The Damonte Hillside

I was chatting with a friend here in Reno and she mentioned some hikes she wanted to get in before it really started to heat up and I cringed. Umm excuse me, I come from the land of moderate temperatures and fog, lots and lots of fog. Sixty degrees is bordering on too hot for me, and the thought of July and August has me cowering next to my fan. 700 miles in the desert on the PCT did not change my feelings toward heat, all it taught me was that I’m terrified of being dehydrated and always carry to much water.

So last week as the temperatures began to climb I glared angrily outside at the sun (and yes 80 is still hot to me, I will not yet admit that it will soon be over 90). So imagine my happiness when the clouds rolled in and the temperatures began to dip. I figured I would take advantage of the change in the weather and hit the open sagebrush covered mountains near my house.

I should probably start with some background on this adventure, or rather what has become a series of adventurous day hikes. Living near the Damonte Hills/Virginia Foothills area in Reno I often caught myself staring off at a big white “D” made of rocks up on the hillside, and more importantly the dirt roads carving their way up the mountainside around it. Maybe it’s the little kid in me, but there is always something appealing about picking a high point and saying, yup that’s where I’m going, right to the top. I vaguely scanned the internet and found mentions of people hiking up past Damonte high school, mazes of dirt roads and a multitude of GPS tracks I had no interest in trying to muddle through. So with little to go on I set out to get to the top.

My first try failed gloriously. I didn’t even know where the high school was; I just started walking through neighborhoods, became ridiculously turned around looping in and out of cul-de-sacs and somehow ended up on the wrong side of a housing development and on a private dirt road leading to a gun club. Oops.

Okay so on to attempt number 2, I found the high school and headed straight up the hillside, scrambling up a steep incline over rocks and dirt to get to the big letter “D”. Only to find that it wasn’t very high and that there was a nice big dirt road leading almost directly to it that I had somehow been completely blind to and missed. Well that was anticlimactic, so I kept going, winding my way slowly up towards the top. 

The dirt road was rocky and exposed as I made my way to the peak giving me glimpses of the valley below but taking forever to reach a high point. As I climbed higher I realized it wasn’t just one peak, rolling peaks extended off into the distance for ages. Maybe not true epic mountain peaks but still, those are not small hills out there. 2000 feet of climbing is still darn tiring and as darkness approached I realized I had to turn around. But the lure of those peaks caught my imagination and now it’s a bit of a game. Whenever I hit the hills I pick a different route, I know how many hours I have until I must turn around or inevitably end up stumbling home in the dark. Which may sound like a fun idea but isn't always your wisest option when hiking solo.

Some days its 5 or 6 miles, last week it was 17. I’ve hiked in an unexpected snowstorm, gale force winds, perfectly mild weather and even on one rather ill imagined full moon extravaganza. And the really fun part? I’ve barely even touched the vast network of dirt roads scattering the area. Yes there are dead ends, the occasional dirt bikes and ATVs, scatterings of shotgun shells and oh yes, a complete lack of shade. But there are also amazing rocks, great views, the ever present wild horses and the feeling that you can walk forever. So while I love the forest and creeks of Mt Rose I am not quite ready to ditch the open hills behind Damonte Ranch just yet. Although maybe check back to me in August when it is 95 degrees outside and I’m thirsty just looking at the sun beating down on those exposed dirt roads.   

New Start

Well I decided to give the blog a bit of a makeover and switch gears from a PCT blog to something that is actually more relevant to my life right now, which is exploring Reno, Tahoe and the surrounding areas. So bear with me as I figure this out. If you have any interest in local hikes etc then follow along, otherwise its been fun!

Heading up towards Church's Pond Yesterday

Not going to lie, lazing around after a hike is pretty fantastic. Learning from the experts, my cat Finley

Itchy Feet

I was sitting in my car a few days ago when it suddenly struck me that exactly 1 year ago I was standing at the Mexican border starting my journey on the PCT. And now the end of April draws closer and hundreds of hikers are starting their own journeys on the trail. I have friends on the Appalachian and Continental Divide as well as the PCT and here I sit, staring at a computer screen committed to a full time job staring at old photos and feeling nostalgic.

