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For 10 years now I have been dreaming of walking the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) from Mexico to Canada. And now this moment has come. On 12.May 2023 I start my walk at the Mexican border with 6 months and 4.200km in front of me.
The eagle flies again Read more
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  • Michael SpiesBald eagle goes a walking
    Day 1

    This is where it gets serious!

    May 9, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    For days and days now, I have packed and repacked and repacked my rucksack again, taking 50 grams out each time until no more was possible, increasingly thinking that I am becoming neurotic. It was clearly time to leave!
    And now I am here, in SanDiego starting my walk on 12th May.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesBald eagle goes a walking
    Day 1

    PCT- arrival in San Diego

    May 9, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Today I arrived in SanDiego and the feeling is "oh my god, this is really happening"- HELP!,
    In the plane sitting directly behind me was Thomas Csencsitz from Graz in Austria. What a comfort, I'm not alone!
    We arrived at a hostel run by trail angels Scout and Frodo Mann who are dedicated to the PCT and open their home to 30 hikers every day from the beginning of march till end of may, cooking, advising and chatting and not wanting even a donation. That is absolutely incredible!    Read more

  • Michael SpiesBald eagle goes a walking
    1
    Day 3

    The first day of a long journey

    May 11, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    This morning I weighed my pack with food, and two bottles of water and screamed in shock. 18 kg! Despite all the packing and repacking.. so I am walking with about 18kg. The heaviest I have ever carried.
    I drove in an Uber to the border together with "Flow", a 22 year girl working in a bar in Michegan who just got back from climbing a 6000 in Tibet and has already walked the appalatian trail and the continental divide trail, AT 22 !
    How crazy is that!.
    Another man, had just come back from climbing a 6000m peak in alaska at -50 C together with his uncle. Before that he was working in an Australian mine and then sailed across the atlantic to do the PCT. This is a generation who works to live and is totally uninterested in career, family and house.
    I thought I would walk together with "Flow", that was very naiv, she started off like a porche and after 2 km I gave up. This is where I realise that there is a difference between 22 and 65, and so, during the day, I was constantly being passed by others. Quite a challenge for my ego!
    As we drove, the lady in the uber mentioned that she has never seen the region so green, the record snow also brought record rain, and so, instead of walking through an arid region I am walking through a flower paradise with a million different scents that I have never smelled before. Once again I am in God's garden!
    I stopped after 11 km after having filtered water at a stream and looked for a place to pitch tent. Nothing in sight, and so ended up "cowboy camping" on a flat rock with beautiful view over the mountains and valleys.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesBald eagle goes a walking
    Day 4

    Day 2 in Gods garden, km 26

    May 12, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 8 °C

    Already at 4am the first birds started to sing in the ice cold night air (probably 5 deg. C). With shock I realised that dew had been so intensive that the water had run off my sleeping bag and created numerous pools on and around my mat. Water and down don't really like each other!
    As soon as the sun rose temps shot up and within 20 min my bag and everything was dry. Within an hour we had reached 25 degrees and rising.
    The day got hotter and hotter, and to celebrate my first full day, it ended in a 300m climb.
    I was totally exhausted. The heat is killing!    Read more

  • Michael SpiesBald eagle goes a walking
    Day 5

    Day 3: Km 51, Fred Canyon

    May 13, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Yesterday the heat nearly killed me and so I decided to start hiking at dawn today. As the day progressed it got hotter and hotter reaching 45deg C crazy heat, draining all the energy out of you.
    I battled up the 400m climb we had during the day again and again crossing Thomas, I was totally exhausted and with constant cramps in my muscles, despite taking magnesium and drinking, hold tight, 4 liters of water!
    In the afternoon I passed a flowing river and met Thomas there, resting in the little shade there was. When getting up to go, cramps shot through my thighs totally incapacitating me. Thomas had some Gatorade rehydration with him, I took it and and an hour later felt literally reborn. (I have since bought myself such a miracle powder!)
    With a totally diferent muscles, I walked the last 10kms.
    Coming the other way were approx 50 runners that were participating in a, hold tight, 50 mile (80km) trail run through mountainous rocky terain at 45deg centigrade. 1/3 were women!
    What a crazy country, half of the population is totally obese, and the other half is runnung 80km in the mountains at 45 deg centigrade.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesBald eagle goes a walking
    1
    Day 6

    Day 4 heading into Mount Lagoona km77

    May 14, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today again I started walking at sunrise and made it to mount Lagoona by 10am before the heat set in.
    Mount lagoona is 1800meters high and as I climbed up, the vegetation changed with pine trees oaks and maples appearing. I walked as the wind blew through the needles of the pines. What a wonderful world!
    Since then I have been sitting at the "luxury" french restaurant writing this blog . The only "french thing" was probably that they played "je t'aime" from the 60ties on the speaker system, again and again!
    Mobile reception on the trail is mostly non-existant and only available in villages, and then it is a question which provider you have, and it seems that with t-mobile I have the wrong one.
    Many have asked me how walking the trail is. 99% of the time I am walking alone. Despite 50 people starting per day till the end of may, each has their Tempo and distance per day, so everything spreads out and you are mainly alone, and when you do meet someone, they are passing you or you are passing them. A small conversation takes place and off you go again. The tent spots along the trail are quite frequent but usually only for one or two tents, so you never have large gatherings of hikers.
    So one is basically alone. But at least for the moment that feels good, I can walk the speed that my body needs, and stop when it wants to stop.
    After passing the hot period of the day in shade, at 16:00 when all the others went to the camping site, I decided to walk another 10kms and experienced the most incredible feeling of "flow". I was cruising along in cool evening air seemingly effortlessly until it started getting dark, when I discovered a beautiful tent site where I pitched camp.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesBald eagle goes a walking
    11
    Day 7

    Day 5, km 101 Km !!!!

