by norts » Sun 16 Oct, 2016 8:18 pm
Thank you for your kind words and to Hobes and Tasman for posting my updates. Those updates usually go to a few friend s and so arent written for the broader public in mind.
First thoughts and highlights after finishing not in any order.
Glad it is over, I am tired. Waking up( my alarm would go off at 430 am, earlier when in the desert and days were longer) and walking for 20-30 miles a day is very draining.
I made it before the first major snow storm , Phew!
I have climbed the highest mountain in the lower 48.
Northern Cascades are magnificent. I could spend a life time there exploring these mountains.
The PCT is at the moment going through growing pains. ie alot more ppl on the trail but there isnt the infrastructure to deal with them. The trail angels are doing there best but they are being overwhelmed.
I have seen some of the most beautiful places in the USA.
I enjoyed the desert even if it was *&%$#! hot at times.
There were a lot of Aussies on the trail. Even another Tasmanian.
I must be getting used to this long distance hiking, my feet are not as badly banged up as they were on the AT.
There was alot of yellow blazing - ie ppl skipping big hunks of the trail to get to the end before bad weather; their visa ran out; or just didnt want to do the hard yards.
If the PCT is on your bucket list, make it happen. It is worth it.
I disliked the tight schedule you have. Get thru the desert but dont hit the High Sierra too early or you get snow or swollen rivers because of snow melt. Then take off to get to Canada before the Autumn snow storms come. The AT has a much more forgiving time line.
The PCT is not as social as the AT, but you can still do alot of partying if that is your thing.
Australia needs a ultra long distance hike, even New Zealand has one.
I like walking along and being able to pick blueberries, huckleberries raspberries and blackberries. They are a distraction though, your mileage suddenly goes down. I needed blinkers.
At about 9000ft and beyond i start to notice the effects of less oxygen, mainly going up hill.
Hiking in the Nth Cascades and having F/A 18s blasting up the valleys sometimes lower than you made me smile. The noise bouncing off the mountains was shattering but I couldnt get angry about the my wilderness experience being lost. Just thinking about the pilots and what an adrenaline rush for them.
Hikers all sheltering under a bridge to get out of the midday sun in the Mojave. It was like a hobo camp( alot of them had hiked through the night to get to this spot, I had left the last camp at about 3am ) . Then at about 230pm a Trail Angel turned up with Pizza, cold sodas and bags of ice which she then turned into snow cones
That will do for now. Need to get to bed , jet lag!
If anyone has any questions I will try and answer them
I will do a bit of a gear list later
Norts aka Taz