A lot has happened since I first set out from the border. I walked all the way to Canada for one; meeting amazing people and seeing beautiful country. I came home feeling lost and undecided about my path so I picked up and moved to a new state, starting a new job and getting trained in a specialty that still overwhelms me on a daily basis. My mind may be getting a workout but I desperately miss the simpler life of a thruhiker. I wandered out my door today and headed for hills. I became calmer and happier the farther I went. I love the feeling of climbing, as miles fade away beneath your feet and your legs ache. But as the sun set I reluctantly turned around because endlessly walking forward is simply not my life right now. The great peace I find from walking all day has to come in smaller doses for now.

When I mention my hike to coworkers I am usually met with puzzled faces and shrugs of shoulders. “Wait you did what?”  More often than not they shake their heads at my adventure clearly thinking what is wrong with this crazy girl? But every so often I get, “Oh my god I've always wanted to do that.” I love that I have more coworkers than ever before who are just my kind of crazy. Instead of defending my adventure I find that sometimes I get to chatter endlessly to people who are genuinely interested.  Sometimes I’m not sure this is such a good thing as it sends my mind out to obsess about all of the places I still want to go and things I want to see. As more of my friends and acquaintances settle down I question whether that’s just not in the cards for me right now.

One of my coworkers hiked the PCT in 2009 and we can talk endlessly about hiker trash and the trail. One of his very first questions was, “What are you hiking next?” and I feel like this perfectly sums up my thoughts right now. It’s not a question of if for me but when and where. No, there will be no Appalachian Trail or Continental Divide this summer. But I make no such promises for future summers. I've been told the life of a long distance hiker can be somewhat addicting and I absolutely agree.

In the meantime I’ll just have to make do with my new backyard…

living in the desert 

storm rolling in

about to get snowed on

wild horses

I'm pretty sure my cat would be a horrible hiking companion but she's trying to be very helpful with all of my baking escapades, have I ever mentioned how much I love kitchens?

On a side note I have no idea what to do with my blog in the meantime. I am not dedicated enough to write regular updates but maybe a few things will make it on here if I feel motivated enough.
I was also a terrible person and never officially finished my recap of the hike including thanks. First of all any messages, letters or food that I got on the trail was amazing! Thanks for the support it really was fun talking to people who had actually read my ramblings. Thanks to my mother most amazing resupply slash pet sitter a person could ever wish for. And thank you Emergen-C. You were kind enough to donate enough packets to get me through my whole hike as well as plenty extra for sharing. By Washington a packet of Emergen-C and crystal light with caffeine was pretty much liquid gold. I may love water but I was in love with that stuff on and off throughout my whole hike.

Gear Part II

Endless apologies to you faithful blog readers who are thinking, what the heck is wrong with this girl, why won’t she just finish the silly gear review already? Well enough procrastinating,  here it is; I’m sure I've forgotten things but I think this as thorough as its ever going to be…

Clothing 

So what do you want to wear for the next five months? Remember, some days it will be over 100 degrees and others will be below freezing (seriously 17 degrees with gusting wind is cold!) but mostly you will have sunny hot days and chilly nights. Weather is fairly mild on the PCT but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I got snowed on, rained on, walked through constant mist and just generally baked in the sun. So what does this all mean clothing wise? Be versatile, layers are your friend! If you like pockets than make sure you have pockets, if you’re bra didn’t fit before you left chances are its going to be annoying on the trail too. Listen to your gut and remember common sense.

I remember stressing about shorts versus pants, button down shirt or T shirt. Why are there ever so many options? Headbands, hats, visors what the heck is a sane person to do? I think this is just a big personal preference thing. Logically I knew light colors make more sense in the heat and long sleeves and pants protect you from sun/bugs but personally I just can’t do pants. I tried, I really did, but am just so much happier in shorts. And with only one basic outfit I want happiness, so I hiked in shorts. I went for some durable ones I found on closeout at Patagonia and they lasted the whole hike, I like running shorts but they are so much more prone to ripping that I tried something different for this trip.

