Here is the 11th installation of my PCT trail journal (about 1 week off the present timeline as a safety precaution).

I am officially back on trail!!

As my journey continues later into the year, fall is starting, and winter will be a consideration in the near future. I know that I need to do my best to avoid getting stuck in a blizzard. I need to pack warmer gear so that I can survive the colder fall and winter temperatures. I believe this also means giving up on my cold-soaking for the time being, since cold dinners simply aren’t fun when it’s below freezing outside. I might need to order some new gear, like a bivy to keep warmer as temps drop. As I plan, I also have to consider that I have lost my trail legs, so I’ll be moving slower until I get those back. It will be colder, so I will have to plan accordingly by packing extra food. There will be fewer and fewer people on trail, because all the nobos will have already passed through, the sobos will have either finished, passed through the sierra already, or given up entirely for the year because of the delays due to the fires, and day hikers and weekenders will be few and far between. I’m excited to see what the rest of my journey entails!

Follow my thruhike in section-by-section blog posts, or in daily posts on Instagram or Facebook (@JustAGirlAndABackpack.Blog). Please attribute all spelling/grammar errors to autocorrect and exhaustion at the end of the day.

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Statistics for the second part of my journey are as follows:

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#pct2021 #pct #pctclassof2021 #pacificcresttrail #pctsobo #sobopct2021 #pcta #pacificcresttrailassociation #thruhike #thruhiking #ultralightbackpacking #ultralight #backpacking #blogger #backpackingblog #westcoast #california #sierra #sierrasection #kennedmeadowssouth #trailangel #nobo #nobohiker #nobopct #triplecrownoutfitters #grumpybearsretreat #generalstore

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PCT 2021 Series: Wednesday October 6, mile 702.2, +1mi to/from Grumpy Bears, zero day at Triple Crown Outfitters (1 mile, day 5)

And so my second accidental zero day ends. It was horrifyingly smoky all day, so i wore my KN95 mask the whole time. The wifi at the outfitter wasn’t working all day, so Snackpack, Stickers and i were dead in the water until either Jackie or Scott came back into town to help us access their wifi to get our sierra permits.

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I finished one book and started another (and finished that one too, by the end of the day), like the reading addict i am.

A morose sobo hiker called Ghost hitched in and had progressively more negative things to say about Jackie and Scott not being in town to serve him, then about them being late in coming back (both of them had told me that morning or the evening before that they’d be back by 11am, and neither got back until the late afternoon), and about any other topic he could complain about.

When Scott (Grumpy Bear himself) arrived, he told us that we could have had access to the wifi all day if we’d just made an account and paid. While he was firing up the grill on his day off to feed us, we had a beer and connected to the internet. Scott offered me a job as bartender at his restaurant when I got off trail, and seemed very serious about the offer. The other two had received their permit, but i hadn’t, so i had to reapply and wait on a response. I ordered the world’s largest burger (which apparently wasn’t even the biggest on the menu) , and had to save the other half for a second dinner before bed.

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Jackie got back and opened up shop, so i grabbed another day of food (i ate a whole day while I was zeroing), then chatted with her for awhile about winter hiking, since she has quite a few thru’ under her belt.

My permit request was thankfully accepted, but since my start date was for the following day, i just enjoyed the evening chatting with David once the couple caught a ride to trail. Ghost slept on the floor of the men’s restroom, which to be fair was much warmer than my tent outside.

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PCT 2021 Series: Tuesday October 5, mile 702.2, +1mi to/from grumpy bears, zero day at Triple Crown Outfitters (1 mile, day 4)

Well, i had the misfortune of making an assumption that turned out to be incorrect. Apparently the PCT permit is directional, and you have to travel through parks and forests that require a permit, in the direction that your PCT permit has written on it.

So, even though I plan to do the sierra in less than 35 days, in one direction, i could still get in trouble because I’m going in the wrong direction. I found this out by asking Jackie on a whim if she thought it mattered. And she told me that it matters a lot and the rangers are super strict about it. But she gave me a potential solution: get a separate permit on rec.gov, which has unlimited permits for some entry points.

I spent the afternoon trying to figure that out, and for my efforts i was rewarded with a response of “you have to provide more information,” which is news to Jackie because in the past hikers only had to write “other/unknown” for the nightly campsites that are needed on the permit. Once I resubmitted the permit request, i waited with bated breath for a response, but received none before the park open hours ended.

