Hiked 21.2 miles today, At mile 156 Here is a sample of my diet and calorie burn. I started the hike weighing 167 pounds. I think I’ll need to eat more than this to maintain weight. Ate a breakfast of 2 pop tarts and a cup of cold coffee then hiked nearly 11 miles to a water tank and picnic table where I had peanut butter on a sandwich thin. Then I hiked 6.5 miles to the highway, caught a ride to the Paradise Cafe where I really ate. There,...

Hiked 20 miles, At mile 94.4 Cowboy camped in the desert and woke Easter morn to a full moon setting over a mountain. At the road before Scissors Crossing there was a trail angel named Lindsey. She had brought the famous Julian Apple Pies. What a 2nd breakfast! At 0.8 miles further on was the water cache. Here a trail angel had left Coors Light so I had a beer for my 3rd breakfast.                                                     Here is a pipe gate. You see them a lot on the PCT. They only open a...

Hiked 18.5 miles, at mile 74.5 Other hikers had selected earlier tent sites with good views. Though beautiful tent sites, they were exposed to an increasingly brisk wind. One after another, I bypassed these exposed sites and hiked on in search of a site that was more sheltered from the wind. I had entered the real desert with cactus and spiny things all around. I soon learned to be careful when laying down my pack. My sitting pad had already picked up some barbs which brushed onto my finger....

Hiked 18.2 miles today, At mile 55.9 I don’t know what I’ve come to, but after 4 days I’m already sleeping under a rock. I’m camping above Oriflamme Canyon and the usual tent spots are taken. I found a small open patch near the edge of a high dropoff. I tried, but couldn’t get my tarp to stay up in the wind, so I moved back under a boulder a little larger than a Ford F350. There, I snuggled up to the side of the rock where there was...