• mimi singer
maj – okt. 2023

PCT 2023

"Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" - Mary Oliver Läs mer
  • Day 24

    26 maj 2023, Förenta staterna

    Miles hiked: 16.4
    Campsite location: 328.8 Silverwood lake backpacker sites
    Weather: 70s and sunny
    One word to describe the day: worrisome

    Today was a beautiful day, again! We have been so lucky with the temperatures. Usually in May the desert temperatures get up to 100°.

    We walked past silver lake which is a reservoir. And camped on the other side of it in a state campground. Was nice to have trash and restrooms to use. It's the small things on the trail! A few miles before the campground, my ankle started to hurt really badly. It was quite hard to walk and I was hobbling into camp by the time I got there. I elevated my foot and tried to tape it hoping that it would feel better in the morning. It happened so suddenly and I'm wondering if it has anything to do with when I rolled it over the winter in Austria since it's the same foot. Anyways, going to take it very easy tomorrow and hope for the best.
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  • Day 25 - cajon pass

    26 maj 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F

    Miles hiked: 16
    Campsite location: zero in wrightwood
    Weather: 70s and sunny
    One word to describe the day: slow

    Woke up with my ankle feeling better but sore. Most of my trail family is doing 19 mi today to get to the water cache. Tomorrow will be a very hard 22 mile day with over 5500 ft of elevation gain to go into wrightwood for resupply.

    My goal was to do 16 miles to get to cajon pass and eat at the infamous McDonald's that is on trail and decide what to do from there. I got to McDonald's, got a quarter pounder with cheese, fries and a coke.

    I definitely felt better today but decided I was going to skip tomorrow's miles and go straight into wrightwood from cajon pass. Total trail miles I will miss is 27 but I'm listening to my body. I know in the long run it's probably smarter to skip a few miles and take some rest time. My trail family will get into town tomorrow and I'll hop back on the trail with them on Sunday. I'm staying at a trail angels cabin who rents out beds for 30 a night. It's really nice and includes laundry 😍

    Tomorrow is a real zero day for me! Zero miles! Yay!
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  • Day 26 & 27 - double zero in wrightwood

    27 maj 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Miles hiked: zero 😜

    Wrightwood is a cute tiny mountain town. There isn't much here but they cater to hikers in the summer. The small grocery store was stocked with all sorts of hikers foods. Picked up new shoes from the hardware store 🥳 Got a free pin, free coffee and free hot dog from various stores in town. Today I am resupplying, going to do some of my own yoga, stretching, icing, eating salads and just trying to take care of myself as much as possible.

    Caroline and Mel arrived and decided they wanted to take a zero since there aren't many great zero worthy towns for a while. So it's turned into a double zero for me! The house we are staying in is so nice and Arlene the owner makes it so easy and affordable to stay here, so why not one more night! My body will thank me for the break.

    Tomorrow we summit Baden Powell! The last snowy section in the desert, I hear it's melting fast and pretty patchy so I'm expecting it to be easier than San jacinto but I'm ready with spikes just Incase. Mile 400 coming up!
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  • Day 28 - Baden Powell

    29 maj 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ⛅ 45 °F

    Miles hiked: 14.3
    Campsite location: little jimmy campground
    Weather: 60s and sunny
    One word to describe the day: achievement

    This morning we got a ride to the trail head from a trail angel named Brian that lives in wrightwood. We only hiked 14 mi today but we summited Baden powell. It is the last mountain we will cross with snow in the California desert section. The person that put in the boot track went straight up the mountain, ignoring the switchbacks entirely. But it was nice and direct! I use my micro spikes. The snow wasn't too slushy so they were able to get a good hold with each step.

    I learned that Baden Powell is the guy that started boy scouts of America. So I guess he has a mountain named after him! Usually there is an American flag flying at the top of this mountain, but it was frozen solid under the snow. Some of my trailmates wanted to get it out and put it up on the flag pole, which felt fitting for memorial Day. Eventually they succeeded and we all got our memorial day photo op on the summit.

