bad for two dirty guys.
- That's right.
And it's just after a full moon so the sky
should be amazing tonight, nice and bright.
Moon comes up late so
the stars will be visible.
Venus and Jupiter in the sky.
It's the livin'.
After
skipping 150 miles in northern
California due to wildfires,
it was off to Oregon.
Everybody said Oregon
was going to be the easiest
part of the trail.
It wasn't.
But I wasn't concerned.
In fact, I was super
excited because I'd be hiking
some of it with some of my best friends
in the whole world, Jared and Dave.
- I can't tell if you're
crying or laughing.
- It hurts, it hurts.
- You're laughing 'cause
it hurts.
- It hurts.
I mean, what else are you gonna do?
- There we go. - Okay. All right.
Thank you.
We've known each other since
kindergarten and shared
countless experiences
and adventures together.
They're the two most
capable outdoors men I know
and they were taking a
week off with no plans.
Jared and I went rock
climbing on Smith Rock,
went standup paddling
and swam in the icy waters
of the Blue Pool.
When Dave met us, we had no concrete plans.
We ended up summiting the South Sister,
summiting Mount Washington and logging
more miles on the PCT.
The Sister's wilderness
area proved to be a fantastic
portion of the trail and
I couldn't have picked
two more fantastic people to share it with.
- Look at Dave, buried up to his ankles.
I'm saying goodbye to the
Sisters in Mount Washington.
And here's probably the best view
of Black Butte we've
had so far on the trip.
And then down below is what I believe
is still part of that
huge 2003 forest fire.
I think it was called the
B&B Complex fire.
Takes the forest a long time to recover
after a blaze of that magnitude.
This is just on a south exposed ridge
and hopefully, in the next couple miles,
I'll come around this ridge
and come face to face
with Three Finger Jack
here at day number 137,
back on the Pacific Crest Trail in Oregon.
Good morning.
Day number 139.
Out here in the Mount Jefferson wilderness.
Let's take a look at this amazing campsite.
What a great view.
Mount Jefferson.
There she is and this
feels like home to me.
It's green, it's gorgeous.
There's fir trees everywhere.
A looming cascade volcano in the distance.
It feels like home and I know that there's
many more of these that await.
There's still Mount Hood in Oregon
and there's a lot more in Washington State.
We will continue north today.
But right now it's time to just chill out
and drink coffee and
take in this spectacular
view of the north side of Mount Jefferson,
here at day number 139
on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Here we go.
Yahoo!
That was a pretty good drop.
Ooh.
Well, we have a really nice...
Wait a minute.
You know what, I hate it
when they build stuff that's
halfway done.
It could be a really nice cairn.
Yeah, let's fix this.
There we go.
So much better.
Now we have a really nice complete cairn
marking the top of the path here.
We're 143 on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Couple things noteworthy here in Oregon.
Number one, I had to get
some water from this spot,
which is kind of a difficult
spot to get water from.
I mean, it's very damp.
But no clear, easy way to get water.
So I made a little...
I don't know what you'd call that.
But I put it on like roof shingles.
So the water kinda collects and just
follows the leaves down and look at that.
A...
Full bottle of cool, clear spring water.
This is the Pacific Northwest.
And for those of you that don't know,
this is the land of plenty.
Plenty of water everywhere.
Plenty of food everywhere, too.
It is worth mentioning...
That there are tons and tons...
Of berries in this area.
Not surprising since
this is the land of berries.
This is kind of the end of the summer.
And boy, the berries are
out and they will continue
to be out and at altitude
all the way into Washington.
And it's a good time to see
some bears, too, because
we're not the only things
that love these blueberries.
I've seen bears plowing
through some of these
blueberry bushes.
This is the first real
good look of Mount Hood
that I've had so far.
Thar she blows.
It's been obscured by smoke.
And back by Mount Jefferson
where I should've seen it.
And then the rest of the
time it's just been hiking
in trees, so even if it was visible,
couldn't see the forest from the trees.
And I'm walking into the
town of Cascade Locks.
This is the town, it's small.