Overall I liked hiking in shorts; I had two pockets and a drawstring, things I hadn’t thought much about but that I loved. One pocket usually had a map or a snack and the other was my dirty pocket. Okay this might be in the TMI area but I’m a big fan of a pee rag, its exactly what it sounds like and a word to the wise if you see bandanas on the trail proceed with caution, I am by no means the only female out on the trail making use of one and they have a habit of getting dropped.

just a bit of the classy trail fashion

I did wear a big baggy long sleeved Ex-officio button down shirt and while it was serviceable I sort of hated it. I’m not a big fan of long sleeves but at least I loved the front pocket. I had mesh vents on the sides and I think I stayed as dry/cool as could be expected. I stopped wearing it around crater lake when I started battling heat rash and switched to my long underwear top which I actually really liked except for the stench. Polyester has a very rank smell but my baselayer shirt was by RAB made of something called cocona. I think it’s a mix of merino and synthetic and when I was hiking I would smell like a dead sheep. However it had the neat trick not reeking when it was dry, and it dried super quickly. So just keep your distance if I’m sweating… As for next time what will I wear, well I’m not so quick to jump back on the button down bandwagon but we’ll see. I watched merino shirts shred in less than 1000 miles while my ex officio was actually still going strong. I think it will depend on the trip, mosquitoes bite through merino stuff but not the synthetic…

I carried a pair of light pants that I very occasionally wore as well as baselayer tights that I wore less than ten times. They were occasionally bug protection or laundry clothes. But I was glad I carried them even though I so rarely used them. Next time I might try wind pants instead of a pair of long pants but the baselayer is a must for those really cold times.

I carried a wind shirt that I used quite frequently, it’s a great layering piece and I really enjoyed having it. I did carry a rainjacket for the second half of the trip but it was mostly dead weight.

I had a hooded down jacket by Montbell because I get cold. I liked the hood and was pretty happy with the jacket although the zipper didn’t work for over 1000 miles and then whatever invisible dust was jamming it finally fell out. I would go through hundreds of miles never using it but I loved having it when it was really chilly. Useful in unexpected places, who knew Tehachapi would be freezing? I was very happy with the jacket but I think I’m leaning towards something synthetic for my next hike just due to my paranoia about things getting drenched. I hiked with some people with the Patagonia Nanopuff and I’m pretty sure that will be my next choice if I can find it on sale.

my classy sun hat with all
my hair jammed underneath

Hats, this is a big one. I love hats. They can be ever so useful. I had a sun hat for ages but lost it near Mt. Rainer. It was incredibly ugly but kept my nose and ears from being sunburned and did its job. I even managed to look slightly less shabby when I realized I could (and should) wash it whenever I did laundry. Alas it is now in a bush somewhere. After that I picked up a visor in Shasta which worked okay. I had met a lot of folks who did the visor/bandana trick (protect neck/ears with bandana tucked under visor as needed) but I think I needed a bigger brim. My nose kept getting sunburnt. But not too fear I lost that visor too and found a classy beige visor with a massive brim that served me well the rest of the trip. Although I think I wore a sun hat less and less frequently as the trip progressed I would never do without one totally.

I also had a fancy shmancy warm hat (down and ever so light) that I managed to lose coming over one of the passes in the Sierras. Being bright red didn’t help, I still managed to drop it and the trail never brought it back to me. I managed to pick up a warm hat from a hiker box in Sierra City. A very stylish pink floppy thing that was about three times too big (as I do not have dred locks) but it made me smile and kept me warm all the way until Canada. Having two different hats worked well for me, I also carried a buff (yes the one of survivor fame) and I loved that thing as well. It was a lifesaver for my cold ears (especially after I had lost my warm hat), I started most mornings with the buff and only slept in the warm hat. It seems like a lot for just your head but I used all three throughout the trip and would do so again.

Socks, oh socks you were a trial. Somewhere during the second half of my hike I complained to my lovely support person (thank you mom you honestly were fantastic) that all my socks had holes. Seriously I was carrying 4 pairs and every single one had massive holes and my next resupply box arrived with the cryptic phone message, “I hope I didn’t send too many socks.” Well who am I to turn down perfectly serviceable socks? The thing is you can hike in seemingly busted socks for a pretty darn long time as long as they aren't causing blisters. So I headed out from that resupply with seven pairs of socks! And the day before the border I pulled on a brand spanking new fluffy pair because I refused to show up at the border with unworn socks. Ounces count but I became so much less picky as the miles passed.

Is it bad that these were some of
my better looking socks?

what happens when you wear mesh running
shoes and no gaiters...

I tried lots of brands and styles. Darn tough are awesome but do wear through and can too thick or me, Defeet wear through quickly but not as quickly as wrightsocks, those things didn’t last a week, and I put a ton of holes in smartwools too. I think a great trick for saving socks is frequent rinsing and gaiters, oh and not letting them roll off a bridge, that helps too.