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Today was a bit of a wasted day, but i did get some things done after seeing of my sobo friends, new and old.

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I checked the weather for the next week all the way up the sierra to lone pine (rain or snow expected Thurs/Fri) my next stop, as well as the air quality (could be better, but not to scary), the trail closure website (nothing new), and more. I gathered some more toilet paper, filled my water bladders, did a little sink laundry, messaged all the important people, called David twice, and attempted to figure out a ride to and from Lone Pine for a resupply.

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When I was all packed up, and called Jackie and she came over to open up her shop so i could resupply. I added an extra liter of water capacity to my pack because yesterday’s rationing and dehydration had scared me, and also bought a water bottle carrier for the front of my pack, to help distribute the weight a little more. It was really cool to hear about Jackie’s life and experience as a triple crowner, and I’m so appreciative of her because she’s an amazing trail angel. If you’re ever in need of a full set of backpacking gear, or any items (food or gear) for a thru hike, she’s the lady to talk to, and she’s got it all at her shop! I also grabbed another dry bag for my sleep clothes as prep for coming cold rains.

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I met some more Sobos, Juicy and Mouse Trap, in the trail angel Pancakes’ car. Later in the day, Jackie introduced me to her friends Thor and Teto (i think?) who had both done some thruhikes and were very interesting to talk to.

Stickers and Snackpack were dropped off, two nobos who also had the crazy idea to try to do the sierra in fall. Stickers is an artist, Lance Lekander Artworks, and handed me some cool stickers that he had made! I helped them figure out how to get a permit for the Sierra as well.

Smoke started coming in and the air got thicker, so I’ll be wearing my double layer alpaca wool buff to bed in the hopes to not die in my sleep from smoke inhalation.

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PCT 2021 Series: Monday October 4, mile 687.2 to mile 702.2, +2 mi road walk into Kennedy Meadows south (17 miles, day 3)

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Today was a great day for seeing sobo hikers. I met Pancake around midday, a solo lady like myself. And i saw Be Positive, another gal who was currently solo but had plans to meet up with a group of guys. This the same Be Positive who i spent a day or two hiking with early on after Stehekin. She gave me an orange to munch on!

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After much dragging of tired feet, worry over dwindling water supply, and a million stops to rest, to the back drop of the Take of Two Cities on audiobook, i managed to get about 15 trail miles and 2 road miles under my belt.

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I hitched with a local named Dave the rest of the 1.6mi to Triple Crown Outfitters (TCO), where i discovered the sobo bubble of 5 hikers. Yoda was there, i was excited to see, as were some folks i had made a short acquaintance with (Bear Hug and Indy –as in Indecision whom i had met on his first day in trail after i was coming back from the Canadian border, not Indy 500) and some new hikers (Christopher and Mud Skipper).

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Grumpy Bears Retreat and the General Store had closed by 4pm, a few hours before I straggled in, but the owner of TCO was helping the guys resupply. She brought out a bunch of water jugs and offered us rides to the trail in the morning, as well as access to the shop, which had hours as-needed this time of year. Skipper gave us a tour of the facilities at Grumpy Bears, which consist of toilets with tp and running water, and he showed me how to sign in to TCO’s wifi. Indy gave me some if his extra food, since he had way too much. We all talked shit for a bit, and heard some of each other’s stories before they all went to bed around 7pm. I was up for awhile longer, as is my way.

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PCT 2021 Series: Sunday October 3, mile 670.1 to mile 687.2 (17.1 miles, day 2)

I didn’t get the best of night’s sleep due to the rather cramped and bumpy nature of the campsite, and because Chuckwalla is prone to getting up and moving around occasionally at night. Blake grabbed water from the stream while I tore down camp. We got out by 9:30am, so it was already pretty hot and getting hotter as we made our way up the big incline of the day. My muscles were so sore from the almost 20miles we did yesterday, and when we started on the downhill my knee was screaming immediately.

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At the top of the ridge, we paused (i had cell service and used it to sign back into Guthooks so that i could make comments). Low Range, a British sobo hiker i had met at the Lolo Pass trail magic almost 2 months ago (at the time he was still going by his real name, which was Andrew or Richard or something), came around the corner and we had a nice chat. He had just got back on trail 3 days ago after 3 weeks off since he had been in Ashland when all the California forests had closed.

