I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail! It wasn’t what I expected it to be. A record high snow year and an early start date caused all the hikers to scatter once we reached the Sierras, hoping to avoid most of the snow. We didn’t. Snow storm after snow storm chased us wherever we’d flipped to along the trail and by the end of May, many people had been forced to quit. Despite snowblindness, unexpected loneliness and losing my thumbnails in an unfortunate incident, I persevered. I kept a daily blog as I went along and took some 15,000 pictures. Because of all the drama it took me 165 days to finish but I’m glad I did – it was an absolutely gorgeous trail and for the first time, I didn’t want it to end.
(Although I hope to never see snow, ever again…)
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COSMO’S PCT PLANNING GUIDE
PCT Questions Part 1: Planning
PCT Questions Part 2: Trail Life
Food and Resupply Strategy
Getting The B-2 Visa To Hike The Pacific Crest Trail
Safety for Female Hikers
My PCT Gear & All the Swaps Along the Way
Everything That Went Wrong On The Pacific Crest Trail In 2019
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DAILY BLOGS ARE BELOW, BUT FIRST FUN FACTS!
Start date + point: 25 March 2019, Mexican border
Finish date + point: 16 September 2019, Kennedy Meadows (flipflop via Canadian border)
Total distance walked: 2,653.1 mi / 4,269.8 km (+ 62.7+ bonus miles)
Total days: 165
Walking days: 147
Nero days (less than 11 miles): 27
Zero days: 18
(Of which, Travel/Flipflop days: 8; Hiking Mt Whitney: 1)
Average distance per day (excl zeros): 18.0 mi / 29.0 km
Average distance per day (excl zeros and neros): 20.6 mi / 33.2 km
Longest hiking day: 38.9 mi / 62.6 km
Nr of times flipped: 8 (4 northbound, 4 southbound)
Nr of days with snow: 36
Nr of trail breaks: 1, to wait for the snow to melt (11 days, May 28 – June 7, not part of final count)
Nr of bear sighting: 5 on trail, and 1 from the Stehekin shuttle bus
Nr of coyotes: 2, and lots of late night howling
Nr of rattlesnakes: ~6
Nr of times I was attacked on trail: 2, by a tick and a Joshua tree that speared me
Cutest animals on trail: Marmots and pikas
Nr of times I cowboy camped (camping without a tent): 16
Nr of hitches to get into towns/flip up or down the trail: 41 (Of which, 27 solo)
Nr of nights in a hotel/motel/hostel: 24
Nr of trail magic occasions (in the shape of food or a ride): 13
Nr of Star Trek episodes watched on trail: 422
What I will miss: The beauty in everything, the lifestyle
What I won’t miss: The snow
Things I lost on the trail: Countless Injinji socks due to holes, two thumb nails, one toe nail, the push-pull cap of my new Sawyer filter, my eye-sight for about a day, my trail family
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BLOGS
PCT Day 0 : It’s Raining Tarptents at Scout and Frodo’s
PCT Day 1 : Cruising Down the PCT
PCT Day 2 : My Mind is a Mine Field
PCT Day 3 : I’m Almost Starting To Like This MLD Pack
PCT Day 4 : The Desert Is Windy
PCT Day 5 : It’s Beginning To Feel Like A Real Desert Now
PCT Day 6 : Hitting Mile 100!
PCT Day 7 : A Nero At Warner Springs
PCT Day 8 : Something Old, Something New
PCT Day 9 : Ready, Go, Repeat
PCT Day 10 : An Unexpected Nero At Idyllwild
PCT Day 11 : A Magnificent (And Miserable) Start To The San Jacinto Mountains
PCT Day 12 : A Foggy Day In The Mountains
PCT Day 13 : There’s No End To The Snow
PCT Day 14 : Off The Mountain, Into The Desert
PCT Day 15 : The PCT Edition Of How To Deal With The Heat
PCT Day 16 : Not What We Expected
PCT Day 17 & 18 : An Arctic Morning Into Big Bear & My First Real Zero
PCT Day 19 : A Nice Day For A Stroll
PCT Day 20 : When Speedy Lost Prince
PCT Day 21 : Trail Reunion!
