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Big Long Walk
  • Anna Budke
  • Anna Budke

Big Long Walk

PCT class of 2024 Read more
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  • Trip start
    April 11, 2024
    Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Palm Desert

    April 9, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Spent the night in Palm Desert at Grandma and Grandpa Budke’s. They had dinner with friends already on the books so I had plenty of time to go over the first hundred or so miles over and over.

    Yesterday (4/9) I flew in to PSP after spending a night in Bonney Lake with Robert.

    I thought I would want more time down here but I’m really just itching to start the trail tomorrow!!    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Southern Terminus

    April 11, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    So it begins. Years of staring off into a distant day dream shatter as I snap into the reality that the dream is no longer distant. It is here beneath my feet.

    Quandaries drift in and out of my thoughts:
    * Can I do this?
    * Am I capable of something of this magnitude?
    * What if I fail?
    * How will this change me?

    Looking back there was a day that these drifting questions would have presented themselves as loud, negative statements in my mind.

    And looking forward, the answers don’t matter. I’m here now. I am trying.

    This is the dream ❤️    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 1

    April 11, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    First day on the PCT was a hot one!! One gal, Heather, had a little thermometer and the highest we saw was 86 F.

    There were a ton of people out, all water sources had 10+ people.

    Camped at 11.4. I rolled in with Charlotte and Sam around 3 or 4. We were the first to arrive, but I think around 8 more people ended up camping there.Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 2

    April 11, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    14.6 trail miles today.

    Up and atom at 5:10, 20 min before my 5:30 alarm. Hiking in the early morning was much more pleasant than yesterday’s heat of the day.

    Hiked the whole day with Charlotte and Sam. Sam’s pace is much faster than mine and Charlotte’s (perhaps inspo for a trail name 🤔)

    We went to the Lake Morena malt shop for lunch. I had a small salad to balance out the double cheese burger.

    We hung out at the paid camp ground with a guy who was zeroing there. He let us use his outlets and water which was great.

    Camping at 26.0 at a managed camp ground that is free for PCT hikers. It had dumpsters, running potable water and pit toilet.

    Now to bed - 8:35    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 3

    April 13, 2024 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 11 °C

    Shorter day today. Still up and moving before 5:30 but didn’t make it out of camp until 7:10. No one wanted to leave the great amenities!

    Lots of climbing today. It was much cooler in the morning; I started with gloves and a beanie.

    We originally planned to do 15 miles today, putting us just before Mt. Laguna, but realized that if we keep our same sleep schedule, we’d be sitting around in town for ages before the stores open (Sunday tomorrow so many businesses open later)

    Instead we are camping at 37.1, so we can keep our sleep schedule and roll into town right when the lodge opens at 9.

    There is an 8 mile no camping zone after Mount Laguna which put a wrench the option to just stop by in the evening today and camp outside of town.

    Only the three of us and Dan here today. He has done this section twice before and gave us some good info on what is to come!

    It started drizzling a bit as we were packing up dinner so we all hustled back to our tents it’s quite windy and rainy now. I don’t anticipate a good night of sleep😭    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler
    1

    Day 4

    April 14, 2024 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    Started off bright and early and hiked 5 miles into Mount Laguna just in time for the Pine Lodge to open at 9. Sam Charlotte and I ate with the other bigger fam for breakfast.

    We had grand plans to go another 15 miles which the weather did not agree with. It started to get a bit blustery, then downright windy. Just around the 50 mile mark, we hiked up into a cloud so it got misty and then fully rainy. We decided to camp earlier as it was starting to get quite cold. Working together against the wind we put our three tents up. Mine needed to be moved because the ground was so soft my stakes kept coming out even with rocks on top.

    Tragically had about 10 pepperoni for dinner as it was just too crappy to leave the tent to boil water.

    Camped at 57.2.    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 5

    April 15, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C

    Cold fingers braking camp again this morning. But no ice on my tent! The wind howled though the night but my tent held up in its second location.

    The morning was clear but cold. Though I took off my rain pants around 11, Sam and Charlotte hiked in long pants all day (but Sam regretted it when it got up to 65 or so).

    Today is the longest day we’ve hiked yet! 18.5 miles.