Meeting some friends
here for a cold beverage
and that body of water out
there is the Columbia River
and beyond that is the Evergreen State,
my home state of Washington
and it is good to be home.
Last stretch of the trail.
Just a few miles outside
of the Bridge of the Gods.
I had to say goodbye
to Jennifer and Kristen.
They turned around and
are headed back home.
It was really nice of them
to come out and see me off.
Really nice to have some good old
hometown friends join me on the trail.
This is the trail now. This is the deal.
The Bridge of the Gods is the lowest point
on the Pacific Crest Trail.
And of course, it's the Pacific
Crest Trail, which means...
I have to get back up to
the crest of the mountains.
The next
section is all uphill
to gain altitude.
To get back into the Cascades.
It's gentle but at altitude, nonetheless.
And
It seems that fall has arrived in one day.
It's really nice. Cool air out here.
Cloudy skies.
And the leaves, I mean, it's
kinda true in the northwest,
fall comes in a hurry, comes quickly.
And it's here. There's
a bite in the air at night.
And I'm enjoying it.
So I'll just trek on here.
Here in the final state, Washington State.
First section of the
final state, Section A,
day 159,
here in the Green Tunnel
where fall has just arrived
on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Day 161.
Pacific Crest Trail, Washington State.
And this is my campsite last night.
Nice little spot nestled into
the mossy green area here.
This mossy green area
is called, Trout Creek.
Pretty nice concrete bridge
spanning the creek itself.
Man, it's nice out here. Beautiful day.
No smoke, zero smoke.
Skies are a little bit
cloudy but it's nice.
The air is just crisp. Little bite of fall.
Can actually feel the oxygen from all
the green foliage everywhere.
And it is good to be here
in the very lush, very green,
very Pacific Northwest
section of the Pacific Crest Trail.
Look at this.
This is pretty typical.
This is what it's looked like
pretty much the whole hike.
Tons and tons of thick moss.
Right now we're only at 1,400 feet,
so once we get a little higher, of course,
this is gonna look drastically different.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Thanks for all
of your work on the trail.
- You're very welcome.
Appreciate it.
Yeah.
- It's a happy horse life. - Yes, it is.
This is day number 164, that is a PCAssociation Volunteer Crew.
And they were just setting up the base camp
with all those pack animals.
So they go in, they
bring all the heavy stuff,
they set up the base camp,
and then the workers roll in after them,
and they will stay for weeks at a time
doing volunteer work on the trail.
That's how the trail gets
to look so nice like this.
All these people
putting all those hours in,
basically, by hand with a Pulaski tool
and a shovel and a pick,
sometimes a chainsaw.
It's amazing to think
that there's 2,600 miles
of hand carved trail but
it has to be maintained.
So thank you to all the
workers who do that.
Ted and I have found
a beautiful vista here.
Behind us, we have the
north face of Mount Adams
with what we think is the
Adams Glacier right there.
All that big ice fall coming off of it.
And this is the first real
glimpse of Mount Rainier.
Straight ahead, floating in the sky.
And then we were noticing this, too.
All that yellow stuff,
we think that is sulfur
on the top of the mountain.
There is a sulfur mine on
the very tippy top of this thing.
And they used to trek up
mules and camels, not camels.
- Maybe. Maybe camels.
- Maybe camels. Who knows?
- We weren't there. - Yeah, mules.
Donkeys. - Giraffes.
- Yeah. - It could be.
- There were giraffes goin' up that thing.
I mean, who knows? Wildebeests.
All kinds of animals were goin' up there
and haulin' out all that
yellow sulfur from the top.
That's a fact.
You heard it here first, people.
Day 164, Pacific Crest
Trail, Washington State.
Day number 165 in Washington State,
hiking along with Miyagi.
What was the phrase?
What was the phrase you just said?
- Are you kidding?
Are you
kidding? We both said it.
Look at this. - Are you kidding?
Are you kidding?
Mount Adams right in front of us.
This is the first real glimpse
we've had, that we're looking
towards the west.
Looking at the eastern
side of the mountain.
Hiking up this awesome section of trail,
towards the Goat Rocks wilderness area.
