PCT Hawk
Latitude:37.53923
Longitude:-118.97043
GPS location Date/Time:07/04/2015 20:43:41 PDT
Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:
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http://fms.ws/Old3V/37.53923N/118.97043W
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PCT Hawk
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Saturday, July 4, 2015
Friday, July 3, 2015
Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk
PCT Hawk
Latitude:37.41238
Longitude:-118.92467
GPS location Date/Time:07/03/2015 21:02:45 PDT
Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:
Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/Ok08e/37.41238N/118.92467W
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PCT Hawk
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Latitude:37.41238
Longitude:-118.92467
GPS location Date/Time:07/03/2015 21:02:45 PDT
Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:
Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/Ok08e/37.41238N/118.92467W
If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.41238,-118.92467&ll=37.41238,-118.92467&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
PCT Hawk
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A Comment and an Observation
Observation: for a while now (maybe a week) the JMT and the PCT have been the same trail. And because most JMT hikers are southbound, I see a lot more of them than I do PCT hikers. My observation: JMT hikers are weird. The trail is only 211 miles which should take.... maybe 11 or 12 days to do (if you put in pretty good mileage). But I've seen tents set up as late as 10:30am and set up as early as 5:15pm. I very rarely see anyone on the trail after 7pm. It's like they're lazy and just take their time (a huge contrast to my journey where I push as many miles as I can everyday). Also- all of their packs look super huge! One guy told me his pack was over 50 lbs! Even with 5 days of food, mine is only about 45 or less.
Comment: I have a love-hate relationship with the Sierras. They are easily some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen and sometimes I think I might as well be in Oregon (lush forest, plenty of large streams and rivers, lots of undergrowth, nice grassy meadows, etc). But the terrain is HORRIBLE. Everyday is up and over another pass (1000s of feet in elevation gain) then down into a valley (1000s of feet in elevation loss). Also, imagine that you are walking up and down stairs, but these stairs aren't any normal stairs. They're about 1.5-2 feet high (sometimes higher) and about 5 feet long. And they're not just flat on top- imagine every "stair" is filled with golfball-size gravel. Yeah. Not fun on the ankles. And you have to go up and down these near the top of every pass. And this coupled with the thunderstorms everyday is why I'm hating the Sierras.
Labels
I've added labels to my posts so that it is easier to catch up if you miss some (this way you don't have to scroll past all the "Custom Message" or "Check-in/OK" posts if you don't want to).
Non-automated posts: These are all posts that aren't sent by my GPS device (like this post!). http://dantesupertramp.blogspot.com/search/label/Non-automated
Summaries: These are only the posts that contain summaries of each day. http://dantesupertramp.blogspot.com/search/label/Summaries
Non-automated posts: These are all posts that aren't sent by my GPS device (like this post!). http://dantesupertramp.blogspot.com/search/label/Non-automated
Summaries: These are only the posts that contain summaries of each day. http://dantesupertramp.blogspot.com/search/label/Summaries
Catching up...
Quite a few of these summaries will be short as it has been a long time since I have been able to post. Also, here at Vermillion Valley Resort, their internet access is satellite so they charge hikers $8/hr. Ouch!
6/24: (~4 miles) Leaving Lone Pine. I was hoping to leave around 4pm for the trail, but it didn't happen until around 7pm. And, in the Sierras, all town access requires you to walk a side trail to the edge of the Sierras (where there is likely a campground and parking lot), then hitch the 20 or so miles off the Sierras and down into town. It's a pain in the butt. So this night I didn't get a lot of hiking done plus I had to pay $40 to a guy that does these trips up the hill (he'd do it for free but it's not exactly cheap on gas to drive all the way from the valley up into the Sierras). Hiked the ~4 miles uphill back to the PCT, then stopped and camped at the Lake.
6/25: (19.4 miles) Hiked past Mt. Whitney today. Didn't exactly see it (or at least wasn't sure which one it was), but oh well. Also, today the JMT (John Muir Trail- goes from Yosemite to Mt. Whitney and coincides with the PCT) joined the PCT today (or maybe the PCT joined the JMT?) so from now on I'll see a lot of southbound JMT hikers (most people hike southbound to Mt. Whitney). Not much else to say about today. Just a lot of hiking.
