The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is a roughly 2,650-mile long hiking trail that runs from the Mexican border to the Canadian border along the western crest of the United States, traversing through California, Oregon, and Washington. I’ve dreamt of the PCT since I was 18 on the Appalachian Trail. I fell in love with hiking and the lifestyle and dreamt of thru hiking the Appalachian Trail’s West Coast sister. A college degree, a few broken bones and nearly a decade later I am finally going to tackle this behemoth of a trail! Check out my blog posts below to follow along with the journey.
- Day 84&85 Mammoth Lakes to Red Meadow Hot springs
Day 84 Start: 902.6 End: 904.8+ 3.5 total: 5.7 I finally was able to sleep in! Martin said he’d bring my bear can to me in the morning so I would know when they were awake. I woke up before them and laid around in my tent until around 7 when Martin brought over my … - Day 83 Miles 882.7-902.6
Total: 19.9 Woke up to the roaring of the water all around me. In my sleepy confusion I thought someone was calling me when my alarm went off around 4am. I had my coffee and oatmeal and then got ready. When we were all ready we took off. In .3 miles we had a crossing … - Day 82 Miles 864.9- 882.7
Total: 17.8 Woke up in the morning around 4/4:30. There were some headlamps that went by my tent even earlier and a group of three that went by when I was packing up. We had a pretty easy climb up Selden Pass. It was only a couple miles from where we slept. We had knocked … - Day 81 Miles 844.6-864.9
Total: 20.3 miles Martin had said the day before they planned on waking up at 6, leaving around 7. I couldn’t see their tents and wanted to hike with them for a bit. I thought they might be shooting for another big day and I didn’t really want to do that so I would probably … - Day 80 Bishop Pass and Muir Pass
Start: Long Lake 9.6 miles on Bishop Pass Trail + 12.4 PCT miles End: 844.6 Total: 22 miles It was hard to wake up and start hiking. I was very sad to have to leave Nick and that he wasn’t coming with me. I made some coffee and ate my crossaint while he packed up … - Day 76 Bishop Pass & 77-79 (3 zeros)
DAY 76 Bishop Pass Total: 10 miles We had an early morning, waking up at 4. We didn’t know what lie ahead and wanted to be sure the snow would be hard and we wouldn’t be postholing. We had done half the mileage and elevation the day before so had only 3 miles and 1000 … - Day 75
Start: 824.4 End: 832.2 + 3.2 miles of Bishop Pass Total = 11 We had planned on having a super chill day and sleeping in so neither of us set an alarm. I had to pee around 7:30 though and there was no going back to bed for me. We were cowboy camped right along … - Day 74 Mathers Pass
Start: 813.5 End: 824.4 Total: 11.9 My alarm went off at 3:30 but I snoozed until just after 4. We were hiking by 4:40. The PCT is supposed to cross Kings Fork River, a raging river, twice. However, there is a well known alternate that has you follow the east side of the river upstream … - Days 73 Pinoch Pass
Start: 800.9 End: 812.5 I woke up and checked my watch, it was 5am, we had overslept. I shouted to Nick to wake him up and we did our best to pack up quickly and hit the trail. We crossed a really shakey suspension bridge. Then the first 5 or so miles followed a water … - Day 71&72 Glen PassMiles 789-800
Day 71 Start: Onion Valley Campground End: PCT Total: 8ish miles We woke up at our usual time, a bit after 4. Even though we were planning a shorter day we wanted to get up and over Kearsarge Pass before it got too mushy and slushy. We had breakfast and coffee and used the campgrounds … - Days 68-70 Miles 775.3-790
Day 68 Start: 775.3 End: 788.2 Total: 12.9 Woke up at 4:15 to the sounds of Eskimo and Fox talking. I have been setting my watch alarm for 4 but either sleeping through it or it hasn’t been going off. We were out on trail by 5/5:30, Fox and Eskimo were just ahead of us. … - Day 66&67 Miles 746.5-775.3
Day 66 Start: Cottonwood Pass Trailhead .6+ 2.2 to mile 746.5 End: 759.2 Total: 15.5 Nick and I woke up in his car at the trailhead where we would reenter the PCT. He only had two weeks off work and wanted to see the most of the Sierras as possible so I skipped the 40 … - Days 47-65-a 3 week side quest
I awoke on the morning of May 28th and begun my first 0 in a string of many. I paid for a giant breakfast with an all you can eat pancakes but they were so large I could barely eat one. But needing to get my moneys worth I slowly worked on the second. My … - Day 45 & 46 Miles-658.1-703
Day 45 Start: 658.1 End: 682 Total: 24 I woke up at 6am with my sleeping bag decently frozen and I was in a cloud. I could hear the wind ripping and roaring all around me. I drank some of my coffee and ate my pop tart then started hiking. I immediately went around the … - Day 44 Miles 636.5-658
Day 44 Start: 636.5 End: 658.1 Total: 21.6 I woke up around 6:30, relieved to have made it through the night without incident. I laid my sleeping bag in the sun and went to a spot on the trail where I had service to send a couple texts. Sparks was behind me and was alone … - Days 42 & 43 miles 589-636
Day 42 Start: 589 End: 610 Total 21 I woke up and was out on trail pretty quickly. I passed a bunch of way nicer campsites after I started moving. It was a beautiful morning with rolling green mountains and spring flowers and green blooming everywhere. I had a bit of a mental struggle this … - Day 39-41 Miles 541.5-589.2