PCT Day 22 : Countdown To McDonalds
PCT Day 23 : And A Nero At The iPhone Store
PCT Day 24 : A Leisurely Day On Trail
PCT Day 25 : And Suddenly We’re In Wrightwood
PCT Day 26 : Conquering The Snow On Mt Baden-Powell
PCT Day 27 : Snow, Road Detours And A Lot Of Walking
PCT Day 28 : Alone Again
PCT Day 29 : The Slog & My First Solo Cowboy Camp
PCT Day 30 : A Nero At Hiker Heaven
PCT Day 31 : 25 Miles And So Much UP
PCT Day 32 : 500 Mile Done!
PCT Day 33 : That Odd Place Called Hikertown
PCT Day 34 : The Infamous LA Aqueduct, All The Wind And My First 30 Mile Day
PCT Day 35 & 36 : Into Tehachapi For A Zero Day
PCT Day 37 : The Tehachapi Tornado
PCT Day 38 : The Desert Begins To Drag
PCT Day 39 : Are There Bears In This Forest?
PCT Day 40 : The Mojave Shines
PCT Day 41 : Into Ridgecrest To Figure Out The Sierras
PCT Day 42 : A Zero And A Drive Up To Kennedy Meadows
PCT Day 43 : A New Backpack And The Last Days In The Desert
PCT Day 44 : So Close And Yet So Far From The Sierras
PCT Day 45 : Kennedy Meadows!
PCT Day 46-48 : The Great American Hitchhiking Adventure
PCT Day 49 : Continuing In NorCal, The Desolation Wilderness And… Snow
PCT Day 50 : The Snow Blinds, The Day I Got Rescued Off The Mountain
PCT Day 51 & 52 : Flip Nr 2, A New Start In Old Station
PCT Day 53 : From Hat Creek Rim Into Burney
PCT Day 54 : A Touristy Burney Falls And A Gloomy Climb Into The Fog
PCT Day 55 : The Day The Snowstorm Hit
PCT Day 56 : Snow Hell
PCT Day 57 : Down, Down The Mountain And Into The Forest
PCT Day 58 & 59 : Unthawing In Mt Shasta
PCT Day 60 : Flip Nr 3, Seeking Warmth In Seiad Valley
PCT Day 61 : Ticks And Views And All The Hikers Are Giving Up
PCT Day 62 : A Snowy Solo Birthday
PCT Day 63 : Snow Hell, Part 2
PCT Day 64 : The Final Few Miles To Ashland
PCT Snow Break 1
PCT Day 65 : Flip Nr 4 And Snow Hell, Part 3
PCT Day 66 : Escape From Mt Jefferson And The PCT
PCT Day 67 : Off Limits And Off Trail
PCT Day 68 : Trails, Roads And Ticks, A Long Detour
PCT Day 69 : A Bloody Introduction To Oregon Mosquitoes
PCT Day 70 : Out Of Food And Running To The Timberline Lodge Buffet
PCT Day 71 & 72 : I Love This Waffle Machine & A Day In Town!
PCT Day 73 : I’m Finally Meeting More Thruhikers
PCT Day 74 : Oregon Is Glorious
PCT Day 75 : To The Bridge Of The Gods
PCT Day 76 : Entering The Last State
PCT Day 77 : Oh Hi Washington Weather
PCT Day 78 : Forests And Ascends
PCT Day 79 : Elks, Lakes And The Snow Is Starting To Melt
PCT Day 80 : A Short Walk Into Trout Lake
PCT Day 81 : Round Mt Adams
PCT Day 82 : Out Of The Forest And Into Goat Rocks!
PCT Day 83 & 84 : Goat Rocks Thunders
PCT Day 85 : I See Marmots In Goat Rocks
PCT Day 86 : A Scenic Descend Into White Pass… And More Forest
PCT Day 87 : When Washington Is Wonderful But The Skies Rumble
PCT Day 88 : Morning Bliss And A Descend Into A Spooky Forest
PCT Day 89 & 90 : A Zero In The Rain & My Longest Day Yet
PCT Day 91 : If Only I Had More Time
PCT Day 92 : An Exhausting Day Of Up And Up And Up
PCT Day 93 : Why Is Washington So Creepy?
