Semi-live PCT thru hike

[Anvilheadtexas]

Tbh…. My wife and I are 275 miles into our Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) thru attempt. We started April 9 and we are currently doing a resupply in Big Bear, CA. I wanted to wait until we got underway to start this thread. It’s going to be very semi-live as we already have gone thru a few long stretches with zero reception. So far we have been in some serious extreme weather. Blazing sun in low desert and freezing nights (especially high up in mountains). Wind can be ferocious and we even had to hike thru snow in the San Jacinto mountains. I am finding the hiking maybe a bit easier than the Appalachian Trail, but the extreme climates, remoteness and lack of water (big water carries) make up for that.

Social dynamics are way different than that Appalachian Trail. Lots of international hikers on trail this year (our guess is 65%). Many waited a few years for Covid restrictions to end. It’s been cool meeting and hiking with people from all over the world. Seems like less partying.

We started in Campo, CA at the border. The first 700 miles is desert. However, some of this desert climbs to 10,000 feet. So far we have seen lots of lizards, rabbits, squirrel-like critters and more lizards. Our first encounter with a desert rattler was at mile 5 and the second one at mile 6 (and this one was big and angry). The only big game spotted so far has been Big-Horn sheep. After 700 miles we will get into the Sierras which are good to go (low snow year). Trail concerns are the summer fires which will happen. We have already walked though many scarred sections. Really sad.

I am going to try to update this thread when I get into towns with receptions. I am also doing Instagram - Anvilheadtexas and my wife is - Kjlistenz. Pics are easier on Instagram so there will be more pics there.

I know many many hikers who have done this trail. They all say the hiking is easier than the Appalachian Trail. So far, I am finding it equal, but the knees and body are 6 years older than when I did the AT.

[JustinJ]

Been following on IG. Good luck and have fun!

[AntlerCollector]

In!!!!

[Casey]

I was wondering why we didn't warrant a thread on this hike! Thanks for cranking it up and good luck!!

[manwitaplan]

Very cool and be safe. Thank you keep us updated.


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[MadHatter]

Living good brother!
6 yrs, wow, doesn't seem that long ago....

[SabreKiller]

My step son did it solo a couple of years ago. Went all the way into Canada, then when he wanted to come home he realized he didn't have his passport. He finally talked his way back into the states.

He took some awesome pictures on the way. He actually wants to go back and do it again. Says there's some places he didn't get to explore very well.

[jake03]

awesome...following!

[GARY]

Following you on instagram and glad to see it posted here as well.

Thanks for sharing it with us!

[MLank]

Originally Posted by MadHatter

Living good brother!
6 yrs, wow, doesn't seem that long ago....

Exactly!

[Passthrough]

You sir….are a machine! Love following this thread!

[perow]

Was wondering when you would get this thread started, I have also been following you guys on instagram. The DUDE lives

[Gumbo Man]

Cool thread.

[Pedernal]

Awesome!

Following; best of luck to you folks…

[Anvilheadtexas]

Thanks. I will see how I can keep this updated. We finally broke the vortex of Big Bear late this afternoon fully supplied. This next section is a 75 mile hike to Cajon Pass (I-15 area). Seems like the terrain will be low desert and less elevation gains than last two sections. We did a whopping 2 miles this afternoon…. But that placed us out of town and we will be hiking by 7:30 am tomorrow.

[Greenheadless]

Tagged. Good luck!

[SmTx]

Oh hells yea! Tagged

[Anvilheadtexas]

Originally Posted by MadHatter

Living good brother!
6 yrs, wow, doesn't seem that long ago....

Scary! Right! When I typed that it kinda blew my mind!

[Anvilheadtexas]

Originally Posted by SabreKiller

My step son did it solo a couple of years ago. Went all the way into Canada, then when he wanted to come home he realized he didn't have his passport. He finally talked his way back into the states.

He took some awesome pictures on the way. He actually wants to go back and do it again. Says there's some places he didn't get to explore very well.

Interesting. The last few years all finishers have had to turn around at border and go back 30 mikes ( no entry into Canada). As of now we don’t know if thst will change. Passports are in stand-by back home in case.

[rtp]

Following and best of luck to the two of you.


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[Mission408]

That's awesome man! Good luck and stay safe!

[Yorkshire]

That's cool - I am jealous

[Mtltx]

Was wondering when this thread was gonna pop up. Good luck on the trip. I will be following!

[JES]

Very cool, thanks for taking us along. Good luck and stay safe.

[RRFishNHunt]

Very cool! Following along....

[Chad_E]

Awesome! I really enjoyed follow along on the AT.

[bboswell]

Cool adventure!

[Olympic Recurve]

Thank you so much for taking us along again. I can’t believe it’s been 6 years since the last one!

[sandbill]

Following! Have fun. Stay safe

[Mary]

Living life right...
Love following your hikes!

[BTLowry]

Awesome

Enjoy the trip

[Throwin Darts]

Following this for sure!

[Casey]

I'm going to quit my job today and start doing stuff like this.

Stay tuned for my gofundme

Keep the updates coming.

[7sdad]

On our bucket list for sure when we retire. Good luck and have fun!

[The Crippler]

Badazz bro, following!


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[Anvilheadtexas]

We are in a cool camp-site tonight on a river/creek. I believe it’s called Deep Creek. Pretty amazing! We have not seen running water like this yet! Def not a seasonal stream as I saw trout in the pools. Hiked along another smaller creek today and had a great break and soaked our feet. Yesterday the trail was easier and we did 17 miles and today we just did 13. The terrain the last two days has been generally downhill, so it’s been nice. The best part about today was minimal water carries. It’s so nice to travel light with only a liter or less. There has been major carries where I humped four liters!

