Jon Hikes

Beartooths 2023 - Day 6

Jon Carl — Sat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

We woke up at a normal time and the tent was dry. No strong winds had come in the night and we had slept great.</p>

As we got ready for the day we talked about where we were headed. The next day would be a trip to Cooke City to resupply, so we wanted to get as close to the town as we could. If we hiked all the way to the trailhead and then crossed the Beartooth Highway we would reach Chief Joseph Campground and stay the night there. Then tomorrow we would only be 3 miles from Cooke City. It would be 17 miles to reach the campground, but we agreed we wanted to go for it.</p>

After enjoying a cookies and creme Pop Tart for breakfast we set out for the day. We had about 7 miles of uphill and then 10 miles of downhill.</p>

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The beauty from the day before continued. We hiked around many lakes and marveled at their beauty. Some looked shallow, and some looked deep. Some had roaring waterfalls feeding them, and some had gentle creeks feeding them. One lake in particular, Duggan Lake, had named falls: Impasse Falls. From the distance, they looked cool, but as we hiked up to the top of them we realized there was a nice pool at the bottom that we could have taken a swim at. Next time. We stopped for a snack break at the top of the falls.</p>

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As we hiked on we came across Fossil Lake. It was a large lake with many inlets and rocks. It was hard to tell that it was all one lake, but according to the map it was. We took a longer snack break here as it was the end of the uphill and the start of the downhill.</p>

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Hiking down we again passed many lakes. Our favorite was Bald Knob Lake. It was beautiful and looked to have some great campsites. Next time we’ll have to stay there.</p>

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As we got closer to the trailhead we passed some other hikers and some horses. The first people we had seen since the morning before in East Rosebud. Our pace also slowed down. Logan had a tight knee and the downhill was not helpful.</p>

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Getting closer to Kersey Lake, the last lake we were to pass, the trail turned into a horse hoof mud festival. It was not super muddy, but it had been when the horses went through and it had dried into a fun mess that made it hard to walk on. We hiked on thinking of the campground for the night (pit toilets!) and Cooke City tomorrow.</p>

As we neared the trailhead we came to a bridge across the river with several steps on the other side. Logan could barely bend his tight knee to go up the steps and was in a lot of pain if he tried to bend it. Thankfully we were almost to the trailhead so we would soon be done for the day.</p>

We stopped briefly at the trailhead to read the info sign and we saw that, just like our map, Chief Joseph Campground was right across the highway. We set off up the little drive to the highway, but when we got there the campground was nowhere to be found. There was maybe an old road across the highway, but it had a bunch of stumps and downed trees on it. Apparently, the campground didn’t exist. This was a problem. Logan needed to be done for the day. We couldn’t camp at the trailhead because it said no camping. We decided that we needed to be done with the entire trip due to Logan’s knee, but we wanted to get through the night before we figured out how to get 17 miles back to our car.</p>

On the map, there was another campground 1.5 miles away. We decided that we’d head there. I would hike faster and Logan would go at whatever pace was comfortable for him. Then I could come back and take his pack to make it easier. Off I went. As I got closer I saw a sign that said “No Tents” for the campground. Great. I didn’t want to turn around because we still needed to go somewhere, so I continued on. When I reached the campground it said hard-sided camping only (RVs) and mentioned known grizzly bear activity. I decided that our best bet was to go to Cooke City. In the gravel entry to the campground I scrapped “WENT TO COOKE CITY - JON” with my trekking pole so Logan would know where I went.</p>

A short bit up the road I spotted a man out walking his dog. I approached him and asked if he knew of anyone who could give us a ride to our car. I offered that we could pay as well. I also asked if there was anywhere to pitch a tent. He said because of the grizzly bears there wasn’t a spot anywhere nearby to pitch our tent. He pointed me across the highway to where I could find a forest ranger.</p>

I headed over to where the forest ranger would be and knocked on the door. Campsite hosts were inside and he said he could take us back to our car. I got into his Jeep and we headed out to pick up Logan. He was not far away and we loaded his gear into the vehicle. We set off down the highway to our car. It was after sunset at this point so we got to see the glow of the sun over the mountain peaks as we drove.</p>

Arriving at our car we thanked the man for giving us a ride and offered him some money to cover the trouble. He refused and told us to pay it forward. We said our goodbyes and got into our car.</p>

We were bummed to be done earlier than planned, but thankful for everything we had been able to do. Over 90 miles of hiking. Some of the most beautiful views. And we had gotten to hike The Beaten Path. No trip goes 100% to plan, and this trip proved that point. We had a blast, and we’ll definitely be coming back to hike in the Beartooths again. It might be my favorite backpacking trip so far.</p>

Beartooths 2023 - Day 5

Jon Carl — Sat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

We woke up around ten or eleven PM to strong winds accompanied by thunder, lightning, and rain. The wind gusts were so strong they were bowing the tent in on us. We lay there wide awake praying the tent would hold and that the storm would pass. About an hour later things finally calmed down. We both got out of the tent to look around and could see stars directly ahead. We could also see the storm still traveling off in the distance.</p>

We woke up again around one or two to strong wind. This time there was no thunder, lightning, or rain. The wind battered our tent relentlessly while it bowed in enough to hit our legs. We weren’t sure how much the tent could take or if it would stay staked down. The wind first came in gusts with breaks in between, but eventually, it was continuous with no breaks.</p>

We took turns holding up the tent against the wind until around 6 AM when we decided we might as well take down the tent and head out. We stuffed our gear into our backpacks and I ran them out of the tent to a location with less wind. Logan stayed in the tent to hold it down while I carefully took it down making sure not to lose anything to the wind.</p>

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Once we had everything packed away we set off down the trail. We would have breakfast someplace with less wind. We were tired from the lack of sleep, but we hiked on. Sidenote: the tent we were using was a Big Agnes Copper Spur. My hat goes off to Big Agnes. The tent held firm in crazy winds and didn’t break. It’s probably been used for over 100 nights, so it’s not like it’s a tent fresh from the factory.</p>

The wind continued as we hiked, but in the shelter of trees, it was much more manageable. After a short while, we caught the first view of East Rosebud, our next destination. We hiked down into the valley and into the East Rosebud campground. As we entered the campground we could smell breakfast being cooked. A couple greeted us as we walked and talked with us about the storm and the trail ahead. Once our conversation was done we headed to a picnic table to eat our breakfast and repack our hastily packed backpacks. For me, breakfast was a Snickerdoodle pop tart. It didn’t really taste like a Snickerdoodle at all. Next to the pit toilets, we spotted trash cans! We could dump our trash off and not have to keep carrying it! This would surely shave off an ounce or two.</p>

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The next section of the trail was something we’d been looking forward to, but was also an unknown. This section of the trail is called “The Beaten Path” and is the most famous of the routes in the Beartooths. It’s 26 miles going through the Beartooths with some of the most spectacular views the wilderness has to offer. The section was the main reason we were doing this hike. We didn’t want to do an out-and-back of the trail, so we were doing a loop that included it. The unknown part was due to some flooding in 2022. It had washed out portions of the first 6 miles from East Rosebud and had also taken out a bridge across a lake at mile 6. I had talked to a ranger and they had said crews had trails all the way to Elk Lake, about 3.5 miles in. After that the trail was “rock scrambles” and there wasn’t much more said. It was passable as long as we were willing to wade across where the bridge was out. We’d give it a shot, but we also knew this might mean we’d have to turn around if we couldn’t find the trail or if the rock scrambling was too much.</p>

We set off down the trail and the mountains opened up to us. They towered above us in awe-inspiring beauty. The kind that takes your breath away because it’s so spectacular. This continued for the length of the trail for the day. The mountains towered ever higher the farther we went and we seemed more and more insignificant.</p>

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As we hiked could see the damage from the flood. Huge swaths of mountainside cut away. Massive fields of rocks showed where the creek had flooded, and they dwarfed the current creek flow. We could tell in different places where the trail had been fixed.</p>

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We eventually hit what used to be Elk Lake and we stopped for a short break. We’d never seen Elk Lake before, but now it looked mostly like some mud with different branches of the creek flowing through it. The mud must have been washed there from upstream.</p>

As we left Elk Lake the trail abruptly ended. Time for “rock scrambling.” I use Gaia GPS to plan all my hikes, and I had the app on my phone to help here. I followed where the trail should have been through the current creek bed and we eventually joined up with a section of the trail that had survived the flood. Continuing one we went back and forth a couple of times between trail and washed out trail. Most of the time there were cairns someone had placed that guided us along. Without the cairns, the day would have been a lot harder. As we neared a steep section of the trail I was worried it was washed away and we wouldn’t be able to make it up a steep rock scramble. Thankfully, the last mile or so of the trail to Rimrock Lake (the lake at mile 6 with the bridge out) was fully intact save for two feet that had washed away and left the trail with a several hundred-foot drop. We stepped around the two feet and continued on.</p>

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Once at Rimrock, there were some logs across where the lake turned into the creek. Gusts of wind made the crossing hard, but we made it without issue. With the washed-out section complete we took a well-deserved break and thanked God that we had made it without issue.</p>

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Two short, uneventful miles later we arrived at our campsite for the night near Rainbow Lake. It was still quite windy out, so we found a tent site that was well sheltered from the wind. We were excited because tonight we didn’t need to hang a bear bag. All of our smellables fit in our bear cans! After we set up camp we relaxed and finished off our snacks for the day. I enjoyed a nice “Dad's Root beer” drink mix which is quite good - at least good to my trail taste (as we all know, things on the trail taste much better than off the trail because you’re quite hungry and almost anything will taste good). Next up was a dip in the lake. I didn’t stay in long because of how cold it was and how cold the wind made it, but it was nice and refreshing.</p>

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After a dinner of pasta and salmon, we headed to bed. Due to the lack of sleep from the night before we had lots of sleeping to do.</p>

Watch: 72%</li>
Phone: 51%</li>
GPS: 56%</li> </ul>

Beartooths 2023 - Day 4

Jon Carl — Sat, 18 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

We slowly woke up listening to the rush of the nearby creek. Dew had settled onto the tent again, but no rain in the night. Excited for the day we quickly ate breakfast (frosted banana bread pop tart for me) and packed up our gear. </p>

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Off we went, down the trail. It quickly changed from the forest to a burned-out section. It must have been from several years ago as we saw lots of new growth. </p>

After a bit, we arrived at the West Fork trailhead. We took advantage of the pit toilet and then filled up our water at the nearby stream. We were hoping there would be some trash cans to drop our trash off at, but there were not. We finished things off with some snacks before heading on. </p>

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Up we climbed on the Camp Senia Trail through burned-out trees and eventually forest. As we continued, the trail broke out into an area with small trees and lots of light brown rocks. It reminded me a little bit of the desert. Up we continued and the trail changed yet again. This time it was a treeless rocky plateau. Sometimes the trail was lost and we could only find our way via cairns. The trail hugged the mountains as we traveled around the valleys below. We got to one spot where we saw water seeping up through some moss and forming a flowing stream. Something you hear about, but rarely see. We filled up our water and Logan insisted on sticking his mouth directly into the stream to get a gulp of mountain fresh water. We were so close to the source, that there was no way the water had anything bad in it (he insisted). </p>

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We came to where our trail connected with the two other trails and set out on the Spread Creek Trail. The first quarter mile was not to be found save for the cairns. We seem to be hitting some trails that are not well-traveled. The trail lived up to its name and we found a spread of creeks that we had to cross. </p>

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We eventually came to the side trail to Lake Sylvan. We set off on the trail and had a big climb up to the lake. Once we arrived the climb was worth it. The lake was beautiful and we were the only ones there. We set up our tent and then jumped into the lake. I went in fully clothed because I needed a wash and so did my clothing. It was icy cold and refreshing - just what we needed. </p>

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We arrived at camp a little after 3, so we enjoyed the time and ate some trail mix, drank lemonade, and stared out at the lake. Before long it was time for dinner. I had a cheese pasta with salmon. And of course, I finished things off with Oreos. </p>

After dinner, we did some more relaxing. Stretching out our aching legs and feet while we looked at the lake and sky. It was so peaceful. </p>

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Before long we decided to call it a day and we crawled into our tent to fall asleep. </p>

Watch: 49% down to 31%, charged up to 90%</li>
Phone: 51% down to 29%, charged up to 88%, and went down to 85%</li>
GPS: 69% down to 52%, charged up to 88%, and went down to 85%</li> </ul>

Beartooths 2023 - Day 3

Jon Carl — Sat, 11 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

We woke up around 6 and lay in the tent for a bit. There hadn’t been rain in the night, but the rain fly was soaked with dew. As we got up we moved our gear into a nearby field that was already getting the morning sun. All of our wet gear was quickly laid out to dry. The rocks weren’t warm yet so the drying went slow. I ended up draping the rain fly across trekking poles to help it dry faster.</p>

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For breakfast, I enjoyed a "frosted cookies and crème" pop tart and chased it down with some “orange juice” AKA orange Skittles drink mix.</p>

Things weren’t 100% dry by 9, but we didn’t want to stay any later so we packed things up and headed out. We quickly hit the uphill for the day as we started climbing towards Sundance Pass. We stopped at September Morn Lake to soak our feet in the ice-cold water and eat some food. The lake had great camping spots and we wished we could stay the night there.</p>

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After a short bit, we continued the uphill. And up it was. We climbed and climbed and climbed. The pass was at about 11,000 feet and we could feel the elevation in our breathing as we climbed. We climbed in silence, one foot in front of the other, and stopped often for breathing breaks and to take in the views.</p>

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Once we hit the summit we took a break and ate our freeze-dried ice cream sandwiches. The view was fantastic looking down into the valley we were going to hike down into.</p>

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Down we went on what seemed like 1000 switchbacks. About 3 miles of switchbacks to get down 1,500 feet. It took a long while, and the mountainside was exposed to the sun, but thankfully there was cloud cover.</p>

When we finally reached the bottom, Logan took a cool dip in a water hole while I soaked my feet and calves. The water was ice cold and felt amazing after hiking.</p>

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As we headed out some rain clouds rolled in. We felt a couple of drops, but nothing more. We hiked on and looked for a good campsite. After a couple of miles, we found a nice grassy knoll close to the creek where we decided to set up camp.</p>

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It was already after five so we set up the tent and got right into dinner mode. For me, it was soy sauce ramen noodles with salmon. It was quite filling, and just right after a long day of hiking. Dinner was followed by Oreos and then another soak in the creek for my feet.</p>

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Tired and exhausted, we climbed into the tent to go to bed. Tomorrow we were planning on camping at a lake and we were quite excited about that.</p>

Watch: 49%</li>
Phone: started at 56% and got down to 28%, then charged up to 51%</li>
GPS: 26% charged up to 69%</li> </ul>