    Tonight we also are camping with Leo. We are all cowboy camping for the first time (except Leo who had cowboyed before). We have a beautiful view of the valley where we will be headed to town tomorrow!

    Camped 71.2    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 6

    April 16, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Woke up to a beautiful sunrise view today! Cowboying was successful but Charlotte and I had a bit of condensation on our quilts. I think it is to do with the material and the high loft. My ground sheet was also quite wet on the bottom.

    We had a leisurely first breakfast at camp with hot coffee, then we hiked 6 miles in the cool morning air to Scissor Crossing. Quick hitches got us to Julian, CA. Leo and I took the first one and Sam and Charlotte took the second.

    Leo knew some people who stayed at the lodge in Julian the night before, and they let us shower before they had to check out.

    From there we went to Moms pies for our free slice, and then bopped around town, one shop had testers of body lotion and spray which made our cloths smell slightly better😂 I got a necklace with little pine trees there.

    We hit the little grocery store and did what we could to resupply. I probably didn’t need to buy any food but did anyway. Then we hit a vegan cafe that Sam wanted to try for mushroom tacos and salads.

    We tried for the better part of an hour to hitch back to Scissor crossing but gave up and not for lack of cars. We ended up on the 5pm shuttle with Professor.

    We ran into the extended trail fam under the overpass and took off before them. We hiked 2.1 and are camping at 79.4. Too many bugs to cow boy so we are all squeezed into a tiny valley in our tents.    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 7

    April 17, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Camped at 101.1. Hot today and long water carry’s

    We got up fairly early, camping in the canyon valley was surprisingly dry- no condensation!

    Lunch at a water cashe was delish, I had a bagel with avocado, cheese, cucumber, and salami.

    Later in the afternoon we found the extended fam siesta-ing under Spicy Batman’s tarp.

    Saw an angry rattlesnake, needed to down climb a bit off trail to avoid it.

    We ended up camping in a big meadow with a water spout and a troth. It was great to soak our feet    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 8

    April 18, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Leisurely start to the morning the plan was to head to Ranchita Bodega when they open at 9. Since we ended up camping so close, and already mostly all used to getting up early. We had a bit of spare time. BeFree has a foam ball to roll out her back that’s perfect to use as a baseball. We had a catch and played a quick couple pitches with trekking pole bats.

    We go a ride to the Bodega and had a lovely morning. They are a great resupply. I got some candy, tuna, peanut butter, and some zip lock bags. We hung around there until about noon when the shuttle took us back to trail. Then about 8 miles to Warner Springs.

    Sam, Charlotte and Tux (from the extended family) caught an earlier shuttle, and Leo and I were on the noon shuttle with the rest of the extended fam. As usual, Leo was much faster. So I hiked with Spicy Batman, BeFree and the Dutchman. It was a lovely walk through grassy meadows. I can see how in a year with less rain that would be a miserable hot walk. But we had some overcast and lots of greenery.

    We saw eagle rock, which is sacred to the native tribes who used to live here. From a distance it was hard to see but from the right angle it is incredibly accurate to an eagle.

    We got to Warner springs community center right when they opened at 4. They have two outdoor showers and bucket laundry. They also had some donated apples and tangerines. Very refreshing,

    We are camping .2 back from the community center on trail. Batman and I headed back early since it seemed like a ton of people were going to camp here. There are probably 20+ people around us. Unfortunately Sam, Charlotte, and Leo are at the next campground down. We’ll all meet up in the morning for breakfast burritos though! There is a restaurant here that bring burritos to trail in the morning

    Camping at 109.3    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 9

    April 19, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    A little more of a slow morning. The burritos we ordered were delivered at 6:45 but we were packed and moving around 6:30. The extended fam spent most of the day together

    The burritos were big and tasty. Gave us plenty of energy for the morning. I didn’t even need my mid-morning bar.

    We hiked through some more meadows and along streams. Some of the meadows we shared with cows. Unfortunately there was a bit of a swamp over the trail in one of the meadows almost all of us got muddy shoes.

    There was stream access pretty consistently for the first 3-4 miles. We met up at the last place it crossed the stream and collected water for the uphill & exposed carry. It was only a couple miles but the sun was heating things up.