    The descent down to the campground was long and slow. The trail was not in great shape so we did a lot of climbing over logs and rocks and route finding. But was able to avoid most of the snow. The views were gorgeous and I'm glad we did it! Some people are still road walking highway 2 which is actually close to cars still because maintenance needs to happen on it. It was a rough winter so it sounds like there were some rock slides on it.

    It's going to get cold tonight. Probably near freezing. But my bag has been doing well so far and is keeping me nice and toasty.
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  • Day 30 - Highway 2

    30 maj 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ⛅ 46 °F

    Miles hiked: 19
    Campsite location: 404.2
    Weather: 70s and sunny
    One word to describe the day: fun

    Today was an interesting day. It was kind of a choose your own adventure day. A portion of the pct had been closed because of an endangered species habitat. So the alternative is to walk highway 2, which is actually fully closed to cars right now because of rock slides. There are also some other non pct trails too that you could take to shorten the highway walk. But the highway was actually pretty scenic and went past some old ski hills so I just kept on the road until we got back to the pct. It was also much flatter then the other trail alternatives 😅

    We have been above the clouds for the last few days and today we weaved our way down into them. We also hit 400! 🥳
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  • Day 31

    31 maj 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 52 °F

    Miles hiked: 26.3
    Campsite location: messenger flats campground
    Weather: 70s and sunny
    One word to describe the day: marathon

    Today I've been thinking a lot about mindset. As I get further in on this hike, my body feels tired some days but strong other days. Today I'm feeling strong and it's exciting! I'm excited to push myself, 5 to 10% more each week. And see how my body and mind respond! When I feel tired at the end of the day, hike two more miles because I know I can. This hike is going to expand what I'm capable of. And I'm really excited to see myself do that! Today for the first time I thought "I'm going to do the 24-hour challenge!" Not yet, but maybe in a month or two. As I give my body time to slowly adjust and get stronger. The 24-hour challenge is to see how many miles you can hike in one 24 hour period. How often in my life will my body be so ready to take on that challenge safely?

    I did an unplanned marathon today! The campsite locations made me go further than I really wanted too. But I feel pretty darn good. Time to stretch!
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  • Day 32 - action koa

    1 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    Miles hiked: 14
    Campsite location: Acton koa
    Weather: 70s and sunny
    One word to describe the day: mosey

    Today was an easy day after yesterday. It was alot of downhill into Acton, where I picked up a box with way too much food in it. Todays hike was lovely. We started above the clouds and ended below. The temps are still really low for the average desert temperatures.

    When I got to the trailhead there was a couple seeking mango sticky rice. I got some and it was so damn good 🤤

    I'm staying at the koa tonight. Nothing special but I did get a shower. A guy named Jim, who lives at the rv park gave me and Mel a ride into town where I shipped some stuff home and got dinner at the 49er saloon. It was quite tasty!

    Caroline is starting to hike much faster then me so she decided to keep going. Not sure if we will hook back up or not. 🥲 But, its part of the trail and it was going to happen soon anyway. "hike your own hike", as they say! I feel like I'm in a bubble right now, there are a lot of hikers around me. Mel and I are hiking at similar speeds right now!
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  • Day 33 - Agua dulce

    2 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 57 °F

    Miles hiked: 19.7
    Campsite location: m 464
    Weather: 70s and sunny
    One word to describe the day: trekkie

    Today I left the koa around 7am. Mel was still sleeping so I didn't want to wake her. I started the day with a climb out of Acton that led to a fun tunnel under pass. Directly on the other side of the underpass the scenery changed drastically to cool rock formations. That area is called Vasquez rocks. Many films have been shot there, including star wars. At the visitor center I finally got my pct hang tag! You can normally get them at the southern terminus but the rangers take one day off per week and that day is Tuesday. Which happened to be the day I started.