Gaiters: I used a pair of dirty girls and loved them until they fell apart and I was just too lazy to replace them. Its amazing how much junk gets into your shoes. Nice and lightweight highly recommended. 

Shoes

pair number 3 all bright and shiny, pair number 2 with
800 or so miles on them

I wore brooks road runners, a total of 4 pairs. One pair is still getting use now that I’m back home. I wore two different models all in extra wide and a bit big. I had foot trouble starting around sierra city and blame the shoes, my feet had changed and the shoes offered too much support. It took hundreds of miles for my Achilles to be even somewhat normal (although two months out they are now 100% back to normal, woohoo). If you want to wear hiking boots go for it, but it’s not a technical trail and trail runners or road runners are just fine. Websites like Zappos are your best friend, call and shoes will be waiting in the next town, so simple.

Camp shoes, I carried mary jane style crocs. Say what you will I love camp shoes and am not yet ready to part with them. Lots of people forgoe these but not me just yet. I actually hiked a few hundred miles in them when my feet were giving me trouble and was beyond thankful for their cushy loveliness. 

Trekking Poles

I used them until the sierras and then carried them for miles. When my feet started giving me trouble I went back to using them and was glad I hadn’t sent them home. Poles can be fun, they can really help you haul butt up hill and take some stress of your knees going down. I do hate how you lose use of your hands though, snacking is just not quite as easy.

Water Filtration

I’m going to be totally honest here; I filtered my water very rarely. I was vigilant in So Cal using my sawyer squeeze filter up until Idyllwild when I lost it in a hitch. The next stretch I was supposed to be hiking with people who were going to let me use their filter but during the day of mission creek I was thirsty and alone so I started the slippery slope of not filtering. I judged water sources and if they looked really awful I would still filter. Then right after Kennedy meadows my second sawyer filter froze and stopped working and I gave up. I treated my water once the entire rest of the trip. Yes people get Giardia and other nasty bugs but quite often its from bad hand hygiene not bad water. So this is very much your own decision but it worked okay for me. That being said I will carry backup chemicals like aquamira, sweetwater drops or bleach on my next trip because there were times when I carried extra water because I didn’t trust sources and I was just pretty lucky and I know that.

Umbrella

What a surprising piece of gear! I thought I would chuck this thing at my first town stop but carried it the whole way. It was useful in sun, rain and snow. Depending on where you are planning your next trip stick this thing in your sternum strap and be pleasantly surprised. Wind is a deal breaker and it does mess with your peripheral vision but overall I really liked it.

First Aid Kit

In other words a ziplock bag full of odds and ends. A roll of tape, Vaseline, dental floss, a needle, a lighter and Ibuprofen got the most use. There were a few other things periodically in there but that really covered all my bases.

A few other odds and ends

I carried a few bandanas, mostly to jam behind my back when I got a terrible heat rash but also just to wipe my poor sweaty face, handy things. Just tie within reach and you are good to go. Also carried a bug net, may not have used it often but I appreciated the sanity it brought.

Navigation

I carried Halfmiles maps (http://www.pctmap.net/). They are free to download, just cost the money to print. I love having papermaps so was glad I had these. Often I never used them but I liked the security of maps. Southern California in particular was well covered and accurate, less so farther north with some annoying inconsistencies. I know that Halfmile had people out this year updating the GPS coordinates so hopefully some of that will get fixed.  

Iphone Apps

Along with my phone and maps I did have some handy apps on my phone that I highly recommend.

Its in its first year but Guthook, a previous PCT thruhiker has created apps for navigation. They have maps and pictures and my favorite were the lists of things on the trail, similar to halfmile you have lots of info about water and intersections and such. Still some kinks and mistakes but the ability to use it as GPS could be really fun too. Yes it takes some of the mystery out of the trail but if you want mystery than just don’t use the thing. He has split them into sections and I think they cost $5 each (a total of 5: socal, sierras, norcal, OR and WA). To each his own but I enjoyed them. 

Guthooks app

 

watching your gps dot on
guthooks app

PCTHYOH app

Halfmile also has an app that a lot of people like and PCTHYOH has a ton of info in one little package.

