Pacific Crest Trail
Turn and Face the Strange (Ch-Ch-Changes)
By the time I reached Mammoth Lakes, California, where I created my last post, I had come to accept the fact that completing the trail in 100 days or less was no longer achievable, but I was still driven on finishing as quickly as I could. My pace had fallen behind schedule from time spent in town to resupply on food or wait out a storm in the Sierras, and “the pack” (the party-crazed majority of hikers that cling together in a wave of slow-moving cliques) had finally caught up to me. There were people passing me that I hadn’t seen since my first day, and while I hoped that I might finally find a hiking partner or a group with a similar pace, it did make me feel a bit defeated.… Read more
Call Me Coaster
Upon arriving at “Hiker Heaven“, I was greeted by one of many dutiful volunteers with the oh-so-fitting phrase, “Welcome to paradise”. At mile 454.5 in Agua Dulce, California, a family named the Saufleys coordinates a sort of oasis for PCT hikers, where anything and everything a hiker could need is provided to them without any expectation of reimbursement. There is a laundry station with fresh towels and loaner clothes to be worn while one’s filthy hiking clothes are being washed; a garage converted into a make-shift post office and information center; an entire back-building with full kitchen and bathroom, piano and guitars, couches and TV, Wifi, sewing machine, bookshelves full of adventure literature and guidebooks, and 2 bedrooms; 8-person tents in the yard with cots and hammocks for lounging and sleeping whenever under the shade of a few sizeable pines- you name it, they’ve got it covered.… Read more