Which we've caught glimpses of but this,
I think, is gonna be the first official
real good look of the
Goat Rocks that we've had.
We've only had glimpses through the trees,
obscured here and there,
just enough to tease us of what lies ahead.
So here we're coming into Goat Rocks.
It is...
Stunning.
Mr. Miyagi's already up here.
Wow, look at this.
The camera's not gonna do it justice.
Day number 170 on the Pacific Crest Trail
in Washington State in Mount Rainier Park.
Yeah, I just started my morning hike
and look at this spectacular view.
Huh?
Actually...
This northwest weather is a welcome sight.
I love it.
Maybe because it's been so
many days of sunshine in a row.
It's nice to have a little
bit cooler temperature,
little bit mist, a little
bit of precipitation.
But it feels like the
northwest, it feels like home.
And now entering the
gloomy forest on top of it.
This is great.
I suspect most of the
day is gonna be like this.
Hiking in the fog, hiking in
the mist, occasional showers,
probably all the way to Snoqualmie Pass.
I'm afraid I'm not gonna
get any hiking done today.
I mean, if my teeth are
blue, that's the reason why.
It's because I have stumbled into a patch
of wonderful blueberries
and, I mean, patch,
that's probably the wrong word.
It's an entire hillside, because
look at all these berries.
You see 'em?
It's a whole hillside, so
all of these red leaves
everywhere, these are all blueberries.
Or I guess some people
call 'em bumper berries.
I don't know what they are.
I do know that they are delicious.
And I've been stuck here
for probably 30 minutes,
just eating berries.
September 8th.
There's nothing like a Pacific
Northwest forest in the fall.
It is eerie and spooky but it
holds a strange fascination.
I'm drawn to it. Maybe
because it's terrifying.
Maybe because it's where I grew up.
I camped in the thick of it last night
and watched an episode of "The X-Files."
I love it.
Today was cool and clear
with an occasional view
of the J Section and
the peaks that lie ahead.
It is nice to scan the jagged horizon
and see the profile of familiar mountains.
Tonight, I'm camped on
an abandoned logging road
with the goal of Snoqualmie Pass tomorrow.
An elk just bugled in the distance.
I'm excited for nightfall.
- So today's goal is to try
to get to Snoqualmie Pass.
Each day that passes by
feels more and more like fall.
So there's not much
time left in this journey.
I wanna milk it for everything it's worth.
I'm gonna be hiking with my friend, Carl
through the J Section in Snoqualmie.
From Snoqualmie to Stevens
with a possible side trip
summit to Mount Daniel.
We'll see how that goes.
But as for right now, I am really enjoying
the morning walk through the very damp,
lush, thick Pacific Northwest
forest in the mist, on the trail.
Day number 171 in Washington State
on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Day number 173 on the Pacific Crest Trail.
In the J Section of Washington State.
Started at Snoqualmie
Pass. Hiking here with Carl.
You'll hear a lot of talk
about this on the trail.
This is a very unique section of the trail.
It is the longest, continuously
dynamited section
on the PCT.
So all this rock has been blasted.
Obviously, the trail,
this was just a rock face.
You can kinda see how it comes down.
Everything was blasted.
Actually, we just heard
news that somebody perished
on this section last week.
Somebody fell off.
I don't know how or why.
Probably taking a selfie
and stepping backwards.
But it is a long ways down.
It's got a little bit of
exposure. Let's take a look.
Do you want me to
hold the camera over for you?
- You wanna do it? Okay.
I don't like to get close to the edge
but Carl's a mountain goat. Ah!
Good morning.
Day 176.
We've got ourself a
morning person over here.
Let's go!
- Oh, man.
Yeah, it's snowin'.
Can you see it? We're at...
Let me look.
Almost 7,800 feet right now.
And it is definitely snowin' up here.
You can see Cathedral Rock right there.
Peggy's Pond down below it.
And our route was kinda up this way.
And then we basically traversed this ridge
up to here and then cut all the way down
below the snow on the rock.
And now we've just
been climbing straight up.
So straight up, up we go.
