Since I didn’t get to bed until midnight after my long bus ride to Bakersfield, I chose to skip the early morning Kern County bus ride to Lake Isabella. Instead, I took my time to wake up late, eat the Super 8 breakfast, and walk the two and a half miles back to the Bakersfield transit center. Even with my slow morning, I still had to wait most of an hour for the 12 noon bus.  ... The post First Day on the PCT appeared first on The Trek ..read more

Howling Winds The good news is, it didn’t rain in the night. The bad news is, the wind was howling like a train. And that was with my earplugs in. It actually wasn’t that bad. I’d occasionally wake up to hear the wind and would take my earplugs out and really understand how wind has shaped our world. At least it wasn’t blowing directly into the shelter. Morning Plans I slept really well and actually woke up feeling well rested. ... The post Day 35: Big Butt and Howling Winds appeared first on The Trek ..read more

Day 12 Start: Unicoi Gap End: Tray Mountain Shelter Miles Hiked: 5.7 Total Miles on AT: 58.2 — note: I think my pocket map mileage is not updated to the mileage in the 2024 AT Guide, so I might be off by a little bit   The days have started to blur together. I couldn’t even remember today’s date, let alone which day of the week it was. What a great place to be, outside of time. ... The post Day 12 – Outside of Time on a Mountain Somewhere appeared first on The Trek ..read more

The day following my last update, we did our first 20 mile day. Me, Cheese, Achilles, and Moss fueling up for 20 miles Honestly? It wasn’t half bad. I don’t have many (any) other pictures because it was raining most of the day, but it was incredible to feel strong enough to go the distance. We stopped for lunch about 7 miles in, at a shelter that was the first to have what we’ve been referring to as Barbie Sh*thouses — privies so small that even I and my tiny body feel cramped. ... The post Days 33-39: So Long As You Can Breathe, You Can Keep Moving appeared first on The Trek ..read more

Day 46 Little Laurel Shelter to Flint Mountain Shelter 14 miles – AT mile 308.8 Card of the day – 10 of Swords A crowd came into camp late last night, and by late I mean after 7pm.  They were talking and making noise till well after 9, not even trying to be quiet.  Naturally there are some tired and pissed off looking people around here as I make my breakfast at 7am.  Hiker midnight is at 8pm and usually most people respect that. ... The post 300 miles and what a day! appeared first on The Trek ..read more

This is the one where I talk about all of the shit that I put in my backpack. ? (As one does!) I will note that this is my first thru-hike, so I am still very much learning about what works best for me! Decisions This took me forever to decide on everything, and I’m hoping that I made the right choices- but soon we will find out! Worst thing that could happen is that a bunch of my stuff really doesn’t work and I switch things out as I go. ... The post Continental Divide Starting Gear List appeared first on The Trek ..read more

Davenport Gap, Northern End of Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Mile 239.2 8 days in the Smokies. Most visited National Park in the US. Fontana Dam to Standing Bear: 72 miles, 18,000 feet up, 18,000 feet down. Highest point on the entirety of the trail. One of the most renowned sections of the AT. Here are the highs and lows, as I experienced them:  The Views My first few days in the Smokies, it rained every day. ... The post NC/TN: The Smokies, An Honest Review appeared first on The Trek ..read more

After fighting the post-eclipse traffic on April 8, leading me to find an alternative route from my eclipse site near Atkins, AR to my home in Norman, OK, I finally pulled into my driveway before 11 PM, which meant I needed to get my packing finished and be off to bed for a 7 AM rise. Wednesday morning April 9 was the start of my PCT adventure. As I wrote before, an airplane flight to Bakersfield would have cost over $500, ... The post Bus Ride to California appeared first on The Trek ..read more

Second half of the Smokies to standing bear then to hot springs   Leaving Gatlinburg I headed with Atlas and Pressure D to Ice Springs Shelter. It was about 3 miles of highly trafficked trail, not particularly difficult but felt like it took a while. The shelter had some very brave mice living there and a very nice ridge runner visiting. I didn’t sleep in my tent again till I left the Smokies.      The next day of hiking was fairly difficult. ... The post Leaving the Smokies and arriving in Hot Springs appeared first on The Trek ..read more

One of the reasons why I love backpacking is because walking from point A to B with all your essentials on your back simplifies life to its basic level. Each day all I need to do is walk and make three decisions. That’s it. Just three decisions: Where will I get water? Where will I sleep? What will I eat? In the next three posts I’d like to focus on each one of these basic principles of survival. ... The post Water, the Search for Delicious Across the Desert appeared first on The Trek ..read more