6/26: (~22.5 miles) Today was a big uphill! In fact, the biggest uphill on the whole PCT! Forester Pass is at 13,790 ft elevation and is the highest point on the PCT. (You know, I've been offered weed quite a few times already- declined every time- and this is still the highest I have ever been on the PCT). The pass itself wasn't too bad (the hike to the pass was the worst part) but the scenery on the other side was beautiful! Plenty of lush forest next to the river (which brings with it- many mosquitoes). I hiked down into the valley, then up to Kearsarge Pass. Kearsarge Pass is a 7.6 mile side trail that goes from the PCT to the Onion Valley campground (access to Independence). I hiked late to get over the pass and camped on the end of one of the switchbacks on the way down (still about 3.6 miles from the parking lot).
6/27: (0 PCT miles, but 3.6 miles) I hiked the rest of the Kearsarge Pass trail quickly this morning! As fast as I could! I passed a lot of weekenders on the way down and was fortunate to get a ride down the mountains in about 30 minutes. They dropped me off at the post office and fortunately there was someone working in the back (I'm willing to dub him a "trail angel") who was able to give me my box even though they aren't open on Saturdays. I chilled at the Subway (basically the only restaurant in town) and sat on the WiFi for a couple hours. Got a footlong and headed over to the hotel about noon. I stayed at the Couthouse Motel in their hiker bunkhouse for $25 (and no one else was in the bunkhouse so I had it all to myself!). Got a shower and lounged there for the rest of the day.
6/28: (13.3 miles) Hung out for a bit in the bunkhouse and hitched from the Post Office around noon. Fortunately there was a guy going up to check out the campground and gave me a ride up for free! And I only had to wait about 10 min! Left the campground about noon and hiked over two passes pretty quickly (Kearsarge and Glen). Got down to the Rae Lakes area and it was beautiful! For a while the PCT literally strolled right along the edge of the lake. I camped just past the ranger station (a nice little propane-powered cabin in the woods).
6/29: (16.9fl oz miles) Long, frustrating day. The rest of the downhill into the valley was nice. I passed mile 800 at the suspension bridge (why aren't there more of these on the PCT?) and then I had uphill. Uphill forever. Just the 7 miles of uphill (~4000 ft elevation gain) over Pinchot Pass was so frustrating and motivation-draining that it took me about 7 hours to do. Gross. So I got over the other side and just camped at the bottom of the next valley (basically just went until it was dark). [Fun fact: "16.9 fl oz" is 500 ml! Metric system is slowly taking over America! Finally!]
6/30: (20 miles) Today's pass is Mather Pass. Not really as bad. It's pretty smooth the whole way there and even the climb over the pass isn't that steep. Easily made it over before lunch time. Once I got over the next side though, it poured. It's been sprinkling the last couple days but for about an hour we got thunder, lightning- the works. Eventually I spotted a patch of small trees and ducked inside. They didn't work super well, but they worked well enough such that I could eat lunch. The rain really did put a damper on my day though (haha. puns.). Lots of downhill, slippery rocks (I fell for the 4th time on the trail), etc. I stopped quite a few times near the bottom of the valley before finally convincing myself to go the 4 more miles to make it 20 miles for the day.
7/1: (24.5 miles) New PR! Last night I was hoping to stay in the John Muir Shelter at the top of Muir Pass, but the motivation wasn't making it happen. So this morning I made it the 7 miles and had lunch in the shelter (and it served its purpose because there was another thunderstorm today). Talked to some southbound JMT hikers in the shelter who had just come from VVR (my next resupply) and they told me all about their services, the best way to get in, etc. The new plan cut a few miles off my original plan so I decided I was going to try and push more miles today and make it there by tomorrow night. So hiked quickly down the hill (~3 mph) as fast as was reasonable and made camp late. I set up my tent about 100' off trail and hiked back to the closest water source to get water for dinner and breakfast. It was so dark (I had my headlamp, but still) that I practically wandered around for 10 minutes trying to find the trail from my tent. But on the way back I was fortunate enough to find it quickly. Tonight my tent was racked by a thunder and lightning storm directly overhead (at about 11pm and most of the night) so I spend a lot of the night awake and made a couple trips outside to re-tension stakes and guylines. My tent is waterproof, but with lots of wind the rain can get blown under the rainfly and through the netting that makes up all the walls of my tent. So my stuff got a little damp and there was a puddle inside my tent (not damaging anything- but annoying).