    After Vasquez rocks the PCT literally walks through a town, agua dulce. I stopped and got a taco because, why not. And then I met back up with Caroline who patiently waited for me. And then about 30 minutes later Mel showed up!

    We all left town and hiked another 8 miles to the next water, all uphill! I'm tired! We walked a little more after filling up to the next campsite we could find. It was getting pretty late so we quickly set up camp, had a lovely dinner (my favorite peak refuel chicken coconut curry) and promptly went to bed. Good night!
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  • Day 34

    3 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    Miles hiked: 21.8
    Campsite location: m485.8
    Weather: 80s and sunny
    One word to describe the day: magical

    Today I got up around 4:45 and was on trail hiking by 5:30. We had a high of 85 today and wanted to try and beat the heat. We got 14 miles in by noon and was pleasantly surprised at a trailhead with some lovely trail magic by a father and his cute son who is in kindergarten and just became a tiger scout. They were grilling burgers and had snacks and cold drinks. It was amazing! They were so kind and made my day!

    We then hiked another 8 miles to camp. After our long climb, the terrain became flat and leisurely and had beautiful views all the way down to the campsite. Definitely some of my favorite terrain on trail yet.
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  • Day 35 - poodle dog dogde

    4 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

    Today we woke up early again. Was hiking by 5:30 to beat the heat and take a long siesta miss day.

    Last night's camp site was a good one. We started the day with a climb, of course. Followed by miles and miles of serious poodle dog bush. It was everywhere so I made sure not to touch any of it but it was quite hard in spots. Fingers crossed!

    We took a siesta in a lovely shaded campground at the top of what we had just climbed up. After that we took a fire road that paralleled the trail to avoid any more poodle dog. We hit 500 miles!! Eventually we hoped back on the trail after the burn area was over. Tomorrow we have 10 miles to get into hikertown which marks the start of the infamous aqueduct!
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  • Day 36 - hikertown & aquaduct

    5 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    Miles hiked: 20
    Weather: 70s and partly cloudy
    One word to describe the day: hikertown!

    Today we 'slept' in and got on the trail at 7:30. Walked 10 miles into hikertown. Hikertown is a strange place. It's made up from old movie sets. They have bucket laundry, outdoor showers, camping, rooms in the movie set looking houses. All the amenities a hiker would need. I sent a box here too! They even made us food, delicious tamales! Did the normal chores. Shower, laundry, charging, resupply.

    Mel, Caroline, Tarzan, Ian, bailey and a few others left late in the afternoon and started the infamous aqueduct, glow sticks in hand for the night portion of our hike. The aqueduct supplies all of Los Angeles's water. And we walk along it for 30 mi. Tonight we hiked 10 more miles. As the sunset we watched lightning off in the distance, it was pretty cool! My feet were absolutely killing me towards the end that I was so ready set up camp.
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  • Day 37

    6 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    Today we were on trail around 7:30. Usually people night hike this section because it's extremely exposed and hot. We are officially in the Mojave. But today was overcast, had a high of 75 and a cool breeze. We are lucky!!!

    We walked our last bit of the aquaduct, through wind farms and back up into the mountains. Once we got into the mountains Mel and I stopped at a stream and took a 3 hour nap . It was amazing. I felt exhausted today. We then walked three more miles and set up camp.

    We had a 'short' 17 mile day today and then 13 tomorrow into tehachapi for a zero!
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  • Day 38 - tehachapi

    7 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F

    Today we walked 13 miles to the road to hitch into tehachapi. There was a well stocked water cache halfway through which made my water carry much easier! The morning was gorgeous with clouds keeping me cool and giving off pretty lighting.

    Once we got to the road, I attempted my first real hitch with Mel. Pretty quickly a guy named Mark pulled over and took us right into town. Gave us some food suggestions. He was very nice!