So this is a big night hike for the last,
probably four or five miles.
It's a headlamp hike all the
way to Steven's Pass, right?
- Yeah. - I think that is true.
That's the aim.
- That is the aim.
We're going above and
beyond the call of duty here.
24 miles, last four by
headlamp in Washington State.
177 days in on the Pacific
Crest Trail, Section J.
The last day on Section J.
- Oh, yeah, last day of J.
All right, it's day 184
on the PCT.
Time to seize the moment
while the moment is at hand.
And that moment being
the first real good look
at Glacier Peak.
There it is in the remnants of a lenticular
cloud, hovering
over the top, getting
stretched out by the wind.
This one up here is called Indian Head.
And then of course, moving over we have
the spiky one here is Clark,
and then this one is Saul.
Here, let's have one last look around
this awesome vista here.
Day 185 on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Who says there's no
jungles in the northwest?
Look around.
There's all kinds of different
fir trees and hemlock trees
and moss and mushrooms
and all kinds of stuff in here.
But it is just...
There's every color of green
you can imagine in here.
Kinda neat, there's beauty in pretty much
every part of this trail
and this is no exception
here at day number 185
on the Pacific Crest Trail,
Section K in Washington State.
Day number 185 on the Pacific Crest River.
This is a muddy mess. Let's take a look.
This is what the trail
looks like all the way,
this entire thing.
I'm just gonna keep trekkin' in this.
Part of me just wants to
just stay warm by moving.
And if I'm talkin' loud, I'm
trying to keep my spirits up
by listening to music, I
got music crankin' right now.
So I'm gonna, hopefully,
just crank that until...
Well hopefully 'til the morning,
if I can make it that long.
So anyway, that's what's goin' on here.
It's wild waves out here.
Pacific Crest, oh!
Trail.
Day number 185
on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Wow, what a day.
I threw in the towel.
I hiked for 16 hours straight today.
The rain never ceased.
It did stop once when it turned into snow.
But in 16 hours I only
went a little over 24 miles.
The trail is thrashed.
Blow-downs, washouts,
mud,
swollen creeks.
The K Section is in rough shape right now.
I pitched my tent in a hurry
in the middle of the
woods, kind of in a puddle.
In an effort to try to get a little bit dry
and try to get some sleep.
It was a valiant effort.
That's as far as I got.
I didn't feel comfortable continuing on.
At night, crossing streams and I definitely
didn't wanna hike up to
elevation again tonight.
All the snow up there
so this is where we're at.
Anyway...
Something tells me, despite
the fact that I'm soaking wet,
probably gonna have a
pretty good rest tonight
here at day number 185.
Washington State, K Section
on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Anyway, let's hope that
today's a little bit better.
Yeah, yesterday was seriously
one of the toughest days
I've had on this whole trip.
So it's a new day today.
Let's see what it brings
here at day number 186.
This is the North Cascades,
ladies and gentlemen.
In all of its glory and it doesn't get
much better than this.
Truly one of the most
spectacular views on the trail.
Where are we at? Is this Cloudy Pass?
Yeah, I think so.
- Yeah, I think we're right in the saddle
of Cloudy Pass right now.
On day 187,
Section K in Washington State.
Day number 189.
Just off the PCT, on a bridge.
A bridge that goes over a creek.
A creek that is called, Bridge Creek.
Here it is.
The water is crystal clear.
I'm not sure exactly where it comes from.
It could come from the
backside of Mount McGregor
where we just were,
there's a glacier up there.
So this might all be
glacial runoff from that.
Take a look at the other side.
Huge rock, granite island
and a nice little water slide,
slash swimming hole right in there.
Kind of a neat little spot.
Look at how clear the water is.
Section L in Washington State.
And this section of the trail is...
It is ridiculously beautiful out here.
I mean, this has gotta
be one of the prettiest
spots on the whole trail.
I probably said that a lot
about a lot of spots but this is.
Cutthroat Pass is right
here. It's the low spot.
Everything is wide open.
I mean, we've got this beautiful day also.
And the mountains all
around this area are all granite.
