Along the way, the PCT traverses some of the most scenic land in the US, including 25 national forests, 7 national parks, and 34 wilderness areas. The trail can be divided into 5 regions:

Southern California – Mile 0 to 702: The first section is primarily marked by desert extremes. Highs occasionally rise above 100 degrees with lows potentially below freezing. Highlights include climbing over 9000 ft in the San Jacinto Mountains, crossing part of the Mojave Desert, and traversing the Tehachapi Mountains.

Central California – Mile 702 to 1197: The Sierra Nevada Mountains. Some of the highest and most beautiful country in the lower 48. The trail climbs over 13,000 ft at Forester Pass and gets close enough to Mt. Whitney (14,505 ft) for a day hike to the summit. This section traverses Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks.

Northern California – Mile 1197 to 1699: In this section, the high peaks of the Sierra Nevada give way to lower mountains of the Southern Cascades. Highlights in this section include Lassen Volcanic National Park, Burney Falls, the Trinity Alps Wilderness and the Marble Mountain Wilderness.

Oregon – Mile 1699 to 2155: This section is dominated by the numerous volcanoes making up the Cascade range. Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, the Three Sisters along with Crater Lake National Park are all impressive formations along this section of trail. Forests in this section get thicker and shadier thanks to the increased rain fall.

Washington – Mile 2155 to 2660: The final section of trail is marked by thick forests and steep, craggy mountains. This section can be one of the toughest even for well seasoned hikers. Mt. Rainier National Park, North Cascades National Park, the Goat Rocks Wilderness, and the Glacier Peak Wilderness are many of the highlights along the way.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

San Diego to Jilian

This is Bob Reiss and he's a San Diego trail angel.  He picks up hikers from airports or train stations and brings them to his house for however long it takes to get ready to hike.  Great guy!  And loves his archery.
Bobs backyard
Only myself and two others left the next day.  
We left Bobs at 5am and arrived at the boader by 6am. There are boarder patrol cars everywhere.
Me on the southern terminus monument. 

Me and Bob
Myself, Forrest(from Kentucky) and Becky I think it was.(from Boston)
Me and my gear
Boarder road looking east.
Boarder road looking west.
One mile down...2649 to go

First break.  Met Maggie and her dog Charlie
Well it's a sign.  So you shoot it...
Just some good ole fashion train tracks.
Big ole mountains so soon!!
The sun came out finally and it was pretty hot.
Boarder patrol flew over and hovered to see if we had our papers in order.
Horney toad!
After 17 miles we could see our destination, Lake Moreno.
Trail magic!!! Love bumping into PCT alums
Hikers relaxing 
Bumped into a couple AT hikers I hiked with in 2013.  This is Steady Eddie from Minnesota.
At the PCT kick off they did a lot of things, this documentary about the PCT was one.  Very inspirational.
Cowboy camping. I also upgraded my pack.  I bought a Hyperlight Mountain gear pack.  Shaved almost five pounds!!! Awesome people at that tent!  Gave me beer while I test drove a couple different packs.
Cloud cover in the dessert is my best friend!!
Taking a break under a bridge.  Wasn't even hot.  I kept going.
The PCT
Storms a brewing!
First water I've seen on the trail! Around mile 30.  Too bad it was filled with cow shit.
There was a spigot 5 miles down the way.   Hikers flock to water sources like moths to a flame.
Just me
Cold and rainy.  Around 4500 feet
Didn't expect to see this in the "dessert"
My sleeping pads valve broke and couldn't be fixed so I bought a Zlight.  And shaved 6oz off my base wait.
Walking in the clouds around 5000 ft
Mt Laguna had a fire a couple years ago.  
I've seen burnt stuff every day but this was crazy!
This is where I had lunch.
Me after the worst day/night I've ever had on a trail.  I came off Mt Laguna and the wind picked up to 50-60 mph and it rained.  I did 24 miles and was forced to stop and camp.  I had maybe two hours of sleep.  And everything I had was soaked.  The next morning I put every piece of clothing I had on and hiked another 17 miles to Jilian.  It was miserable.
Cactus bloom
On the way to Jilian
In between the mountains.  Three miles of flat dessert.
And the clouds didn't go away.
Water cache at Scissors crossing.
Me and a Lama.
And my foot is too swollen to hike for some reason.  So I'm taking a zero.  A zero is a day off in the real world FYI.

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1 comment:

  1. RandonneurApril 27, 2015 at 9:08 PM

    Hi, John! I'm glad to see you're off to a good start! Big challenges already on the trail, but you can handle them. Those are long days you're hiking! Mary and I depart for the GR5 in two days -- can't wait!

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