    Spicy Batman set up his tarp like a shelter then he and I took everyone’s dirty water containers and went down to fill them up. The spring was putting out barely a trickle, but I got a big dandy lion leaf and made a pretty solid spout that flowed much faster than what was there.

    This led to the trail name “Leaf Spout” or “Leaf” for short. We’ll see if it sticks.

    Charlotte got the name “5 Spice” today because she can rotate through the personalities of the different spice girls depending on her mood.

    After that we had a 7 ish water carry to a water tank near some camping. There are a ton of people here again tonight. We are hoping for something more quiet tomorrow night

    Camped off trial near 126.9    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 10

    April 20, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Long water carry’s today of the 21 and change miles we did there were only 2 water sources. The first water source was about 10 miles in. We stopped there for a bit of an early lunch.

    The whole extended fam did the same miles today but were on slightly different schedules.

    I hiked with BeFree all morning. My left knee was feeling a bit funky so she let me use her brace for the day since she’s just carrying it in her pack. It helped. I’m considering picking one up tomorrow in town.

    It was quite hot today so I stayed with the late group a bit longer today. We left at about 1:30 to do the last 11 miles. The first couple of miles of that were brutally hot. But it cooled down toward the last couple hours.

    Camping at 148.2    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 11

    April 21, 2024 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 30 °C

    Biiig day today! Up super early after a rough night of sleep. After getting to camp late and knowing we had go leave early, I decided to cowboy. Only problem was it was a pretty warm night until about 2am. I was roasting under my quilt and didn’t want to stick an arm or a leg out lest the monsters take it.

    Up and moving by 4:30. Far too early considering fewer morning chores. I was able to take a few moments to myself while the stars were still out, which was great.

    Sam, 5 Spice, and I hit the trail at 6am sharp, and hike the four ish miles to highway 74 by 7:30. Grandma and grandpa were shortly behind us. We wanted to go to Paradise Valley Cafe to see if Charlotte’s spikes were there, so we waited for BeFree and Eelco and gave them a ride the mile down the road.

    Her spikes weren’t there so we headed back to Palm Desert and had a nice breakfast there after showers with eggs, oats for the vegan, fruit and toast.

    Then chores.

    We did two double loads of laundry. Double meaning we added more soap and hit go again once the machine finished.

    We all aired out the things that got wet overnight from condensation, and inventoried our food. Charged electronics and washed dishes.

    Suddenly it was 2. We had a laundry list of errands to run.

    First stop: Burger King. Apparently the best vegan fast food in America for Sam, and some chicken wraps to tide 5Spice and myself over.

    Second stop: in-n-out. No explanation necessary

    Third stop: Trader Joe’s, for half our resupply

    Fourth: TJ Max. 5 Spice and I both want another pair of shorts. She was successful and we all got great deals on sunscreen

    Fifth: Dicks Sporting Goods. Further search for shorts, a knee brace, and more. I was overwhelmed. By the shorts selection and came up empty again.

    Sixth: Ralphs. The rest of our resupply.

    Then finally home for dinner. Grandpa grilled up pork chops and a vegan burger. Big salad and Costco scalloped potatoes.

    Tried to do some more food sorting but too tired    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 12

    April 22, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Another big day today! Up early, I finally sorted through my food and broke out what I was taking vs having G&G being to i10 at mile 209.

    The knee brace I picked up yesterday apparently had a security tab. Grandpa took me back over to have it removed, and we ran a couple more errands on the way. We left Palm Desert at around 12. Sam had gone with grandpa to pick up a couple more vegan Whoppers, and grandma made chicken and ham sandwiches for 5Spice and me.

    We got back to the trail and met up with the extended family. 5Spice’s micro spikes were still in Idlewild where they had stayed the night so they brought them out for her.

    Camped at 159.7    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 13

    April 24, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    TOWN DAY!!

    Another early start up by 4 on trail by 5. Or as it turns out closer to 5:30. We took Devils Slide down to Idlewild as the sun rose and peaked through the trees. The snow was hard and grippy so the travel was fast.

    At the trailhead parking lot we talked to some day hikers who gave us cupcakes! My first trail magic!

    Once in town we got breakfast at the Red Kettle, then went to the grocery store to pick up a small resupply. At that point the rest of the group who slept in got there and the early group collected laundry to got to the laundry mat.