    As soon as I got into town we stopped into the 4 seasons cafe and got a big ole salad. We then went to our Airbnb and showered, walked to Walmart to resupply and get groceries for our day off tomorrow! We are going to try and do the next stretch all the way to Kennedy Meadows South, so that's a 7 day food carry, our longest yet!
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  • Day 39 - zero in tehachapi

    8 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    Miles hiked: 0
    Campsite location: Airbnb in tehachapi with Mel, Caroline, Ian and Bailey
    Weather: 70 and sunny
    One word to describe the day: restful

    Our Airbnb is cute and very close to downtown. It has the nicest grass I've ever seen 😂 We had a lazy morning organizing our food for the next stretch, watched Holes the movie and ate breakfast. Blaze physio, the on trail physiotherapist stopped by because she was in town and I wanted to try some insoles she had. But also, I really was excited to meet her adorable dog, honey. She was a ham. Loved all the belly rubs.

    We went to the farmers market, cooked pasta at the rental then went to the movies and saw the little mermaid. It was pretty good, better than I thought it would be! We have a ride to the trail tomorrow at 7am from a trail angel. Back to the trail we go!
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  • Day 40

    9 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    Miles hiked: 19.5
    Campsite location: m578.1
    Weather: 70s and partly could
    One word to describe the day: heavy

    We got a ride back to the trailhead from Ali, a super nice taxi driver who had flyers at the trailhead with his number. Our packs are insanely heavy feeling. 7 days of food to get us to Kennedy Meadows. We also have long water carries today and tomorrow so that also adds a ton of weight. Today was hard but I made it and hiked further than originally planned. The pack will only get lighter from here. I'm still in a bit of shock that we are days away from completing the desert section of the PCT!Läs mer

  • Day 41

    10 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    Miles hiked: 25.2
    Campsite location: m603
    Weather: 70s and partly could
    One word to describe the day: reset

    I was in a funk all day yesterday. I was stressed out about things that are completely out of my control. I was comparing myself to others and feeling like I couldnt keep up. This morning I was thinking about how I can switch my mindset. Comparison is the thief of joy. I decided to slow it down and stop trying to keep up, and just hike how I wanted to hike. I took a 30+ minute break every 5 miles, right about the time my feet start to hurt. It worked out quite well! I felt the best I have getting into camp at night.

    I've been hiking on and off with these two ladies, michelle from Great Britain and the Mad Hatter from Ireland. They gave me the trail name bionic woman. I'm not going to adopt it because I feel like every woman out on this trail is bionic, but it gave me a good reminder to appreciate everything I've accomplished and how good I'm doing!

    We walked 25 miles today to camp at water. We had a 20 miles water carry today. Along with carrying 6 days of food! We also hit the 600 mile marker! 🤯
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  • Day 42

    11 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    Miles hiked: 21.2
    Campsite location: 624.5
    Weather: 70s and thunderstorms
    One word to describe the day: views

    It was really cold this morning, I had a hard time getting out of my sleeping bag. I was on trail and hiking around 7:30. I stumbled upon some trail magic by Old yeller. He had apple, cobbler, coffee, fresh fruit, and other various snacks. Thanks old yeller! Around 1:00 the thunderstorm started and my feet were yelling at me anyways so it was the perfect time to take a break, I also took a single ibuprofen. As I started down the trail again it began raining. I found shelter under an oak tree but I only lasted for a few mins, onward!

    There was a lot of water in the first 10 miles, which felt like we were getting closer to the serria with big pines and lots of green. But quickly we descended and just like that, I was back in the desert and back to water caches.

    Tonight's campsite is a good one, nestled between two big Joshua trees.
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  • Day 43

    12 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    Miles hiked: 20.4
    Campsite location: m644.9
    Weather: 60s and scattered showers/thunder
    One word to describe the day: mundane

    Honestly, not much to report today. I am very excited for the next chapter of this trail. I'm starting to get bored of the desert. We had a pretty hefty climb today that topped out at 8,000 ft with some stellar views. Another much needed water cache too. Thank you too whomever stocks it!

