Hey everybody,
Just got back a few days ago from my big trip and I must say that it was awesome. I started off going with a hiking partner but the first day out he ended up going back to the car because of an injury, smart move on his part if you ask me. So this left me with a decision to make, solo or home. I ended up going solo for the entire trip. Let me tell you that over half the people I meet on the trail were traveling solo so I started to feel better right away.
I started in Tuolumne Meadows and ended at Ebbits Pass traveling North on the PCT. I was doing about 10 miles a day and fishing a lot. I caught about 60 fish, all catch and release with no casualties. They were mostly browns and Rainbows. At Matterhorn Canyon I caught about 15 six inch trout with orange bellies. Does anyone know what kind of fish this is..
One of my favorite places on this route was Benson Lake. I got there around 3:00pm on the third day and didn't leave till 12:00pm the next day. This was the closest thing to a zero day I had.
The next day I started out at noon and got over Seavey Pass just in time to be hit with a thunder storm in Kerrick Canyon. Let me tell you something, if you have never been in a thunder storm in the Sierras, they will humble you with their amazing power. The lightning was striking all around me with less than half a second between flash and thunder. I was pretty unnerved. I pitched my Gatwood cape next to the trail under some small trees in a tiny opening witch happened to be next to the river. I just started to get warm again in my sleeping bag when I heard the river raging next to me start to rise.So I packed up all my stuff again and headed for "higher ground", which is now my trail name dubbed to me by a passing by though hiker named So Far. It was quite an exciting moment for me, but I survived. This was my first such experience.
As the days went by I could hike more miles and eventually hiked a 20 miler over Sanora Pass. What an amazing place that is. It is like hiking on Mars.
By the end of the hike I was finally just getting into hiker shape and I felt ready to keep on hiking to Canada, but alas, my living family needed me and it was back to work. I missed them truly, but not work. It was great to be on the PCT and meet about 12 though hikers and feel what it is like to be in their culture. Truly free souls. I hope they realize what they have.
This was a life changing experience for me and I am now truly bit with the bug. So much more to learn and so many more places to go.
Some of the gear that really worked for me on this trip was: my Gatwood Cape and serenity bug net,my bug head net and bug spray, my Western Mountaineering Alpinelite, my hiking poles, my big agness clearview pad 66"mummy, my Steripen and BPL 1100 ti pot,my platypus 3 liter hoser, and my 7 piece fly rod. My six moon designs Startlight pack was also really nice although it was overloaded for the first half a week before I ate though some of my food. I did a slight adjustment to my shoulder pads by cutting my thin light sleeping pad in half and folding it a few times and duct taping it to my shoulder pads.
Here's me at the end of my trip at ebbits pass.
Here are some more photos of my trip.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Thanks for reading,
Josh