    Clean laundry in hand the two groups met again at the Red Kettle, and made air bb plans for Big Bear.

    Spicy and I got a pizza for lunch and to pack out for dinner, then we hit the gear store. I got some different socks and sun gloves, and a little bit of chord to replace the pull string on one of my stakes. They also gave me some packing tape to fix my 1/8 in pad.

    On the hike back up to the PCT, I hear someone coming toward me call out “Anna?” It was none other than Tucker Miller, on his day off after working Coachella. So great to catch up!

    Camped at Saddle Junction: 179.4    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler
    1

    Day 14

    April 25, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Earliest start yet, up at 12, on trail by 1 - overnight low: 30f. Spicy, Will, and I were determined to hit San Jacinto for sunrise.

    We hiked up the snowy mountain in a three man conga line following the alternate route or “blue blaze” that goes to the summit. Night hiking is the safest way to get through snow because it is coldest and hardest, therefore easier to navigate with micro spikes.

    We made it to the summit emergency shelter a bit before sunrise and had some cocoa. Once we were approaching dawn we bundled up and hustled up the last .2 miles and 100 vertical feet to the proper summit. The wood sign that hikers often hold was either not there for the season or buried under snow, but we got our pictures anyway.

    After we warmed back up for a bit in the shelter, we started our descent. The snow was still grippy not sticky and we flew down the mountain. At times we even treated it like skiing!

    When we met up with the PCT, we were over come with what would turn out to be false confidence. Only 4 miles to camp and it was only around 10am.

    Those four hours would prove more taxing than the summit push. The sun had softened the snow making it slushy and hard to traverse. Additionally, following footprints would lead us far off the actual trail due to impassable conditions on trail. Those four miles took us close to 6 hours.

    Luckily the campsite had no snow and some sunshine. Overall a great day.

    Camped at 190.5    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 15

    April 26, 2024 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 3 °C

    More reasonable start today. On trail by 6.

    The mission of the day: get out of the San Jacinto mountains. Including yesterday’s summit, we descended 8000 ft over 20 miles, then crossed the desert floor for about 4 miles.

    Those who have hiked the PCT know the legend of the Large Rusted Pipe. And today was the day! Just past mile 200, there is a large rusted pipe. You can see it for miles as you descend into the valley. Then it hits you. It is great. Simply great.

    We heard through the grapevine that we should check the weather. We did and found a wind advisory for 35-45mph wind with 80 mph gusts. Grandma and grandpa were supposed to meet us at i10 to bring resupply so we phoned and asked if we could crash during the bad weather.

    Whopper (Sam) and 5Spice were about 7 miles ahead and had already made a hotel reservation, which BeFree joined in on. Meanwhile, Spicy, Tux, Eelco and I went to grandma and grandpa’s.

    We all showered up, started a load of laundry and went to Mario’s for dinner.

    Popped over to Ralph’s to get some food and headed home,

    Made it to 209, slept in Palm Desert.    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 16

    April 27, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Super luxuriously slept on the couch at grandma and grandpa’s to avoid the wind.

    Later start this morning, Tux, Eelco, Spicy and I made a big breakfast of eggs, avocado and cucumber toast, and fruit.

    We got to trail around 9:30 and got started. I have been struggling with my blisters so the 4 of us decided to do a shorter day

    We stayed at the reserve thing near mile 218.5

    It’s a great oasis in the desert, currently falling asleep to the sound of frogs croaking    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 17

    April 28, 2024 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    Long day of river crossings in the washed out valley. Started with about 7 miles and one or two big river crossings before we reached a section of the trail that had been largely washed away by “Hurricane Hillary” in late 2022 I believe.

    Spicy had hiked the trail before that and was amazed at how different everything was. When he last hiked there was only a mile or so that was washed out, where you had to basically hike up the river and then find the trail. Now there was 10 miles of wash.

    We started in high spirits joking about what we should do for each of today’s river crossings. The plan to each do 10 pushups for each crossing was not brought up again when we reached around 15 for the day 2 miles in.

    The river was low enough to safely cross and was currently snaking from wall to wall of the canyon it had once washed out. The day went climb over boulders around 2 ft diameter for 50-500ft on the left or right side of the river, each a bend we couldn’t get around, find the best place to cross, and start over.

