Overall, I remember Northern California as being "mean." It was very hot and dry, the climbs and descents were very long and often boring, and the nearby wildfires threw smoke into the air, obscuring what views there were. It was the section that I'd heard the least about, but it's the second longest after the …
We were getting into the heat of summer as we trudged through Northern California. My backpack was starting to rub my back raw and chafe was a serious issue. We tried to beat the heat of the day by getting up earlier and walking most of the day's miles in the morning, just like in …
North California started off beautifully. We woke up by a lake in the sunrise and began walking through an area with many lakes, then slowly climbed to Dick's Pass, where we took a break (and obviously shared many jokes). The landscape was still pretty volcanic, with more reddish scree over the trail. We stayed that …
Continue reading PCT Update 21: The Donner Party, Trololo, and Funny Hats
Before meeting up with Tim, Tinkle, Daisy, and I joked about purposefully skipping a shower in Bridgeport, to give him an accurate representation of what my usual stench was. After all, only two and a half days of hiking with no shower is light stench, at most. Luckily for Tim, I had wanted to be …
Leading up to this portion, I had had to plan for a visit from Tim, my boyfriend. He was to meet me in South Lake Tahoe on July 5th. This involved accurately estimating my average daily miles, finding transport to and from the trail, communicating with Tim about our respective responsibilities, and, most importantly and …
Our next resupply point marked the end of the "hard part" of Sierra Nevada. We would be done with the long stretch of 10,000 and above passes, most of the snow, and the heavy bear canisters! The landscape was changing. Sonora Pass lay between us and milkshakes, showers, and beds. It was different from anything …
I woke up to blessed silence, my hopes for a mosquito-light day intact. That lasted about two minutes, during which time the mosquitoes noticed that I was not an inanimate object and in fact, a delightful treat pumped full of poptarts and candy. There were about thirty of them buzzing at the mesh of my …
I made a video on trail of what a semi-typical day was like. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRp1LYh576I&t=1s
After Tuolumne, we were a party of three again, Daisy, Tinkle, and I. The morning that we left, Piglet caught up to us! We chatted for a bit and found out both of our boyfriends were coming to South Lake Tahoe in early July. She was staying there for a little while, so we left …
Tinkle and I left Mammoth after saying goodbye to Daisy, who would be staying in town another day. It was pretty smoky from a nearby fire and while we'd been in Mammoth, ashes had been falling like snow over the whole town. The smoke got better as we got a little higher. That night, there …
MountainMaddy 