[pct-l] Lightningbolt's 2001 PCT thru-hike report

[lightningbolt94@hotmail.com (D. Brock)]

Following is my trip report from my 2001 thru-hike of the PCT that I
recently posted on the BackpackingLight e-group and someone suggested that 
it might also be appreciated here...


Wow! What a summer this has been. I just completed one of my life-long 
dreams on Sunday, August 12th by thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail... 
starting at sunrise near the Mexican border on April 26th and finishing on 
the Canadian border near Manning Provincial Park on August 12th with a total 
of 109 days including probably 5 to 7 "zero" days (I still haven't figured 
up all the statistics). The best and most surprising thing was even after 
hiking 30 mile days back-to-back, week after week, month after month I 
actually felt great on my last day of hiking on August 12th and if there had 
been more trail to follow, then I suppose that I'd have kept on going! This 
certainly wasn't the case back in '94 when I finished my first long distance 
thru-hike of the AT and after 5 full months (152 days) of carrying a heavy 
backpack my body and mind needed some real rest and I recall saying that I 
would most certainly never long distance hike again. Amazing it is how time 
and a LOT of research on ultralight backpacking gear & hiking methods can 
change a fellows mind! I certainly owe a ton of thanks to the 
BackpackingLight list which certainly helped to open my eyes to the 
possibilities.

During the next few months I will post on my website a complete and thorough 
trip journal including hundreds of photos, along with town reviews, updated 
gear list, questions & answers, and all that I've learned about ultralight 
gear and trail methods. It's all just a bit overwhelming right now as I try 
to decompress from the trail and readjust myself to life off the trail 
again, but I'll start this process by giving just a very brief overview of 
my experience:

                            Beginings...

I arrived in San Diego on April 21st and enjoyed visiting for several days a 
city that I'd never been to before. On Thursday, April 26th trail arch angel 
Bob Reiss risked life and limb to have five of us at the southern PCT 
terminus near Campo before sunrise. We spent about half an hour relishing 
the moment, taking photos, and soaking in the last bit of cool morning air, 
then at 6:00 a.m. we began our long walk north. Well, right off I had to 
stop and head straight for the bushes for a "dumpity-dump" and lost sight of 
my fellow hikers. I haven't admitted it up until now but during that first 
half hour of my hike to Canada I was already completely lost, but with the 
helpful directions of a US Customs officer I found myself back to the trail!

I also encountered my first rattlesnake just before entering Hauser Canyon 
and this was one really mad snake! Not only did this snake have to deal with 
the heat of the desert... now here I came making him a little bit madder as 
I walked completely by it, then it quickly slid off an embankment directly 
into the trail behind me and causing me to jump, jerk, and let out a loud 
scream of death. This fellow was really mad and wanted a piece of me, but 
fortunately didn't get it. During the next 700 miles of desert I continued 
to see a lot of "mad" rattlesnakes... so many that by the second week I had 
become so accustomed to their presence that I didn't even react to them, but 
usually just plucked them out of the trail with a stick or just walked 
around the big fellows.

In Hauser Canyon the US Customs helicopters were flying low and heavy and I 
sure hadn't expected to see any fleeing Mexican's... but guess what? I did. 
I had stopped briefly to adjust my shoestrings when around the corner behind 
me came a line of five (obvious) Mexican men and women, each toting a 
plastic trash bag full of stuff over their shoulder. They were all smiling 
and the first one spoke a little broken English wishing me well on my hike 
as I told him that I was headed north. He quickly shook my hand then all the 
others passed on by smiling and nodding their heads in acknowledgement as 
the sound of low flying helicopters filled the canyon. I then paused for a 
few minutes to think about what had just happened, then I continued my hike.

Later that afternoon I had made it 20 miles to Lake Morena where the first 
few folks had already arrived for the ADZ Kick-off gathering and enjoyed 
sharing my stories. I then spent the next couple of days at Lake Morena for 
the Kick-off and greatly enjoyed meeting so many great folks like Greg 
Hummell, Carol Wellman "Brawney", Meadow Ed, Roy and Brian Robinson, Donna 
and Jeff Saufley, Fanny Pack, Tom, Monte, and on and on...  I also had the 
time of my life when I entered the homemade gear contest, but it was more of 
a roasting by Greg and Tom... just simply too much fun for a single day! 
Hey, I did win a leatherman knife prize for my homemade cup and presented 
something like "The wildest presentation and use of the most useless 
materials"! On the morning of the 29th I was surprised to be reacquainted 
with "Blaze" with whom I'd met in '94 during our thru-hike of the AT and it 
sure was nice sharing old stories as he drove me back to the trail. The 
Kick-off had been the most perfect way to begin my hike!

The Desert...

They say that the first 650-700 miles in southern California is the desert 
section, and I also agree...but when I hear the word "desert" all that my 
mind sees is a hot sun and a hiker crawling on all fours amid the sand and 
cactus' while having hallucinations of finding water. Well, I must say that 
the desert section was my most pleasant surprise. Yes it was hot and dry 
quite a bit but the desert crossings were seperated by several nice mountain 
crossings such as the San Bernadino's and the San Gabriel's just to name a 
couple. When telling others about my desert crossing I mostly recall 
parching in heat one day, then trying to find my way through the snow the 
next. Although I wouldn't have missed the desert section for the world, I 
was glad when it was finally done... but it did end up being a very positive 
experience and much better than I'd expected.

