Uphillhike

Category: PCT Thru Hike

Blogging Uphill’s Nobo thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail.

  • Day 124 – Blue Sky

    Day 124 – Blue Sky

    At mile 706.7. Hiked 25.2 PCT miles plus 0.8 miles to store and back.

    The sky was so blue. Gone are the smoky days in Washington.  It was a great day to hike in the high desert. The trail gradually climbed up through ever higher hills above a drainage; progressing in a sensible direction. It felt good when I topped out at 8008 feet, an elevation I hadn’t seen for a very long time.

    Above is a dead tree at 8008 feet. The landscape was open and appeared to have burned in the distant past.

    I made good time, hiking 11.9 miles over the first in 4 hours,including stops for photos and changing layers. By 2 pm, I had hiked the 20 miles to Kennedy Meadows.

    Here I am at Kennedy Meadows.

    And here is the General Store at KM.

    My resupply box came in about an hour after I arrived. What timing! Thanks to my wife Sandra who patiently packed and repacked this box and still managed to get it there on time. Unfortunately for me, but nice for other hikers, I had too much food and made generous donations to the hiker box. On the other hand a thru-hiker named Miller-Time gave me his large bear canister which I traded with the General Store for a smaller BV450 canister. Only 8 oz less, but every ounce counts. Miller-Time didn’t ask for anything in return, but I payed his tab at the General Store. This was Miller-Time’s last day. Congrats on completing your thru-hike! KM is a great traditional spot that is worthy for ending a thru-hike. We enjoyed a celebratory beer and a toast.

    The trail leading up over the valley.

    Rock decorated mountain in morning light.

    Rock Valley Basin and a fork of the Kern river somewhere below.

    A cute little cactus.

    A cute little snake. Lost count, but add two to my last snake count because I also saw one in Northern Cascades.

    Things started looking cool with granite formations.

    700 miles from Mexico.

     

     

     

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  • Day 122 – Return to Walker Pass

    Day 122 – Return to Walker Pass

    At mile 659.4. Hiked 7.3 miles today.

    Today Cache22 drove me from his home in Sacramento to Walker Pass. We took the scenic route on Highway 50 and Highway 395 traveling down the Eastern Sierra. We passed Echo Lake where my hike will end and we went through Mammoth, Independence, and Lone Pine, all towns I may visit later for resupply. 

    It was great to be back in the desert with its wide-open views and beautiful sunsets. I didn’t start hiking until shortly before 5 pm and I had to carry a heavy load of 4.5 liters of water, but once my car stiffened muscles and joints warmed up, I felt mostly good. My knees ache a little.

    Just as it was starting to become too dark to hike without a headlamp, I spied where the trail passed behind a knob in the far distance. Everywhere else the trail traversed steep slope. Upon reaching the knob, I found it better than I had expected. There was a level tent site on the knob. I set up a cowboy camp with wide-open views down the valley and of the lights of Ridgecrest and the nearly full moon rising over the desert floor. Dinner was corn chowder with Spam and avocado.

    Here I am starting out at Walker Pass. I’m hiking north through the Sierra. I have 440 miles to complete my PCT through hike.

    Sunset 

     

  • Days 118 – 121 – Travel and PCT Days

    Days 118 – 121 – Travel and PCT Days

    Traveling to mile 652.1 (Walker Pass) to hike north to mile 1092.3 (Echo Lake Chalet) – August 17 – 20

    The Greyhound Bus has been discontinued in Manning Park, Canada  and will be discontinued in western Canada. This makes interesting travel for people with no cars.

    I spent the night at The Last Resort Hostel in MP. Cache22 and about every other hiker I knew hitched out of town as soon as they could. It was a difficult hitch. In the meantime I made friends and called on existing friends with the hope to get a ride the next day. In the end, a Cross Country Ski Club from Vancouver gave me a ride from MP all of the way to the front door of the Vancouver train/bus station. Along the way they took me to Coaquihilla in Hope, Canada where there are trails going through old railway tunnels. There is also a raging stream with salmon waiting their turn to jump up the falls. My first time seeing salmon in the wild.

    The tunnels.

    The stream below the tunnels.

