PCT 2021 Attempt: My 1,100 Mile Journey in a Nutshell

I should have written this post in November right after I finished my PCT attempt, but I was in no place to be doing anything. There’s more I wished to do with this post, but it’s been so long and I’m trying to tie up loose ends so I can start on my next journey.

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Read on to hear about my experience on the PCT last year and what I learned from the it.

My PCT Journey in Numbers

For 4 months (97 days) in 2021, July 1 through November 7 (with 2 extra days on November 14/15), I attempted a solo thru-hike of the 2,653 mile long Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), with a 33 day pause in August/September due to fire closures and smoke. I hiked 950.3 miles on trail, with an additional 171.8 miles hiked to get to/from towns and for other extra “side quests”, and 30 miles skipped due to detours, for a total of 1,092.1 miles hiked.

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I hiked north 33 miles from Hart’s Pass, Washington to the US border with Canada, and then south 579.2 miles to National Forest Route 42 in Oregon. I took that month long pause off trail, and then got back on the PCT in California, headed north 160.4 miles from Walker Pass to Taboose Pass, and then south 210.7 miles from Walker Pass to Agua Dulce.

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I spent 72 days hiking and camping alone, 19 days hiking with tramily, and 23 nights camping with people. I spent 64 nights in a tent, and 31 nights in a bed.

Extremes on the PCT

I saw vistas that most people only ever get to see in pictures, and others that people don’t even see in pictures at all. I hiked in 108*F weather, and woke up to an 18*F morning. I got poured on while thunder grumbled in the background, snowed on while wind howled through the night, and had more hot, sunny days than I knew what to do with. I hiked to the highest point on the PCT at 13,153 feet, and the lowest at 140ft above sea level. I flew down the trail easily topping 3.6mi/hr, and I thought I was legitimately going to die, or at least need to be airlifted out, while moving slower than 0.5mi/hr. I lost a few pounds of fat and gained it all back and more in muscle.

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I spent almost 30 days taking zeros (no hiking)(not including the month hiatus) or neros (only a few miles of hiking), enjoyed hanging out in town, and spent hours devouring real food any chance I could get. But I also carried 12 pounds of water for 50 miles, ate couscous for dinner and a clif bar for breakfast almost every day for 4 months, hiked a 26 and 30 mile day and averaged 15-20 miles per day for the rest of the hike, lugged around snow and ice gear, drank water that can best be described as rotting sludge and melted snow when there was nothing else to drink, and post-holed through knee deep snow.

I met hikers from every walk of life, age group, job status and type of job, race and ethnicity and nationality. I was privileged to have some amazing trail angels go out of their way to help me in big and small ways. I got to know a very small group of people that I felt extremely close to while on trail that I would consider my Tramily, even though I didn’t spend more than 48 hours with them.

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I experienced days where I could hardly roll out of my tent, and others where I hiked more miles than your average person can do in 3 days. I felt scared and elated and lonely and unstoppable and unmotivated and awed and ready to quit.

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I learned how to meal prep for a week, pitch a tent for protection in a snow storm, how to rely on other people and all about the flora of the western US. I got in the good habits of stretching daily and keeping a journal, and mostly gave up on junk food and candy off-trail (I said mostly, not completely).

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I attempted to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, and experienced only 36% of its length, but had a small taste of everything and everyone the trail has to offer.

Interactive Garmin MapShare Map

Here is my Garmin MapShare map that some of my immediate friends and family were able to use to track my location while I was on trail. Specifically the locations I sent pretty much each night with a little update message to let them know how I was doing and something interesting from that day. There was a section in Oregon where the mapshare wasn’t working properly, so there were no map updates at that time, unfortunately.

How to use the embedded map: X out the ad that appears on the map. Then click the triangle next to “Map Filters (On)”, which should open a drop down menu. Then under “Date and Time Range” change the setting to “Custom Date Range”. Change the dates to: Start June 1, 2021 and End November 18, 2021. Then you can see where I was each night when I sent a message, and if you click the blue rectangles, you can see my nightly update texts.

Lessons Learned

I’ve always got to do things my own way, so on the very few chances I had to hike with other people, their pace was too dissimilar to my own to want to hike with them for very long. So instead of just hiking my own hike and meeting them at lunch or camp, I had to forge on on my own.

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This made for a very lonely hike.

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It’s hard to motivate myself to hike farther or harder when there isn’t someone to hike with. I know that now. When Chuckwalla and I hike together, we push each other, in a good way. We crush miles and even though we’re in pain, we are both in pain and supporting each other through it. For my next thru-hike I’m going to either have someone to hike with, or find tramily and stick with them!

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Most people are better, nicer, more giving and more willing to lend a helping hand than you think they are. For some reason, society has taught us to be independent and to not ask for help, especially from strangers, but even from family and friends. We’re so afraid to not be independent.

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The trail really puts into perspective how much we need other people and how much others need us. We just have to be willing to give and receive.

Post-Trail Musings

Trail shoes, flowing/loose clothes, no makeup and sports bras are the only clothes that I can stomach anymore. I don’t subscribe to the lifestyle where I have to look “good” everyday. Sometimes I like to dress up and I always regret it because its not comfortable.

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Stretching is a life changing activity. I would not have made it as far as I did without stretching, and even when I’m off trail, a morning stretch can be the difference between a good and bad day.

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It took me a few months (almost 4) to really recover from Post Trail Depression (check out my three earlier posts to learn what PTD is and how to recover from it). But it’s made me realize how excited I am to get back on trail

What’s Next?

I’m about to set off on the Pacific Crest Trail again, heading north from the Mexico border this time.

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Stay tuned to read my trail journals.