At mile 1092.3. Hiked 5 miles today. I was at my desk in Atlanta working for AT&T on March 26th. The next day, March 27th at 5:00 PM, a Border Patrol Agent dropped me off at the PCT monument on the Mexican Border. A long fence with a broad swath of carefully plowed “no man’s land” between the fence and a metal border wall stretched in front of me. I was all by myself. I added a quick entry to the trail register that was hidden in a cubbyhole...

At mile 1087.3. Hiked 21.6 miles today. Today was my last full day of hiking so I took another PCT’ers advice to savor it.  The day was cool and breezy without the strong gusts of the last two days and the trail continued to be easy on the feet. Nice for the countdown to the end. Captain Travis on leave is hiking on the PCT in photo below. The the trail passed through fields of golden grass.The  And reds. Here is a lake that I think might be Blue Lake. About a mile before Carson...

At mile 1065.7. Hiked 26.4 miles today. I felt like I needed to put in the miles in order for my last day on the PCT to be a short day, allowing plenty of time to hitch a ride to Sacramento. The trail cooperated with a smooth and even path. I’d already planned out my last campsite two more days out. It would make my last day a short 5 miles. The morning light was incredible, or maybe the double hot coffee that put my brain on “enjoy mode”. I...

At mile 1039.3. Hiked 22.3 miles today. Since I spent the night at North Kennedy Meadows and had the Cowboy Breakfast, I didn’t start hiking until 9:10 am. Even with the late start and carrying 4 day food supply, I made pretty good mileage.  There were two reasons for the good mileage. First, I see the end in sight. Next, by early afternoon it became apparent that I was walking toward a wildfire, that I was downwind from the fire, that the winds were very strong, and finally, I had...

At mile 1016.9.  Hiked 14.5 miles today. Last night I camped at Walker River on a site near the footbridge. After a short climb up a canyon, the landscape changed to a high open volcanic expanse. It became windy and cool. Working my way up to higher and more exposed elevations. I continue to climb. This is an exciting difference to what I had seen on elsewhere on the PCT. Barren volcanic views. Only a few spots where low and bent White Bark Pines grew. I made my way up to the notch...

At mile 1002.4. Hiked 25.8 miles today. The miles I hiked in the morning were over some of the most difficult I have encountered on the PCT. Actually this difficult stretch includes some of the miles that I hiked late the day before. There were steep ups and downs with rocky and washed out surfaces. This made the hiking even slower downhill than uphill. One time my foot rolled sideways on a round stone so that the upper side of my shoe slammed into an embedded dagger-like rock. The...