PCT Day 68, Chips Creek to ridge above Belden, 21 miles
If you don’t get out of the box you’ve been raised in, you won’t understand how much bigger the world is. – Angelina Jolie I wake to a light in my eyes. The hikers who joined us last night are filtering water with headlamps faced at my tent. Do people have so little awareness they […]
PCT Day 67, Lassen view to private waterfall on Chips Creek, 25 miles
If you can’t go straight ahead, you go around the corner. – Cher Lightning streaks the sky, but there’s no boom. Maybe we got a few drops but my tent is dry by morning. Also no visitors, neither man nor beast. Klaus uses an alarm – ugh – but I decide to let it slide. […]
PCT Day 66, North Fork Feather River to sunset view of Lassen, 20 miles
I learned a long time ago that there is something worse than missing the goal, and that’s not pulling the trigger. – Mia Hamm It’s a late start this morning with the sky already getting pink. In this notch made by the river, the cold air settles – even on a wee ridge above – […]
PCT Day 65, Lassen Volcanic National Park boundary to North Fork Feather River, 26 miles
The challenge is not to be perfect, it’s to be whole. – Jane Fonda The only visitors overnight are curious deer. I hang my food away from rodents and very short bears. Nobody disturbs the food bag. Klaus uses an alarm, much to my consternation, and faffs about in the dark. I prefer a bit […]
PCT Day 64, tentsite near wire fence (above The Subway) to Lassen Volcanic National Park, 20 miles
Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe we are gifted for something and that this things must be attained. – Marie Curie The wind picks up overnight, buffeting the alicoop from the side. I reach out to […]
PCT Day 63, Burney Mountain Guest Ranch to tentsite near wire fence, 25 miles
Normal is not something to aspire to; it’s something to get away from. – Jodie Foster The morning is cool and lazy as Moses, Steady and I roll out of our tents at about the same moment, smelling biscuits and gravy ready for our consumption. A long, hot, waterless day awaits my feet on the […]
PCT Day 62, epic view to Burney Mountain Guest Ranch, 26 miles
Aging is not ‘lost youth’ but a new stage of opportunity of strength. – Betty Friedan An owl wakes me before dawn, hooting in the forest. It’s not exactly a sunrise spot, so I pack and plan to make breakfast along the way. My first water is a pool tucked under trees, fresh and cool.
PCT Day 61, dirt road to epic view, 26 miles
You can be the lead in your own life. – Kerry Washington Klaus tells me he ordered this sunrise, now turning everything orange. What a perfect spot on the shoulder of a dirt road. Mine was flat and cozy, though my tent is soaking wet from the dew. We were warned the deer visit, but […]
PCT Day 60, Cabin Creek trailhead to dirt road near power lines, 24 miles
The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. – Alice Walker So I might have a trail name – Singet (pronounced ZING-it) It means sing as in Singet dem herrn ein neus lied! Sing to the Lord a new song, with ‘new’ meaning refreshed, reinvigorated, renewed. It means […]
PCT Day 59, Interstate 5 to Cabin Creek trailhead (slackpack) 17 miles
Doubt is a killer. You just have to know who you are and what you stand for. – Jennifer Lopez When I wake up, Klaus knocks on my door and tells me that he and Mark came up with a plan – he’ll take us to the trail and we’ll hike without our gear, just […]
