Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike this summer

tradja said:
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Yup, that's what we saw in the Cucamonga Wilderness just west of there, but we were the first ones in so it was pretty treacherous. Glad to hear you're making it through ok, after reading about the detours near San Jacinto, I was worried that it would just get worse in the San Bernadinos nearer the el nino dumping ground... Stay safe and healthy!
 
A Mazing pictures! :thumbup:
Me and snow and heights.....ain't happening!
Thanks for allowing me and others this vicarious glance!
 
You guys bringing a firearm? On the other hand this is a very informative thread, awesome knives!
 
Wow, I've been kinda busy lately and looks like I've missed a good deal of updates.
Looks like you guys are having a blast, I'm so jealous!
Thanks for sharing the pics, they're beautiful.
 
Man, am I ever jealous...

You should be getting to the boobytrap section near Tehachapi about now. Last month someone put a bunch of boobytraps on the PCT; most of them were made by filling tin cans with concrete and putting nails in them. They were buried along a stretch of the PCT, and the trail was closed for a while for investigation and removal.

Plan on having plenty of snow in the southern Sierras. It was a heavy snow year, and the melt has been slow to start because of an unusually cool spring. You will have long stretches where you will walk on snow (many miles) and some of the passes will be challenging.
 
tradja said:
OK, I finally got a solid draft of our itinerary ready if anyone wants to check it out.
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Looks like they are on the longest stretch between mail drops so that probably explains why no communication.

Hope they are enjoying the trek. :thumbup:
 
Thanks for the concerns, folks! We're fine, but have had no internet access for a while. We are 2 days short of Kennedy Meadows right now where I hope to be able to post additional pics and details. If you root around in the Photobucket directory where the other trip pics are stored, you can find a few new ones that I can't link to from this machine.

The Ranger and PML have gone home and I've been carrying the Shadowknives Model IX for about 100 miles now. Good stuff! More from KM...

OK, 2 mintues before this PC turns into a pumpkin. More later!

Tradja
 
We made it to Kennedy Meadows, mile 700. Since our last update, it has been more high desert hiking. It hasn't gotten too hot, although the mid-90s day walking through a southwestern corner of the Mojave desert was warm. I like hot desert but Jessie is somewhat less a fan.

The section that had been boobytrapped earlier this spring had been cleared and reopened by the time we got there. Lambertiana, thanks for the heads-up on that so that I knew to ask around before we got there. :thumbup: According to a BLM 1811 that talked to a friend of ours, the investigation is ongoing but the basic problem was an adjacent landowner doesn't like "that guvmint trail" on his property line or easement.

shadowknives said:
Me and snow and heights.....ain't happening!
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:D That's funny and ironic, since your Model IX will do the next few hundred miles of snow, including going to 14,400ft!

Glock26 said:
You guys bringing a firearm? On the other hand this is a very informative thread, awesome knives!
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I wish! I have an OR and UT CHL and have carried a G26 daily for years, but the reality is that 1700 miles of this trail is in CA, and I am an OR resident. Also, most town stops involve one or more visits to the PO, and to finish the trail we'll hike 8 miles into Canada. In addition to this fine array of blades, I carry pepper spray for dogs and tweakers, but I do miss carrying.

PMLKnives said:
Lets just hope he's enjoying his trip so much he forgot about us!
Paul
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No chance! :p Jessie gets tired of hearing about the knives and "let's take one more pic for the thread!

OK, pictars!

Descending the north ridge of Mt Baden Powell:
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Camp on MBP:
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Crossing under I-15 near Cajon Pass:
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Collecting snowpack for water. Note the burly Ranger Afghan, an excellent tool for the job. This task is unexpectedly hard on folders and lesser fixed blades:
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We purchased denatured alcohol stove fuel at the trail-friendly hardware store in Wrightwood. The guy took our bottle into the back room and filled 'er up. However, when we got to our camp that night, I opened the bottle and smelled unleaded! Our alcohol stove would be a bomb with gas. The Afghan made quick work of the soggy wood to cook up a rare hot lunch:
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Now that spring is wearing into summer, the chia plants are turning from purple to dry brown. Chia seeds are nutritional powerhouse, and when the pods are dry they are easy to harvest.

Our developing method:
Step 1: Harvest the dried flowers with a good sharp knife, such as this fine S30V PML necker that I conveniently found dangling around my neck. A sharp knife is better than wrestling the pod off the stem by hand or sawing at it with a dull knife, since excessive motion knocks the seeds on the groundbefore you are ready to catch them.
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Step 2: Knock the seeds into a creased piece of paper. Each dried flower seemed to drop a pretty substantial amount of seeds, say a teaspoon or so, which resulted in a pretty usable quantity of seeds for the effort expended.
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Step 3: Funnel creased paper into mouth!
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Willow Spring, a decent water source 1.8 miles off trail in the middle of a HOT 32 mile waterless stretch.
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Mile 600 last week!
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Camp:
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Us. Jessie is the good-looking one.
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Shoe mods. If it rubs, cut it. New shoes every month anyway.
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This next leg is 10 days through the High Sierra to Vermillion Valley Resort outside of Mono Hot Springs, then on past Mammoth and Yosemite to Tahoe. This section mostly overlaps with the John Muir Trail, at least north from Mt. Whitney to Yosemite. Jessie and I got engaged on Mt. Whitney in 2003 and this will be our first time back on top. We're really excited about the High Sierra.

We took a "zero" today at Kennedy Meadows General Store with dozens of other hikers, shaking down our gear and sorting our 40lbs of food for the next 190 miles. We're finding that 40lbs of food does not really fit into 2 bear cannisters.

The latest reports are that the snow has been melting rapidly, but we have our ice axes back for the steep north faces of each of the high passes we'll cross. I've got the Eddie White/Shadowknives Model IX for this next few hundred miles, picking up the Bark River Rising Wolf and the NWA Stinger between Yosemite and Tahoe at Sonora Pass.

As far as gear, my pack is still pretty much what I posted on Page 1. Other hikers have replaced packs, sleeping bags, shoes, stoves, cookpots, etc, but I pretty much just replaced my red bandana with a MARPAT one, since the muddy digicam hides dirt better.

I still haven't met theamazingdrew, another BF'er who is out here. A few other hikers have real knives, and we convinced another hiker to buy her first real folder, a decent CRKT from REI.

Sadly, my buddy Hasty lost his MiniGrip a few hundred miles back when he picked up his pack after a break and it popped the clip off of his pocket. He didn't notice it was gone until camp. :(

As always, thanks for the interest in our walk and for the encouragement! We have had an amazing adventure so far. It's really great to wake up in the desert/mtns every day for months and do another 20 miles or so.
 
great stuff John.. looks like you 2 are having a blast...:thumbup: thanks for checking in and sharing the pics ... take care...:)

Mike T
 
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