Day 1 – Southern Terminus to Hauser Creek, mile 15

April 21. Big day. First day on the PCT.

Slept quite ok at S&F’s place, considering the excitement about the start. Around 3am, I woke up the first time and kept turning around. Finally got up at 5am. All the six of us in the tent were scheduled for the 6am shuttle to the terminus. Packing up, quick breakfast, then about one hour drive to the terminus.

We took the mandatory photos at the monument, then the hikers took off around 8am in small groups heading North to Canada. I ended up walking more or less in a group of four – a Canadian, Danish, Austrian and myself.

The first miles were easy – it wasn’t hot yet. Around mile 8, Eric the Canadian spotted a bee hive just at the trail. We just stood there, maybe 5 meters away, and I got stung the first time in my hand. Those bees were aggressive! We ran back some meters, some bees were following. With no way around the bee hive in the terrain, we decided to run by. I caught another bee in my hat… Twenty meters after the bee hive, I got stung the second time, this time above the ear. What a start. But now I know for sure I am not allergic to bees. 😉

We took a longer lunch break at mile 10 to wait out some of the heat. Didn’t help too much… The next miles got tougher in the heat and limited shade. Around 4pm in the afternoon we got to the planned tentsite at Hauser Creek mile 15, I had about 2,5 liters water left, so I consumed 6 liters today.

Tonight Eric performed surgery on Paulina’s blister. A needle from the free sewing kit from S&F, held over the fire to desinfect, was used to open her blisters.

Later in the evening, Paulina realized that the blister were filling up again, so she inserted a thread into both of them.

Here is a video of the procedure on YouTube!

I will sleep in my tent but without rain fly – hoping to see some meteorites (Lyrids).

Travel to the US and a day at a trail angel’s house

On April 19th the PCT experience started right at the airport Frankfurt.

We were 5 German PCT hikers checking in for the same flight via Seattle to San Diego. We have different start dates though… With me heading out on April 21st, the others starting on April 22nd or 23rd. But starting within a few days means that we will run into each other again and again.

I was actually sitting in the plane right next to Veronika from Munich – so we had no trouble getting through the long flight with chatting about the upcoming adventure.

After arriving at San Diego, we took an Uber to the famous Scout & Frodo trail angel house.

It is difficult to explain and understand what this experienced hiker couple is doing for PCT hikers. They are truly trail angels: for several months per year, they open up their beautiful house and host up to 30(!!!) hikers per day. They feed us hikers with three meals a day, let us sleep in their house or in several tents in their lawn… Share lots of experience from long distance hiking… And create such a nice and friendly atmosphere for us just before we face the adventure of a lifetime.

Scout & Frodo – thank you so much for doing this!

Such an amazing hospitality right at the beginning of the trip is a really good start!

In the morning of April 20th, I was still sleeping on the sofa in the living room when the shuttle left with the hikers of the day to the Southern terminus.

I spent the day chatting with other hikers, watching a shakedown, eating and shopping at a nearby grocery store.

1 day to trail. Tomorrow at 6am I will be on the shuttle to the terminus. Can’t wait.

And my journey is starting…

Since about two months ago – end of January to be exact – my decision was clear. This is the year I will fullfil my dream and hike the PCT.

I had played with that idea since my John Muir Trail hike in 2016. I met many PCT hikers in that summer… And nearly all of them were amazing… Had inspiring stories to tell. I ended up hiking for several weeks with the nicest ones EightKnots, Waffle and SixStrings – and we still keep contact. EightKnots truly fell in love with the trail, so did SixStrings… They met by accident (!!!) again on the PCT in 2017 in an effort to complete their hike. Waffle fell in love not only with the trail but on the trail… Congratulations once again Waffle to the beautiful PCT baby!

I contemplated to hike the PCT in 2017 – at the end I was not brave enough to quit my job at that time. That was good. The trail conditions in 2017 were very difficult – lots of snow and wild fires… The PCT class of 2017 is the class of fire and ice.

So… 2018 is my year. I wish for an amazing experience like I had on the JMT… Just longer, more intense… Meeting nice people, having friendly chats, breathtaking views of the nature and wilderness, solitude once in a while…

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks – John Muir

Today I fly out. 2 days to trail.

Final gear check done

Alright – that’s it. Final gear check done. The photo above shows everything I will carry resp. wear when I start hiking the PCT in Campo, CA on April 21st.

7 days until I fly out. 9 days to trail. Excited. A bit nervous.

Looks like a lot of stuff. Let’s see how much I will reduce my pack as I move along. Besides the essentials, I have luxury items like an eBook reader, power bank plus solar charger, paper maps, a seat pad…

Equipment and resupply update

10 days to go.

Gear

My equipment for the gear has been more or less complete since several weeks. All that remains is some fine tuning… charging batteries etc… You can see my packing list here.

Gear on the Pacific Crest Trail is a sensitive topic you might say… In general, there is a huge amount of information for the trail in hundreds of blogs, several facebook groups etc. All this information indicates a trend to ultra light hiking. Backpacks get smaller and lighter (some without frame), same with tents. Less and less clothes are taken – some people actually cut there foam sleeping pad short to reduce weight and use the backpack as insulation for the legs while sleeping. Others cut the handle off their toothbrush to reduce a few grams – I am not joking.

Comparing to my past hikes on the John Muir Trail and on Kungsleden, I have further reduced my pack weight – but it does not qualify even close to being ultralight. I changed to smaller backpack (Osprey 58 with about 1,1kg in comparison to my previous Osprey Aether 70 with about 2,1kg), lighter down sleeping bag, lighter hiking boots for the desert section… but I also kept “luxuries” like my 2 person tent (MSR Hubba Hubba) that kept me dry also during rain storms on the exposed highlands in Northern Sweden.

After all, the PCT touches towns or every few days (maximum is about 7-9 days in the Sierra section). This will always give me the chance to change some equipment later.

Resupply

Also my resupply planning is good enough to get started. Major difference to previous hikes like JMT or Kungsleden that were lesss than a month: I am not planning by day anymore but by resupply stop. For the 4 weeks John Muir Trail, I had daily mileages planned. That plan lasted about 2 days…. For my 5-6 months on the PCT, I am just planning where and roughly when to get food. While water is scarce in the very first section, in general you can find water sources and filter it. With food, a stop becomes necessary after maximum 7-9 days. Here is my resupply plan for the PCT. Besides the middle section (Sierra), I will be passing towns every 3-4 days, so I will not have to carry too much food. Out of the maybe 25 resupply stops during the next 5-6 months, most of them are towns with sufficient shops. I intend to send resupply packages to 5-6 remote locations where packages can be received and held but no shops are available.

PCT… just ten more days until I fly out. 🙂