Beartooths 2023 - Day 2

Jon Carl — Sat, 04 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

We woke up to brightening skies a little after 6. The inside of the rainfly was wet from humidity and the outside of it was damp as well. There hadn’t been rain in the night which was nice. We packed everything up except the tent and ate breakfast. I had frosted banana bread Pop-Tarts which were delicious. We had hoped the sun would be high enough to dry the tent before we left, but it wasn’t. We packed the wet tent up and headed out. </p>

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There was a little bit of uphill before we hit the Line Creek Plateau. We saw some sun peeking through the clouds, so we laid out the tent to dry. It wasn’t long until clouds covered the sun again. The tent and footprint were dry, but the rainfly still needed some work. We packed the tent and footprint inside of my pack to keep them dry and left the rainfly on the outside. It looked like rain in the distance and we wanted to be careful. </p>

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Heading back onto the trail we put on our rain gear and meandered across the plateau. We got 10 minutes of light rain before it let up. Off to the west in the distance, we could see the Beartooth mountains flooded with sun from clear skies. We stopped in awe of the view several times. </p>

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Eventually, the rain clouds moved into the distance and the sun beat down our unshaded plateau. We took another break to lay the rainfly out and eat snacks. This time the sun stayed cloud-free and we were able to finish drying things out. All of the tent was then packed away and we continued. </p>

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As we neared the end of the plateau we could not find the trail we were supposed to split off on. Using our GPS we set out in the general direction of where the trail should have been. After about 3/4 of a mile, we found the trail - if you could call it a trail. The "trail" was a faint line in the grass between cairns. We followed it and the trail eventually widened out into more of what you’d expect of a trail. Down the trail we went - losing over 3,000 feet of elevation over about 4 miles. As we got close to the end of the trail it started to rain lightly. Once we hit the trailhead it had stopped and we took a nice break. </p>

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Next up was a short road walk. We finished it quickly and stopped at the trailhead of the Lower Lake Fork Trail to get some water. In the distance, we could see some peaks getting rain so we put on our rain gear before heading out. </p>

As we hiked it started to pour rain. We weren’t sure how far we were going to go - we had already done 12 miles, and anywhere that presented itself while it wasn’t raining would be great. Soon after starting on the trail we passed through a Lions Club Camp. It looked empty and was tempting to hold up on one of the porches due to the rain. We didn’t stop and continued hiking. </p>

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We passed a surprising number of day hikers and for each one, we would think about how they were probably headed back to a dry car which they would drive home to a nice warm and dry bed. </p>

We kept on walking and finally made it to the wilderness boundary! In my mind, this is when the hike starts. The first day and a half were so we could do a full loop, and we weren’t in the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness for those days. </p>

Onward we trudged. The rain finally let up, but there were still dark and gloomy clouds overhead. We wanted to get to one of the lakes ahead and find a campsite. The first one we got to was Broadwater Lake. I don’t know that we’d classify it as a lake - it was more like a wide slow part of the creek. We were tired after over 17 miles so we decided to stay at the lake for the night. We found a flat spot for our tent and managed to set it up without it raining on us. We were glad we had taken the timer earlier to fully dry it out. </p>

Logan decided to take a dip in the freezing creek before we ate dinner. I’m not opposed to dips in the creek, but after the rainy day, I was done being wet. For dinner, I had a Mountain House breakfast skillet. It was delicious and warm. Perfect after the rain. I don’t normally have Mountain House as it’s expensive and bulky, but Logan and I decided to splurge for one meal this trip. </p>

Soon after dinner, we crawled into the tent to warm up. It looked like the sun eventually came out, but we were too tired to get out and look.</p>

Watch: 66%</li>
Phone: 41%</li>
GPS: 55%</li> </ul>

Beartooths 2023 - Day 1

Jon Carl — Sat, 27 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

We woke up at five at our friend's house in Billings. We had packed everything into the car the night before, so we changed into our hiking clothes, ate a quick breakfast, and headed out. It was a 2-and-a-half-hour drive to the trailhead, and we made good time. The last portion of the road was on the Beartooth Highway, which was beautiful.</p>

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We pulled into the Island Lake hiking parking, hit the pit toilet, and headed out around 8. We did a mix of road walking and trail hiking for the day. The Beartooths does not offer many loops, so to make our loop, we needed to walk on the road for a bit. The road was flat and well-graded, but not as nice on the feet as the trail. Making good time, we hit our first lake by 9:30 and took a snack break. The weather was nice, and the sky was clear. </p>

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Continuing, we hiked past several lakes, large and small. Some might have been considered ponds. After a while, we were near the base of a trek back up to the road. There were no switchbacks, but we found that it was not steep enough to justify them. When we got to the top, we took in the view and took a long break for lunch.</p>

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Back on the road, we walked for several miles. As we were walking, some ominous clouds started rolling in. My GPS weather said there was a chance of rain in a couple of hours, but we did not completely trust it, so we put on our rain gear and continued to walk. It continued to get darker with the clouds, but we did not get any rain.</p>

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We got to the lake we were planning on camping at around 3:30. We rested for a bit and continued hiking. There were not many great camping spots near the lake, so we went about a half-mile further into a valley. We hung our food to keep it from the bears and set up our tent within earshot of a rushing stream. We crawled into our tent to stay away from the mosquitoes and possible rain.</p>

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About 30 minutes later, it rained lightly for a bit and then slowly cleared up. After resting in the tent, we got up and worked on our dinner. Tonight was Annie’s mac & cheese with salmon and bacon bits. For dessert, we dug into the party-size double stuf Oreos. 1 pound, 10 ounces, but worth it. The day's mileage was 12.78, according to my GPS. I’m also taking my Apple Watch Ultra to see if it can stand up to a long backpacking trip. At the end of the day, I was at 90% battery. Not too bad. </p>

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Beartooths 2023

Jon Carl — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

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Living in Montana means having an endless wishlist of backpacking trips. One such trip is backpacking in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, often referred to as the Beartooths. The pinnacle of the area is a trail called “The Beaten Path,” spanning roughly 26 miles point-to-point across the wilderness. In 2023, Logan and I had the opportunity to hike through the Beartooths, with our route including The Beaten Path. It was one of my favorite backpacking trips ever, and I'm eager to return to the area soon.</p>

As usual, I journaled each day and took many pictures. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be posting each day of my journal from the trip along with corresponding pictures. In this post, I've included two of my favorite pictures from the trip. While I don’t believe blog posts and pictures can truly capture the essence of the experience, I hope my posts and pictures provide a glimpse into the adventure we had.</p>

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Glacier 2022 - Day 9

Jon Carl — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In the early evening, after turning in the for the night, we could hear some rustling in the woods. A small trail ran near our tent to get to other campsites. I heard what I think was a bear walk by — the snorts from their nose and the faint sound of their paws on the ground coupled with hearing another camper yell “get out of here bear” several minutes later confirmed it. Other than that we had an uneventful night in the tent.</p>

The next morning we woke up early as it was our last day and we couldn’t wait to get to hot showers and wonderful food. We chatted briefly with some other backpackers who mentioned they had seen a mama grizzly and some cubs not far down the mountain. As we headed out we spotted them as well, though they were far enough away that they didn’t show up in our pictures very well. We were thankful for the distance as a mama grizzly with cubs is something you want to stay far away from.</p>

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Setting off we had the reverse of our first day ahead of us. About halfway through was a stop at the Flattop campsite. We left around 7 AM and rolled into Flattop for a breakfast snack around 9 AM. The backpackers in the food area of Flattop were sleepy looking and were surprised that we had already covered ~6 miles in such a short time. They asked us if we were running, but we laughed and said we were on a mission to get hot showers and eat delicious food.</p>

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With our bellies full and our water topped off, we continued down the trail.</p>

It wasn’t long before we hit the bridge and we took a short break. Close to the end of the trail, we continued on and soon hit the trailhead where my truck was parked. We hung out at the trailhead for a short bit enjoying a celebratory drink mix and snack. After that, we headed to the KOA.</p>

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At the KOA we checked into the cabin we had reserved. No tent tonight! We then took turns showering as we only had one soap (keeping it light on the trail!). While Logan was showering I lay on the mattress and thought back through the trip. Finishing a backpacking trip is always bittersweet for me — I am happy to be clean and comfortable, but I miss being on the trail. I miss the simplicity of trail life: hike, eat, drink, sleep. No phone, no internet, no news, no politics. Dark, star-strewn skies. Physically challenging days followed by amazing sleep. Backpacking is something I love and something I don’t want to end. However, I also love my family. I want to see my wife again. I want to spend time with my little girl. I want to see my puppies and laugh and play with them. Overall, what can I complain about? I just had a blast backpacking and I have an amazing life to return to filled with wonderful people who I love and who love me. As bittersweet as the moment is, I am thankful for what I have and acknowledge that I have it better than many others in this world.</p>

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After our showers, we headed out for burgers and ice cream. While we were eating we laughed and talked about our trip — remembering all the fun moments and challenging moments alike. This backpacking trip was a success. A trip to remember for years to come.</p>

Glacier 2022 - Day 8

Jon Carl — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

We woke up to the sound of others getting their breakfast. We got up and packed our gear away quickly — not because we were in a hurry, but because after 8 days on the trail we know just what we need to do and how to do it efficiently. After packing our gear up we went over to grab breakfast before heading out on the trail.</p>

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We wanted to get a somewhat early start as we had 3,000 feet of elevation gain today and we wanted to do it before it got too hot out. We set off down the trail and quickly reached the same cabin we stopped at on day 2. We filled up our water, ate some snacks, and headed up the big uphill portion. Thankfully the sun has not reached the trail yet and we were hiking in cool weather. We climbed until we eventually met the sun. The trail was tough so we took several breaks along the way. We ran out of water just as we reached the top, but it wasn’t a big deal as we only had about a mile to the campsite.</p>

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We rolled into the campsite around 11:45, exhausted and ready for a break. We got some fresh ice cold water before laying in the shade and eating our snacks. We had time to kill so we headed over to the stream and sat down to see what creatures would come alive under the water. There were two that we noticed: one was some sort of crawling creature that kind of looked like a bug. It had what looked to be a shell made out of rocks around it and it could easily blend in with the bottom of the stream. We could easily lose sight of it if it stopped moving. The other creature we saw seemed to be like a tadpole, but not quite. It was the same shape, but bigger and black/brown. Under the larger portion of its body, it had a suction piece that it would use to attach to various surfaces. We watched it move around for a while and will have to look it up once off the trail.</p>

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While we were sitting there watching, several hikers arrived at camp. We chatted a bit and this was their first backpacking trip in Glacier. They had gotten a walk-up permit and had a map, but it wasn’t that great. Since I have maps on my phone and we only had one day left I gave them my National Geographic map which is more detailed.</p>

We went back to our stream watching but soon noticed some other hikers coming in. About a mile away on the mountainside is the Highline trail. Hikers on the trail look like ants from the campsite. After a while, they arrived at camp exhausted from a long hot day.</p> </iframe>

Dinner time rolled around we started cooking dinner as even more hikers rolled in. This time some CDT thru-hikers. They’re only 12 miles from the end of their thru-hike here and it was pretty cool to see.</p>

After chatting for a while we turned in for the night to read our book and drift off to sleep.</p>

Glacier 2022 - Day 7

Jon Carl — Sun, 27 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

We started out today early since we had a lot of uphill and we wanted to do it before it got too hot outside. The GPS weather was saying it would be in the 80s today and we wanted to avoid that.</p>

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We quickly packed up our gear before grabbing breakfast and heading out. The sun was out already, but the valley we were in was still cool and shaded by the mountains. We hiked along the beginning flat section before hitting our first of 3 uphills. We made quick work of the first uphill and then when we got to the beginning of the second we met a father and son. We chatted for a bit and encouraged them on the long (14+ mile) day they were working on.</p>

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Pressing on we conquered the second uphill. We took in the morning sun rising over a sleepy valley of lakes as we hiked up and up. The sun’s rays were shining over the rough ridges of the mountains and made for beautiful views. We had hiked down this trail on day 2, but we didn’t have the morning sun to see that day. Hitting the flat portion before the last uphill we were both a little weary, but we pressed on without stopping since we had planned a longer break once we got over Stoney Indian Pass and down along the lake.</p>

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We were soon at our stopping point and we took our packs off, rested, and ate some food. We were in direct sun so we didn’t stop for too long. Refueled and feeling much better with the uphill behind us, we set off into the valley. The hike down was uneventful and we came to the junction where we turned north to head to our campsite for the night. We hiked through some overgrowth and peaceful forests before arriving at our campsite: Kootani Lake.</p>

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It was still early in the afternoon so we rested for a bit before hanging out food and setting up our tent. Once everything was set up we waded down the nearby river to pass the time. The cold water felt good on our feet and we enjoyed looking at all the different rocks that had been washed here by heavier river flows. I like to imagine that some of these rocks used to be on the tops of mountains, but the weather has broken them loose and washed them down the river. How quickly a rock can lose its prominence as a ridge rock, contributing to majestic and awe-inspiring views, and become a lowly river rock that’s viewed along with all other river rocks and rarely ever singled out.</p>

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After we finished wading the river we returned to camp to hang out and pass the time before dinner. Just before dinner, another hiker showed up and we chatted with him before he headed out to set up his tent. We then made our dinner and filled our stomachs with delicious trail food.</p>

After dinner, we started on our usual evening activities: setting up our sleeping bags, brushing our teeth, and a cool dip in the water for Logan. We watched the sun slide behind the nearby mountain, although the official sunset time isn’t for some time.</p>

As we were finishing up at the water a group of 8 hikers arrived at camp. They were doing the northern traverse which is hiking across the northern portion of Glacier. We chatted for a bit before settling into our tent to read our book before falling asleep.</p>

The pit toilet here was fantastic. No smell, no flies. Though no view. Apparently, others did not agree on the no smell, but I’m ok with not being able to smell it.</p>

Glacier 2022 - Day 6

Jon Carl — Sat, 19 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

During the night I awoke with rain hitting my face. We were camping without the rain fly even though the weather on my GPS said 5% chance of rain. I quickly jumped outside and pulled the rain fly onto the tent. It rained for about 15 minutes and then stopped. When we woke up in the morning the rain fly was dry and it was as if it hadn’t rained at all.</p>

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Getting up we went about our normal morning routine of packing things up and heading to the food area. Once we had breakfast in our bellies we headed off down the trail for a short 5-mile day.</p>