Over the ridge the ecosystem changed from desert shrub land to high desert forest, with oaks on the north facing slopes and different sorts of pines and cedars everywhere. The small cacti and spiky yucca petered out, replaced by hardy brush that stabbed and grabbed as we passed by. There were hundreds of small tan lizards and huge black and blue lizards sunning themselves on the sandstone and granite, and scrub jays croaking in the trees. The sky was a clear blue, and the haze from the smoke was only seen on the distant horizon.

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We were on a timeline to meet Smiley around noon at the campground, but we had gotten a late start so we wouldn’t roll up until later. We didn’t receive her messages that got progressively more worried and distressed until it was already 2pm. She had decided to hike out 5 miles to meet us, but when we never crossed paths she went two more miles and messaged multiple times. She headed back to her car after 7 miles , at which time we finally saw her messages– the last one having ominously been “If i don’t hear from you in the next hour, I’m calling the rangers”. At that point I messaged her back and Chuckwalla took off at a run for the last 2.5mi to catch up with her and allay her fears. I slogged through the dry heat until I finally found them.

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We talked for a bit while Chuckwalla and i recovered a little bit, then i grabbed my bear can, food and extra warm gear from their car and packed up.

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After they left, I read while I ate lunch, waiting for the temps to call down a little as afternoon deepened.

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Then i marched on, all alone, with my empty near canister strapped to the top of my pack–a hazard for my poor head if i look up suddenly.

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My next stop was at Fox Mill Spring, a gross, rusty trough of orange algae (presumably for the livestock that had once belonged to the owners of the mill or mining detritus that can be found nearby) next to a stream that was trickling fast enough to fill a cnoc bladder decently quickly when pressed to the ground. I made the decision to go another 4.2 miles to the top of the ridge that night, since there were no more water sources until town in Kennedy Meadows, 20 miles away. I wanted to come into town in the evening of the next day to stock up on water and do a resupply, which i couldn’t have done if I’d stayed the night at the spring. I drank a bunch, filled my 4.2L of water capacity, and started my cold soak, then trudged on up the hill with 9lbs of water. I had about 1L/4.5mi, which is perfect, except that I had to spend the night during the water carry, which usually requires about 1L, which leaves me with 3L for 16 miles the next day.

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At about the 2 and 3 mile marks past the spring, i took a seat to rest since I’m so out of shape after a month and a half off trail. The night was getting colder as the sun sank further below the horizon and i headed toward the ridge. If it had been windy, i would have had to head down the other side to keep warmer, but thankfully all my warm gear came in handy. The stars were so magnificent, with the big dipper and Cassiopeia pointing towards the north star, which was my general heading, and the milky way making the sky seem bright. Across the trail, in the center of it’s web, i saw my first wild black widow! An owl landed on the trail ahead, with it’s glowing eyes glaring at me, then took off and scared me with it’s unsettlingly silent flight. There is something less scary about hiking at night out in the open, with a clear view of the stars and the skyline in all directions, and the only plants are pretty short. The woods up north were way more eerie to hike through, the the trees towering over the trail, strange creaking noises, and lots of hidden critters.

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PCT 2021 Series: Saturday October 2, Getting back on trail at Walker Pass mile 651.3 to mile 670.1, +.1 from campground, +.5 to/from spring (19.4 miles, day 1)

My dear friends Chunky Chuckwalla and Smiley kindly drove me all the way from the Bay to Walker Pass.

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Chuckwalla had his backpacking gear an Smiley smiley had her day hike gear to join me for a bit. I left some of the gear i wouldn’t need until further north in their car, and after the 5 hour drive we took off up the first hill of the day.

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Within the first mile we came to a road crossing where we met Tie Dye, a trail angel who was waiting to pick up some hikers. As we talked with him, Razor came into view, shocking both him and I at the amazing coincidence of seeing each other again so far from our last meeting in time and space. We met his hiking partner, Birdie, not too long after.

Smiley hiked about 5 miles in through the desert with us before heading back to the car.

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Then Chuckwalla and i had a great time for the rest of the afternoon, into the evening, catching up and generally enjoying finally being on trail again together.

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The two water sources were meager, but still flowing, so we made sure to update Guthooks to keep other late season folks in the loop.

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By the end of the evening, i was physically drained, really feeling how out of shape i had gotten over the last month and a half. To my credit, though, we did almost 20 miles! We enjoyed the stars then squeezed into my tent to sleep on the rocky ground, which didn’t feel nearly as palatial with a fully grown man in it.

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Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you think I can do to make the blog more interesting for the reader.