I first hiked the Pacific Crest Trail over the course of 1994 and 1996, then I hiked the whole thing in one go in 2013. During the latter hike I kept this website updated as I progressed up the trail. I still have about 45 hours of video to edit, but in the meantime there is a lot for you to look at here. Over the course of the 168 days I wrote 138,734 words and put 13,644 photos on this website.
Woke up around 3am to the sound of a critter moving around my tent. I slammed my fist down onto the ground and it ran off.
Woke up around 4am to the sound of the wind blowing and a tree limb crashing down about 30 feet away. I went back to sleep.
Woke up around 6am and got up. Had it not been a resupply day I wouldn't have been so gung ho to get moving. It was really cold out. I managed to successfully have water heated for coffee by the time I was packed up. I headed out around 6:20 and told Marshall I'd see him up the trail.
It was 9.7 miles to Highway 18 where I'd hitchhike to the town of Big Bear Lake. I put on Sonic Youth's "Goo" album and the hammer was dropped. I only really stopped to either a) shed clothing or b) put clothing back on. The blowing wind was super cold, but when the trail would wrap around a bend...my wind jacket/etc would get too hot.
I continued my fast walk (looking like a suburban housewife Saturday morning powerwalking group) until I got to the highway. Had I needed to go another .3 miles I would have done 10 miles by 10am. Instead I did 9.7 miles by 9:40am. There was a truck parked at the pass (Onyx summit). The lady driving the truck asked if I was on the PCT and I said yes. We chatted a bit and I asked if she could drop me off in town. She said sure and cleaned up her little truck a bit. Her name was Ginger and she worked at the local animal shelter.
Ginger dropped me off in a shopping area about two miles from the hostel I had my packages mailed to. I went into the grocery store and got some potatoes from the deli. The local bus was running so I had two options. a) Take the bus to the hostel or b) walk and eat my way to the hostel. I chose "b".
Eventually I passed one place I've been wanting to see for the last 30 years....a 7-11. It was no ordinary 7-11, it was the 7-11 that Matthew Broderick got arrested at in the movie Wargames. I took a few photos in the front and went in to get some coffee. I told the lady working what I was doing and she said "Ahhh, so that is why you were taking photos". The place hadn't changed a whole lot.
I headed towards the hostel and a landcruiser stopped next to me and I saw some PCT hikers in the back. The driver asked where I was going and I said the hostel. He said he could give me a ride there. During the drive I met the other hikers in the back. I had seen them at Ziggy & the Bear but didn't have a chance to meet them. One of them said "Wait...Craig as in Craig's PCT Planner?"
Got to the hostel and saw Marshall and about 20 other hikers I had met. Turns out due to the impending bad weather that everyone is bailing off the trail and heading to the nearest town. There are many, many hikers at the hostel now, too many to mention.
Spent the rest of the night working on the travel site. I did make it out to go to Jack in the Box and then buy a 40 of Old English. Although I don't have my own room to spread all my crap out, it is kind of nice to have other people around this time. They were watching Django Unchained in one room and the Usual Suspects in the other. I also got to hear the whirring sound of a VHS tape being rewound, I haven't heard that noise in a long time. Wow.