    I bet we did upwards of 50 crossings.

    We made it to just past the end of the was around sunset and set up in a pasture.

    Camped at 235.7    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 18

    April 29, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Longer day today, out of camp before 6 but the first couple miles had leftovers of yesterday’s wash.

    We were planning on a 16 mile water carry from about 3 miles in. This ended up being unnecessary but we were all glad to not rely on unreliable sources.

    There was an abandon cabin camp site thing. It was pretty weird. Four room cabin with a couple of free standing guest houses (?) out back. Lots of picnic tables and bear boxes, and a nearly overflowing pit toilet.

    Camped at 256.1    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler
    1

    Day 19

    Apr 30–May 1, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Town day!!!

    Tux had pancakes on the brain last night during planning and had the great idea to start hiking the 10 miles to highway 18 at 4am.

    Cowboying wasn’t super comfortable last night. All my hiking cloths were wet with sweat in my footbox making the whole quilt a humid mess inside. But no condensation on the outside so breakdown was easy.

    Tux ended up pulling ahead, and Eelco, Spicy and I got to the road at around 8:45-9. In thru hiking a common motto/goal is 10 by 10, as in ten miles by 10:00am. This was my second 10 by 10 and my first 10 by 9.

    We had breakfast at Grizzlies Cafe. It was a quirky diner with stickers on every flat surface available. They give PCT hikers a discount I had a great breakfast burrito, and yes, Tux got his pancakes.

    Then started chores. We spent a long time at the gear store. They don’t sell Altras, so I did not end up buying new shoes.

    Hit a few fun shops around town and got some cheap cloths to wear in our air bb hot tub so as to not damage the elastic in our hiking cloths we would swim in lakes and streams in.

    Massive resupply, getting food for our 0 tomorrow and a 5/5.5 day resupply. We road the free busses there and got a ride back with our haul from a local trail angle.

    The air bb ended up being less full that expected which was a bit disappointing. BeFree nailed to stay at the hostel last minute and 5Spice and Whopper ended up getting a hotel instead day of.

    The air bb currently has Tux, Spicy, Eelco, and Cam. Cam is a newer addition, he is from Australia, teaches pailaties and is an incredible chef. He handled most of our town food and made us a fabulous dinner.

    Slept at Air BB in Big Bear Lake, CA    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 20

    May 1, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    First 0 of the trail! Slept in and had great food all day.

    Plenty of chores. Did laundry, washed gear organized resupply, planned the next section etc.

    Cam made fantastic breakfast lunch and dinner. I made cinnamon rolls and Spicy made red velvet cake.

    We at like kings!    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 21

    May 2, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Near-o out of town today. We slept in again, had another great breakfast then finished up chores before check out.

    We walked the trash to the dump and just afterward some trail angels stopped and asked us if we needed a ride anywhere, they were willing to come pick us up after lunch after taking some other hikers.

    Word started to get around that there is Noro right behind us. So we were glad to be hitting the trail.

    We got pizza at Maggios then a ride to trail.

    We did an easy 2 miles out of town and made camp early. Avoiding the Noro behind us.

    Camped at 268.6    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 23

    May 4, 2024 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 14 °C

    Side trip to the malt shop today! Ceder Glen has a road that goes near the PCT. It is closed until about 1.5 miles from a parking lot. Hikers can walk 1.5 miles to where the road opens and the malt shop will shuttle you to their establishment if they aren’t too busy.

    Some good shoes off water crossings

    Passed mile 300

    Camped at 301.3    Read more

  • Anna BudkeBig Long WalkTraveler

    Day 25

    May 5, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    6 miles into the the hot springs where we stayed for quite a while. There were a lot of day use people and weekenders.

    Classic mix of 20 something’s/ college kids, thru hikers, and full blown nudist hippies.

    Later on we hiked to a road crossing where you can get shuttled to the Joshua Inn. The shuttle driver had a Prius with a small trailer behind it. Backpacks in the trailer, hikers in the car and off we went.

    They had deli sandwiches and cheap beer. A perfect combo. I had a turkey sandwich then split a meatball sub.

    We also got root beer floats!

    Camped at    Read more

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