    May 15, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Yea! I did it, I crossed the 100km mark today, actually wanted to go further, but my body didn't, and he's the Boss!
    As I walked, the terrain got dryer and dryer, cactusses started appearing and all river beds were without water. At one, I at least found a small pool full of mosquito larvae, but "beggars can't be choosers! This is a new section of the hike where water is going to become a topic. At present I am carrying 3 liters=3kg, I'm going to have to increase this.
    I started off the day with a guy from New Zealand, but as always after 30min he was gone. This is always sad, walking together is a great motivation but I am simply not able to keep up the pace of these young guys.
    The last water site was again without water and so I set up my camp on top of the empty cisterne.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesBald eagle goes a walking
    2
    Day 8

    Day 6, km 125, Stage coach

    May 16, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    At 05am the alarm called me. I am going to do this every day now. The early morning is the only pleasant time for walking. At 10 the sun is already massacring you. By this time I try to have complete 2/3 of my day's distance. Around noon I look for some shade (not very easy) and rest till 15:00 to then do the last 1/3 of my days hike. It is the only way to survive, and to reduce water consumption.
    Today the trail led lower and lower into dryer and dryer terrain coming down from 1800m to 700m, and the heat got worse and worse. On top of this the front skin of my left foot feels as if it is coming loose. I made a critical mistake by taking barefoot shoes (xero) that are super light but that I have never tested. The trail is extremely rough, strewn with rocks of all sizes. For normal shoes this would be a challenge, for my soft Xero's it is deadly. On top of this comes a ground temperature like boiling sand, which goes straight through the sole.
    By 11:00 I could no longer walk and found shade under a huge rock..At three I hobbled to arrive half dead at the road just as a trail angel arrived and offered me a lift. Oh my god, what a "God send"!
    I am now spending the night at a real stage coach stop on the edge of the desert and will hitch hike to Julian tomorrow morning to buy new shoes and get rid of some more weight. EG. I will send away my gas cooker and half of my clothes.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesBald eagle goes a walking
    Day 9

    Snakes

    May 17, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Snakes are not my "cup of tea". But the nice thing about rattle snakes is that that they warn you with their rattle. But what if he is sleeping and doesn't notice you comming?
    Unlike the South African Puff Adder, who lies in the middle of the path and doesn't move, the rattle snake likes to lie in the bush directly next to the trail. And so it was that I was walking along in the late afternoon, when suddenly, directly next to my ankle it starts to rattle like crazy! I must have jumped 5 meters! There in the bush directly next to my ankle a huge big fat bugger, rattling and rattling. My heart beat was at 309bpm.
    But all this was topped yesterday. At 10:30 the sun started to beat down and I desperately needed a break in the shade. Within 100m there was only one bush big enough to make shade. I spread out my mat and unpacked my bag to have a snack. Then Matt joined me and we chatted, when suddenly out of the bush directly next to him we suddenly hear an incredible rattling. The Rattler was exactly 30cm from his back curled up in the bush. We lept aside. The snake was so pissed off that he continued rattling for another 5 minutes even though we were gone. The problem was how to get my things out. We slowly pulled on my tarpaulin making sure nothing fell off, dragging it 10 meters before repacking my bag. OH MY GOD!!!!

    But talking of snakes., a PCT hiker posted the following pictures of two male snakes fighting over a lady who was waiting in the bushes watching them.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesBald eagle goes a walking
    1
    Day 9

    Hitch hike into Julian.

    May 17, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌫 27 °C

    This morning I hitch hiked into Julian to buy some new shoes, waiting one hour untill a 73 year old lady gave me a lift on the back of her pick-up. She had to quickly drop off ice at home and so she proudly presented me her newly bought empty property in the desert and Trailer in which she lives with her dog. San Diego has become too expensive she said. I believe in this country there are many older people who no longer can afford an apartment and seek such a solution. But she was not complaining about life and was full of ideas of what trees she wanted to plant. How inspiring!
    After picking up some new shoes, and by god do they make a difference, the trail Angel "proffessor" drove us back to the trail where a whole group of hikers was passing the afternoon under a bridge. I decided to walk. My super new shoes and about 2kg less weight (which I had brought to the post office), led to a really good walking "flow" as I climbed 700m in the afternoon heat.
    Then suddenly directly next to my foot a fat rattler! Despite the fact that I was paying attention and expecting snakes, I had not seen him. I leapt screeching "oh shit!" And he didn't even rattle nor move. He was just sitting there, I think digesting his meal.
    After 15 km and just before dark I pitched tent.    Read more

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