    I spent the night at The Last Resort Hostel in MP. Cache22 and about every other hiker I knew hitched out of town as soon as they could. It was a difficult hitch. In the meantime I made friends and called on existing friends with the hope to get a ride the next day. In the end, a Cross Country Ski Club from Vancouver gave me a ride from MP all of the way to the front door of the Vancouver train/bus station. Along the way they took me to Coaquihilla in Hope, Canada where there are trails going through old railway tunne

    I had to catch a Greyhound bus that was an 11 hour ride to Portland, OR. It wouldn’t arrive until 6 am. Fortunately, Gust hopped on the bus a few stops before Seattle where I had a layover. What a coincidence! Last time I saw Gust, he was hiking the 30 miles south from the border to Hart’s Pass. He didn’t have a Canadian Entry Permit. Gust was getting a ride through Portland and on to Cascade Locks from Lady Bruce. I ditched the bus and the rest of my bus ticket and rode with Gust and Lady Bruce to PCT Days at Cascade Locks. We arrived at 4 am and I set up my tent on Thunder Island and got some sleep. For the next day and a half I was at PCT days. 

    Here is left to right, me, Cactus, Spicy Thai, Karen Winkel, and Pete Winkel. We had done Stevens Pass to Snoqualmie together in July 2015. Cactus and Spicy 

    Here I am with Pete.

    I bought new ALtra shoes at PCT days. Here are the old shoes.

    Other photos from PCT days.

    After PCT days, Cache22 and I took a shuttle back to Portland where we took an overnight train to Sacramento. After local rail and bus and walk, we finally reached Cache22’s house. I resupplied and the next day Cache22 drove me all of the way to Walker Pass via the scenic route.

     

     

  • Day 117 – At the end of the line.

    Day 117 – At the end of the line.

    Day 117

    At Northern Terminus of PCT, mile 2652.6. on August 16, 2018, around 9 AM. Hiked 6.4 PCT miles today. Hiked an additional 8.4 miles to Manning Park, Canada.

    Everything’s gonna be alright.

    At the end of the line.

    —The Traveling Wilbury’s.

    It is only a short hike to the border. The anticipation of reaching the northern terminus monument is almost overwhelming. Here is some of the scenery along the way.

     

    Nearing the end, I reached a spot where I could view the long slash cut through the forest that marks the US/Canadian border.

    At the PCT monument on the border, I celebrated by dancing to my PCT theme song and posing for photos with the monument. Selfie took these photos. Just to be clear, these are not selfies, the trail name of the hiker was Selfie. Cache 22 was already at the terminus when I arrived. Extra Mile hiked up shortly after my arrival. Lightning showed up and then at least 4 others followed.

     

    “Trying to find.

    Trying to find.

    Where I’ve been.”

    —Led Zeppelin 

        from Kashmir

    And I was looking back and thinking.

     

  • Day 116 – Rugged Northern Cascades

    Day 116 – Rugged Northern Cascades

    At mile 2646.2. Hiked 26.4 miles today.

    Excitement is building because today we will end only 6 miles short of Canada.

    A new kind of tree

    After passing Hart’s Pass I began to see Larches.  Larches are only found in the far north, commonly in Canada and Siberia. These trees are deciduous. Their needles change color and drop off in the autumn.

    For hikers without a Canadian Entry Permit, they can only hike to the border, then turn around and hike 30 miles back to Hart’s Pass. In other words, they hike that same 30-mile stretch twice. I know a number of hikers that had to do this.

    Here is a photo of some Larches. 

     

    The Canadian Entry Permit

    For hikers without a Canadian Entry Permit, they can only hike to the border, then turn around and hike 30 miles back to Hart’s Pass. In other words, they hike that same 30-mile stretch twice. I know a number of hikers that had to do this.

    It is still hazy.

    Another trail photo.

    A mile away by trail, I can already see Lake Hopkins, our destination for the night.

    Now a little closer to Lake Hopkins.

    By the time I arrived at Lake Hopkins, I was spent from the heat and hard climbs over the day’s marathon distance. Several Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT) thru-hikers passed by the lake. These hikers were following the PNT from Glacier National Park to the Pacific Ocean at Olympic National Park. Without much in the way of support on this less blazed and less-traveled trail, these hikers looked a couple of degrees more rugged than us PCT thru-hikers. Selfie was already in camp with his tent set up. He invited everyone to share a taste of his celebratory wine on the eve of reaching the Canadian border. Later on, Extra Mile showed up. She had put in a long day so that the next morning she could celebrate at the border with other hikers.

    Camping at Lake Hopkins.

  • Day 115 – Smokiest Day

    Day 115 – Smokiest Day

    At mile 2619.8 Hiked 31 miles today.

    It was very smoky so although I hiked across some high places with normally great views, today I couldn’t see very much. The smoke was so thick that I could feel it when I breathed.

    Beautiful water source.

    The smoky trail.

    Nearing the end of a long day. 

    Late in the day, I was hiking about 20 minutes ahead of Another Mile when she had a Mountain Lion run across the trail right in front of her.