Last week, Paul and I flew up to Redmond, Oregon, to hike through the Mount Jefferson Wilderness on the Pacific Crest Trail. When we hiked in 2017, a fire closed a 35-mile segment of trail, and we’ve been thinking about that missing segment ever since. We’re overdue for a backpacking trip, and this is the … Read More “Mount Jefferson Wilderness on the PCT” »
Category: Pacific Crest Trail
Here’s a breakdown of what we sent and where, how much it cost, and most importantly, what we would do differently if we were planning the PCT again.
It was a cold night last night sleeping so high, but it was worth it for an awesome camp spot. We climbed for a mile and a half to reach Pinchot Pass (12,106). From up so high we could see all the way back to Mather Pass. The descent was as beautiful as the previous … Read More “Day 149: Two Passes to Completion” »
We camped low last night, at the bottom of the climb to Mather Pass. The day started gently, then went steeply uphill until we reached 10,000 feet. There terrain leveled out and we followed the water as we gradually moved up, again passing lake after lake. Eventually the vegetation disappeared and we again climbed steeply … Read More “Day 148: Mather Pass” »
Today was another awesome day. Great weather, great scenery, and it seems to just keep getting better. We started with a 16 mile climb, gaining 3,700 feet to reach Muir Pass at 11,969 feet. We passed lake after high altitude lake, stopping for lunch at Wanda Lake, just before the final push to the pass. … Read More “Day 147: Muir Pass” »
Today was a great day. The night was much warmer last night, we had a great sleep and even took the time for hot coffee this morning. We had a long and gradual uphill to reach Selden Pass. As we neared the top we slowed down to enjoy the scenery, and stopped for lunch at … Read More “Day 146: Selden Pass” »
Today was our final resupply. We woke up to a cold morning and got going before sunrise to hike down to the ferry to Vermillion Valley Resort. There is only one ferry in the morning and one in the afternoon, so we wanted to make sure to get the morning ferry. We were at VVR … Read More “Day 145: Vermillion Valley Resort” »
Today was a day of climbing. In the morning, we passed through Devil’s Postpile National Monument and near Mammoth Lakes. We climbed up over 10,000 feet and had several ups and downs before going over Silver Pass (10,781) in the afternoon. There was still a good bit of snow on the pass, especially the North … Read More “Day 144: Silver Pass” »
Lucky for us, it did not snow in the night, and the forecast looks clear for the remainder of our hike. Still, it was cold in the night. The condensation from our breath froze against the tent walls. With snow still on the ground, we climbed over Donohue Pass (11,073) and then Island Pass (10,226). … Read More “Day 143: Ansel Adams Wilderness” »
Today was quite a day. We woke up, packed up, and headed out to get breakfast and try to get a ride back up the mountains as soon as the road opened. We went to the Mobil gas station just off Tioga Pass Road, at the recommendation of my brother who said they have a … Read More “Day 142: Back to the Trail” »