    I felt myself just going with the motions today. I'm so grateful to be out here but walking all day can be mentally and physically draining. Anyways, doing my best to be present and enjoy every moment. I've camped solo the last two nights because my trail family wants to keep walking and I want to take a load off my feet and set up camp earlier. Just different styles I suppose, but I end up catching them every morning! We are all going our separate ways once we hit Kennedy Meadows. So it will be fun to meet new people when I flip up to chester.

    Going to bed tonight very early. Hoping to get a really good night sleep!
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  • Day 44

    13 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 63 °F

    Miles hiked: 25
    Campsite location: m 669.9 Spanish needle creek
    Weather: 70s and sunny
    One word to describe the day: granite!

    Today was a beautiful day. Endless views around every corner. First view of the day was the serria mountains in the distance. it's been so hazy we haven't been able to see very far but this morning was clear! I had awesome views of the Mojave desert as well. I was cruising, listening to music in the am and I heard someone behind me yell 'baby bear'! I guess I bear ran right by me and I didn't even see it! I heard some twigs snap but I hear that all the time so I didn't think much of it. Bummed I missed but glad I didn't see mama!

    I showed up to Walker pass to a little trail magic, dried out my wet tent and damp sleeping bag and then started a very big climb, followed by a very big down. That seems to be the trail trend. Up, down, up, down 🤪 I got a second wind at the end of the day and decided to catch up to some of my tramily, making it a long day but overall I felt pretty good! 2 more days till Kennedy Meadows!
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  • Day 45

    14 juni 2023, Förenta staterna

    Miles hiked: 20.2
    Campsite location: m 690
    Weather: 70s and scattered showers
    One word to describe the day: vibes

    Today was a great day. It started with a big climb right away, followed by a descent into where I was going to eat lunch. Right before lunch it started to rain but quickly cleared up. Had a delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I have enough food to get me to Kennedy Meadows but just enough! I spent the second half of the day hiking with Bailey, Ian and Tarzan. It started to pour again on our last few miles so we took shelter under a giant cedar tree. And cleared up right before we made it to camp, giving us a beautiful sunset.

    Ian Bailey and Tarzan gave me the trail name peep. Because I always come into a group of people and say 'sup peeps!' I kind of like it! I think I may adopt it 🙂 going to try it on for size for a few days

    Tomorrow we only have 13 miles into Kennedy Meadows and I'm so excited. I'm so proud I made it this far and I really am starting to feel better physically. Exciting stuff! I'm also very excited for town food and a shower after this long tiring stretch. I really deserve it this time. I smell!
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  • Day 46 Kennedy Meadows South

    15 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌧 66 °F

    Miles hiked: 13.5
    Campsite location: Kennedy Meadows South general store
    Weather: 70s and scattered storms
    One word to describe the day: accomplished

    Woke up and walked very fast into Kennedy Meadows with Tarzan, Ian and Bailey. We were all so ready to get there. The last few miles into 'town' were so pretty. Definitely starting to feel like the serria with granite rocks and walking along the Kern river.

    We got into town around 12 and we're greeted with loud applause and cheers as we got to the general store. It was so fun and man I'm proud I made it here! There were quite a few people at the general store that I haven't seen for quite some time. It was a fun reunion!

    I ordered a bacon cheeseburger with gauc and fries and ate it so fast 😂 You can camp behind the store for free so I set up my tent and then hung out for the rest of the evening with all the other hikers here.

