Pacific Crest Trail

mozey

mozey

Long Time Member
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The Continental Divide Trail was such an epic experience for me that all I could think about was doing another one. Went through the lottery process and got a permit to hike the PCT over the next six months (or however long it takes me). I'm almost 80 miles in now (Julian). The weather has not been the most cooperative so my progress has been hindered, but still getting to live the dream. Lots of unexpected rain and snow to start, but then something flipped a switch and the heat was brutal today.

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Recently spent several hours watching some great vids of people doing this and the Divide Trail. Pretty epic adventure.!! Good luck!
 
All the best this year Mozey. Thanks for checking in. Give eelgrass a big Howdy on the way north!
 
Congratulations Mosey! I crossed the Pacific Crest Trail once in the Marble Mountain Wilderness in northern CA. Take a fishing pole because there is good trout fishing there. If the trail was about 2,640 miles shorter, I'd be right there with you. 😃
 
my dream is one day to hike this trail with my daughter. something we have always talked about. we'll see if life lines up for the two of us. she's 20 and her goal is a PHD right now.

when you cross 410 you'll be in the area where i've killed a lot of elk on that trail. mid September is when the through hikers hit that spot. shared plenty of camp fires with weary travellers up there trying to beat the high snow. good luck
 
Blindnonresident said:
Hiking to the land of the Washington State Libtards.

A great PCT goal but a good place to be FROM.
Congrats on your move to Idaho Residency Mr Joe.
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Should I start to worry? Seems you have an un healthy infatuation with me. I’m married, and straight, so you might need to find another stalking target. Sorry to break your heart
 
Blindnonresident said:
This is a PCT thread.
Please move along.
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"when you cross 410 you'll be in the area where i've killed a lot of elk on that trail."

This explains a lot.


LOL :ROFLMAO: :LOL: :ROFLMAO: :LOL:

your so worked up into a lather over me you can't remember starting something in a thread from this morning!!!

like i said. rent free! too funny
 
JPickett said:
my dream is one day to hike this trail with my daughter. something we have always talked about. we'll see if life lines up for the two of us. she's 20 and her goal is a PHD right now.

when you cross 410 you'll be in the area where i've killed a lot of elk on that trail. mid September is when the through hikers hit that spot. shared plenty of camp fires with weary travellers up there trying to beat the high snow. good luck
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That sounds awesome, I wish my daughters were in a situation where they could do this with me. Just a word of caution: the older you get, the harder the hiking gets.
 
mozey said:
That sounds awesome, I wish my daughters were in a situation where they could do this with me. Just a word of caution: the older you get, the harder the hiking gets.
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for sure. i've done several sections backpacking but never a through hike. like i said shared many a campfire with through hikers. met some really neat people. i hear there are some pretty boring sections through southern oregon, i guess vista wise but it's about the total experience.

good for you man, that's going to be a awesome trip. what's your trail name? lots of the folks i ran into would only go by their "trail name" met a moonshine and a handsome one time that sticks out
 
Have a great adventure.
How long have you been planning this? Must take A LOT of preparation and logistics. You having family and friends meet at certain spots to help replenish supplies?
 
Made to Warner Springs post office to pick up my first resupply box. Passed mile 100 yesterday. Hiked 24 miles and the worst part was a 14-mile water carry up a desert mountain, but that sounds worse than it actually was.

Understand the forecast is not too good this weekend and last weekend I discovered I have a significant leak in my trusty old tent. So I'm looking for a place to bail off for a couple days until I can either repair or replace my tent.

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The trail provides. Me and another guy were standing at his tent trying to decide whether we should try to weather the oncoming storm or hike out of there. Suddenly a day hiker going the opposite way shows up and agreed to give us a ride to the nearest town with a vacancy. Looks like I'll be holed up here for a couple days, but feeling very fortunate.
 
LIK2HNT said:
Have a great adventure.
How long have you been planning this? Must take A LOT of preparation and logistics. You having family and friends meet at certain spots to help replenish supplies?
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I've been planning this since the moment I completely the CDT in 2022. But last year I had a bunch of unexpected consulting opportunities come to me, so I postponed my plans for a year. Based on the Sierra snowpack last year, I think I may have dodged a bullet... 😎
 
My two nephews did the Pacific Trail a few years ago. I got worried about them at one point, so I called my sister to check on their progress. She said they took two weeks off to go to Las Vegas and Hawaii.
 