Last night it got wicked cold, but we did good in our bags. It’s crazy how in the desert it goes from hot to cold so quick. We are with a big group of other hikers tonight and had a great dinner with lots of laughs.

[Mtltx]

Man, that looks cool.

[Anvilheadtexas]

Just wanted to add… we are about 1/2 or so from hitting mile 300. We intended to hit that today, but this cool camp-site got in the way. Here is one more pic upstream from our site. Today is the first day I saw any water with trout. Water has been scarce and gets scarce again after we leave this river/creek. I will get a fly-rod sent out when we get into the sierras.

[Anvilheadtexas]

Hit the 300 mile marker early yesterday and then did 15 total miles. The day included a one hour stop at the infamous Deep Creek Hot Springs, where we soaked are tired bodies. The heat was intense… leading to some blisters. I drained a major one in my little toe this afternoon. The desert sand gets so hot… all it takes is a tiny piece of sand or even dust in your shoe to cause issues. I h do not typically get blisters, but….

We pushed for 15 miles yesterday as that put us on highway 173. The Joshua Inn (an old school bar in Hysteria, CA) picks up hikers and even welcomes hikers to camp on the property (which we did). We celebrated the long hot day with beer and burgers. This am, they drove us back to the trail. I thought todays hike was easy (despite blisters) and the heat was not as bad. The trail brought us around Silver Lake. It was a good change of scenery. We hiked out of Silver Lake late in the afternoon. We are stealth camping right off the trail at what appears to be a rest area that is not in use (but there is water!). Let’s see if we get busted. We are 12.5 mikes from Cajon Pass. This is where the PCT crosses I-15. If You ever drove from LA to Vegas, you have gone through Cajon Pass.

[bobc]

My hiking experience is evidently quite weak. I applaud you sir. This is fantastic.


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[Anvilheadtexas]

Originally Posted by bobc

My hiking experience is evidently quite weak. I applaud you sir. This is fantastic.


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Thank you. This is definitely not something everyone is going to want to do. Not everyone does the entire trail. There are section hikers out here as well (just doing pieces). At the moment we are in a thru-hiker bubble (everyone we are seeing last few days are attempting to do entire trail). There has been some that have bailed already. Sone with injury and some who could not hack it.

[JES]

Beautiful scenery, thanks for the updates.

For those of us not familiar with this trail, here’s some info:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail

[Pedernal]

Awesome pics thanks for sharing!

This area seems like it would be a lot less populated as compared to your previous journey. Is that making it for a harder journey as there might be less “trail angles” out there supporting the hikers??

[Anvilheadtexas]

Originally Posted by Pedernal

Awesome pics thanks for sharing!

This area seems like it would be a lot less populated as compared to your previous journey. Is that making it for a harder journey as there might be less “trail angles” out there supporting the hikers??

It’s definitely more remote and towns are spread out further. However, there are trail angels and trail magic (especially on weekends). We walked into Cajon Pass today (staying in a Comfort Inn tonight due to wicked high winds and a 5,000 foot climb out of the pass (it will be there in the morning)). As we came off the pass today there was a former hiker doing trail magic… he had Bud Lights and IPAs and munchies. It was good. I would not say the remoteness is making it much harder… the weather seems to be the bigger factor. This week we have had some really hot days and cold nights. A storm blew in last night producing crazy wind today. It rained a bit as well, but nothing of significance. It’s amazing, one can go from being too hot to being too cold in a matter of minutes.

Tomorrow is our one month on the trail… we will be just over 350 miles in (halfway thru the desert).

[bboswell]

Amazing adventure!

[Puncher51]

Enjoying following along, thanks for the updates and good luck!

[Anvilheadtexas]

Thanks. Today we hiked down Cajon Pass to I-15. If you ever drove from LA to Vegas Yiu passed through this area. Very rough desert. We intended to hike down and do the traditional hiker McDonald’s feast, cross I-15 (underpass) and keep going. That was the plan, but the high winds took the wind out of our sails (and most of the other hikers making it into the pass). So we are holed up in the little hotel here (discount rates for hikers!). Glad we did…. Wind is howling. The hike in was real interesting with the high winds, but at least it was not too hot. At the moment I would take high winds over high heat. That being said it became real cold eating the McDonalds! Ironically enough, the McDonalds is being renovated and we had to eat outside. We had a huge hiker group picnic. Also, there was a former hiker handing out beers right when we came off the pass…that might have contributed to the decision to call todays 13 miles good enough. We are holding tight at 342 miles so far. Tomorrow we start a climb that eill take us 5,000 feet up… the saving grace is that it’s over 17 miles! But first we have to go back to the McDonalds area and experience the I-15 underpass and the crossing of the train tracks. The next 2 days will not be easy.

[Chew]

This is awesome. Thanks for posting. When you get to mile 1020, you will be just west of where I did cold weather/mountain warfare training in the Marine Corps. Good times!

[Sticks&Strings]

Wow! This is awesome again! I followed your last one too!

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[Anvilheadtexas]

Originally Posted by Chew

This is awesome. Thanks for posting. When you get to mile 1020, you will be just west of where I did cold weather/mountain warfare training in the Marine Corps. Good times!

Sweet! Let’s hope it’s not cold!!! Lol. Man, today was something. Crazy weather in the desert!