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Once we were on the trail we noticed a black bear ahead of us going in the same direction as us. We talked loudly so it was aware of us, but it didn’t seem to care. The bear lazily sauntered down the trail, having a grand old time. We followed at a distance far enough away that we’d lose sight of the bear around each corner. We would cautiously approach the corner, but the bear would be well ahead of us. Every once in a while we see him look back and then run for a bit. We got to a point where the bear was down an incline from us when he stopped. We stopped too and looked ahead. My guess was that the bear had heard hikers coming from the other direction. We soon spotted them and shouted out a warning about the bear. They stopped and started to make noise. The bear looked at them and then at us before running off the trail into the woods. We slowly approached the point where he ran off the trailing making sure that he was gone. We chatted for a short bit with the other hikers before we continued on.</p>

Down the trail, we spotted another bear in the woods near us. It looked to be a grizzly this time, but we weren’t close enough to tell and didn’t want to try to get close enough to tell. He got onto the trail behind us but thankfully went in the opposite direction.</p>

A short while down the trail we crossed paths with an older gentleman who we had met the day before. He was a jolly fellow and was very social. He had an old JanSport external frame pack that must have been 20+ years old. He was having a grand time and was happy to chat with us again.</p>

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It wasn’t long before we reached our campsite for the night: Mokowanis Lake. It’s a small out-of-the-way campsite with two tent sites. We weren’t sure if we’d have it to ourselves or not. We hung up our food and set up our tent. The lake was beautiful and we could see some waterfalls in the distance.</p>

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We set out towards the waterfalls through thick brush. After hiking for a half mile or so we emerged at some tiny waterfalls, but we knew there were bigger ones in the distance. We hiked up past the first falls and the view opened up to the big falls in the distance with many smaller falls along the river in front of it. We hiked along the lower falls for a bit until the trail died. After taking things in we turned around and headed back to camp.</p>

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At camp, we met several hikers who were camping elsewhere but had come up to the lake to fish. We chatted for a bit before we jumped into the lake for a swim. After the swim, we hung out for a bit playing Uno and chatting before it was time for dinner. The mountains were so high near us that the sun was going to disappear a little bit before 5. Right around that time we cooked up our dinner, ate it, and cleaned up.</p>

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One thing to note about this campsite was the pit toilet. It was by far the best we’d had this trip: the smell was minimal, it was open air, had a decent view through the trees, and minimal flies. We approved.</p>

We headed off to the tent after dinner to read our book and wind down for the evening. Tomorrow was a lot of uphill and it was looking to be quite hot.</p>

Glacier 2022 - Day 5

Jon Carl — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

As the day started up, so did we. There wasn’t a lot of ground to cover today, but we liked getting to our campsites early so we could rest and hit the water if we wanted.</p>

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We packed up our packs and headed over to the food area for breakfast. No grizzly was seen this morning, much to our relief. We did, however, see some deer. They ran up about 20 feet away, peered at us for a moment, and then jumped off. Today for breakfast I had an Eggo Waffle Pop-Tart. Not much of a strong flavor, but not a bad flavor either.</p>

As we headed out we looked fondly at the area we had all to ourselves. A pristine lake, a cold waterfall, and towering mountains. Pictures won’t do it justice.</p>

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Staying in the shadow of the mountain, we hiked for a while until we came upon Elizabeth lake. It was so smooth, calm, and crystal clear that we didn’t realize it was there at first. We hiked along the trail which meandered to the shore and away again multiple times. Passing by both the head and the foot campsites we were making good time.</p>

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At this point we were hiking back over the trail we had already hiked as the trip was an out-and-back. The trail was the same, but it afforded different views going in the opposite direction. Before we knew it we were back at the river crossing that had a cable. We took our shoes and socks off and walked across. We knew we were close to our campsite now.</p>

As we got to the turn-off to our campsite I saw a grizzly head pop up over the raspberry bushes. Sighting me the grizzly dropped down to all fours and disappeared. We continued on cautiously and talked quite loudly as we headed down to the campsite.</p>

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Upon arrival a little before noon there were other hikers already there. We chatted a bit before they headed out on a short day hike.</p>

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We filled our afternoon with laying around, swimming, eating, playing Uno, and chatting. Before we knew it dinner time was upon us and we cooked up some more food.</p>

After dinner we swam a bit more before heading to the tent to read and wind down for the night. Not a long day, but a good one.</p>

Glacier 2022 - Day 4

Jon Carl — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

During the night I woke up and gazed at the stars. The sky was so dark and light pollution so far away that we could see a lot of stars. Some stars you could only see by looking at a different star and then noticing twinkling little dots around it. I gazed around for 20–30 minutes just taking everything in before heading back to sleep.</p>

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As the sun rose we turned over in our sleeping bags enjoying not having to get up and get ready to hike. Hunger was what eventually got us out of the tent and we headed over to the food area for breakfast.</p>

I was halfway through eating my oatmeal when Logan exclaimed “oh, that’s a grizzly!” I turned to look and sure enough, it was a grizzly bear. About 30 feet away he sauntered up to a tree, turned around, and rested his back against it. His side was toward us at this point and we were making plenty of noise so he looked over at us — however, he was at the beginning of a back scratch so his head was pointed straight up as he turned it toward us. He didn’t seem surprised to see us and didn’t skip a beat as he scratched his back on the tree. He almost looked like a cartoon character as he scratched up and down and side to side at the same time. Finishing up he dropped down to all fours and walked off without giving us a second glance. My phone was still powered off from the night so I didn’t have a chance to snap any pictures. We breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn’t going to bother us and continued our breakfast with our voices a tad bit louder.</p>

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The rest of the day was filled with relaxing fun. We went to the lake and waded around the shore for a while commenting on the different rocks and features of the landscape. We then headed back to camp for some lunch before going down to the waterfall to splash around again. We also waded a little way down the river enjoying the sun and exploring the curves and falls along the way.</p>

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As evening approached we chilled in camp before eating our dinner. After filling our bellies we took one last dip in the lake as the sun disappeared behind the mountains. Satisfied with a day of relaxation and recovery we got into the tent to wind the evening down.</p>

Glacier 2022 - Day 3

Jon Carl — Sat, 29 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Today we woke up in a dry tent. We were excited because the trail ahead was supposed to be relatively flat, and tomorrow is a day with no hiking.</p>

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We packed up our tent quickly and ate our breakfast. I had pop-tarts and a waffle. After a quick stop to fill up our water we were on our way.</p>

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We made quick progress and soon met a Ranger. She chatted with us and shared that the Ptarmigan Tunnel was open. It wasn’t a route we were taking on our trip, but many people we had met were, and the alternative when it’s closed adds many miles to your trip. The tunnel had been closed recently because of bear activity along the way. As we finished chatting, she warned us of a grizzly bear a half mile up the trail from us.</p>

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Continuing on we talked loudly so we wouldn’t startle the bear. We met a couple after a bit and they said the bear was off a side trail that we had already passed. We wanted to see the bear, but at the same time, we wanted to avoid any interactions with grizzly bears.</p>

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A short way up the trail we came to a river crossing. There was no bridge over it and also no stones to cross without getting wet. There was a shallow section with a cable stretching across to hold onto while crossing. Since we had wet feet the last two days we opted to take off our shoes and socks and cross barefoot. It was refreshing on our feet as we waded across. The deepest it got was up to the bottom of my knee. Safely across the river, we continued our hike.</p>

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After a while, we arrived at the Lake Elizabeth Foot campsite. We stopped for a quick lunch of trail mix and enjoyed some time with our packs off. We filled up our water on the lake shore and enjoyed the beautiful view.</p>

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Once we finished lunch we continued down the trail beside the lake. The trail meandered along the lake — getting close to the shore and away from it multiple times. We were always provided with stunning views of the lake. Once we reached the head of the lake we started to get excited: it was only a 2.6-mile hike to our campsite!</p>

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We covered the last several miles quickly, though our bodies were sore and ready to be done. As we got close to our campsite we crossed over a short waterfall with several pools of water beneath it. Soon after the waterfall, we found our campsite close to a beautiful lake.</p>

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We set up camp by stowing our food and picking one of the two tent sites. We opted for a more open site as we planned on leaving the rain fly off the tent tonight so we can watch the stars. After setting things up we headed back to the waterfall. We waded into the ice-cold pools beneath the waterfall and soaked our tired and soar muscles in the glacial water. I ventured over to the waterfall and sat in it letting the water pound onto my sore back like a massage of sorts. We messed around in the water for a little while and then headed back to our campsite.</p>

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We ate some snacks and then cooked up ramen for dinner. Because of the tall mountain behind the lake, the sun was going to set behind at 6:30. We finished right in time and got into our tent around 6:40. No one else has shown up at the campsite, so we figure that we have it all to ourselves for tonight. We don’t mind, though it is fun to chat with other hikers.</p>

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We read our book and then lay there looking up at the sky and chatting. We are tired and sore and ready for a day of hiking nowhere tomorrow.</p>

Glacier 2022 - Day 2

Jon Carl — Sat, 22 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

We woke up to a wet tent — thankfully it was only on the outside of the rainfly. It had rained off and on all night, but when we woke up it wasn’t raining. When we looked outside we could see the sun, though it was still quite cold.</p>

We packed up our gear and draped the rain fly over some trees to try and dry it off. The campsite was in the shadow of a mountain so unfortunately the sun didn’t dry the rainfly off before we left. I enjoyed a honey waffle and some oatmeal before we headed out.</p>

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We set off across a beautiful meadow and marveled at the towering mountains around us. Last year we couldn’t see any of this due to the low clouds so it was a big deal to see so much. The sun hit us as we trekked through the meadow and we enjoyed the warmth it provided.</p>

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Once we crossed the meadow we headed into a valley through a forest. We commented that the views we were experiencing were something no picture could do justice to. You had to be here. You had to hike to these places. What we were experiencing is something only a small subset of people in the world will ever get to experience.</p>

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As we trekked lower into the valley the undergrowth got quite thick. It was still wet with rain so our legs and feet got soaked as we slogged through it. It was so thick in parts that you couldn’t see the trail and I took a couple of falls after catching my feet in some invisible, yet very real, rocks.</p>

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Coming to a cabin we stopped for a short break. I was able to dry out the rainfly in the sun along with my shoes and socks while I enjoyed some trail mix, cheese, jerky, and ginger ale drink mix. I picked up three “soda” mixes for this trip and I’m quite happy with them. Granted there is no carbonation, but Dad’s Root Beer, 7up, and Canada Dry taste quite delicious.</p>

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Continuing on we started the uphill section for the day by heading to Stoney Indian Lake. It was overgrown but thankfully dry and not too steep. We reached the lake in no time and took a short break before the steep trail over the pass.</p>

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Beyond Stoney Indian Lake there is Stoney Indian Pass. It was very abrupt and high, but beautiful. Having taken a short break we started the 1.1-mile trek to the top. It wasn’t nearly as bad as we thought (probably due to working it up to a massive challenge in our heads) and we were soon enjoying breathtaking views of Stoney Indian Lake from above. The views of the lake quickly paled in comparison to the views we has as we hiked down the other side.</p>

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Beyond the pass was a deep valley that eventually opened up to several lakes. As we hiked it opened up to the views of the lakes and also some gorgeous waterfalls. We could only see the waterfalls in the distance, but as we wandered down into the valley we saw 3 and they were each well over 500 feet tall. The waterfalls with a backdrop of sky-scraping mountain peaks left me breathless. I’ve always heard of breathless views, but it has always been an expression to me…until today. There were times that I would stop in the middle of the trail and just stare in wonder at the views before me. Again, my mind would think about how so few people ever get to experience what I was experiencing.</p>

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Continuing down into the valley we grew exhausted. It was our longest day at 14.6 miles and we could feel it. We finally rolled into camp around 5. Logan went for a quick, refreshing swim while I set up the tent. After that, we ate dinner while chatting with a couple in the food area. They had recently moved to Coeur d’Alene near where Logan lives and we had a good chat. After hanging our food to keep the bears away from it we crawled into our tent. We read our trip book and then fell asleep, exhausted but happy.</p>

Glacier 2022 - Day 1

Jon Carl — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Today started earlier than yesterday — we got up at 4:45 to eat breakfast, pack our tent up, and head into the park. The early start was to beat the traffic and make sure we got a parking spot at our trailhead.</p>

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We arrived at the trailhead around 7:30 and set off. The first few miles were through some dense wild raspberry bushes which were covered in dew/rain that completely drenched us from the knees down.</p>

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There were clouds, but no rain, and the visibility was good. We had started out on this same hike last year but had turned around on day 2 due to how cold and snowy it was. This year there was a big difference in how much more we could see.</p>

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After crossing a creek on a small bridge, we headed up the mountainside to Flattop — a campsite we were planning on stopping at to take a longer break. Along the way, we got distracted by eating some ripe wild huckleberries. They were delicious, but also made us wary of the possibility of finding a bear. Thankfully no bears were seen through the rest of the day.</p>

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After eating lunch at Flattop we set out again. It was a little chilly and there were some questionable-looking clouds, so I put on my rain jacket. We plodded along in silence for a while as we made our way up to the top of Flattop Mountain. The breeze picked up a good bit and every once in a while we got a few sprinkles of rain.</p>

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As we headed down into the valley getting to our campsite we could see some rain rolling in. It hit us quickly and poured for a good 10–15 minutes as we continued up out of the valley to our campsite. Thankfully the rain stopped just as we arrived, and we were able to set up our tent while it was dry.</p>

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As we finished setting up the tent the rain started to pour again, so we got into the tent to set up our sleeping bags and put fresh dry socks on. Laying in the tent we thought back through the day and talked about how even though the rain was a bummer, it was better than last year, and we are excited to keep going. The weather looks rain-free for the next week so hopefully, tomorrow is a lot drier.</p>

Glacier 2022 - Day 0

Jon Carl — Sat, 08 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

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Logan and I started out the day around 7:30 by loading into my truck and heading out on the drive to Glacier.</p>

One of the “luxuries” I like to take on the trail is a Mountain House freeze dried ice cream sandwich. Apparently Mountain House cannot keep up with demand so we couldn’t find the ice cream sandwiches anywhere near us. On the way to Glacier we stopped in Kalispell and the local Walmart had enough for Logan and I to both pick a sandwich up.</p>

After the stop in Kalispell we headed into Glacier to pick up our backcountry permit. Since we had an advance reservation we didn’t need to do anything besides listen to a quick safety talk as we picked up the permit. We spent a short bit of time walking along a trail near the visitor center to enjoy some flat, backpack free trail.</p>

Once we finished in the park we headed to the West Glacier KOA a few miles away. We had a tent site reserved to spend the night at before starting our hike the next day. Finding campsites in Glacier can be quite challenging so we opt for the KOA as it is a nice campground and is only a few miles from the park.</p>