Non-trail related check out photosynch for panoramic pictures and I used the Blogpress app to blog from my phone. It was much easier to use photo wise than the actual blogger app and apparently works with different Blog hosting sites. I would just type them offline and then post whenever I got service. My only glitch was movies wouldn’t upload, still no clue why not.

Good lord that was a lot of rambling! If I was carrying anything else I can’t remember it so that’s it, I’ll try to do one more little thing about food but at the rate I’m going no promises. Thanks for reading.

Gear Part I

Oh gear, where to even start. Before you get to caught up just remember a certain piece of gear will not guarantee you getting to the border, this hike was more of a mental game than anything else (at least for me). I remember getting ready for this trip, poring over websites and plaguing friends with questions. Reading all the blogs and gear forums and wandering around stores was always fun. Gear seemed so critical and overwhelming but really the gear worked itself out. Once you're out there you either make it work or throw it away. I appreciated the research I had done but you've heard it a million times, what works for me might not work for you. These are just my opinions and hopefully they can at least entertain you as you stare at all of your millions of options. 

It's going to be easier if your lighter but personally I found that while ultralight sounds great, I’m more of a lightweight backpacker. My base weight seemed stuck in the 12-15 lb range although I only weighed my pack 3 times the whole trip mostly I’m mostly just guessing. 

My gear stayed pretty much the same throughout the trip although I did mail things home and of course had to replace all the things I lost or broke on the trail.

So I guess lets start with the basics:

Backpack: ULA Circuit

The backpack is pretty critical on a trip this long, I kept the thing the whole trail but I’m pretty sure it won’t be my choice on my next thruhike. Overall it’s a great pack, usually bigger than I needed, it carried the weight well (pretty sure at its heaviest it was in the 35-40 lb range in the sierras and on super long water carries). The shoulder straps were pretty comfy and I am in love with the giant hipbelt pockets. The pack was fairly durable, some fraying in a few spots and the mesh on the outer pack ripped but it all stayed functional, it’s a great pack and was very popular this year.

I was pretty happy with how the pack fit and I think I want a slightly smaller pack for my next trip so I’m pretty sure I’ll go with the ULA ohm. First because it’s smaller and second because of its backpanel. The biggest problem I had with the circuit was the mesh back panel. Somewhere before Crater Lake I started getting a really nasty heat rash in the shape of my backpack. Hosing off the pack and changing shirts helped but it remained an issue the rest of the trip. Balling up a bunch of bandanas between my pack and my back helped me make it, that and a whole lot of Vaseline. An experience I would dearly like to avoid ever having again. Overall ULA and osprey seemed like the biggest presence on the trail this year.

note the lovely chewed straps courtesy of
mystery rodent in the night

Sleeping bag: Western Mountaineering 20 degree bag

Solid bag, it seemed super popular this year and treated me well. I was only cold once or twice and that was fixed by adding a layer or 2. Was definitely too hot but that’s the beauty of zippers. But quilts sure do seem tempting for the weight savings…

okay maybe I would be warmer if I actually got in it the right
way but this was so much faster!

Sleeping bag liner: Cocoon Silk Liner

This right here turned out to be one of my very favorite pieces of gear. I’ve never used one before and wasn’t really expecting much but it was fantastic. I even ended up liking that it was white, who knew? Turns out it makes a great scarf, a sweet layer of shade in burning sun (white has its uses!) and of course helped keep me warm and my sleeping bag clean. Multipurpose is so handy. I put a rip in it the day before sierra city but the trail provided as usual and at the red moose inn I was able to get it patched and good as new. If you are on the fence about a liner just do it, its only 4 ounces and so worth the weight.

Tent: Tarptent Notch

I don’t regret carrying a tent but I avoided using it whenever possible. I saw a lot of the zpacks tents out there (and I saw a lot of broken down cuben fiber gear out there too…) but I was perfectly happy with my choice. I wish it was lighter but don’t we all. It held up in crazy wind (I pitched it badly and it was loud but never fell down), I stayed dry in serious rain and light snow. Although it was my very favorite when I set it up and was able to hide from the hellacious mosquitoes. I set the thing up less than 10 times the whole trip but did have problems with the zipper. One of my zippers became very touchy only a few pitches in. I’m sure it got grit in it and I know tarptent will fix it once I get it together to send it to them but still, it was annoying fighting a zipper when you have to pee and its cold outside after so few uses. It’s a solid one person tent, I would say I would tarp and bivy next time but even just those 3 or so times I hid from bugs make the extra weight worth it.