    Everyone is going different ways here. There are more people attempting to go through the serria than I thought there would be. I am continuing on 43 more miles to lone pine, so I'll get a mini taste and then take public transportation up to chester and go north from there. I'll be back at the end to finish the serria section, ending with Whitney!
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  • Day 47 - kms zero day

    16 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 52 °F

    Miles hiked: 0
    Campsite location: kms general store
    Weather: 70s and sunny
    One word to describe the day: food

    The general store has unlimited pancakes for 12 bucks and it comes with bacon, hash browns, eggs and coffee. I had 3 pancakes, they were big! I swapped the eggs for more bacon 😏 it was so good! We then hung out on the porch to wait and cheer for Mel to walk in. She got a hitch in from a car so she snuck in without us seeing her but we cheered anyways.

    After breakfast I took a shower, did laundry and got my resupply list ready and picked up a surprise goodie box from home!! We hopped on a shuttle that took us three miles up the road to the only other restaurant and shop in town. I resupplied at triple crown outfitters, run by yogi. She had a really helpful Facebook page that I was on throughout the winter when I was prepping for the pct. She had nail polish too for hikers to use 💅

    We then went to grumpys for lunch, I got nachos and a Marg. Got some postcards too and sent them out!

    We went back to the general store and just hung out for the rest of the night. Played games, ate more food lol and talked about the next stretch. I reserved my bus tickets for Mel and I. She decided to come to chester with me! We are leaving mid day tomorrow to hop back on trail.
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  • Day 48 - tiny taste of the serria

    17 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    Miles hiked: 10.3
    Campsite location: 713.9
    Weather: 70s and sunny
    One word to describe the day: excitement

    This morning I had another pancake breakfast 🥞 and then packed up to head out! But before we headed out we met up with some friends at the trailhead for a birthday party! They (Maggie, pat, parker and lars) had just gotten into Kennedy Meadows today, so we're a little behind us. Maggie's (aka pinecone) mom and dad drove up from San Francisco with her dog to throw her a little party! They had drinks, sandwiches, fruit and a cookie cake.

    We started down the trail around 2pm. We had a goal to just get in 10 miles. Some pcta folks were checking permits at the trailhead. This year is a bit crazy so I think they may be a bit more involved, more so to help people figure out how to stay safe. The views are changing and I'm so excited to see more green in the next coming days! We also had a beautiful campsite next to a meadow and a little creek. 🤩
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  • Day 49

    18 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F

    Miles hiked: 21.6
    Campsite location: 735.1 - camping at 10190 ft
    Weather: 70s and sunny
    One word to describe the day: picturesque

    Today really felt like we were starting to walk through the Sierra's. We enjoyed beautiful meadows, granite rocks, endless water, and beautiful views all day long. We had our first snow around 9,000 ft. But quickly descended back down into lower elevation. I didn't see too many people today which was nice! Sometimes the trail can be very busy. Tonight we are camping right before the next snow stretch begins. It will be nice and firm in the morning for us. I'm pretty sure we will have about 13 mi of straight snow to the trailhead we will be exiting at to get to lone pine. Tomorrow is town day already! On Wednesday, Mel and I are hopping on a bus to go to Chester. I'll see you later Sierra's!Läs mer

  • Day 50 - lone pine

    19 juni 2023, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    Miles hiked: 14
    Campsite location: dow villa historic hotel
    Weather: 70s and sunny
    One word to describe the day: goodbyes

    This morning Mel and I woke up at 5 to get on the trail early. We wanted to hit the snow while it was still firm but the joke was on us! There really wasn't much snow at all! I was expecting 13 miles of straight snow but it was quite patchy. We only had longer stretches of snow on northern slopes. So it was a fairly easy 14 miles to the cottonwood trailhead. We did have a decent river crossing but we were able to find a safe place to cross.

    When we got to the trailhead, we got a ride to town from Don! A man we met at some trail magic in the desert who lives in lone pine. He dropped us off downtown. Mel, Tarzan, Ian, bailey, Caroline and I ate at the mt Whitney restaurant. They decided to resupply and head back to the trailhead tonight so we said our goodbyes!! It feels weird to be hiking without Caroline. We have been hiking since day one together. But here's to new beginnings, it will be great to meet new folks too.
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