Here is the 10th installation of my PCT trail journal. I’ve been off trail for awhile now (4/5 weeks?), first because of an Oregon fire closure, then I decided to avoid all of the smoke and fires in OR by driving down to the Central Sierra with my dad, then because the smoke was even worse in the Sierra, then all of the National Forests in CA closed down for safety reasons. I had decided to wait out the fire closures while visiting my boyfriend in Florida, then had an exposure to COVID-19, so we’ve been waiting that out and getting tested. Thank you for your patience, and I hope you continue to enjoy my story.

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 my journey so far are as follows:

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September 28 to October 1, Prep to get back on trail (0 miles, day 90 to 94)

I have already finished 579 contiguous miles of trail, from the Canadian border to just south of Timberline Lodge, OR. Plus the other miles I did since I started that included the distance to the Canadian border, alternate trails, water detours, and extra hikes with friends and family.

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The approximate math for the rest of my (impossible) journey is this: There are about 387 miles that I will definitely be skipping due to fire closures and difficulty getting from closure to closure, due to roads and park boundaries (I plan to cut some corners for ease of travel, because there are a few areas that burned the trail where there are 20+ mile stretches in the middle of two closures, which feels too complicated for such a small gain in mileage. I can come back in the future if I truly feel as though I missed something). There are approximately 778 miles left north of Walker Pass, CA, 337 miles left in Oregon south of the Lionshead fire closure, and 572 miles left south of Walker Pass, CA, if you take out those fire closures.

This leaves me 1,686 miles to hike, which is a LOT.

With no injuries, interruptions, zeros, etc: Going 15mi/day (the slowest I would probably allow myself to go), this would take me 112 days (almost 4 months). Going 20mi/day, this would take 84 days (almost 3 months). Going 30mi/day (the fastest I can conceive of myself going with trail legs), this would take 56 days (2 months). There’s little chance I’m continuing past Thanksgiving, not just because there will be snow on the ground, but honestly

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September 28 to October 1, Prep to get back on trail (0 miles, day 90 to 94)

We had a change of plans! I was asking too much of Blake to get me on trail on a weekday, so I delayed starting until Saturday. Now he gets to hike with me for Sat/Sun (probably a 30mi overnight, but he’s trying to convince me to do 50mi in 2 days lol).

This gave me a chance to finish my resupply plan for the rest of the trail, which gave me a better idea of how improbable it will be for me to finish the trail this year, considering snow is coming SOON. I also discovered that a lot of the towns and resorts along the trail that rely on summer tourism are already closed for the year, so this adds even more difficulty.

I also got a chance to worry more about water availability, which is a legitimate concern because it hasn’t rained heavily since last rainy season, and all the snow melt is already melted. The PCT Water Report has no new information (mostly its from several months ago), but there are clearly still some people on the PCT over the last few weeks, because there are some September comments. The situation is grim, with lots of comments saying “dry,” and the ones that aren’t dry are green and full of dead things. Blake is confident that 5L of water capacity is plenty for the Sierra, even this late in the season, but we’ll find out soon enough.

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September 25 to 27, Prep to get back on trail (0 miles, day 87 to 89)

I got back to California on Saturday and started prepping to get back on trail. I packed my bag, now a bit heavier, more uncomfortable, and harder to pack with the addition of accursed bear canister, which is a mandatory addition to any over-night trips in the majority of the Sierra Nevada. I also added to my pack several gear items that I hope will help mitigate the growing cold as fall sets in: a sleeping bag liner that adds 20ºF of warmth to a sleep system (Sea to Summit Thermolite Reactor Compact PLUS+), a longer and newer sleeping pad which should give me some added warmth (Nemo Switchback), my backpacking stove (Sotowindmaster), my pot cozy to keep my pot warm for longer, tea bags to have hot drinks when I feel the need for warmth, gloves, and my mid-layer (Patagonia R2). These additions bring my base weight to about 15.5lbs.

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Most people don’t attempt the Sierra in fall or winter because the snow can cause problems with navigation, warmth, safety, etc. I’m looking forward to the challenge, but I recognize my abilities and limitations and if I feel that I am underprepared, I will reconsider my plans.

