Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail – First Week Recap

Here I am in Warner Springs, mile 109 of the Pacific Crest Trail. After a week hiking, meeting so many friendly people sharing the same passion and destination Canada, it is time for a recap.

Body

Doing surprisingly good. I kept my daily miles around 15, following the advice of some good friends (Hello EightKnots! 😁)! No blisters, knees are good.

Soul

I am happy with the decision to hike the PCT so far. I did not find much time for myself. I had a good morning waking up alone in the desert watching sunrise – I am hoping for more moments like that. I met so many kind people – other hikers (Rotem, Eric, Maddy, Johanna, Paulina, Colin, just to mention a few), trail angels (Carmen). Giving kindess, expecting nothing. I am just beginning to appreciate that and let go.

Gear

I started with a setup that was improved after two long distance hikes in 2016 and 2017. Still I had trouble letting go too many unnecessary things. Eric helped me to let go some if these things – but still potential left. I ordered a new tent – it will be 600gr instead of 1.7kg in my backpack. Let’s what will be next to go into a hiker box or be shipped to a friend. It is good to travel light.

Trail

The PCT, here the desert section, is much different than I thought it would be. More ups and downs, amazing views, more greens – but as little shade as I was afraid of. On some days, there are barely enough shady spots to take a break every 2h.

What did I learn so far?

Take it slow.

Trust people.

You need much less than you think.

It’s about the smiles, not the miles.

Life is good (especially with a chocolate bar).

What’s next?

Just about 25 times the miles I walked so far. And hopefully a lot more of what I just started to taste – trail life.

It’s your road and your road alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.

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.

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. 🙂

Resupply Planning – Kennedy Meadows ~mid of June

Good to have helpful friends. Steven will send me a resupply package to Kennedy Meadows when I arrive there around mid June.

Leather boots for the High Sierra, warmer hiking pants, gloves… and of course my bear canister with seven days of food. The picture above indicates my usual daily planning. Two bags of dry frozen meal for breakfast and dinner plus some bars for the day. There are still four days of the dry frozen meals missing.