Very reminiscent of the mountains
down in central California, all granite.
And here we are comin' around the corner.
Of course, that's Silver
Star Mountain right there.
And we're swingin' around.
Rugged, beautiful mountains everywhere.
But wow, what a day.
What a day, what a spot, what a place.
What a way to roll into
Canada these next last few days
in this section of the trail.
Absolutely stunning here at day number 192,
Section L in Washington State
right here on the
magnificent Pacific Crest Trail.
Whoo!
Day number 192,
sitting atop
the Golden Horn
with a fantastic panorama all around me.
What a great climb. It's
funny how things work out.
Until two days ago, I'd never even heard
of the...
Golden Horn.
I'd never even heard of it.
But I saw it in the distance
from Mount McGregor.
And today, I had no intention
of going down to the Snow Lake.
But because I had a little extra time,
I just decided to do a
little bit of route finding
and found my way to the Snow Lake.
And until about an hour and 20 minutes ago,
I had no intention of climbing this thing.
It was just on a whim.
So it's just funny how
things work out sometimes.
But wow, I think I'm just gonna
hang out here for a moment.
And turn around and eat
a snack and take in this...
Priceless view. It is truly an
unbelievable view up here.
And what a day. I can't believe this day.
Not a breeze. Some cloud breaks.
Some sun breaks.
You can see the sun rays.
On top of the Golden
Horn in the North Cascades.
Day 194 on the Pacific Crest Trail.
What a difference a day makes, huh?
This is what happened last night.
It
Just did not stop snowing all night long.
And I'm at 6,500 feet.
Here's my tent. This thing was covered.
I spent the entire evening
knocking snow off of it, getting up,
taking my gloves and pulling
snow away from the edges.
Trying to keep it from collapsing in.
But all of the large trees are covered.
The evergreens are
covered, everything is covered.
The trail is covered.
I've got a brief break in
the weather where there's
no rain, no sleet, no snow right now.
So I'm gonna try to pack everything up
as quickly as possible and start
truckin' onwards in this stuff.
And two days 'til Canada and the PC
has given me everything it's got so far.
We've got the sunshine, the wind, the rain,
a beautiful sunset, sleet, and now
a snowstorm rolled through.
Let's hope it's the last one
here at day number 194.
Just 36 miles from the border, I think.
In the L Section of Washington State
on the Pacific Crest Trail
in the North Cascades.
You'll notice that there's
no snow around me.
And that is because I've dropped elevation.
I think right now it's about 5,800.
Snow level's at six right now.
And ordinarily,
the PCT would be
covered in snow and socked in, however,
I'm not on the PCT.
This is a reroute.
There was a fire near Holman
Creek earlier in the year
and so the PCT is still shut down.
I'm sure the fire has gotta be out by now,
after that dumping of snow we got.
However, I was not about to risk it.
This re-route's about four miles longer,
but it's a known commodity,
in the fact that it is a traveled trail.
And the fact that it lost some elevation
and got out of the snow is a major plus.
Day 195 on the reroute,
on the Holman Fire Trail,
just off the PCT.
And I am in the land of the Quaking Aspens.
Or some people call them
the Trembling Aspens.
They're all around.
And they're perfect right now.
This brilliant yellow color.
And making it even more brilliant
is that big, bright thing up in the sky.
It's been scarce over
the past several days,
so it's good to have a very brief break
of sunshine amidst the rain.
Tomorrow is Monument Day.
And theoretically, tonight,
I'm supposed to meet up
with Mike and Connor.
Not far from here.
Good morning.
Day number 196. This is the big day.
This is Canada Day.
I'm still in my tent.
I just made some delicious
mashed potatoes for breakfast.
And it is...
I haven't even unzipped it but you can see
it's hailing outside.
I'm just putting the finishing touches
on packin' up my tent.
It has stopped raining
and hailing at the moment
up here at a place called Woody Pass.
And 6,500 feet. You can look around.
There's even a tiny bit of sunshine
poking through momentarily.
I'm here with the boys, the
boys are actually camped
right down below.
Right down...
Down here.
There they are.
Getting ready.