For our “last supper” we started out with ice cream and then moved onto to the main meal. The KOA has a restaurant on site where Logan had half of a BBQ chicken with a side of smoked mac and cheese while I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich and a side of smoked mac and cheese. We were both stuffed and happy — a good way to end dinner the night before we started hiking.</p>

After dinner we wrapped things up and relaxed by attending a knife forging demonstration at the KOA. We also started on our book for the trip: Deep Country: Five Years in the Welsh Hills</em> by Neil Ansell. We like to take a book along as an evening activity at our campsite.</p>

After everything we crawled into our tent around 8:30 so we could settle down and sleep. However, it was a little hard to sleep due to the excitement we had for the next day.</p>

Glacier 2022

Jon Carl — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

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I live about 3 hours away from Glacier National Park and I finally got to complete a backpacking trip there. In 2021 I, along with my brother-in-law and a friend from my PCT days, set out to backpack for 9 days in Glacier. Unfortunately due to snow and freezing temps in August(!), we decided to turn around instead of risking it in the cold. We were sad to leave, but we made the right choice as some others got off the trail with us. Logan, my brother-in-law, and I were able to head down to the Sawtooth Wilderness in Idaho instead, but we still wanted to complete a backpacking trip in Glacier.</p>
In the spring each year Glacier runs a lottery for backpacking permits. You submit several routes and dates and then they shuffle all applications and work their way through them. They get thousands of applications so there’s a good chance you won’t get your first choice, or any of your choices at all.</p>
I submitted an application for Logan and I in 2022. It was the exact same routes as 2021 and our hope was that we could complete the trip this year and not run into snow and freezing temperatures. Since I live close by I wrote in my application that any dates from late July to early September would work. We scored a permit for late August, though some of the campsites had been moved around by them. In Glacier you have to camp at designated campsites. There are only so many slots at each site, so if others in the lottery have already booked up all the slots on the night you want to stay at the site, you cannot stay. However, the rangers processing the permits will look for other sites nearby with openings and move you to those sites if possible.</p>
The trip was a success — Logan and I had a blast! I journaled everyday and took too many pictures. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be posting each day of my journal here along with pictures from that day. I hope you’ll follow along and get a peak at what an adventure we had!</p>

Why I’m Getting off the PCT

Jon Carl — Sun, 24 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The PCT so far has been an amazing adventure. I have gotten to backpack farther than I’ve ever backpacked before. I have pushed myself to my limits hiking long days. I have met amazing people. I have seen so much of God’s beautiful creation. I have grown in my outdoor skills. I cannot recount everything that has happened on the trail, but I am confident that there are lessons I will be learning from the trail for years to come.</p>
This past week I made the decision to stop my thru-hike. The main reason is to be with my wife. Monica and I set out on the PCT together. We planned and saved for months, together. We trained together. We dreamed of the trail together. When Monica got injured 300 miles in, I continued on. Monica wanted me to continue and I wanted to continue. I pushed on for 400 more miles and made it all the way through the desert section of the PCT. In those 400 miles I learned a lot. I had fun, I saw incredible sites, and I pushed harder than I ever have before — but every day was a chore. Every day turned into seeing how far I could go so I could see Monica sooner. My partner whom I had shared each mile with for 300 miles was gone, and that hurt. I could call and text her sometimes, but that wasn’t the same. I missed waking up next to her. I missed hearing her laugh at my lame jokes. I missed her common sense. I missed her. While I could push on and silence the part of me that missed her, I didn’t like doing that. Monica was incredibly supportive the whole time. She wanted me to keep going. She wanted me to pursue this dream. She never once told me that she didn’t want me to hike. She wanted to be with me, but she didn’t want to get in the way of me finishing the PCT.</p>
Starting in Tehachapi I entertained the idea of getting off the trail. I wasn’t going to make a decision overnight, and I decided I would not make a decision until my last zero with Monica after I reached Kennedy Meadows. I did a lot of thinking that week. I went back and forth in my mind, I talked with fellow hikers, I chatted with my dad, I talked with Monica, and I prayed to Jesus a lot. I had a great week and physically I had one of my best weeks on the trail. Mentally it was a long hard week, and when it came to the end I still didn’t know what I was going to do. Going into my zeros with Monica I thought I was going to continue on. I planned like I was continuing on with resupply boxes sent ahead and everything. Then when I was with Monica all the thoughts of missing her flooded back. It was good to wake up next to her. It was good to hear her voice and her laugh. It was good to hold her in my arms. It felt like she hadn’t been with me in forever.</p>
I married Monica to be with her. If Monica hadn’t started the PCT with me, I would not have started it at all. I voluntarily decided to keep going without her. Those were some of the thoughts swimming around in my head. I love Monica and when I married her I put her in front of my dreams — like hiking the PCT. With all those thoughts and more I decided that my time on the trail this year was done. I was getting off. I was going to be with my wife. In the end the decision was not hard. I wanted to be with my wife. I wanted to be with her more than I wanted to hike — and I wanted to hike a lot.</p>
So far I don’t regret the decision. I made peace with not continuing on. If I had stopped 400 miles ago I know I wouldn’t have the same peace that I have now. I made it 700 miles! I hiked the entire desert section! I have great stories and memories. I had the Sierra in my view, and while I know I’m missing more beauty than I can imagine, I’m ok with not seeing it. Maybe someday I’ll come back and tackle the Sierra. What I do know is that while I was on the trail I gave it all I had.</p>
Driving home with Monica we got to see the Sierra in the distance off to the side and we also go to meet up with some friends from the trail. We met some amazing people — some of whom we are sure will be life long friends.</p>
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PCT Days 50–56

Jon Carl — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Trail Miles: 566.5–702.2</p>
Day 50</h2>
With hot and dry miles ahead of me I wanted to get an early start. Thankfully there was a trail angel in Tehachapi who was willing to drop off hikers on his way to work at 6 in the morning. I had a nice chat with Jeff as he drove me to the trailhead, and we bonded over the fact that his job was closely related to mine in the software / technology field. Saying goodbye I started up the morning climb.</p>
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As the sun rose higher in the sky I could feel it beat down on me. Finding a little shade I stopped for a break to eat some snacks and give my feet a break. After the break I continued on. The scenery was filled with windmills, but thankfully it wasn’t crazy windy and I didn’t have trouble hiking through them.</p>
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Soon the scenery changed to trees and I came upon a spring. There were about 7 other hikers laying by the spring taking a nap. Since this was the last water source of the day I decided to cook my dinner there so I wouldn’t have to cart water for dinner up the trail.</p>
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With a full belly I headed down the trail 4 miles to my campsite. Unfortunately the campsite was in the middle of an old forest fire and didn’t look very appealing to me. I pressed on 6 more miles to find a nice site that was shaded from the wind.</p>
Day 51</h2>
I woke up with the sun and set out down the trail. Since I had gone 6 extra miles the day before I had less to go today, and I was looking forward to that. The trail was shaded by trees which made the hiking nice and enjoyable. I kept my eyes open for a bear that others had mentioned seeing in the area, but I didn’t see one.</p>
I came upon another spring where I took a short break to fill up on water, eat some snacks, and give my feet a break. I happened to have cell phone service there so I also called Monica and talked for a while. It’s hard on the trail not being able to talk to her everyday. Going from seeing and being with her everyday to not seeing her or being with her for days on end is hard. Finishing up my call with her I set out down the trail.</p>
The trail crossed a lot of dirt bike and ATV trails, which I think it would be fun to come back some day and ride those trails. It didn’t take long for me to arrive at Landers Meadow Camp where I’d be spending the night. Landers Meadow Camp is a public campground, but there was only one set of car campers there with their dirt bikes. I wandered over to the spring, the last source of water for 42 miles, and chatted with other hikers. After a while I headed back to my tent to cook up dinner.</p>
Heading back to the spring to wash my dishes, a lady on a dirt bike pulled up and told me and a fellow hiker that she was a trail angel named Cinnabon. True to her name she had Cinnabon’s for us which were so delicious. She told us that the two water caches in the 42 mile dry stretch had plenty of water and that we shouldn’t worry about carrying tons of water. She said that a cache isn’t marked as reliable unless it’s guaranteed that 1,000 gallons are available at all times. Since these caches were only around 200 gallons each they weren’t considered reliable, but she said they were good to go. I was thankful she stopped by as I didn’t really want to carry the weight of 8+ liters of water. With the good news of the caches in mind I headed off to bed.</p>
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Day 52</h2>
Even though there would be caches, the weather was nice and warm, and the shaded tree cover was soon gone. In the distance I caught my first view of the Sierra Nevadas as I could see some small distant snow capped peaks. I had walked so far, and I could finally see what is considered one of the most beautiful parts of the trail.</p>
The sun beat down and the trail changed into a sand dune like consistency which made walking a little hard. I came across the first cache, and sure enough there were 200 gallons there. I took a short break and kept going. The stretch to the next cache was uneventful, but hot. I couldn’t get the idea of an ice cold Coke out of my mind — probably because of the hot dry weather.</p>
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I arrived at the next cache in late afternoon, and amazingly enough there was a bucket filled with ice and Cokes. I couldn’t believe it! Sitting down in the shade of a big joshua tree I relaxed and enjoyed the Coke. It was a nice reward after a long hard day of hiking. Seeing some other hikers, I was informed that had I been there around lunch time a trail angel had stopped by with food along with the Coke!</p>
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Day 53</h2>
Waking up I set off up a nice big climb which was actually quite enjoyable in the cool of the morning. I was heading to Walker Pass where the 42 mile dry stretch ended. It was a quiet day and I didn’t see any hikers at all until I arrived at Walker Pass. The hike to the pass was uneventful besides for a couple more glimpses of the Sierra.</p>
When I arrived at the pass there was some trail magic of Gatorade at a picnic area. I chatted with some fellow hikers and made up dinner. After a bit a truck drove up and the driver offered everyone sodas. Eager for the sugar and caffeine I enjoyed a Mountain Dew. Waiting a little while for the sun to go down a little I relaxed in the shade. Satisfied that the sun wouldn’t roast me, I set off for 4 miles to my campsite.</p>
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Day 54</h2>
I woke up kind of slow and got out of camp almost an hour later than normal. It was partly due to the temperature with a high of 72 for the day. The cold was a welcome change from the usual heat, and I made good time hiking.</p>
The day was filled with ups and downs as I hiked over several mountains. I stopped for a break by a creek where I got some ice cold water. Other than three hikers I saw no one else, and the day was uneventful. I rolled into camp tired and hungry after a 25 mile day. After making dinner I quickly fell asleep to the sound of a nearby creek.</p>
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Day 55</h2>
I woke up ready to go as this was the day I would arrive at Kennedy Meadows — a signal to the end of the desert and the beginning of the Sierra. I also wanted to make it to the General Store for a burger before they closed at 5.</p>
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It was another cold day, but that only helped me move faster. I had a 6 mile climb and then downhill and flat till Kennedy Meadows. The miles melted away and I was treated to some nice views of the Sierra. I soon came upon the South Fork Kern River. After the water-sparse desert, it was a treat to have so much water. I stopped to soak my feet in the ice cold water before tackling the last 4 miles to Kennedy Meadows.</p>

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I soon passed the 700 mile marker and stopped to take in the fact that I had walked so far. In the moment it’s just one step after the other, but when you zoom out and look at the big picture it’s crazy how far I’ve gone.</p>
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Two miles later I cruised into the General Store where other hikers greeted me with claps and cheers. An icon of the trail, the General Store did not disappoint. I grabbed an ice cold Coke from inside and ordered a double cheeseburger from the grill. I savored the burger while chatting with other hikers.</p>
After the store closed I caught a ride to Grumpy Bears — a sort of chow hall that has food, showers, laundry, and camping on their property. I saw some hikers from earlier on in the trail and caught up with them over my milkshake. Next up I took a shower and washed my clothes so I could be all clean when Monica arrived the next day!</p>
Day 56</h2>
I woke up and enjoyed a hearty all you can eat pancake breakfast before heading over to the local outfitter. Yogi, a former PCT hiker runs the outfitter and besides having the best prices around she is a wealth of knowledge about the trail. I even have a guide book she wrote. I picked up a couple of things before heading back to Grumpy Bears to write this up and wait for Monica to arrive. I’ll take a couple zeros with Monica and then head out into the Sierra.</p>
This past section from Tehachapi to Kennedy Meadows has been tough with not being with Monica. I miss her a lot and just want to be with her. I miss her laugh and her smile. I miss waking up next to her. I’ll cherish the zeros I have with her and look forward to when I see her again. While the trail is amazing, I can’t wait till we’re back together each and every day.</p>

PCT Days 44–49

Jon Carl — Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Trail Miles: 444.3–558.5</p>
Day 44</h2>
I slept in until around 7 as it was a zero day. Since I normally get up around 5, 7 felt great. I got up and lazed around all day. I took another shower. I lounged around chatting with other hikers. I ate a pint of Ben & Jerry’s half baked ice cream. As the day grew late I wound down and got ready for bed. When you can have a zero with nothing to do, it’s a wonderful zero. Sometimes a zero is filled with chores of resupplying, showering, laundering, etc. I turned in early so I could get a good start the next day.</p>
Day 45</h2>
I woke up earlier than normal at 4:30 so I could get a good start on the 10 miles to Agua Dulce. With everything packed up I hit the trail a little before 5:30. It was still cool as I climbed up several hundred feet into the desert hills. As I neared Agua Dulce I could see Vasquez Rocks in the distance. The rocks have appeared in Star Trek, Bonanza, The A-Team, MacGyver and other Hollywood ventures. As I passed the rocks I came upon the town of Agua Dulce. I walked the road into town and was soon hailed over to the Sweetwater Cafe by a fellow hiker. I sat down and enjoyed a Monte Cristo breakfast sandwich — ham steak, blackberry jam and mascarpone cheese sandwiched between two pieces of French toast. I also had a glass of chocolate milk because it sounded so good. The sandwich was amazing and I would definitely get it again.</p>

