Update: Additional PCT hikes added (days 10-19 and 20-23) as well as additional movies from those days.
Next weekend I’m headed to Yosemite National Park to try my second long distance hike:
The Pacific Crest Trail!!!
No, not the entire 2,653 miles from Mexico to Canada, just a 200+ mile section hike from Tuolumne Meadows to Donner Pass (or beyond).
I had planned to do the Yosemite north loop I had tried and failed to do last year, but during planning I started to look at the big picture. Since most of the loop was on the PCT, I started thinking I could just continue on the PCT for as far as my body (or supplies) could last.
They call this a PCT ‘Section Hike’. Technically, I did some of the PCT already as a section hike when I hiked the John Muir Trail that shares a lot of mileage with the PCT. Since doing the entire trail in a single year is beyond my abilities, doing sections of it is just my cup of tea.
My alternate ‘big hike’ this year was to hike the JMT again, but northbound instead southbound like i did in 2020. I decided this new hike was better for me this year. It’s also not quite as hard as the JMT. Could be longer if I go beyond Donner Pass (which will be an option depending on supplies and how I feel by that point).
Unfortunately, I’ll have to start with 8 days of food, so I’ll be maxed out on weight from the start. Fortunately, the first day from Tuolumne Meadows past Glen Aulin isn’t that bad. 8 days should get me to Sonora Pass, which is my first resupply point and hopefully a real bed to sleep on at Kennedy Meadows Resort.
The next section will get me to Echo Summit overlooking South Lake Tahoe, which is my next resupply point. I have to ship my resupply packet to a post office and pick it up there. Should be easy to get a pizza and hotel room for a night there as well.
Hopefully, I can make it to Donner Pass without eating any passing hikers. This hike isn’t as isolated as the JMT, since it passes over several highways that may tempt me to abort the hike.
Wish me luck… I’ll need it.
Here are the movies from this trek. Some great time lapse sunsets and sunrises, plus some waterfalls and other miscellaneous movies.
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