7/2: (23.9 miles) Hiked over the "pass of the day" which was Selden pass today. Agonizing uphill with the occasional rain. Then busted it down the other side. Had the second real fording of a river today ("real" as in "no stepping stones or logs" and "take off your socks and shoes and go wading"). I made it to the Bear Creek trail and hit lots of hikerwash (wet plants that brush against you) from a storm that I just missed. I hiked the 7.6 miles down to the trailhead and made it in about 2 hours (about 3.8 mph!). My phone was dead but fortunately there was a nice Ukrainian family camping there for the next 4 days (through Independence day) that let me use their phone. VVR (Vermillion Valley Resort) usually send shuttles to the trailhead for $12/person but they had ended their shuttles for the day. So I helped the family move their camping stuff down to the lake for the next hour and a half (they had LOTS of stuff) and they gave me a ride down to the main road. it was about 9:30pm and I was going to hike the 3 miles down the main road when another car came by within 10 minutes or so. Super lucky! I stuck out my thumb and they gave me a ride all the way to VVR! Free camping here so I set up my tent last night.
6/24: (~4 miles) Leaving Lone Pine. I was hoping to leave around 4pm for the trail, but it didn't happen until around 7pm. And, in the Sierras, all town access requires you to walk a side trail to the edge of the Sierras (where there is likely a campground and parking lot), then hitch the 20 or so miles off the Sierras and down into town. It's a pain in the butt. So this night I didn't get a lot of hiking done plus I had to pay $40 to a guy that does these trips up the hill (he'd do it for free but it's not exactly cheap on gas to drive all the way from the valley up into the Sierras). Hiked the ~4 miles uphill back to the PCT, then stopped and camped at the Lake.
6/25: (19.4 miles) Hiked past Mt. Whitney today. Didn't exactly see it (or at least wasn't sure which one it was), but oh well. Also, today the JMT (John Muir Trail- goes from Yosemite to Mt. Whitney and coincides with the PCT) joined the PCT today (or maybe the PCT joined the JMT?) so from now on I'll see a lot of southbound JMT hikers (most people hike southbound to Mt. Whitney). Not much else to say about today. Just a lot of hiking.
6/26: (~22.5 miles) Today was a big uphill! In fact, the biggest uphill on the whole PCT! Forester Pass is at 13,790 ft elevation and is the highest point on the PCT. (You know, I've been offered weed quite a few times already- declined every time- and this is still the highest I have ever been on the PCT). The pass itself wasn't too bad (the hike to the pass was the worst part) but the scenery on the other side was beautiful! Plenty of lush forest next to the river (which brings with it- many mosquitoes). I hiked down into the valley, then up to Kearsarge Pass. Kearsarge Pass is a 7.6 mile side trail that goes from the PCT to the Onion Valley campground (access to Independence). I hiked late to get over the pass and camped on the end of one of the switchbacks on the way down (still about 3.6 miles from the parking lot).
6/27: (0 PCT miles, but 3.6 miles) I hiked the rest of the Kearsarge Pass trail quickly this morning! As fast as I could! I passed a lot of weekenders on the way down and was fortunate to get a ride down the mountains in about 30 minutes. They dropped me off at the post office and fortunately there was someone working in the back (I'm willing to dub him a "trail angel") who was able to give me my box even though they aren't open on Saturdays. I chilled at the Subway (basically the only restaurant in town) and sat on the WiFi for a couple hours. Got a footlong and headed over to the hotel about noon. I stayed at the Couthouse Motel in their hiker bunkhouse for $25 (and no one else was in the bunkhouse so I had it all to myself!). Got a shower and lounged there for the rest of the day.
6/28: (13.3 miles) Hung out for a bit in the bunkhouse and hitched from the Post Office around noon. Fortunately there was a guy going up to check out the campground and gave me a ride up for free! And I only had to wait about 10 min! Left the campground about noon and hiked over two passes pretty quickly (Kearsarge and Glen). Got down to the Rae Lakes area and it was beautiful! For a while the PCT literally strolled right along the edge of the lake. I camped just past the ranger station (a nice little propane-powered cabin in the woods).