Flew to San Diego on Wednesday, caught an Uber to Warner Springs, made it to Idyllwild today. Right now it's raining, so my new tent is being put to the test immediately. So far so good.

I don't know if it's because of the intense sun and relatively few water sources, but the miles have been harder than previously. It may be that I'm out of shape after being off trail for eleven days.

Either way, it feels good to be back.

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mozey said:
Flew to San Diego on Wednesday, caught an Uber to Warner Springs, made it to Idyllwild today. Right now it's raining, so my new tent is being put to the test immediately. So far so good.

I don't know if it's because of the intense sun and relatively few water sources, but the miles have been harder than previously. It may be that I'm out of shape after being off trail for eleven days.

Either way, it feels good to be back.

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Let us know how you like the Durston tent. And have a great walk
 
BeanMan said:
Let us know how you like the Durston tent. And have a great walk
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My Zpack's Duplex was an awesome tent--lasted me thru the entire CDT, stone and dall hunts, plus a number of other excursions. It was just starting to show it's age. For what it is, it also has generous horizontal space so that I could keep all my gear inside the tent with me. My one complaint was its low profile, which on condensation days made it difficult for me to keep my head or feet from getting wet whenever I even slightly sat up.

That's why the Durston caught my attention. With the steeper walls and slightly higher profile, I'm able to sit up without brushing the sides. It has more vertical space, but lacks horizontal space for my gear, which now resides in the vestibule.

But based on the weather that I've encountered so far on this trail, that's a trade-off that I'm willing to make right now. We've had pretty solid rain the last two days, and thus far the Durston is keeping me dry.
 
Idyllwild to Big Bear Lake turned into an unexpected slog, plus I had a little bit of a freakish incident that made me think I should hole up for a couple days in Big Bear Lake.

I've been hiking with another 60-ish year old hiker from Fairbanks, AK, that goes by the trail name Duck Soup. A lot of hikers have been skipping the trail section that we just did, because large sections of it have been washed out. But Duck Soup and I were crazy and stubborn (or stupid) enough to go for it. The nine-mile slog up Mission Creek was a boulder-hopping ankle breaker in soggy shoes. That was followed by a steep ridge climb out of the canyon where we climbed 1,700 feet in 1.7 miles. We actually spent the night in the one flat spot that was about half way up that ridge.

The next morning after making it the rest the way up that ridge and joining back up with the trail, the trail switched to the north side of the mountain, and we were post holing it in knee deep icy snow for about a mile to a place called Coons Cabin.

From there the trail got much easier and we made good time down to mile 250 where the trail intersected a road. I was almost out of water, so we stopped to collect from a small trickle that was snow melt off a still large sheet of icy snow. As I was bent over, I saw little sparkles in the mud and I commented to Duck Soup, who is a retired gold miner, that there was some gold in the mud. As I stood up and back so that he could look, I just remember feeling dizzy. The next thing I knew Duck Soup was shaking me violently: "Mozey! Mozey! Wake up! You passed out!" As I regained consciousness, my head felt like I'd been hit with a baseball bat and my neck hurt. As I sat up there was blood dripping from my head into the depression in the snow where my head had just been. According to Duck Soup, I'd just led with my forehead in a face plant right into that sheet of icy snow. I don't know what caused it, but I've never had anything like that happen to me before.

Anyway, despite me insisting I was ok, Duck Soup convinced me that we should take it easy the rest of day and we set up camp pretty early that night. To my good fortune, another PCT hiker came into our camp that night that was an ICU nurse. After relating the event to him, he was convinced it was just a combination of dehydration, heat, elevation change, being bent over with my head below my heart for an extended period, etc that all came together at the wrong time that caused my black out. As long I don't have any repeats, I should be fine. But, I should take it easier for a couple days.