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Finishing up my breakfast I caught the 10 AM shuttle to Hiker Heaven where some trail angels open up their property to hikers. Upon arrival I was given a tour — there was a sewing station, charging station, mailing station, showers, guest trailer with a full kitchen, tv, and WiFi, and a lot of info for various other trail related things. I put my name down on the list for an REI run so I could grab some new shoes since mine were getting to small for my feet. I then packaged up the big tent Monica and I had used along with some other odds and ends and had those shipped to Monica.</p>
The ride to REI was me and a fellow hiker, Idaho. Upon arrival at REI I asked about my shoe, the Altra Lone Peak, in a half-size larger, but they didn’t have it in any size near what I needed. I ended up going with the Altra Timp, a trail running shoe similar to the Lone Peak but with more cushion. Leaving REI I spotted a Chick-fil-A which I had to stop at. After scarfing down a grilled chicken sandwich I grabbed two packs of Chick-fil-A sauce for the trail before Idaho and I headed back to Hiker Heaven.</p>
Because of the fire near the trail right after Hiker Heaven there were shuttles up the trail. I took a shuttle 24 miles up the trail to Green Valley. There was another trail angel there with a place called Casa de Luna. I stopped in for a dinner of taco salad and then headed out on the trail for two miles before I camped for the night. I cowboy camped right off the trail and enjoyed the stars. Staring up into the night sky I was treated to a view of the International Space Station as it cruised through space. In the distance I could see a sea of red flashing lights which I would later learn were wind turbines. I also would hike through those turbines.</p>
After falling asleep I was treated to two different events. First I heard some noise and saw some lights. Soon after two mountain bikes came wizzing by on the trail — something which is prohibited. The second was a little later when two voices, a guy and a girl, woke me up. I couldn’t see anything, but could hear everything they were saying. They must have stopped for a small break because I heard a lot. From what I could hear I gathered that they were naked and on LSD. They commented that they had THE best PCT experience by being on acid while night hiking. Now I’m all for the trail adage of hike your own hike (HYOH), but I’m getting tired of the drug usage on trail. There’s plenty of weed usage which is legal in California, but not on federal land, which a majority of the PCT is on federal land in national parks and forests. I’m tired of getting smacked in the face with the smell of weed smoke every time I get to a campsite with other hikers. I’ve seen hikers high on weed jumping carelessly from rock to rock, heard of others using acid, and now heard (not technically seen) for myself of hikers using acid. It’s stupid, let alone illegal. Why anyone needs a drug to enhance their experience in the already amazing outdoors is beyond me, and the harm they could do to themselves while on the drug is also a risk. One of the reasons I’m hiking the PCT is to enjoy the outdoors and all of the drug use on trail is not contributing to that enjoyment. Rant over.</p>
Day 46</h2>
Waking up I packed up camp and thought back over the events that happened the night before. I was thinking I might have dreamt everything, but upon getting back on the trail the bike treads with two distinct pairs of shoe prints on top of them confirmed I had not dreamt. I later confirmed with some fellow hikers that a guy and girl had indeed hiked naked on LSD that night. Fun stuff.</p>
Setting off I made great time. It was a hot day, but the trail was mostly shaded and a nice cool breeze was blowing. As I hiked I thought about my trail name. Several days before in a group someone had called me the Lone Ranger since I had been hiking with Monica but was now all alone. As I hiked I kept thinking about that name. I liked it and decided I’d take it as my trail name. As I went through the day I introduced myself to other hikers as Lone Ranger.</p>

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With an uneventful day I hiked towards Bear Camp. Several miles before camp I passed the 500 mile marker where I had to stop for a photo op. After a little while I arrived at camp where I was the only person around. I enjoyed some tuna on tortillas along with Chick-fil-A sauce before I set up for the night. I had gotten into camp around 5, so I relaxed on my sleeping bag before turning into bed.</p>
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Day 47</h2>
I got up around the normal time and started the 13 miles to Hikertown — a stop where someone had constructed a mock western town out of sheds and lets hikers stop in to stay the night, shower, refuel, and charge devices. They also let you sleep on a bed in the sheds for $10 a night.</p>
I busted out the miles and arrived after four and a half hours. I was surprised to see some friend there who I thought would be up the trail. We said hi and chatted for a while. I found out that they weren’t going to be able to finish the whole trail so they were chilling for a couple of days before skipping up to the Sierra to do some trail they had been looking forward to.</p>
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Soon after arriving a group of hikers were heading out to the Neenach Cafe down the road. I hopped in the van with them and headed down to the cafe where I enjoyed a double bacon cheeseburger, a coke, and a mocha milkshake. Full of good food I headed back to Hikertown where I relaxed and rested for the rest of the day.</p>
The next section of the trail was walking along the LA Aqueduct. It’s a flat 17 mile section, but the sun can beat down on you. A lot of hikers opt to do the section at night to avoid the heat, so that was my plan as well. I headed to bed for a short couple hours of sleep.</p>
Day 48</h2>
I woke up at 12:30 AM and ate a quick breakfast before doing my stretches and filling up on water. With my headlamp on I headed out for the aqueduct walk. The mice were out and one ran right between my legs. I learned to tap my trekking poles in their direction and they would run away from me. The wind that had been blowing all night quickly died down and I was comfortable in just my shirt and shorts. I was glad I had decided to night hike the aqueduct as adding the sun into the mix would have definitely been toasty. As the sun rose I continued walking along making great time. The aqueduct soon came to an end where I was able to fill up my water from a water spigot straight from the aqueduct.</p>

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The terrain changed into a wind farm, though the wind was nowhere to be found. The temperature was rising as I climbed towards the mountains. After climbing up for a while the trail dropped into a canyon where there were some tentsites and a little trickle of a stream. I had thought of camping there for the night, but the shade was nonexistent and I didn’t want to sit baking in the sun for the next 8 hours.</p>
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The next viable sounding campsite was in 5 miles so I set off down the trail. After several miles I started a nice 2,000 foot ascent. There was still no shade and the sun was beating down. Thankfully a cool breeze would blow from time to time as I plodded up the mountain. After way to long I could see some pop-up umbrellas in the distance. I quickened my pace in anticipation of the shade. I soon arrived at the campsite where some trail angels have a permanent setup of umbrellas, water, chairs, and some snacks. I enjoyed an orange and then a drink called a hug. I wouldn’t recommend the drink as it tasted weird. I chatted with some fellow hikers and relaxed for a bit.</p>
The town I was going to, Tehachapi, was 9 miles down the trail. I was feeling pretty good and the normal tiredness and soreness had not set in yet. I got the idea of sleeping clean in between cotton sheets on a comfortable bed into my head and couldn’t get it out. With 31 miles behind me I set out on the last 9. The miles were downhill and I was feeling good. About 3 miles from the end the tiredness finally hit me but I pushed on as the bed was still in my mind. Arriving at the trailhead there was a trail angel waiting to shuttle hikers into Tehachapi. He said he was on his way home from work and saw some hikers coming through the wind farm so he was waiting to give us a ride. Thankful to be done I loaded my pack into his truck and waited for the other hikers behind me.</p>
With the other hikers on board we headed into Tehachapi. From reading another hikers blog I had decided on the Best Western as the place to spend the night. They had a hiker discount, guest laundry, continental breakfast, a hot tub, and pool. Upon arrival I booked two nights so I could take a zero and headed to my room. With 40 miles hiked that day I was tired. I had hiked for 18 hours with a couple of breaks mixed in. After eating dinner and stretching I collapsed into bed where I had one of the best nights of sleep I’ve ever had.</p>
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Day 49</h2>
Today is a zero. I had a hearty breakfast from the hotel continental breakfast and then headed out to the post office and to resupply. I’m glad I made it into town last night and get a whole day off here.</p>
Next up is a hot and dry 130 mile section up to Kennedy Meadows. There’s a 42 mile stretch without a water source which will be interesting. At Kennedy Meadows Monica will meet up with me and I’ll take two days off. I can’t wait to see her.</p>

PCT Days 40–43

Jon Carl — Wed, 06 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Trail Miles: 374–444.3</p>
Day 40</h2>
I woke up well rested after a night in a real bed. The trail angels, Mike and Sue, were very kind and generous. I was the only hiker staying the night and I had a good conversation over dinner with them. I’ve been amazed by all the trail angels I’ve met along the trail — they’re all so kind and generous to complete strangers.</p>
After gulping down the half a sandwich left over from dinner the night before I hopped in the car with Mike. He dropped me off at Vincent Gap which was at the base of Mount Baden-Powell. After saying my goodbye and thanks I did my morning stretches and started out on the 4 mile, 2,800 foot climb. With a 13% grade it was the steepest uphill I’ve encountered on the trail so far. The past 300+ miles of hiking paid off and I powered up the hill in a little under 2 hours. It was the first time I noticed how much the trip has changed me physically. Here I was with a 30 pound pack and I was passing day hikers with nothing more than a liter or two of water and some snacks in their backpack.</p>
Reaching the summit I relaxed and ate my apple. I also took some time to think back on how Lord Baden-Powell, the man whom the Mount was named after, had changed my life. He was the founder of Scouting. Without Boy Scouts I would have never gotten into backpacking. And without backpacking I would never be on the PCT. Without one man all those years ago my life would be totally different — and not just because I would have never gotten into backpacking. Boy Scouts has done so much for me and taught me so much. So yeah, he definitely deserves having a Mount named after him.</p>
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After soaking up the views I continued on down the trail to Little Jimmy Spring to fill up my water. Right before I got to the spring I sipped the last of my water which meant that I had planned the water carry just right. It’s always nice to have just enough water — it means you didn’t carry any extra weight. As I rested at the spring several runners stopped by for a fill up. The runners were out training for the 100 mile race this fall. Running up Baden-Powell only took them around 30–40 minutes or less— almost a quarter of the time it took me.</p>
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Refreshed and filled with Cheese-Its I headed out. I hiked alone for a while as I enjoyed the views and thought about the many random things flowing through my mind. What do I think about when I’m hiking? I don’t know. In the moment it’s whatever comes to mind, but at the end of the day it’s a blur. Sometimes a song comes to mind. Sometimes I pray. Sometimes I think about soda or ice cream or other food I don’t have on the trail. Whatever it is it passes the time.</p>
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With four miles left for the day I took a short break after crossing Highway 2. Two hikers, Tebow and Shiggy, hiked up and I joined them for the last miles of the day. We had a 3 mile walk along Highway 2 because of a trail closure. It’s not very fun hiking on the highway, but it was better with other hikers to chat with. Reaching Buckhorn campground we met a trail angel named Ron. He said he comes up a lot and has snacks and drinks for PCT hikers. Tebow and Shiggy continued on, but I stopped for the night. I chatted with Ron around his campfire and then turned in for the night.</p>
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Day 41</h2>
I woke up with a scratchy throat, but the rest of my body felt ready for another day. I packed up and headed out. The morning was uneventful and I made good time to the Camp Glenwood — a private cabin with a public water faucet for hikers. I took a longer break there and used the cell service to text Monica.</p>
After I filled up on water I headed off down the trail. My next stop was Sulphur Springs Trail Camp — a National Forest camp that people can drive to and camp. Right before the camp I saw my first human of the day laying on the side of the trail taking a break from the heat. We chatted for a bit and then I continued down to the camp. Unfortunately the camp was quite trashed by day campers. It’s really sad when we don’t take care of our trash — especially when you bring a car to your campsite. You don’t even have to carry it on your back to throw it out!</p>
After searching for a solid 20 minutes I finally found the water faucet tucked back at the end of a faint trail covered by overgrowth. All filled up I headed out to conquer the rest of the day. The next chunk of miles passed uneventful and quiet. Climbing the last peak of the day I could see a wildfire burning in the distance. Checking my phone I learned that it was the Stone Fire near Agua Dulce. The trail goes right through Agua Dulce and because of the fire is now closed for several miles. At that point it was a solid 45 miles ahead of me and I didn’t need to worry about it.</p>
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With 19 miles behind me I still had 6 to go for the day. Fortunately they were downhill miles and a water faucet and pit toilet awaited me at the end. As I hiked on I passed a local who was out looking for deer and other animals. I soon reached the campsite which is right next to the Mill Creek Fire Station. I chatted with some hikers who were already there as I cooked up my ramen for dinner. Soon after my dinner they headed out for the night and I settled in to my tent for a nice night of rest after 25 miles of hiking.</p>
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Day 42</h2>
Thankfully no fire sirens woke me up in the middle of the night and I had a good night of sleep. I had 18 miles to go to my campsite for the night, and supposedly the ranger station at the camp had hotdogs, ice cream, chips, and soda. There was also no water until camp that night so I stocked up with 6 liters of water. Heading out there were lots of ups and downs throughout the day.</p>
Poodle Dog Bush is a plant that grows in burn areas. Contact with the plant can causes blisters and a reaction similar to poison oak. It also can take several days for the reaction to happen. And on repeat exposure it can cause a memory response that makes previously exposed areas react again even though they were not directly in contact again. That plant was all along the section of trail for the day. I don’t think I touched it, but since it can take several days to react I’m not sure.</p>
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I made good time and had an uneventful hike. The last two miles had a lot of vegetation covering the trail with some poison oak mixed in for fun. I blazed my way through that and soon sighted the ranger station. Upon arrival the volunteer ranger, Ron, informed me that he was out of hotdogs and ice cream, but still had soda and snacks. I sat down and relaxed for a couple of hours while I enjoyed 3 ice cold sodas. Ron chatted with several of us hikers and we learned that he did the PCT back in the 90s. Back then he said there were so few people on trail that you knew everyone out there. Mostly from trail registers that everyone signed, but there were so few people it was easy to keep track of everyone. This year alone he said there were over 4,000 PCT permits issued.</p>
Since I had cell service I called Monica and chatted for a bit before I headed to bed.</p>
Day 43</h2>
I woke up ready to go with only 9 miles to go until a KOA where I would take a zero. They have a pool, hot tub, showers, laundry, and a small store. Leaving the ranger station I hiked down for a little while before I started a short uphill section. The views were incredible as fog blanketed the mountains in the distance. As I climbed up some fog rolled across the trail and with it brought a nice cool breeze. I soon spotted the KOA in the distance and picked up the pace to reach the KOA sooner.</p>

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I’m sitting in a break room at the KOA charging my phone and typing this post out. I picked up my sleeping bag and tent, so no more cold nights sleeping in just sleeping bag liners! Once my resupply package arrives with my laundry pods I can do my laundry and then hop in the hot tub!</p>
This past section was hot and challenging with some long days, but I’m making good time and am having a good time. I’m glad I’m still on the trail even though it’s different without Monica.</p>

PCT Days 35-39

Jon Carl — Sat, 02 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Trail Miles: 342–363.4</p>
Days 35–37</h2>
We continued resting up for Monica and enjoyed our time with the Trail Angels, Layne and Elise. They took good care of us and we really enjoyed our time with them.</p>
We went to the doctor for Monica’s follow up appointment and got the news: while her ankle was better than the week before, if she got back on the trail the problem would come right back. It was a hard decision, but we decided that she would get off and head to her parents and I would continue on. At first I wanted to get off with her because the trail won’t be the same without her. But then when I really thought about it I knew I would regret not giving it a shot.</p>
While trying to figure out how to get Monica to LAX and how to get me back on the trail, Layne and Elise offered to drop me off at Cajon Pass and take Monica all the way to LAX. They’re definitely putting the angel in Trail Angel. Cajon Pass is a little ways up from where Monica and I had gotten off last, but the desert heat is coming and I need to do my best to beat it.</p>
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Day 38</h2>
I got dropped off at Cajon Pass and said a teary goodbye to Monica. She’ll drive and meet up with me along the trail, but it’ll be a little while till then. With the 10 AM heat kicking in I set off on the trail. I passed under the interstate as well as some train tracks and meandered my way towards a water cache.</p>
I passed a fellow hiker who told me it was only 10 miles to Wrightwood, which sounded wrong to me. We chatted and he realized he had read the map wrong and we really had 16 miles to go. Fortunately there was a water cache and he was able to up his water storage. I took one liter and continued on. The next part was 13 miles of uphill and it was in the heat of the day.</p>

