Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike this summer

After riding out some big blizzards in CO on our CDT hike, we purchased an aftermarket vestibule for the WA section of the PCT. This is the Granite Gear Dodger we got on closeout. Kifaru makes a similar awning that even accommodates their folding woodstove (!!!), but it was several times dearer than the $30 we paid for the Dodger. We didn't get any blowing snow in camp on the PCT, but set up the Dodger a few rainy, blustery nights just for training.
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Spawning Kokanee in the Stehekin River:
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Swipe reviewing the terrain with our CDT buddy Skittles at the NPS HQ in Stehekin. Skittles met us near Suiattle Pass for 20 miles of trail. Great to see him again.
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Mama and 3 cubs, packing down the berries. Winter's coming, and the past few weeks the wildlife has been in a calorie frenzy.
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Getting water just north of Rainy Pass:
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More U-shaped glacial valleys near Granite Pass. Note the trail snaking along the ridge. You are actually looking at about 3 miles of trail tread in this pic before it pops up over the saddle on the left side of the frame.
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The tarp on a windy ridge, deployed low in "hunkered down" mode. Note our food hanging on the ridgeline pole. Mice were a hassle in WA. Many hikers have chew holes in their tent bodies. Bears you can chase away, but the WA mice were really aggressive. I have a moused-up tent from the WA section of my 99 hike.
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The last night of the hike, at Castle Pass 4 miles south of the US/Canada border. The LBK excelled at splitting wet wood to get to the dry inside, as well as shaving fatwood.
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Note the half-length, worn-out firesteel at the top. I've had that firesteel since Cub Scouts but wore it in half on this hike. One goal of this hike was to use the time to improve my firesteel skills. After some tutorial from River-8 some 450 miles back, my firesteel technique improved greatly for the final month of the hike. IMHO, technique is the most important element. However, the firesteel itself must be good quality, long enough, and a hacksaw-style striker is better than a knife spine, despite the romantic notion of striking sparks with your trusty blade. (The Gossman LFK is, perhaps not surprisingly, a notable exception to this, and is a superior striker.) In any event, after the last 450 miles of the PCT, I'm over spine striking and will carry a hacksaw-style striker tethered to my firesteel from now on.

Monument 78 on the US/Canada border!!! The heavy cast bronze monument comes apart, revealing...
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...the final trail register hidden in its base!
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Steel that can go the distance:
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Best hiking partner evar:
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More awesome pics, I'm lovin' them! That firesteel can double as a toothpick now! That's great you were able to get so mch practice with it.
 
Thanks very much for the interest in our little walk this summer. Having this thread to check in on has been really fun. The almost real-time nature of it feels a little like having friends along, as opposed to posting a writeup after the hike is finished. Special thanks to River-8, River-7, Boomer, 360joules, Snakedoc, and my buddy David for the Cascade Locks get-together, a highlight of the hike. Thanks also to wolfee for the care package including AMAZING dried plums, peaches, and tomatoes from her ranch.

And thanks especially to the knifemakers who participated in this project, getting knives together this spring under a tight deadline. It has been an honor to carry and use the variety of blades provided.

Swipe and I have a few more weeks of East Coast travel before we get back to Oregon on Nov 2. When I get home and get my own PC unpacked, I will get some vids edited and posted, and do a more thorough AAR on each knife.
 
tknife said:
More awesome pics, I'm lovin' them! That firesteel can double as a toothpick now! That's great you were able to get so mch practice with it.
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Thanks! It's a rare and special opportunity for most people to spend 5 months in the wilderness. I wanted to make use of it. I'm glad I thought to use it as a knife-testing laboratory and a firesteel immersion.
 
Amazing John and Jess, simply amazing!!

Thanks for sharing the pics and a look into your journey!
 
What an incredible journey for you two, and special thanks for sharing the trip with us. I have totally enjoyed following along with the pictures, places I'll probably never get to see first hand. Congratulations!
 
What agreat thread. Cant believe I never saw this post till now. I had a ton of stuff to do today but I had a blast reading this whole post. A friend and I intended to do this trip 35 years ago, but instead we got caught up with life.
 
Fantastic thread - thank you for sharing! Could you post your full gear list, and your summary impression of the knives you used?
 
This, and tradja's trip report thread on another forum a few years back, are two of my favorite posts anywhere on the internet. Amazing trips, great pictures and detailed reports of experiences with the gear. Most won't do a trip like this their whole life, and here he has already done it couple times. It's awesome. I especially appreciate the way he makes time to post along the way.
 
fishshooter said:
This, and tradja's trip report thread on another forum a few years back, are two of my favorite posts anywhere on the internet. Amazing trips, great pictures and detailed reports of experiences with the gear. Most won't do a trip like this their whole life, and here he has already done it couple times. It's awesome. I especially appreciate the way he makes time to post along the way.
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Agreed. I hope to do it someday soon. Thank you Tradja for taking the time to post this account here.
 
vhram said:
What agreat thread. Cant believe I never saw this post till now. I had a ton of stuff to do today but I had a blast reading this whole post. A friend and I intended to do this trip 35 years ago, but instead we got caught up with life.
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Thanks for the kind words. Similarly, I had a ton of stuff to do today and ended up stuck reading failblog. :eek:

mountainranger said:
Fantastic thread - thank you for sharing! Could you post your full gear list, and your summary impression of the knives you used?
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Sure, we just got the gear list typed up. Swipe and I are sitting on a panel presentation on hiking the PCT at REI later today so we go this typed up for reference. Full gear list (Excel file with 2 tabs: one for my gear and one for Swipe's).

Looking for a job takes more time than I remembered. :D but I will try to get some final knife comments up soon. I don't really have much to add to the impressions I posted from the trail.
 
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