6/29: (16.9
6/30: (20 miles) Today's pass is Mather Pass. Not really as bad. It's pretty smooth the whole way there and even the climb over the pass isn't that steep. Easily made it over before lunch time. Once I got over the next side though, it poured. It's been sprinkling the last couple days but for about an hour we got thunder, lightning- the works. Eventually I spotted a patch of small trees and ducked inside. They didn't work super well, but they worked well enough such that I could eat lunch. The rain really did put a damper on my day though (haha. puns.). Lots of downhill, slippery rocks (I fell for the 4th time on the trail), etc. I stopped quite a few times near the bottom of the valley before finally convincing myself to go the 4 more miles to make it 20 miles for the day.
7/1: (24.5 miles) New PR! Last night I was hoping to stay in the John Muir Shelter at the top of Muir Pass, but the motivation wasn't making it happen. So this morning I made it the 7 miles and had lunch in the shelter (and it served its purpose because there was another thunderstorm today). Talked to some southbound JMT hikers in the shelter who had just come from VVR (my next resupply) and they told me all about their services, the best way to get in, etc. The new plan cut a few miles off my original plan so I decided I was going to try and push more miles today and make it there by tomorrow night. So hiked quickly down the hill (~3 mph) as fast as was reasonable and made camp late. I set up my tent about 100' off trail and hiked back to the closest water source to get water for dinner and breakfast. It was so dark (I had my headlamp, but still) that I practically wandered around for 10 minutes trying to find the trail from my tent. But on the way back I was fortunate enough to find it quickly. Tonight my tent was racked by a thunder and lightning storm directly overhead (at about 11pm and most of the night) so I spend a lot of the night awake and made a couple trips outside to re-tension stakes and guylines. My tent is waterproof, but with lots of wind the rain can get blown under the rainfly and through the netting that makes up all the walls of my tent. So my stuff got a little damp and there was a puddle inside my tent (not damaging anything- but annoying).
7/2: (23.9 miles) Hiked over the "pass of the day" which was Selden pass today. Agonizing uphill with the occasional rain. Then busted it down the other side. Had the second real fording of a river today ("real" as in "no stepping stones or logs" and "take off your socks and shoes and go wading"). I made it to the Bear Creek trail and hit lots of hikerwash (wet plants that brush against you) from a storm that I just missed. I hiked the 7.6 miles down to the trailhead and made it in about 2 hours (about 3.8 mph!). My phone was dead but fortunately there was a nice Ukrainian family camping there for the next 4 days (through Independence day) that let me use their phone. VVR (Vermillion Valley Resort) usually send shuttles to the trailhead for $12/person but they had ended their shuttles for the day. So I helped the family move their camping stuff down to the lake for the next hour and a half (they had LOTS of stuff) and they gave me a ride down to the main road. it was about 9:30pm and I was going to hike the 3 miles down the main road when another car came by within 10 minutes or so. Super lucky! I stuck out my thumb and they gave me a ride all the way to VVR! Free camping here so I set up my tent last night.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk
PCT Hawk
Latitude:37.37638
Longitude:-119.01299
GPS location Date/Time:07/02/2015 22:28:10 PDT
Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:
Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/OiGNF/37.37638N/119.01299W
If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.37638,-119.01299&ll=37.37638,-119.01299&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
PCT Hawk
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Ready for Adventure
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Latitude:37.37638
Longitude:-119.01299
GPS location Date/Time:07/02/2015 22:28:10 PDT
Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:
Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/OiGNF/37.37638N/119.01299W
If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.37638,-119.01299&ll=37.37638,-119.01299&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
PCT Hawk
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Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Check-in/OK message from SPOT PCT Hawk
PCT Hawk
Latitude:37.22392
Longitude:-118.83614
GPS location Date/Time:07/01/2015 21:15:35 PDT
Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:
Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/OgRmo/37.22392N/118.83614W
If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.22392,-118.83614&ll=37.22392,-118.83614&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
PCT Hawk
You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.
Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com
Latitude:37.22392
Longitude:-118.83614
GPS location Date/Time:07/01/2015 21:15:35 PDT
Message:I've set up camp for the night! Here's where I'll be:
Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/OgRmo/37.22392N/118.83614W
If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.22392,-118.83614&ll=37.22392,-118.83614&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
PCT Hawk
You have received this message because PCT Hawk has added you to their SPOT contact list.
Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com
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