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Sipping on my water as I went, I slowly climbed up. I reached my campsite sore and tired, but there were glass shards mixed in with the gravel and I didn’t want to pitch my tent and risk it getting cut up. The next tentsite was 4.5 miles ahead, so I pressed on. As the sunset I got out my headlamp in case I needed it for the last few miles. About a mile from the tentsite I went to turn the headlamp on only to find out that the battery was dead. Using bits of energy I upped my pace to cover the last mile before I couldn’t see at all. Tired, sore, and scratched up from some bushes I couldn’t see in the dark I arrived at the tentsite. I sat down, drank some water, and charged my headlamp. After I had relaxed a little bit I set up the tent, made ramen, and went to sleep.</p>
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Since Monica and I had a double sleeping bag we sent it home when she went home and I’m using both of our sleeping bag liners as a sleeping bag until my sleeping bag comes in. I also have the three person tent which I’ll switch out for my two person tent when that arrives as well. I’ve found that a one person tent is too small for me, so I always add one to the number of people who will actually be in a tent when buying.</p>
Day 39</h2>
I woke up with my feet a little cold, but I was well rested and ready to conquer the 5 miles into Wrightwood. I made good time to the side trail into Wrightwood and passed several day hikers on my way down. Some of them are preparing for a 100 mile race through the mountains this fall — some serious runners.</p>
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I soon reached the outskirts of Wrightwood and walked through streets lined with nice mountain cabin houses. The locals are very friendly and one gave me directions to the Mountain Hardware store where most hikers sign the trail register and can get a list of Trail Angels to stay with. For signing the register I got a tiny PCT pin which I can put on my pack.</p>
I hung out in the hiker area that the Mountain Hardware store had and called Monica to catch up and tell her everything that happened on the trail. After that I grabbed lunch with a hiker we’ve been leapfrogging for a while. Full of burger I headed to the grocery store to type this post up. They have shade, picnic tables, and charging stations for PCT hikers here. Later today I’ll head over to a Trail Angels house where I’ll get a shower, clean laundry, and a nice bed to sleep in.</p>
It’s different hiking without Monica. I don’t have a companion I can talk to on the time. There’s no one to tell my we need to take breaks. But I won’t let her being gone detract from what I’m doing. I’m walking to Canada. It’s hard, but at the end of every day I’m glad I’m hiking and making my dream a reality.</p>

PCT Days 27-34

Jon Carl — Mon, 28 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Trail Miles: 277.7–298.5</p>
Day 27</h2>
We woke up in a real bed and quickly got ready to go as we had packed everything up the night before. We were excited as we were going to be hitting bigger miles this week. We had 17 miles ahead of us for the day and we were ready. We enjoyed a meal of sausage, scrambled eggs, pancakes, coffee, and orange juice. The trail angel, Elise, drove us out to the trailhead where we hiked 2 miles up to the PCT.</p>
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The hike was beautiful and we got some nice views of Big Bear Lake. A couple of miles in Monica’s ankles started to bother her. They’ve bothered her off and on for a while, but we’d passed it off as soreness since our legs and feet are almost always sore throughout the day. This time was different though, and we still had a good number of miles to go. Monica popped 4 ibuprofen and we kept going. When the ibuprofen didn’t help we knew we would need to do something. With rest breaks, which helped her ankles, we made it to our campsite by a creek. It was a nice creek with a lot of water. It’s always nice to camp beside a water source as you don’t have to worry about water and conserving it for the hike the next day.</p>
Eating dinner we had a good talk about Monica’s ankles. We couldn’t keep hiking with them the way they were. It was decided that we needed to take at least a week off for rest and recovery. After that we’d reassess how things were and figure out what to do. Since I didn’t have cell service I used my GPS, which has texting, to contact the trail angels we had stayed with. When we left they told us to let them know if there was anything they could do to help us along the way. They were kind enough to offer to pick us up and they said we could stay at their place while we recovered.</p>
Day 28</h2>
We woke up to the gentle sound of the flowing creek. Packing up camp we set out on the 6 miles to the trailhead where we would put out. Monica’s ankles started hurting early on in the hike and we knew we had made the right decision to take a week off. Nearing the trailhead we saw our first rattlesnake of the PCT. He was sunning himself right next to the trail with his head almost on the trail itself. He didn’t rattle, but just laid there. Since he was so close to the trail we weren’t sure what to do, but without him rattling it seemed like we could pass. We walked by on the opposite side of the 2 foot wide trail and thankfully he didn’t do anything.</p>
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Shortly after the encounter we arrived at the Splinters Cabin trailhead. Two forest rangers met us to drive us out the backroad to where Layne and Elise were waiting. The back roads to the trailhead where pretty off-road, and their car couldn’t have made it. The rangers were very nice and were glad we didn’t have anything worse than some ankle pain.</p>
Back with Layne and Elise, we headed to their house in Big Bear City, CA where we’ve been resting up ever since.</p>
Days 29–34</h2>
We were able to get in with a local doctor who ordered some x-rays for Monica and assessed her injury. There is no stress fracture and it seems to be a case of ankle tendonitis. The doctor prescribed a week off, icing the ankle, and taking ibuprofen to help the inflammation.</p>
We’re not sure what caused the tendonitis, but our one guess is switching to her new shoes about 150 miles back. Most shoes have a higher heel than the toes, but her new shoes are zero-drop which means that the heel is the same level as the toes. We got her some inserts that will raise the heel above the toes. We also picked up an ankle brace for each ankle which seem to be helping as well.</p>
Yesterday and today she hasn’t had any pain in her ankles which is a very good sign. On Thursday, May 31st, we have a follow up with the doctor in the morning. If everything goes well we are planning on doing a 10 mile section of the PCT that afternoon. If that goes well, we’re planning on heading out on Friday.</p>
It’s been hard since all we can do is wait and we don’t know what the outcome will be. Are we off the trail? Do I keep going and Monica takes a month off? Do we flip up and start going south from the Canadian border in mid July? For now we’re in a holding pattern. We’re learning patience and reliance on the perfect plan of God. In the interim we’ve been helping the trail angels out with cooking, cleaning, and hiker taxiing. It’s better than sitting around, but we’re itching to get out hiking again.</p>

PCT Days 19–26

Jon Carl — Sun, 20 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Trail Miles: 179.4 — 266.1</p>
Day 19</h2>
We woke up at the Idyllwild Inn rested and ready to go. Thankfully my fever was gone and I felt ready to hike. Taking two zeros wasn’t what we wanted to do, but it was needed and without it I don’t think I could have kept hiking. The Inn provided a shuttle to the Devil’s Slide trail which was 2.2 miles back up to the PCT. It was all uphill and slow going, but we made it back to the PCT. We still had a lot of ups and downs to go, so we plodded along.</p>

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We stopped for a longer break at one point and I enjoyed some of the lemonade mix I had gotten in Idyllwild. While we were sitting down a fellow thru-hiker came by and chatted with us. He wasn’t from the US and had made the unfortunate mistake of getting Kool-Aid packs for his water without realizing that you need sugar to go with the Kool-Aid mix. He had 6 packs of the mix and said he would use it all since he bought it. We offered him some lemonade, but he refused.</p>

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After filling up on water the last time for the next 19 miles we headed off to our campsite. We arrived right before sunset and set up camp quickly so we could get into our sleeping bag and out of the cold.</p>
Day 20</h2>
We woke up to some warmer weather and started out on the big descent — 7,700 feet of elevation all the way down to 1,700 feet of elevation. While uphill isn’t fun, downhill isn’t always fun either. Especially 15 miles of downhill. On the flip-side, I’m sure glad we didn’t have to hike up those 15 miles.</p>
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The majority of the day was uneventful and slow going down the hill. We didn’t see many people until near the end. A couple passed us and we watched them run ahead of us past a bee hive. As we got close to the bee hive we saw some rocks spelling out “bee” to warn us. We walked by briskly and while I came through unscathed, Monica did not. She had 3 stings and 2 of them were straight through her clothes. Thankfully Monica isn’t allergic to bees and no harm was done beside the stings and their itchiness.</p>
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At the bottom of the hill was the first water since our fill up 19 miles before. It’s a water faucet that leeches of a Las Angeles water pipe coming from a spring on San Jacinto — the mountain we had just climbed down from. I made some lemonade to celebrate making it down the mountain and we started setting up our tent. The wind blew the tent out of its stakes so we decided it was a cowboy camping night — sleeping in our sleeping bag under the stars. We settled in and watched the sun set and the stars come out. As the sky grew darker our friends the bats came out to clear the sky of bugs so we could sleep without pesky insects.</p>
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Day 21</h2>
We woke up with the sunrise and set out across the desert towards Interstate 10. The wind was brutal and it made sense why there were several wind farms in the valley.</p>

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Reaching I-10 we met up some fellow hikers we’ve seen off and on since day 1. We set off with them towards the Mesa Wind Farm. Rumor had it that we could go to the office there and get cold drinks and WiFi. We made good time and reached the wind farm in the late morning. Following signs we arrived at the office and were greeted with cold sodas, Gatorade, water, and frozen food that could be microwaved. Donations were requested if you took soda or food which made sense since they weren’t a charity. Monica and I enjoyed a breakfast sandwich and I had a nice cold soda. We stayed longer than we probably should have — 2 hours. It was nice to sit back and relax. They also randomly had a scale in the bathroom and I found out that I’ve lost 13 pounds so far on the trail.</p>
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From the wind farm we didn’t have far to go to a preserve where they had a wading pool, grass to camp on, and bathrooms with flush toilets — the real luxury. It was hot, but thankfully not the 110 F it was the week before. We put away the miles and got to the Whitewater Preserve around 4. We dipped our feet in the ice cold wading pool and washed some of the dirt off of our bodies. The preserve closes at 5, but they let PCT hikers stay the night which means we get a nice quiet preserve to ourselves. In the field where we were setting up our tent some fellow hikers discovered two gopher snakes fighting over a gopher hole. It was interesting to watch and both Monica and I were glad they weren’t rattlesnakes. We settled in for the night and drifted off to sleep.</p>

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Day 22</h2>
We woke up at the usual 5 and were heading down the trail around 6. We had a couple climbs to get out of the valley we were in and we crossed the roaring Whitewater Creek which is one of the biggest water crossings in the desert section of the PCT.</p>
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Around mid morning we came across Mission Creek which the trail follows for about 14 miles. It had good flow and we took a short break to get water and soak our feet in the ice cold flow. After the break we continued on to our campsite. It wasn’t the best campsite in the world, but it was close to the stream and it wasn’t windy. We relaxed for the rest of the day and chatted with hikers as they came by.</p>
Day 23</h2>
The next morning we were up and at it again and ready to go. We had 7 miles to an ice cold spring where I was going to make some more lemonade. The climb was steep, but it was cool with a nice breeze. Hills aren’t fun, but we both feel like we’re getting better at them — especially at higher elevations. We don’t feel as winded as quickly and can go farther than before without taking a break. Maybe our hiker legs are arriving!</p>
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Once we arrived at the spring we sat down and rested for a while. I made my lemonade and then we had mac & cheese. It was the last water of the day so we wanted to get any cooking done so we didn’t have to haul water along for cooking. After eating some more we headed out. We got to our campsite, but it was pretty windy so we headed on for 2 more miles where we could camp in the valley out of the wind.</p>
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Day 24</h2>
It was a cool night and we had a low mileage day so we slept in and took our time getting out of camp. I was excited because there was the possibility of free soda about 7 miles into the day. It wasn’t a lot of up or down hill and we made good time. We came upon a couch and a little dumpster converted into a snack and soda holder maintained by the Big Bear Hostel. There were 3 sodas left so I enjoyed a knock-off Coca-Cola and some cookies while relaxing on the couch. We stayed longer than we probably should have, but we only had 3 miles left till we were at camp.</p>
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After our friend Pete passed us we set off again and arrived at our campsite. It had a stream nearby along with picnic tables next to the campsites. We setup and ate our ramen followed by Oreos. We then chatted with a grandfather, father, and daughter who were out on a one night backpacking trip. They were fascinated with our hike and told us that what we were doing was awesome.</p>
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Day 25</h2>
Soon after emerging from the tent the next morning we started seeing a lot of day hikers. They seemed to never end coming through our campsite. We quickly packed up and headed out. 2 miles down the trail near a road there were some tables set up and people hanging out around them. We chatted with them and found out that they were with Make-A-Wish San Diego and they were having a 28 mile hike to fundraise. Now we knew what all those day hikers we saw were doing. At their table they had free fruit and snacks available for thru-hikers. We ate some bananas and kept going.</p>
The day wound on and our scenery changed back and forth between trees and open areas scattered with bushes. Mixing between mountain scenery and desert like scenery. We stopped for a quick minute to enjoy some ice-pops being handed out by a little boy and his grandfather. Soon after we hit the 10% mark — we have 10% of the trail behind us. It might sound overwhelming to think that we still have 90% left, but we don’t think about that — we think about how far we’ve come. 265 miles is a long way and even now as I’m writing this it’s hard to believe we’ve come so far.</p>

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Pushing on we soon made it to Highway 18 which was our ending point for the day. There was a couple out on a day hike who started chatting with us. Their daughter had thru-hiked the PCT a couple years ago and they were excited to talk with us. They offered us a ride into town which we readily excepted. There was a couple in town who opened their home up to hikers. We got dropped off at their house and met the trail angels Layne and Elise. They’re a nice couple who’ve been in Big Bear for 39 years. They let Monica and I stay in their RV so we had the whole place to ourselves. We were able to take nice warm showers and wash our clothes before heading out to resupply for the next section.</p>
The trail angels provided tacos for dinner and Monica and I picked up some avocados at the store to make guacamole to complement the dinner. We had great conversation with the trail angels and a fellow hiker before we retired to the RV for the night. We crawled into bed and quickly fell asleep. We’ve got some nice air pads for sleeping on in our tent, but a mattress feels so good.</p>
Day 26</h2>
Today we’re taking a zero before we head out on the trail again. As always it’s nice to relax and let our bodies recover. This next section we’re going to up our mileage to 15+ miles a day. We’re hoping to cover the 88 miles to Wrightwood in 6 days.</p>
We’re excited with how far we’ve come. There’s a lot ahead, but we just think town to town, mile by mile. We’re getting more comfortable being on the trail and away from civilization, though that’s not to say we don’t miss the comforts of life. We still have hard days. We still have uphill. We have long water carries. We have the hot blazing sun and cold nights. We have soreness and pain. But we also have laughter and good times. We have beautiful sunrises and sunsets. We see new and different plants. We have experiences we wouldn’t trade for anything. This is an adventure I’m glad I’m on — especially with Monica.</p>

