Run Ridge Run Race Report
For the second year in a row, I ran the 13km event at the Run Ridge Run trail race at Sasamat Lake in Port Moody, B.C. hosted by Coast Mountain Trail Running. Last year, we raced in about a foot of snow, and I slid …
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Pacific Crest Trail Gear: The Ultimate Thruhike Packing List
In this post, I’m sharing the list of gear that I used on my 2019 northbound thruhike of the Pacific Crest Trail, which took me 99 days between May 10 and August 18. Overall, I’m happy with how my gear performed, and would feel pretty …
May is the Best Time to Start the Pacific Crest Trail
First of all, the title of this blog post is purposefully clickbait-y and should be disregarded as advice. The best start date for a PCT thruhike is an individual decision and varies greatly depending on the hiker’s fitness, style, time constraints and direction of travel, …
Becoming Elite and the Value of Just Showing Up
As I was getting ready for my daily training run this Tuesday morning, I checked the piece of paper I keep on my dresser on which my coach had scribbled my training plan for the week. It said that I was supposed to run 13 …
The Cost of a Pacific Crest Trail Thruhike
I finally got around to calculating how much I spent on my thruhike of the PCT this year. It came out to a total of $5,092 (that’s in USD, as are all the dollar amounts in this post), and I wanted to do a write-up …
Thruhiking and Feelings of Accomplishment
My PCT thruhike this summer ended in a whirlwind. I touched the monument in the pre-dawn darkness feeling a confusing mix of relief and apprehension, took some photos like I had daydreamed about for the previous three months, and then immediately made the exhausting journey …
Thruhiking is Not a Big Deal
As I was hiking the PCT this year, I had the pleasure of writing about, and sharing with you folks, my day-to-day experience as I went along. What I didn’t do was take the time to seriously reflect on any ideas I had about the …
PCT Trail Journal: Washington
The first few miles of the trail were rocky and unpleasant, but eventually I got into the lush coastal rainforest that the Pacific Northwest is known for, and I felt like I was at home among the trees covered in moss, and sword ferns covering the forest floor. The heat really sucked my energy all day, but the trail was beautiful and made it okay.
PCT Trail Journal: Oregon
On day 77 of the PCT, I woke up early in my room at Callahan’s lodge and hit the trail. It was both a bit funny and sad to realize that, at this point, I sleep better in my tent on my little foam pad than I do on a hotel bed with clean sheets. I guess the inside of my tent is a familiar space.
PCT Trail Journal: Northern California
I was back in the snow pretty quickly, but I was sharing the trail through Desolation Wilderness with dayhikers, Tahoe Rim Trail thruhikers, and those out for just one night, so the bootpack was much easier to follow than what I had gotten used to. Back when it was only PCT thruhikers, I was following the maybe two or three people that had walked the area before me that day, now it’s dozens.