Groundcloth: sheet of Tyvek

Did its job just fine, although if you are going to throw it over you in the rain be aware that its waterproofing capabilities do wear off. Keeps you dry on wet ground but not from rain coming down after 2000 miles of use.

Sleeping pad: Zrest

By the end there was virtually no padding left but it was a handy insulation layer and it was still more cushy than the bare ground. This pad worked just fine for me although quite a few people swear by their inflatable ones. Those Neoairs are noisy! I loved that I could just throw it down and never worry. Nevertheless if you are a sensitive sleeper this is probably not for you.

Toss it down and immediately have a sweet nap spot

Kitchen

Stove: Caldera Cone

Pot: Evernew 900

Okay so I used my stove two whole times before Kennedy Meadows so I sent it home because I was sick of carrying gear I wasn’t using. It did its job just fine but I found I had no desire to cook and often didn’t think it was that safe with the wind and fire danger anyway. Stoveless worked great for me until I decided that Washington would be more fun with hot food. I was getting burnt out on my food choices and hot food sounded appealing in its variety. I still prefer stoveless but I enjoyed mixing it up at the end.

I think any alcohol stove would work but I really like the Caldera Cone and will probably use it again. My pot was a perfectly good size, no complaints there. Still the stove and cone seemed a little prone to denting so I did end up making it so everything fit in the pot and was contained in one place. I never had trouble finding alcohol, I’m sure it was in stores but I was lucky enough to find it in every single hiker box in Washington.

Food Bag: Ursak

Not sure it was needed on this trail but I liked the peace of mind it gave me. Kept my food safe and rodent free, a little heavy but I was happy with it.

Electronics

Okay these can cause some nasty arguments out there but seriously folks calm down. You often hear people nicely saying hike your own hike but it seems like they often don’t mean it and hikers can seem pretty darn judgy out there. Get over yourself people, we all go out there for different reasons and I like my maps and yes horror of horrors I occasionally like GPS and music. Shoot sometimes I had headphones on with nothing playing because I was too lazy to take them out or I just didn’t want to make small talk. Leave people to their own devices and if you are so against them don’t carry them, oh and don’t get all self righteous and then two minutes later ask to see my GPS. Not cool guys, not cool. Okay enough of that rant here goes:

Iphone: I got this right before the trip and it was quite the learning curve. But I’ll admit it, I ended up loving it. It became my phone, journal, camera, music player, and my main source of map/data. I had at&t and it worked pretty well until Washington, then I was pretty much out of luck. I was very happy with this choice and I don’t see why I won’t be dragging it on my next trip. Although one tip: airplane mode! That phone eats batteries so you do have to watch your usage.

Power: speaking of batteries one of the biggest questions I got was, wait how do you charge your phone? Solar my friend, solar. Solar works great, except in the tree covered land that is often the Pacific Northwest, oh well I had no service anyway. But seriously solar worked pretty well.

Powermonkey explorer: I got this based on some other people’s recommendations and was really not happy with it. It does its job but slowly and unreliably. The cords were finicky and it was very slow to charge. I had access to another charger and after seeing some other hikers with it I eventually swapped it out.

Goal Zero: so much better, yes its heavy but by Northern CA I really just didn’t care. I wanted my stupid phone to work and this thing was so much more reliable than the powermonkey. Plus if you charged the battery pack with a wall outet in town I often didn’t even need to use the solar portion, it had enough juice to last me 3-5 days with conservative use. Still not sure what I will use next time but this was better than my first option; guess it will be dependent on what trail I head for.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix

Lens cover jammed within two weeks and stopped working. That dusty desert is no joke. You all can judge the effectiveness of my iphone camera since that’s what all my pictures ended up being taken with. Not amazing but totally satisfactory in my opinion. I’m no professional photographer and they are really just for my memories so if I carry my phone next trip no separate camera will be coming.

Mp3 player: sansa clip

I loved the idea of this thing, lasted for ages battery wise and I wouldn’t cry if I lost it due its cheapness. However I ended up just using my phone because the thing decided to first not recognize the microsd card which meant I only got radio and then it stopped working entirely. All over the course of a few hundred miles, it’s really not worth replacing anything that often in my opinion. So yeah that was a fail, the phone used more battery but at least it never stopped working.