PCT Day 94 : Leaving The Mist For Leavenworth
PCT Day 95 : Just Another Typical Day
PCT Day 96 : Something New, The Land Of Glacier Peak Wilderness
PCT Day 97 : When The Mountains Cry
PCT Day 98 : All I Need Is… Food
PCT Day 99 : This Is What I Expected
PCT Day 100 : Two Bears And A Bakery
PCT Day 101 : Two Days, Two Towns
PCT Day 102 : So Close…
PCT Day 103 : Canada!!!
PCT Day 104-107 : The Great Journey Back To Oregon
PCT Day 108 : Flip Nr 5, The Start Of The SoBo Adventure
PCT Day 109 : Three Sisters And A Lot Of Lava
PCT Day 110 : The State Of Forests And Lakes
PCT Day 111 : The Day A Chipmunk Posed For Me
PCT Day 112 : I’m The Olivia Palermo Of Thruhiking
PCT Day 113 : Is This The Start Of Wildfire Season?
PCT Day 114 : I Haven’t Seen This Many Water Caches Since The Desert
PCT Day 115 : Crater Lake!!
PCT Day 116 : Less Views But All The More Hikers
PCT Day 117 : Bad Decisions
PCT Day 118 : Racing Through The Oregon Desert
PCT Day 119 & 120 : A Bear, A Bunny, A Nero And A Zero To Celebrate The End Of Oregon!
PCT Day 121 : Flip Nr 6, To California Where The Heat Is Real!
PCT Day 122 : The Toughest Day Yet, The Heat Hell Ascend From Seiad Valley
PCT Day 123 : Into The Marble Mountains
PCT Day 124 : So Much To See But Oh So Tired
PCT Day 125 : The Trinity Alps Treat
PCT Day 126 : Countdown To Shasta
PCT Day 127 : Downhill To Town
PCT Day 128 : The Shortest Nero Ever And A Loungy Day In Shasta
PCT Day 129 : Flip Nr 7, Back To Old Station!
PCT Day 130 : The Lassen Letdown
PCT Day 131 : Hitting Chester
PCT Day 132 : It’s Hottt Out Here
PCT Day 133 : Bucks Lake Whoa
PCT Day 134 : Quick Hitch To Quincy
PCT Day 135 : The Unhappy Southbounder
PCT Day 136 : Long Day And Big Views
PCT Day 137 : A Madman Is Chasing Me
PCT Day 138 : The Last Town Stop In NorCal
PCT Day 139 : Ridge Walks And Lake Views
PCT Day 140 : Desolation Is A God
PCT Day 141 & 142 : Two Much Needed Zeros In South Lake Tahoe
PCT Day 143 : The Start Of The Sierras
PCT Day 144 : The Exertion Is Killing Me
PCT Day 145 : A Thunderous Sierra Welcome
PCT Day 146 : Grey Clouds And Big Mountains And Impossible Hitches
PCT Day 147 : Oh Hey, Real Mountains!
PCT Day 148 : Ascends Of Rock
PCT Day 149 : Talking To Strangers And A Tough Day Of Elevation Change
PCT Day 150 : A Gentle Stroll Through Yosemite
PCT Day 151 : Donohue Pass And All Of The Granite
PCT Day 152 & 153 : Bad Weather Days In Mammoth
PCT Day 154 : Switchbacks And Silver Pass
PCT Day 155 : Simply Selden
PCT Day 156 : Muir Pass, You’re Cool
PCT Day 157 : Stairwell To Mather
PCT Day 158 : Pinchot And Glen And No, Not Kearsarge
PCT Day 159 : Over Kearsarge And Into Bishop
PCT Day 160 : Old Friends, Old Trails, Old Permits
PCT Day 161 : I’m So High, I’m On Forrester!!
PCT Day 162 : Higher Than High, Summiting Mt Whitney
PCT Day 163 : The Home Stretch
PCT Day 164 : Walk Walk Walk
PCT Day 165 : Back In The Desert And I’m FINISHED!!
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