Saturday, I woke up feeling anxious to hike the last ten miles to Big Bear, and dragged Duck Soup along with me, and we made it to the highway before noon. When we got to the motel, Duck Soup took off his shoes and for the first time I saw his feet and ankles, which were swollen, blistered, and bloody. Dude is a trooper and I'm going to miss hiking with him as he will be getting off trail in about 15 more miles.

I haven't felt any additional symptoms since my incident on Friday and plan to get back on trail this morning.

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I have zero desire to do this.


But how damn awesome that a guy is getting to live his passions.

Good on you man
 
Big Bear Lake to Acton. Starting to find my stride a little bit and knocked out 180 trail miles over the last eight days. Some of those miles were on account of a detour around Baden-Powell because the snow is still too deep, so my estimate of actual miles hiked is about 165 - 170. I did my first 26-miler two days ago which felt pretty good.

I saw Duck Soup one more time as he was driving through Wrightwood the same time I was passing through and he showed me where he'd lost two toenails. Ouch. Even though I have found this type of hiking to be very enjoyable, it can also be brutal sometimes.

I'm taking an unexpected zero here in Acton today waiting for Amazon to deliver my new shoes. The tread on my current pair has been worn through the first layer and they're starting to hurt my feet, so I plan to stay put until they're replaced.

Acton is just down the road from Lancaster where our second child was born when we were fresh out of school. But that was so long ago I don't think I would even know anyone that might still live here.

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eelgrass said:
20 plus miles a day average is trucking right along. How has cell phone service been?
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Cell service with T-MOBILE has been sparse. I would get on here and give more frequent reports, but when I set up my tent at night I always seem to do it in a spot with no service.
 
I don't know how I missed this Mozey, but I guess I miss lots of things. Great job. I have no desire to do a through hike but I admire it. I've been as far as a 60 miler and I would like to try a 200 miler max. I have enjoyed reading your blog here. I have a 30 and a 25 miler planned this summer. Maybe I will bump one up to a 50 miler. Ya got me a little motivated. Lol
 
mozey said:
My Zpack's Duplex was an awesome tent--lasted me thru the entire CDT, stone and dall hunts, plus a number of other excursions. It was just starting to show it's age. For what it is, it also has generous horizontal space so that I could keep all my gear inside the tent with me. My one complaint was its low profile, which on condensation days made it difficult for me to keep my head or feet from getting wet whenever I even slightly sat up.

That's why the Durston caught my attention. With the steeper walls and slightly higher profile, I'm able to sit up without brushing the sides. It has more vertical space, but lacks horizontal space for my gear, which now resides in the vestibule.

But based on the weather that I've encountered so far on this trail, that's a trade-off that I'm willing to make right now. We've had pretty solid rain the last two days, and thus far the Durston is keeping me dry.
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Tye Pro 1 is sold out but I like more room, and I'm thinking about buying the Pro 2. That extra room is super nice. I'm tired of the Fly Creek 2.
 
2lumpy said:
You’re makin good time Mos. How’s this first 500 compare to the first 500 of the other two south to north treks?
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Even though this trail is supposedly easier, the first 500 are feeling tougher.to me. Maybe because I'm two years older. Or, maybe because NM is my home state and I was just more familiar/comfortable with the territory. Don't know.
 
Be interested to hear about your gear, can you let us know what you like, or don't like? I am trying to try it next year if I can get my old body to cooperate, HA
 
devobrodie said:
Be interested to hear about your gear, can you let us know what you like, or don't like? I am trying to try it next year if I can get my old body to cooperate, HA
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If you check out my Continental Divide hike in the New Mexico forum, I have a post in there where I list all of my gear. It's still mostly the same except my tent, sleeping pad, and charger. I'm actually carrying a CPAP machine this time so I had to step way up for a charger to drive that, but it would otherwise be overkill for anyone not needing a CPAP.
 
mozey said:
Even though this trail is supposedly easier, the first 500 are feeling tougher.to me. Maybe because I'm two years older. Or, maybe because NM is my home state and I was just more familiar/comfortable with the territory. Don't know.
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For sure, the diminishing returns on age are a reality.

I understand the familiar/comfortable with the territory business as well.

You are the definition of persistance…….

Thanks for sharing the trails and the trials.
 