PCT Days 11–18

Jon Carl — Sat, 12 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Trail Miles: 109.5–166.6 + 15 off trail</p>
Day 11</h2>
We “slept in” till 7 and then took our time getting ready for the trail. We only had 5.4 miles to do so we weren’t in a hurry. We ate our oatmeal, coffee, and pop tarts before setting off. We wandered through the meadows again and then got into a little bit of shade from the trees. We started following a creek which was flowing nicely. It didn’t take long to arrive at the place we were going to camp. We set down our packs and soaked our feet in the cold stream. We talked a little bit about the plan to Idyllwild and ended up decided to push on 4.6 miles which would set us up to reach Idyllwild a day earlier than planned without doing too many miles on a single day.</p>
We waited around the stream until around 2:30 before we set out. It was hot and we had an upwards climb for the rest of the day. When we arrived at our actual campsite there were two other people there who told us that there was a nice spring down a side trail where we could wash up if we wanted. Drinking the water wasn’t suggested as it smelled weird and was not moving. We did have filters, but for some water sources it’s suggested to chemically treat and filter. We just washed up and then chatted a bit with the others before we watched the sunset and then headed to bed.</p>

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Day 12</h2>
We got up early and hit the trail in the cool of the morning. We had 7 miles to go in order to reach Mike’s Place — a stop just off the trail where a guy named Mike keeps a large tank of water filled and sometimes has food. We had an uneventful trek and reached his place around 10. We filled up with some nice cold water from the tank and headed down to his house. At the house we dropped off a days worth of food in the hiker box since we were able to cut a day off our plan to get to Idyllwild. A hiker box is a box where hikers can put things they don’t need and other hikers can take those things if they need them. It’s also fun to look through the hiker box to see what junk other hikers carried this far. Like a 5 gallon hanging shower — useful with all the water available in the desert section.</p>
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After a short break and some bananas from Mike we hit the trail again. It still wasn’t super hot yet and thankfully there was a nice breeze going. We made good time and got to our campsite soon after 1. We setup part of our tent to shelter us from the sun and then relaxed there the rest of the afternoon.</p>
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At this point I realized that while I don’t mind being hot or being dirty, I do mind being those together. With them together I feel disgusting. Even under the shade it was hot and I was still dirty. Normally at the end of the day it’s not so hot. Lesson learned and on the trail all you can do is tough it out.</p>
Day 13</h2>
Before we set out at 6 AM we heard plenty of other hikers pass us — as early as 3 AM. We packed up and started out. We had a couple of miles to go to Tule Spring which we heard wasn’t the greatest water source. Once there I climbed down to the spring to scoop water out. The water wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t really moving and if you disturbed it too much you got lots of sediment. We scooped out 6 liters and treated it chemically before filtering it. We had a total of 4 liters each which is good for a solid 8 miles for us — which is what we had left for the rest of the day.</p>
Setting out it started to get hot. The shade was non-existent as the sun rose high in the sky and we started to bake. We didn’t want to stop and bake in the sun so we pressed on. We finally found a big rock with a sliver of shade so we stopped for 30 minutes and cooled off. Next was a climb up 900 feet of elevation over 2 miles. Normally a climb like that wouldn’t be a problem, but there wasn’t any wind and the sun was blazing in a cloudless sky.</p>
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After a long while we reached a dirt road with a water cache. Monica and I were both almost out of water so we sat in the shade and shared a gallon of fresh, clean water. After an hour break we continued on 2 miles where we reached a water tank and tent area maintained by a trail angel named Mary. She had a big water tank, picnic tables under a sun canopy with ice water and lemonade, room for tents, a pit toilet, and a little library. Mary rode by on her horse and later walked by with her dog and chatted with us.</p>
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Thankful for relaxing shade and being done for the day we headed off to bed.</p>
Day 14</h2>
We woke up with a spring in our step — not because we had gotten a good nights rest (which we hadn’t because of the warmth), but because we only had 7 miles to the Paradise Valley Cafe where we could order some food and relax. The morning had some decent up hills, but it was still cool from the night and we had our minds set on food.</p>

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We reached the Cafe around 9:30 where we ordered breakfast and lemonade. Over the course of the time there I probably had 8 glasses of lemonade. The breakfast was amazing and the Cafe was very friendly. They let us hang out till lunch when we ordered burgers and then after that till 3 PM. They also let hikers stay outside overnight, but we had 5 more miles to go. A lot of people hitch 17 miles right into Idyllwild because of a fire closure, but we had heard that meant skipping a beautiful 30 mile section.</p>
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We set out to our campsite and made it there in good time. Monica and I both felt sluggish and figured it was from the food and lemonade. The campsite was a nice quiet wooded spot and we slept pretty well.</p>

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Day 15</h2>
We only had 12.5 miles to conquer, but it included a total of 3,600 feet of elevation ascent and 1,700 feet of elevation descent. 1,200 of both of those elevation feet were within the last 4 miles. 2 miles down 1,200 feet and 1,200 feet up for the next two miles. We set off and stopped at Tunnel Spring where we filled up with 4 liters of water each.</p>
As we continued our ascent the sun blazed down. We could feel the elevation gain and the heat. Thankfully there were more trees than normal, but it was still hot. Approaching the burn area the shade dissipated and we started warming up. We pushed on with a couple of stops in the limited shade.</p>

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Reaching the top of the climb we only had. 4 miles left. We were running a little low on water with about a liter and a half each, but the water report said that about 8/10 of a mile down a side trail at the bottom of the two mile descent was a spring with a 70 gallon Rubbermaid tub maintained by the forest service. It wasn’t an official water stop, and hadn’t been updated since before the fire, but it was either check that out or run out of water on the way up to our campsite. We couldn’t find the side trail, but knew with a break waiting for the sun to calm down a little bit we could make it 5 flat miles to a road where we could hitch to a campsite with water.</p>
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After a long rest in the shade we set out for the 5 miles where we were picked up by a wonderful couple from Idyllwild. They took us several miles up the road to Herkey Creek Campground where we could spend the night with all the water we could want. Once at the campground we started looking around for a campsite. On our search we saw some fellow thru-hikers we had had started with on day 1 who welcomed us to join them and offered us fresh fruit and other food. We had been dreaming about fresh juicy fruit almost all day so it was an answer to an un-prayed prayer.</p>
Glad to be done for the day we headed off to bed so we could take on the last 7 miles into Idyllwild.</p>
Day 16</h2>
The 7 miles into Idyllwild aren’t official PCT miles. They’re part of the fire closure and aren’t on very nice trails and aren’t marked well. We walked mostly on water drainage formed dirt until we hit a dirt road which we followed for a while until we hit some paved roads. We walked through the outskirts of Idyllwild until we arrived in the downtown of the beautiful mountain town of Idyllwild. The road walk wasn’t fun. There wasn’t a huge shoulder for hikers to walk on and getting into downtown wasn’t marked at all.</p>
We reached the Idyllwild Inn, where we had a reservation, around 1. Our room was already ready and we quickly moved in and took hot showers before sending off our clothes to be washed. Next up we headed out to dinner with a friend we had met earlier in the week. We enjoyed good food and conversation before we came back to the Inn where we quickly fell asleep. I did not sleep well and tossed and turned for 4 hours before I took some Vitamin I (ibuprofen) which broke my fever sometime in the morning and helped me sleep better.</p>
Day 17</h2>
I woke up feeling a lot better, though after a morning of resupply and laying around I still felt pretty out of it and shivery. We booked another night at the Inn and hopefully we’ll be ready to go on Sunday the 13th.</p>
After laying around all day and not being able to fall asleep I was bored of the room. Monica and I decided to go watch Avengers: Infinity Wars with some trail friends at the one theatre in town. They only show the latest blockbuster on their one screen. It was nice to be out of the room and I actually found it relaxing.</p>
Day 18</h2>
I woke up feeling a good bit better and hopefully that stays throughout the day. Monica is feeling great and is taking good care of me while I’m under the weather.</p>
The trail was challenging this last section. While it was hard, we’ve gotten stronger. We’re not going to let the little things get us down or keep us from going on. We’ve learned from our mistakes and hiccups, and know how to better face the next section. God is right here with us giving us strength and energy. We don’t know what His plan is for us, but we know He will take care of us.</p>

PCT Days 6–10

Jon Carl — Fri, 04 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Trail Miles: 41.5 — 109.5</p>
A lot happened in 5 days on the trail. In the moment time doesn’t seem to be going fast as you put one foot in front of the other and sweat drips down your arms and face, but in retrospect time flies. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been on the trail for 10 days — sometimes it seems like we’ve been on longer and sometimes it seems like we’ve only been on for a couple of days.</p>
Monica got her trail name: “Love Song.” There was a fellow hiker, K2, who was quoting the poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot. Monica really liked the poem and talked with K2 about it for a little while. We parted ways with K2, but we caught up to him several other times and each time Monica would talk to him about the poem. Since she liked it so much he said her trail name should be “Love Song.” The name stuck and she’s now called “Love Song.” I think the name is fitting.</p>
Day 6</h2>
Waking up in a real bed was nice and probably a help in pushing us through our longest day yet. We were up and ready to go by 6 AM from our motel in Mount Laguna. A cold front and wind had rolled in over the weekend so we started out in low 40s with decent wind. As we hit some of the ridges we could feel the 30 MPH wind hitting us. After 4 miles we met some fellow hikers we had camped with before our zero in Mount Laguna. We had thought that taking a zero would put us behind a lot of the people we had already met, so we were happy they were still on the trail near us.</p>
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As we hiked on the wind picked up and we started to wonder if we would be able to camp where we were planning on. When we got to the mile marker where the campsite was supposed to be we couldn’t find it, and the wind had to be at least 50+ MPH. We decided to press on until we found a suitable campsite — which might not be for 7 miles past the 13 we had already hiked.</p>
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After a couple more miles we took a quarter mile detour off the trail to fill up on water and then kept on going. Around 6 we started a steep descent down to a tentsite in a valley which is where we decided to spend the night. Checking my phone we had gone 23 miles and taken over 55,000 steps. Tired and sore we collapsed into our sleeping bag. While we were more sheltered from the wind in the valley, it was still windy and we didn’t sleep that well.</p>
Day 7</h2>
Still tired we got up and decided on 13 miles to reach Scissors Crossing where we could head out to an RV Park with spaces for tents that were supposedly sheltered from the wind. As we set out, the wind was still blowing, but not nearly as hard as the day before. We climbed up out of our valley and then hiked around and down the mountain where we had a relatively flat trail to Scissors Crossing. Once we arrived at Scissors Crossing we set out on getting the first hitch of the trail and our lives. The road we were on didn’t have much traffic, but after 5 cars a nice man stopped and we crammed in with him and his two small dogs. He took us down to the Stagecoach RV Park where we got a campsite and chatted with a fellow hiker.</p>
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It was nice to relax and have flush toilets and showers after the last two long days. The camp site was not sheltered from the wind so we ended up paying a little bit more for a cabin. It was nice to not have the tent almost caving in from the wind after the night before, and we actually got good sleep.</p>
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Day 8</h2>
Waking up refreshed we caught a ride from a local guy who runs a hiker shuttle. He was chatty and talked about how he used to be a mechanic for a Porsche racing team. He dropped us off at Scissors Crossing and we headed out. There was no water for 14 miles so we hiked up and camped near a water cache. The water cache was amazing and fully stocked with well over 300 gallons of water by some kind trail angels. Fortunately it still wasn’t super hot out and we didn’t need much water so we could save it for those that might have run out.</p>
We reached out campsite in the mid afternoon where we setup camp and talked with other hikers as they came through and hit up the water cache. As the evening drew closer we got into our tent around 7. Thankfully it wasn’t very windy at all and we were able to sleep through most of the night save for the sounds of a mountain lion and some coyotes.</p>
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Day 9</h2>
After several 10+ mile days we only had 10 miles to go for a spring and campsite. Around 11 AM we hit the 100 mile point. It was a big deal for us and felt great to have 100 miles behind us.</p>
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We made great time and rolled into our campsite around noon. There was a little sign that said “trail magic,” so we set down our packs and followed the trail to a road crossing where there was a former hiker, Hops, set up with her friend Tommy grilling hot dogs and hamburgers for hikers. While it was hard to choose between the trail mix we had planned on for lunch and burgers, we ended up choosing burgers.</p>
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Since we were done for the day we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with the trail angels and chatting with fellow hikers. One of the things I love about this trail is the different people you meet. Old and young. Foreigners and US citizens. Everyone has a different reason for doing the trail. Some people have never hiked before. Some people have done multiple thru-hikes before. We all have a common goal of walking from Mexico to Canada.</p>
Day 10</h2>
Refreshed from a wind free night of sleep as well as burgers and hot dogs we set out on a short day of 8.5 miles to the community of Warner Springs. We stopped to chat real quick with a couple from Australia who were trail named Fish and Chips — they’re ultra-runners and a great couple. Continuing on we hit a side stop of Eagle Rock where we took a short break. Most of the day was hiking through some meadows which meant that we were fully exposed to the sun.</p>

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Once we reached some trees we had only a mile to go and the cool breezy shade helped us on our way. Reaching Warner Springs we picked up our two resupply boxes as well as a new pair of shoes from REI for Monica. Her current pair are running shoes she’s had for a while and the tread and arch support are shot. REI was really nice and helpful with the whole process of getting the shoes to us on the trail and we’ll definitely be using them for any more gear we need on the trail.</p>
The Warner Springs Community Center is setup for PCT hikers to resupply and refresh. We were able to get bucket showers as well as do our laundry in a bucket. It feels great to be clean and out of the sun and wind in the community center as I type this out. We’re relaxing here tonight and we’ll sleep in tomorrow before heading out on a short 5 miles. We’re looking forward to another week on the trail before we reach Idyllwild. We’ll also stop in at the Paradise Valley Cafe which some people say has the best burger on the whole PCT. Once we reach Idyllwild I’ll have another update.</p>

