Ready to go – dinners are made, maps/guides broken down and resupply boxes packed up. Boxes are a bit fuller than previous hikes – more calories! Helped out a fellow 2013 PCT hiker a few weeks ago on the start to his AZT-GET-CDT adventure. Picked up Hiker Box and Heartbreaker at the Tucson airport and drove them to Montezuma Pass near the Mexican border to start the AZT leg. We hosted them for a zero day a week later as…
Just had a nice visit by son and family down from Helena, MT – future trail angels! Not much hiking with an almost one and almost three-year-old in tow. Played the tourist with a trip to the zoo and a fascinating trip to the Pima Air & Space Museum. A little golf and sampled some fine IPA’s and Belgian Style Ales from some great new microbreweries in town. And then came down with a bad cold – I guess I…
So what has changed since my last post? For starters, my 60th birthday, not something I have been looking forward to but any reason to celebrate is a good thing I have made quite a few gear changes for the CDT that gets my base weight under 12 lbs. My feet and legs will thank me and cuben fiber for this! Tinkered a bit with the new gear – a little practice erecting the new ZPacks tent in gusty winds….
Slowly getting things organized – got the Ley and Brown CDT maps, Yogi’s handbook and downloaded Guthook’s CDT Hiker app. Giving some serious thought to gear and expect to drop at least 5 lbs off my base weight. Happy with my old gear but it’s worn and so many opportunities out there. My legs and feet will eventually thank me. Been awhile since I updated my gear list so may do that in a future post. A few things on…
I have gained ten pounds so far and had my physical last week. For whatever it’s worth, lowest cholesterol level in several years. But I haven’t used my Dairy Queen gift certificate yet. What’s next? In the short-term, some camping and hiking in Southern AZ, particularly the Chiricahua and Dragoon Mountains. A long distance hike is probably not in the cards this coming year – will be busy hiking and fishing in Idaho and Montana. A trip to Italy is…
I took 28 zeros and 9 neros (less than 7 miles) on this hike, a few more than planned due to illness and weather. But I still finished a week ahead of plan because of higher daily mileage. The biggest day for me was 35 miles which got me close to Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood – quite the motivation! So my “best” list: Best Hiking Day: Best Off-Trail Hike: Best Week of Hiking: Best Trail Town: Best Pigfest: Best…
Hard to believe that three weeks have passed since I completed the trail. I am happy to see that all missing hikers have been accounted for. The weather at the finish line was not very cooperative in late September/early October. We had a slow trip home. Visited friends in Washington, did some wine tasting in Walla Walla, spent some time with my son and family in Helena MT, getting reacquainted with grandson Charlie, and returned home to see our house…
Daily Miles: 2.9, Total Miles: 2660.1 It rained off and on all night. I also had my first mouse visit – he was perched on top of my tent just under the rainfly looking at me. No need to rush this morning as our meeting at the border is set for 11am. So I finished the second Longmire book, Death Without Company, by Craig Johnson, a good read. A leisurely breakfast and on the trail by 8:30am. I caught up…
Daily Miles: 16.2, Total Miles: 2657.2 The thunderstorm and rain started about 9pm and was pretty steady for three hours – a definite cold front is moving in for a few days. A quick descent to Holman Pass then a climb to Rock Pass, in the clouds most of the way. The trail switchbacked a few times then leveled off across a very steep talus slope towards Woody Pass. The trail was badly washed out in five or six places…
Daily Miles: 23.4, Total Miles: 2641.0 The morning started with a climb up Brush Creek Canyon to Glacier Pass. Then another uphill push up several switchbacks to a high ridge below Tatie Peak. Great views of the North Cascades. A gradual descent to Harts Pass and then a climb back up along Slate Peak and my first good views of Mt Baker to the west. I entered the Pasayten Wilderness just past Windy Pass and skirted the edge of Tamarack…
