The last two weeks have been magical. I’m finally into the Sierra, after 7 long weeks in the desert. The terrain has changed markedly, going from dry hills filled with sage to big, imposing granite peaks with pines and abundant water. I also hit some major high points of the […]
Tehachapi to Kennedy Meadows South
The desert is over! It took its revenge at the end though with a series of 15-22 mile water carries between caches – not even streams. I carried 7 days of food out of Tehachapi for the 133 miles to Kennedy Meadows S – coupled with 10 pounds of water, […]
Acton to Tehachapi
This was a rough stretch. The desert is slowly starting to lose its charm and gain its heat, a lot of churn in who I’m hiking with, and the wind is here with a vengeance. There were a lot of positives though, like lots of trail magic, getting to fly, […]
Big Bear to Acton
I (hopefully temporarily) lost a member of my trail family, Andrew, leaving Big Bear to an infection on his hip. He took a week off in Big Bear to heal and is back at it now. That brought us to 3. We then lost Alicia in Wrightwood, she was moving […]
Idyllwild to BIG Bear
We took an unplanned zero in Idyllwild to wait out a snowstorm. The mountain got a few inches of snow up high, but it didn’t cause too many problems. A small patch of snow around mile 170, and a bit of snow just before dropping down into Cabazon and I-10. […]
Week Two-ish – Julian to Paradise Valley Cafe
The second week saw a slight bump in miles per day, and I’m starting to feel stronger. I left town with 3 other hikers – Andrew, Alicia, and Britt – and have been hiking with them for most of the last week. I’ve done a few 15-16 mile days, with […]
The First Week
I’m writing to you now as I take a 0 day (no hiking, a day off) in Julian, CA, which is 77 miles from the Mexican border. Overall, it’s been a pretty intense first week, make exceptional by the people Ive met along the way. My first few days were […]
Getting to the Trailhead
I took the train from Seattle to San Diego taking 3 days. I spent the first night on the train, sleeping in the seat. Actually slept pretty well, all things considered. My second night was in Santa Barbara at a hotel near the train station. As I was getting out […]