PCT Days 1-5

Jon Carl — Sun, 29 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Trail Miles: 1–41.5</p>
On April 24th, Monica and I flew into San Diego and were picked up by a past hiker of the PCT with the trail name Scout. He and his wife, trail named Frodo, host hikers the night before they start on the PCT. At their house we were able to pick up the gear and food we had mailed ahead and pack them into our packs. During the rest of the day we talked to fellow hikers, helped make food for everyone, and waited with nervous excitement for the trail.</p>
After dinner Scout and Frodo shared some wisdom about hiking the trail as well as stories from their hikes. I was able to chat with Scout a little bit and learned that we both received our love of camping and backpacking from Boy Scouts. Monica and I both had a good time there.</p>
Day 1</h2>
The next morning we had a quick breakfast and then were shuttled off to the trail head at 6. We arrived at the trail head in Campo, CA at 7 where we signed the trail log, took some pictures, lathered sunscreen on, and set out.</p>
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Monica and I had trained for the trail when our schedules allowed, but it wasn’t as much as we would have liked. To start out on the trail we were planning on trying to stay around 10 miles a day for the first 20 days so we could let our bodies ease into long distance hiking and hopefully avoid injuries that might take us off the trail.</p>
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On the first day we had 11.4 miles to go to our campsite, but we also had 20 miles to go on the trail before we hit a water source. We each had 6 liters of water, and that’s nice and heavy. As the sun rose higher in the sky we could feel it blazing down on us. The temperature wasn’t crazy hot, but with the sun and no shade it is nice and toasty. I wouldn’t want to be starting the desert section any later than we were.</p>
We pushed through the heat and got to our campsite in the early afternoon. We sat in the shade and drank some of our water; happy that we were done for the day. Monica was feeling a little nauseous and neither of us were hungry because of the heat and trying not to drink so we could save water for the next day. We learned an important lesson which, thankfully, didn’t come from any long term consequences: nourish yourself in the heat. Make sure you’re drinking water and eating food even if you don’t feel like it. Rookie mistake, but one we won’t forget.</p>
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Day 2</h2>
The next day we decided to get up at 5 so we could set out on the trail in the cool of the morning before the sun began beating down too much. We had a nice hike down into Hauser Canyon and then we started the hike back up and out to Lake Morena. As we were hiking up the canyon we noticed that we were both sweating — something that hadn’t happened the day before since we were not hydrated enough. Our early morning hiking paid off and we were somewhat saved from the beating rays of the sun. We enjoyed a cool breeze and got a spring in our step when we started seeing Lake Morena in the distance.</p>
The trail dropped us onto the main road near Lake Morena and right next to the Lake Morena County Park where we planned to stay the night. We met up with some fellow PCT hikers and set up in the park campsite designated for PCT hikers. Next we headed over to the shower house where they had hot running water. Being clean felt amazing and it’s crazy how something as little as taking a shower can make your day so much better.</p>
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With most of the afternoon and evening ahead of us we headed over to the Oak Shores Malt Shop where we got lemon iced tea and I got a chocolate malt. We sat on the porch of the malt shop and talked with fellow hikers as well as a couple of locals. It felt good to sit down and relax. After heading back to the campsite we made a dinner of mac & cheese and then turned in at 7 so we could get another early start the next morning.</p>
Day 3</h2>
With 13.2 miles ahead of us we got up at 5 and headed out around 6. Our tent had frost on it from moisture off of the lake, but we didn’t let that fool us into thinking it was going to be a cool day. We hiked in the shade most of the morning and made good time on the trail.</p>
After passing under Interstate 8 we started climbing upwards towards our next campsite and into the sun. The late morning sun was beating down on us but we kept pressing on so we could reach the campsite in the early afternoon. We stopped for a break on a rock outcropping where we took our shoes and socks off and ate a snack. Continuing on we reached the side trail to our campsite.</p>
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We arrived at Cibbets Flat Campground early in the afternoon and enjoyed some shade with a fellow hiker named K2. A couple with a camper came over and chatted with us and offered us some frozen pineapple pops. Lucky us! The campground was luxurious — pit toilets and running water right from a spigot!</p>
After we settled in and set up our tent other hikers trickled in throughout the day. We’ve been meeting hikers from all over the world and with so many different stories. Half the trail is hiking and the other half is the trail community.</p>
Day 4</h2>
We got up early again on day 4 so we could beat the heat and get to Mount Laguna where a motel room was waiting for us. It was a good hike and while we had to climb over 1,000 feet of elevation it was nice and gradual.</p>
We ran into a lot of day hikers and one ignorant mountain biker who almost hit us careening downhill around a corner. When I asked him if he knew the trail wasn’t for mountain bikers he said he hadn’t seen any signs saying that, but I turned to the sign right behind me and pointed to the no mountain bikes part and gave him a lecture about doing his research and told him that the PCT is very well marked and I didn’t believe that he hadn’t seen any signs saying no mountain biking. Sure enough, down the trail we passed multiple no mountain biking signs that had the tread of his mountain bike going right past them.</p>
We didn’t let the mountain biker sour our mood too much since we hit some nice shade under ponderosa pines and we were close to our destination. It wasn’t long before we wandered into the Burnt Rancheria campground and soon after the small town of Mount Laguna. We stopped into the Pine House Cafe & Tavern where we shared a breakfast plate and relaxed with fellow hikers.</p>
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Next up was the motel. We got there around noon and check-in wasn’t until 3, but thankfully our room was ready early and we were able to settle in and get showers and wash our clothes in a bucket the Laguna Mountain Lodge provided us with. It was amazing to lay down clean on a real bed with sheets and pillows. It wasn’t a fancy place, but it was just right for hikers like us.</p>
Day 5</h2>
We got to sleep in well past our normal 5 from the past couple of days and we polished off some oatmeal for breakfast. I’m currently sitting in the room writing this post while Monica relaxes on the bed.</p>
We’re taking the day off, called a zero since we’re hiking zero miles, for our bodies to recover and rebuild. We’ve been working our bodies hard the past four days and we want them to keep going for 2,000+ more miles.</p>
We picked up our resupply boxes here at the lodge and we’re going to be getting ready for the next 6 days of hiking before our next resupply. We’ve got some lengthy waterless stretches ahead where we’ll be relying on some water caches maintained by trail angels to help us not have to carry a five gallon bucket of water along the way.</p>
The past four days have been challenging but a blast. Monica and I have had ups and downs. As a couple the trail has already grown us closer together. I wouldn’t change a minute if it and I’m excited to see what the trail holds for us. God has given us strength along the way and we know He’ll be with us through it all. Also, we haven’t seen a rattlesnake yet so that’s an answer to prayer.</p>

Nourishment on the PCT

Jon Carl — Sun, 22 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

As Monica and I set out for the trail one of the questions we get a lot is what we are going to do in regards to food while on the trail. First off, we are not going to be carrying all of our food for the entire trail from day 1. The trail goes through and near a decent amount of towns along the way which allows for several possible options to resupply our food.</p>
Option 1 — Buy Food in Towns</h2>
This option is by far the easiest option as it does not require much pre-planning for food beyond estimating how much to buy in order to get us to the next town. As our tastes change along the way we can easily switch things up by buying different things in each town. The downside of this option is that food in some towns can be quite expensive.</p>
Option 2 — Mail Food</h2>
Planning is the key for this option as we need to know before we ever set foot on the trail how much food we need between packages as well as know where all to send the packages. We need to have someone to send the packages out so we don’t send them too far in advance of when we will arrive to pick them up. It can be expensive since we would be paying for shipping on top of paying for the food itself. If we don’t have variety in the packages we will probably get tired of the food. I like having food, but I like it even better when I enjoy what I’m eating.</p>
Option 3 — Hybrid</h2>
Instead of picking one of the above options, they can be combined to somewhat eliminate the negatives of each. Expensive towns can have a package sent to them and inexpensive towns are where we can buy food.</p>
Our Choice</h2>
We are going with the hybrid option weighted heavily on the mail food option. A store near us, BBs, has some great deals and we were able to get 120 days worth of food for two people at under $1,000. With 30 large flat rate USPS boxes and 6 UPS boxes that should come out to around $750. Add food and shipping together, divide it by the days times 2 (since we have food for two people a day), and that comes out to ~$7.29 a day. That’s cheap in my book and my PCT budget likes cheap.</p>
In order to figure out how much food to send where we planned ahead of time. We used a tool called Craig’s PCT Planner</a> which allowed us to figure out what stops we would make and how much distance there was between towns and resupply points. We estimated 170 days on the trail and 120 of those days would be mailed food. The other 50 are going to be fun since we can mix things up and avoid the foods we’re tired of eating.</p>
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What are we Actually Eating?</h2>
Cheap is great, but if it’s the same food again and again that can get old quickly. Well…we have a lot of the same food. We’re probably going to hate it, but at the end of a long day hiking I’m just going to want to eat and go to bed.</p>
Breakfast</h2>
Our mailed breakfasts are almost all the same: coffee, honey, peanut butter, oatmeal / granola, and Pop-Tarts. Monica and I both love coffee. It helps us wake up, and on the trail it can be helpful with…well it helps get other things moving in the morning... Anyway, we were able to find coffee tea bags which are great since you just drop it in hot or cold water (cold in case you’re a hipster and want that cold brew, or if you’re lazy) and boom, coffee! The oatmeal and granola is a variety of different flavors, but in the end I don’t know that it will make much of a difference. Lastly, the Pop-Tarts — I’m looking forward to this and also dreading it. BBs has a plethora of Pop-Tart flavors — think root-beer, mocha, vanilla latte, raspberry, salted caramel. Oh, and you know how after you open a box of Pop-Tarts they’re all packaged in silver without the flavor written on them? Yeah, we’ll get a Pop-Tart surprise each morning.</p>
Lunch</h2>
Lunch is either homemade trail mix or protein / granola bars. Another score at BBs was random M&M flavors along with different nuts trail mix fillings. We’ve got the classic good old raisins and peanuts, savory options, fruit and nut, strawberry M&M and nuts, and other random surprises.</p>
Dinner</h2>
The two main dinner options are Idahoan potatoes, and mac & cheese. Mixed in between those two are tuna with tortillas, rice dinners, and soup. Missing in there are meats. We’ll miss meat and will probably pig out when we hit town.</p>
Overall we’re happy with our nourishment options. I’m sure we’re going to have days where we hate what we eat, and other days where we love what we eat. Either way it’s all part of the experience and we might never want to eat oatmeal, Pop-Tarts, Idahoan potatoes, and mac & cheese again.</p>

I am Thru-Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail

Jon Carl — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0000

It has been a dream of mine to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) for a while now. The PCT is a trail that stretches 2,659 miles from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington. Ever since I went on a backpacking trip in Yosemite the desire to thru-hike the PCT has been even stronger. I want to enjoy creation, get away from the busyness of life, walk a couple thousand miles, and push myself farther than I ever have. There will be good days and bad days, laughter and crying, pain and relief, sun and rain. I’m still not sure what all I will face, but I’m looking forward to whatever the trail brings my way.</p>
I got married in April of 2017 to my best friend and love, Monica. Before getting married we had shared a backpacking trip together and had separately gone on several outdoor adventure trips. While dating I shared with Monica my desire to thru-hike the PCT, but at that point it was just a dream — something I wanted to do someday but didn’t see anywhere in the near future. After we got married Monica and I started looking at what we wanted for our future. We both had a desire to move west and grow a family. Monica wants some land and horses. We both want a place to settle down and have for family and friends to come visit and see the beautiful west, go hunting, and enjoy creation. By some happenstance we both had Montana in mind as where we wanted these desires to become realities.</p>
Not wanting our dreams and desires to stay dreams and desires we decided to make a plan and set dates to make things happen. Twenty-eighteen would be the year we moved to Montana — if we sat around waiting for a job to pop up out there we might never move. While making the plans for the move we started talking about the PCT — what if we could do the PCT before we moved to Montana? We both figured we might be out of work when we moved to Montana. We wouldn’t have a house payment or other debt to keep us from paying for the adventure. We were cautious as we needed enough money to do the PCT, move, and live while we looked for jobs in Montana. As the months went by we prayed, saved our money, and read up on the trail. We had a financial setback of several thousand dollars when I cut my hand November of 2017, but God provided and we are still on track to have just enough money for the trail as well as the move to Montana.</p>
On April 25th Monica and I have permits to start our thru-hike and walk from Mexico to Canada. It’s going to be a crazy adventure and I invite you to follow along here on my blog.</p>
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Yosemite Backpacking Trip 2015

Jon Carl — Mon, 25 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Back in May of 2015 I took a trip out to Yoesmite and backpacked for 5 days and over 50 miles. Yosemite was cold and wet around that time of the year, but that did not deter me from having a good time. I saw some amazing sites, and I got to see the park with snow — something that not everyone gets to experience. Below are photos as well as a video of the trip.</p> </iframe>

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Jon Hikes

Beartooths 2023 - Day 6

Beartooths 2023 - Day 5

Beartooths 2023 - Day 4

Beartooths 2023 - Day 3

Beartooths 2023 - Day 2

Beartooths 2023 - Day 1

Beartooths 2023

Glacier 2022 - Day 9

Glacier 2022 - Day 8

Glacier 2022 - Day 7

Glacier 2022 - Day 6

Glacier 2022 - Day 5

Glacier 2022 - Day 4

Glacier 2022 - Day 3

Glacier 2022 - Day 2

Glacier 2022 - Day 1

Glacier 2022 - Day 0

Glacier 2022

Why I’m Getting off the PCT

PCT Days 50–56

PCT Days 44–49

PCT Days 40–43

PCT Days 35-39

PCT Days 27-34

PCT Days 19–26

PCT Days 11–18

PCT Days 6–10

PCT Days 1-5

Nourishment on the PCT

Option 3 — Hybrid</h2> Instead of picking one of the above options, they can be combined to somewhat eliminate the negatives of each. Expensive towns can have a package sent to them and inexpensive towns are where we can buy food.</p>

What are we Actually Eating?</h2> Cheap is great, but if it’s the same food again and again that can get old quickly. Well…we have a lot of the same food. We’re probably going to hate it, but at the end of a long day hiking I’m just going to want to eat and go to bed.</p>

I am Thru-Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail

Yosemite Backpacking Trip 2015

Option 3 — Hybrid</h2>
Instead of picking one of the above options, they can be combined to somewhat eliminate the negatives of each. Expensive towns can have a package sent to them and inexpensive towns are where we can buy food.</p>

What are we Actually Eating?</h2>
Cheap is great, but if it’s the same food again and again that can get old quickly. Well…we have a lot of the same food. We’re probably going to hate it, but at the end of a long day hiking I’m just going to want to eat and go to bed.</p>