Day 39 Start: 541.5 End: 556 Total: 16 I woke up later than usual and took a bit more time to get ready and get walking. It was a nice morning and I tried to call my boyfriend and friend while I was walking but kept losing service so eventually just sat down and talked … - Days 37&38 Miles 510-541
Start: 510.9 End: 517 Total 7 I woke up exhausted from the day before, my whole body aching. I stayed in my tent and in my sleeping bag until my urge to pee forced me to get up. I relished my slow moving morning. I still had a clean pair of socks but it wouldn’t … - Days 34-36 Miles 451.8-510.9
Day 34 Start: 451.8 End: 471.5 total: 17.7 I awoke early and had a pleasant stroll through Vasquez rocks with my coffee + breakfast essential on the go! I packed out a danish from Trader Joe’s and munched on that thing while I walked. After a few miles I popped out on a road and … - Day 31-33 Miles 418.6-451.8
Day 31 start: 418.6 end: 440.2 total: 21.6 What a magical day! And the mark of my one month on trail! I awoke in the morning and struggled to get myself up once again, but I was unsure if I was actually allowed to sleep at the fire station so I wanted to be up … - Days 28-30 Miles 374-418.6
Day 28 2 miles of road walking getting back to trail I got back to the trail after a chill morning, a scenic drive and a nice river stop. It was around 3 pm. Natalie and Sami took me right to where hikers can get back to trail after a portion that was closed due … - Days 25-28 Miles 302.7- 342
Day 25 Start 302.7 End 317.9 Total 15.2 I awoke and had a more relaxed start than normal. I walked a couple miles and saw Lucky and another hiker, Doc Holiday, at a stream. Doc had also hiked the AT in 2017! I hung out for a bit and dried out my sleeping bag that … - Days 23&24 Miles 266.1-302.7
Day 23 Start: 266.1 End: 280.5 Total: 14.4 Had another relaxed morning, making a nice egg filled breakfast and chugging as much coffee as a single pour over would allow. We helped Sami take a load from her camp to the dump then she dropped us off at the trailhead. I started walking and then … - Days 20-22 Miles 241.5-266
Day 20 Start: 241.5 End: 261.6 Total: 20.1 Awoke early to a beautiful sunrise that was soon over taken by fog. The forecast said no rain but my tent was wet. It was still quite windy and cold so I had my coffee and breakfast in the shelter of my tent before braving the weather … - Mile 210-241.5 Days 18&19
Day 18 Start 210 End 226 Total 16 I awoke around 5 in the morning, checked my watch and was thrilled to continue sleeping in such a comfy bed! I slept until around 7 when I heard footsteps above and I went out into the kitchen. I had a couple cups of coffee and made … - Miles 181.3-210 Days 16&17
Start: 181.3 End:193.8, 6.8 up and down San Jacinto + 8.2 on PCT Total 15 It was a cold night sleeping on the snow. I realized my foam pad is not the most insulating pad and had a chill most of the night. I woke around 3:15 when I heard Rocky start to move around. … - Miles 151.9-181.4 Days 14&15
Day 14 Start: 151.9 End: 168.5 +2 miles on side trip for agua. Total= 18.6 After a nice beach vacation I was ready to get back on trail! Awoke around 6:30 and was on trail by 7:30. Nick walked out a few miles with me and it was steady trail with big rocks and pretty … - Miles 110-152 Days 9-13
Start: 110 End: 127 Total: 17 Nick and I had a slice of pie for breakfast before heading out on our sunrise hike. We started through a meadow where many cows blocked our path. I was a bit afraid of the cows but Nick bravely ushered them out of our way. We strolled along the … - Miles 77.4-110 Days 7&8
Day 7 Start: 77.4 End 94.4 Total 17.1 Nick and I awoke in the morning, had breakfast and coffee then headed out on trail. He hiked up with me for a couple hours before turning around to go to work. It was a steady climb of switchbacks up away from the road. Shortly after he … - Miles 54-77 Days 5&6
Day 5 Start 54 End 77 Total 22 I awoke to frost covering my sleeping bag and the tent I had laid out to dry. It was still so cold so I stayed in my sleeping bag for a while while I did my daily meditation and looked at the maps for the day. I … - Miles 20-54 Days 3&4
Day 3 Start: 20 End: 36.1 total: 16.1 I awoke around 6:15 and started quietly packing my belongings trying not to wake the others. The forecast was calling for snow, then rain, starting around 2. I had a big climb up Mt. Laguna, going up a couple thousand or so feet in elevation, where the … - Miles 0-20 Day 1&2
Start:0 End:11.3 Total: 11.3 Jeff took me to the trailhead around 11 , we snapped a few pictures and I was off! There was another couple taking their photo with the monument before me and a man that same after. Pretty smooth walking to start, cloudy with some sprinkles but nothing bad enough for me … - PCT Prologue
I’m sitting at my friends Sara’s parents house about 20 minutes east of San Diego. I arrived in SD Saturday night and spent the first couple nights catching up with Sara, my old college Roomate and seeing some sights around San Diego. In college, Sara’s parents came to visit and offered to host me and … - Pacific Crest Trail Gear List
Below is the gear I will be taking with me on my 2600 mile trek from Mexico to Canada! Some of it, like my backpack, tent, trekking poles, crocs are still viable from the AT. Some things I was able to get from my old wilderness therapy gig, like rain pants(way too large), a head … - PCT 2025 Proposed Resupply
This is a tentative list on where I plan to resupply and where I am choosing to send boxes. All things subject to change, stay tuned for the actual version after all is said and done 🙂** = sending resupply box Julian (mile 77)Distance off Trail: 12 milesResupply options: Jack’s Grocery, Julian Market & DeliNext …