- Whoo hoo! - Last day.
Traveling with the boys I started with.
There's Mike up there. - Hey!
- There's Connor looking fit as a fiddle.
Oh, yeah.
- And we're finishing strong...
In this gnarly Pacific Northwest weather.
What a way to go out.
Only fitting.
- It is only fitting we
go out this way, indeed.
So we've got four miles of uphill.
We're gonna climb up to
7,000 and we're gonna get hit
with this the whole time, I'm sure.
And then it's all downhill
to the Great White North
to Canada.
Oh Canada
Yes.
And it's nice to finish with the boys.
- Yes, sir. - That we started with.
That we wanted to take a
second day zero, actually.
Almost.
- We wrecked ourselves
the first day in various ways
and had to rethink our whole trip.
And who would've thought
we'd make it this far?
We have a couple of celebratory beverages
on board right now.
Mike has carried these
things right here since...
Since when?
- Tohickon. - Since Tohickon.
Through the snow.
- The snow. - Through the rain.
- Rain. - The terrible flood.
- The cold. - The earthquake, the locust.
The everything.
Congratulations, guys.
- Thank you.
- There's a piece of wood here.
March 16.
I write this final journal entry nearly
six months after finishing the hike.
I guess with all the chaos
and excitement of completion
and life, I just totally forgot
to put a bow on this endeavor.
We arrived at Monument 78 in the rain
and were greeted by a small
gathering of 10 to 15 people.
Everybody clapped and
cheered as we hiked in.
The boys' dads were waiting
with cigars and champagne.
It was definitely an
atmosphere of celebration.
It was so serendipitous
that the guys I started with,
the guys I hiked with for the first month,
are the guys I finished with.
I wouldn't want it any other way.
- It's day 19. - 19, what our plan today,
fellas?
- 20 mile day.
How many
miles did we hike today?
- 16, I think. - This is our campsite.
This is an 18 mile day for us today.
An 18 mile day today.
We all started together.
Well, almost all of us.
We started together, Connor.
Here's the poodle dog bush.
Still frozen. What a luxury.
Nice and slow.
Evidence of volcanic
activity. This is the root.
Does it get any better? I don't think so.
After
stopping to soak it all in,
we had to hike an additional eight miles
to Manning Park in the snow, of course.
My parents drove from Anna Cordes to Canada
to meet me and pick me up.
They patiently waited
for hours for me to arrive.
It was so wonderful to see them.
I'm so blessed to have
such a supportive family.
Sitting here in the real world, I smile
as I relive this moment.
Not a day goes by that I
don't think about the trail.
Every step was worth it.
- Day number 74 out here
on the Pacific Crest Trail.
I'm hiking along
and I've found something
that I've heard about
for hundreds of miles
now, but finally experienced.
And this is it right here.
This is a very large pine tree.
And this is called a Jeffrey Pine.
And this is a large example of it.
But they come in all different sizes.
And one thing that
makes this particular type
of pine tree special
is the aroma that it gives
off when the sun hits it.
I was hiking down the trail right here.
And I stopped right
here because the aroma...
Is so strong.
And it's something that
happens when the sunshine hits
the bark on this tree.
I can smell it right now.
It smells so good.
It smells
like a vanilla shake.
It smells like pure vanilla extract
and it's a very sweet,
fragrant aroma.
But when I was hiking with Mr. Jimmy,
he was telling me about his line of work
and he is an expert in trees
and he was telling me
about the Jeffrey Pine.
And I've heard about this from Chelsea
and a few other people also.
But he said one way that you can tell,
aside from the sun hitting
the bark and smelling it,
is the pine cone.
He says, it's not prickly when you hold it.
He says, "Remember,
it's a prickly Ponderosa"
"and a gentle Jeffrey."
They're very similar trees.
I think the Ponderosa
is the higher elevation
version of the Jeffrey.
It's not doing anything
to assuage my appetite.
But man, does it smell good.
The vanilla scent of a gentle Jeffrey Pine
out here on day number 74
on the Pacific Crest Trail
right here in California.
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Days on PCT (2024)
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