As usual I woke up a few times during the night, despite this I decided to sleep in till around 0600 where I started breaking camp. I went quite slow as I was in no particular hurry today. As usual I get plenty of beautiful sunrises. My plans for the day were to eat a meal at Paradise Valley Cafe and then camp further up the trail. The Cafe is located about a mile of trail mile 151.9 so about 20 miles from my starting location. ...

Today I woke up to a very wet sleeping bag due to the moisture at Warner Springs. The sleeping bag was already wet when I went to bed but in the morning it was much worse. At around 5 I could not sleep anymore and decided to just get going. Getting packed was a bit cumbersome with everything being wet. I packed up the sleeping bag in a dry bag to not wet out everything else. ...

My camp was right next to the trail so I woke up in the morning as a few early starters passed me. At around 0445 I could not sleep anymore so I decided to break camp. I got on trail around 0515 which is the earliest so far. The hiking in the morning was really good, I might have to do the same in the future. I wanted to make it to Warner Springs where I had sent a package with some resupplies. I had one longer break at Barrel Springs where I refilled water and had breakfast. ...

I got up early today when the other hikers were breaking camp. I was a bit quicker than usual in tearing down camp and getting going and was on the trail in 30 minutes. At around 8 I stopped to eat breakfast and dry out some of my stuff. After approximately 30 minutes I was on the trail again. Heading down to scissors crossing it quickly became clear that it was going to be a hot day. I decided to skip Julian as I did not need the resupply. Instead I started towards the third gate cache which is the next water after scissors crossing. It was extremely hot going there and I think I should have taken a siesta during the hottest part of the day. ...

My ass hurts a lot during the night, not sure my sleeping pad has sufficient padding. I had to keep turning. Other than that the night was great I stayed nice and warm, the bivy was nice given the wind. It took me 45 minutes to break camp which is quite long. Getting going after that was very cold, especially since it was windy all day. The wind however helped keep the temperatures in check later in the day. ...

Tonight was a very cold night. I woke a couple of times and had to put socks on to try and keep my feet warm. Despite that I actually slept alright. When I got up around 0600 there was frost on my sleeping bag a testament to how cold the night had been. I was very allow in getting started but when I did the early morning cold temperatures made for excellent hiking. My plan was to make it to at least Mount Laguna and preferably beyond. ...

I arrived to the trail a little over 7 thanks to the amazing transport arranged by Scout and Frodo. The Southern terminus was a flurry of activity as everyone tried to get the perfect picture. At 0730 I started hiking and quickly overtook most of the hikers that had set off before me. Quickly Brandon turned up and we continued on together. By mile 3 we had overtaken all the hikers that started on the same day. ...

As I write this I am finally ready for my PCT hike. Yesterday and today I have stayed with Scout and Frodo who are some amazing trail angels. They transport hikes to their house, feed them let them sleep there and drive them to the trail in the morning. Evening social singing before hiker midnight At their house I have talked with other hikes and streamlined the way I am going to do the trail. I have decided not to use a bounce box, instead I will buy what I need on the way and generally just take it as it comes. ...

Now the day has finally arrived, I will be leaving for San Diego today to start the PCT. I have been looking forward to this day for so long. The journey to San Diego takes me over Iceland and Seattle before I finally arrive on San Diego late tonight local time. Total flight time is planned at 13 hours and 33 minutes excluding 3 hours and 40 minutes of layover. ...

Preparations for a thru-hike cannot be all fun. There are some necessary permits and other boring stuff that one needs to acquire before starting the hike. In this post I will go through what permits and visas I acquired before my hike. Visa As a foreign hiker the primary thing is to get permission to stay in the U.S. for the duration of the hike. As a citizen of Denmark visiting the U.S. I would normally take advantage of the Visa Waiver Program and travel to the U.S. with an approved ESTA. This method is easy and does not require a visit to an embassy. This method is also only valid for stays up to 90 days, 90 days is a bit on short side for a thru-hike of the PCT, so a proper Visa is required. ...