Flashlight: petzyl tikka plus headlamp

Well I used it once in 700 hundred miles so it was sent home at Kennedy Meadows. Worked fine but was dead weight. I used my phone for light one night which was hilarious and pretty darn ineffective but probably funny to anyone who watched me stumble by. The goal zero battery pack had an amazing little LED light that ended up being my go to light for night hiking. I’ll probably just try to find a little LED light for my next trip, never saw the need for more.

Extra Gear for the Sierras:

It was a light snow year so the microspikes, down socks and other possible warm things were never used at all. Just sitting in a box gathering dust waiting for another adventure. I never bought an ice axe so no loss there. Only special gear I ended up using in the sierras was my bear can.

Bear Can: Bear Vault

This was required so yes I carried it and gladly mailed that sucker home the minute I got to Echo Lake. Heavy and cumbersome I am not a fan, but I dislike fines and bears being shot so I follow this rule. It messes with how you pack and simply isn’t big enough for most resupplies. It does make a lovely stool though…

Okay this is getting ridiculously long so it looks like this gear review will be in two parts, clothing and such will have to wait for another day.

A few post trail thoughts

I went on a hike the other evening and felt comfort as the darkness settled around me. Picking my way down the trail in the dusk brought me a peace that I have found hard to come by now that I am off the trail. It’s been almost a month since I stepped off the trail and I am unfortunately 100% back in the real world.

The first few days were the toughest. Sitting in a house and being shuttled tourist style around British Columbia should have been wonderful but instead it was just shocking. On the drive from Manning Park after an hour in a cramped car I found myself dizzy and hyperventilating in the small space. I've never had trouble with car sickness or any kind of culture shock, but then again I've never been away from my life for 4 ½ months. I had pretty much discounted any type of culture shock, brushing it off and thinking it just sounded dramatic. But I fell into that one head first, big groups, constant noise and the simple lack of walking was overwhelming for me. It was exciting having things like kitchens, grocery stores and water. And I’m not going to lie, my body was pretty happy for the rest. But I miss the trail.

The simplicity of waking up every morning and knowing that all you have to do is walk is gone. Everywhere I turn I am forced to make decisions; I am having a surprisingly hard time with this. Restaurant menus and grocery stores offer more choices than I can handle and let’s not even get into the whole life/career decision thing. If I can’t pick what I want for lunch I think I’m going to have a bit of trouble planning the next year or two of my career.

The last miles into Manning Park I spent daydreaming about what’s next. The Continental Divide Trail draws me; it’s basically a burlier version of the PCT. It follows the Continental Divide along the Rocky Mountains and traverses five states — Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Then there is the Appalachian Trail over on the east coast running from Georgia to Maine, plus a million other less official adventures I've come up with. But realistically I have no idea, the stability of homes and jobs are awfully nice. Being back and working I can see how easy it will be to slowly slip back into couch potato working land. I've met a few thru hikers who've struggled with post trail depression and I don’t want to fall into that trap. Hopefully day hikes and bike rides can keep me sane, I think it’s time for me to pick up a few new hobbies… The trail itself already seems like a distant memory. A great memory, but in a way it feels like it didn't even happen.

Well enough of my pity party, I got to spend a season hiking from Mexico to Canada, what a fantastic journey. If you are considering it go for it, section, thru, day hike. Whatever makes you happy but get out onto the trail, it’s a magical place. 

A video or 9...

Videos are always fun, just like pictures they never really capture everything but they give a little bit of a different perspective. I tried putting them in the blog along the way but they rarely loaded so I picked a bunch to entertain anyone still reading this thing. Sometimes its just me talking to myself (that's what happens when you spend so much time alone) and there are a few of some other hiker trash. 

Enjoy

This was our sledding adventure right after Forester Pass, Cheese was our guinea pig on some Tyvek...

One of my big days in the Sierra, over Pinchot then Mather Pass

The area right before Sonora Pass

And you thought all the water in the wilderness came from lakes and streams...

Near McKenzie Pass (Sisters, OR)

Ramona Falls (day after Timberline)

Across the Bridge of the Gods and into Washington

 Morning views

A glimpse of Goat Rocks, and honestly this was before the insane knife ridge gorgeousness

Log crossing of the Suiattle, Kombucha and then Toast heading across

Getting close to Canada!

I love Washington