The post office at Tuolumne Meadows closed for the season, so they returned my resupply box via mail, which is cool because now I have another 2 days of food already prepped and ready to be packed away.

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I’ve been watching the air quality in the Sierra, which has fluctuated between horrifying and decent over the last week (the below image is from the Windy app, combining AQI and CO concentration). My plans depend on air quality, since it isn’t safe to exercise over a certain level of particulate matter and other harmful pollutions.

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The current plan is for Blake (Chunky Chuckwalla) to drop me off at Walker Pass in the central/southern Sierra, and for me to hike northbound, all the way to where I left the trail in Oregon just north of the Lionshead Fire Closure. After that, I will have to find my way back to Walker Pass to head southbound to Mexico.

Unfortunately, I will have to work around quite a few fire closures in: south Lake Tahoe, Lassen National Forest, several more spots in northern California, the Lionshead fire area in Oregon, and several old closures in southern California, with the possibility of other closures if more fires spring up or spread.

Wish me luck!

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PCT SOBO 2021 series: September 8 to 24, 28 day Hiking Hiatus in Florida (12 miles, day 70 to 86)

I had an amazing 28 days visiting with David in Florida. We went on a 5 mile hike in Markum Park, and a 7 mile walk around the suburb. We also took an airboat ride through the Everglades to see the alligators, went to the beach, got rained on constantly (so much lightning!!), stayed two nights at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino where I had my first experience with gambling (so not my scene), and had an accidental COVID-19 exposure while visiting his friend (no worries, we got tested and quarantined, with no positive results).

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After two months of only calls (mostly without video), it was really good to be with him in person again.

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I started using my phone’s exercise app to get an idea of my steps/mileage, so I hope to use that while on trail, if it doesn’t drain my battery too much.

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While here I think I sunk into post-trail depression a little and lost steam on the blogging project. I read 7 books and spent wayyyy too many hours on Instagram watching reels, but as we near my flight back to California, I’m taking steps to prepare for fall backpacking and my PCT blog, so hopefully I’m turning around.

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PCT SOBO 2021 series: August 30 to September 7, Zeros in Morgan Hill (0 miles, day 61 to 69)

During this time I was still hoping to be back on trail eventually, once the smoke died down. But August 31 California National Forests all closed as a safety precaution to avoid stretching fire fighting resources too thin over the weeks surrounding Labor Day. I made plans to visit David in FL during the closures, while celebrating my friend Rachel’s birthday and staying with her and Blake.

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We had a good time kayaking about 7 miles, going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and playing games at their house.

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While at their house, I made the big decision to go all-in on this blog as a career opportunity. I started an idea board and got super excited about it. Obviously, I have a long way to go to make this profitable and I won’t fully be able to commit until after my current hiking adventure, but I’m excited to see where this takes me!

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Sunday August 29, Zero in Morgan Hill (0 miles, day 60)

I decided to stick around another 2 days, since Rachel is celebrating her birthday tomorrow night and I didn’t want to miss it. Also, planning to get back onto trail is difficult since everybody has adult jobs lol.

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We decided to spend a few hours in Capitola so that I could see the ocean for the first time in awhile, and we got lots of food and enjoyed the sun and water.

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Back at their place, we parted ways to do our own activities (me on my blog and them watching different shows/movies). Then we reconvened for dinner (Rachel is an amazing cook, especially considering the fact that she cooks vegetarian and low carb for the two of their health related diets!). We played Uno and Yahtzee before they headed to bed early to prep for work in the morning.

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Saturday August 28, Zero in Morgan Hill (0 miles, day 59)

We got up way too early to drive back home to the south San Francisco Bay Area. With stops to charge the Tesla, we took about 12 hours.

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We came to the conclusion that the Sierra was too smokey to get on trail today, and also considered alternative plans for me if the smoke didn’t clear up (ei: start even further south, start north from Campo, and the Colorado Trail).

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Once I helped unpack, I drove down to Morgan Hill to sleep over at Blake and Rachel’s (Chunky Chuckwalla and Smiley) house. It is always amazing to see those two.

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