Central California...

When doing my research last winter it seemed that other than the Canadian 
border, Kennedy Meadow's was perhaps the most anticipated destination of 
most thru-hiker's and rightfully so since it was the gateway to the High 
Sierra. I was very fortunate that 2001 reported a snowfall that was only 65 
percent of average in the Sierras so I felt very confident leaving Kennedy 
Meadows on May 31st and it would have been the 30th but I had to layover an 
extra day waiting for the store's re-supply so that I could add some bagels, 
cheese, etc. to my food bag. Although the previous six hikers had left 
without ice axes, I was glad to have my 8 oz. Cassin Ghost which gave me a 
lot of confidence in some very hairy spots. I made it up and over all of the 
high passes without delay however Muir Pass probably presented the most 
problems and I never met a single hiker that didn't have problems following 
the trail there. It was mainly just several miles of post-holing it through 
the snow and scraping my legs to a bloody mess on hidden rocks all the time 
wondering if I was on the trail. My NB 803's did a commendable job in the 
Sierra's and my WM Ultralight +25 sleeping bag was just right.

North California

I'd always said that it I could make it through the desert and the High 
Sierra then the rest of the hike should be a piece of cake in comparison. 
Generally speaking I still stand by that statement and feel that 
psychologically it did help me to keep moving north, but the rest of the 
trail was certainly no piece of cake. By this point the reality of a very 
long hike had set in and a new confidence to finish was born. This section 
had a lot of ups and downs, but not as bad as what I had just come through. 
I got some good photos of the huge forest fire near Lake Tahoe and had to 
take a 30 hour rest from shin problems in Sierra City. Finally Mt. Shasta 
came into view atop the Hat Creek Rim and stayed in view for several weeks 
afterward all the way to Crater Lake in Oregon. We also had to fight our way 
through section "O" which was severely overgrown and I mean thick in all 
directions and well above our heads in places. It was also a very hot 
section with a lot of poison oak, but like always I somehow made it through. 
In Castella we ran into the first really hard humidity of the trip and I 
ended up taking a full zero day in Dunsmuir for the Fourth of July with Mike 
Pook, Jason, and the Three Amigos which was nice.

Oregon...

All that I'd heard before is that you can really make big miles in Oregon 
because the trail runs on such flat terrain. While I certainly agree I still 
had my highest mileage day in southern Washington at 43 miles, but I did my 
first 40-plus day (a 41 miler) in Oregon. It really was like the difference 
between night and day when coming out of northern California into Oregon, 
going directly onto the ridge for some of the easiest (if there is any such 
thing as easy) hiking of the trip and it continued that way until the Three 
Sister's Wilderness hit us like a brick wall and brough us back to reality. 
>From 3 Sisters and on through Jefferson Park was a bit more challenging and 
well worth it for such fantastic scenery, which had been somewhat absent up 
to this point with a well forested Oregon trail. Just before Cascade Locks 
and the Columbia river I decided to take the Eagle Creek alternate trail 
which I will never regret. This is one of the most memorable deep gorge 
walks I've ever taken with a trail carved into the steep gorge walls with 
numerous waterfalls and deep blue pools.

Washington...

By the time I crossed the Bridge of the Gods over the Columbia river into 
Washington state I had developed a strong case of border fever and I never 
did less than a 30 mile day! Mt. Rainier was a highlight and I often saw a 
lot of elk and even got some good close up photos of some mountain goats. 
The North Cascade's most certainly presented my last major challenge with a 
terrain that was genuinely straight up to one ridge and pass, then straight 
down to the valley bottom, then the same all over again. The scenery was 
great in this area of Glacier Peak and I somehow managed to average exactly 
30 miles per day through this challenging section of the trail, but my body 
had never felt stronger with the Canadian border just beyond. Finally 
arriving at Monument 78 at about 10:50 a.m. on Sunday, August 12th. I spent 
just over half an hour reflecting upon the moment and the last 109 days, 
then hiked the last 8 miles into Canada where I caught a bus to Seattle the 
next morning.



                             Conclusion...

As I wrote in the last register kept inside Monument 78, for over 25 years 
and since I was just 19 or 20 years old a map of the PCT has hung on my wall 
and I still have the 1971 issue of National Geographic that first featured 
the trail. It is an experience that I will never ever forget and I know that 
it will affect my life in ways that I'll probably never know.

I also can't help but to recall my '94 thru-hike of the AT and how I so 
openly said that I'd never hike another long distance trail ever again, but 
Oh, how that has changed. I fully credit my newfound love for hiking to all 
of my laborous research last winter on ultralight gear and hiking methods. 
It was a slow transformation from heavyweight, to lightweight, then 
ultralight but THAT is what has made all the difference between actually 
enjoying the full quality of my daily hike while recalling the toll upon my 
body after only a 15 mile day of hiking just a few years ago with my heavy 
pack. There is no turning back now and perhaps my next hike will be the 
Continental Divide Trail?!? In the following days and as I have time, I'll 
be posting a thorough review of my gear list here on the list. Until then,

Happy Trails...
"Lightningbolt" Dave Brock (North Carolina)
http://members.tripod.com/gohike


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