I just bought a Durston XMid Pro2 . It has the silnyon floor. I need to buy stakes. Looking forward to trying it out. Like you my base weight is really super light. Be careful out there Mozey, and keep up that pace you have us cheering you on. That sure is the journey of journeys.
 
DeerMadness said:
I just bought a Durston XMid Pro2 . It has the silnyon floor. I need to buy stakes. Looking forward to trying it out. Like you my base weight is really super light. Be careful out there Mozey, and keep up that pace you have us cheering you on. That sure is the journey of journeys.
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I use MSR Ground Hogs. I had one bend on me when I tried to pound it through a rock, but even then it was still usable. Otherwise no issues.
 
WapitiBob said:
I gave a cpl gals an uber last year that were hiking the trail, evidently Bend is a normal stop over. Something to be said for good looks, covered in dirt, and the strong scent of BO.
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LOL--I resemble two of those four things, but I doubt you would offer me a ride...
 
Acton to Tehachapi. After picking up my new shoes in Acton, I hiked 110 miles to Tehachapi in four days. My feet are not happy about it, but I'm glad to be off the mountain and in a hotel while this cold storm passes through.

First night I camped right above the Antelope Valley Freeway. My first year out of college I had to drive that thing to work every day. I had to laugh when I woke up the next morning and saw that it was already backed up before 6:00 a.m., just like it was more than 30 years ago. Glad to not be doing that anymore.

I hiked 30 miles that day through Agua Dulce and Vasquez Rocks (lots of famous movie scenes) to Green Valley. I was trying to get to the Smokehouse before it closed that night but ended up being 15 minutes too late. No matter. The owner saw me outside and brought me out a steak tri tip sandwich, and would not let me pay for it. The sandwich was amazing, and I'm amazed by the kindness and generosity that restaurant owner showed to a stranger.

My biggest mile day on this trail so far ended up being 32 miles on the third day, as I did some night hiking to get across the Los Angels Aqueduct and camped right under a windmill in a wind farm.

But it's obvious to me that even though the rest of my body feels pretty good, my feet aren't conditioned yet to handle these bigger miles and I need to back off a little going forward. No blisters or anything, they just feel tender.

Still not sure yet what I'm going to do about the Sierra. Current reports are snow is still too deep.

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elkassassin said:
That Ain't A BUZZARD!

Or At Least Not Like The Kinda BUZZARDS We Have Around Here!

Looks Like A Way More Protected Breed To Me!

The BIRD Lovers Should Be Protesting Wind Mills Before Long!
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You should read up about all the eagles killed by wind machines. And it’s all legal if they get a permit and reduce usage during migration.
 
elkassassin said:
That Ain't A BUZZARD!

Or At Least Not Like The Kinda BUZZARDS We Have Around Here!

Looks Like A Way More Protected Breed To Me!

The BIRD Lovers Should Be Protesting Wind Mills Before Long!
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The pic doesn't show it very well, but its head was bald like a buzzard's so I assumed it was a buzzard. Maybe the windmill blade gave it a shave?
 
LOL!

I Don't Know How Many Different Kinds Of Buzzards There Are?

It Might Be One!

Looking At What I Can See It's Protected!

mozey said:
The pic doesn't show it very well, but its head was bald like a buzzard's so I assumed it was a buzzard. Maybe the windmill blade gave it a shave?
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Hey mozey!

It Could very Well Be A Buzzard Of Some Sort!

I Got Looking & There's Many Different Kinds!

Here's The Kind We have Around Here:

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This was a pretty big bird. Not a lot in the pic to give it some scale, but the trail is probably at least two feet wide there. I was thinking it was probably 2.5' from head to tail.
 
The trail parallels Highway 58 for a couple miles, which is fine, but there is hardly any shade, and more critical, a private place to pee. But just as things were reaching critical, the trail provides this nice underpass...

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You Can't Just Whizz Anywhere In KALI!

You Need To Be Downtown SF For That!

mozey said:
The trail parallels Highway 58 for a couple miles, which is fine, but there is hardly any shade, and more critical, a private place to pee. But just as things were reaching critical, the trail provides this nice underpass...

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