Pct

The night ended up being very pleasant and I slept very well. As usual we got up at 0530 and were treated to a lovely sunrise. After packing I started hiking at 0613 towards the first water at a fire station. One of the many beautiful sunrises on the trail. The hiking towards the fire station was really good and we arrived around 0830. To our delight we discovered the most amazing trail Magic so far with the coolers with: beer, Powerade, toast bread, potato salad, Snickers, Oreos, eggs, ham, cheese and some other stuff. ...

My camp for last night was a bit uneven which bothered me a bit through the night. Despite this I slept quite well and never had issues with temperature. We got up at 0530 but were extremely slow in getting going, I started hiking around 0635 to get a bit of a headstart because of my slow speed. My shin is definitely still bothering me but as long as I walk slow it is manageable. I hope that the compression sleeves I am getting in Agua Dulce will help even further. Currently it is very frustratingly mentally to want to hike at my normal pace but be forced to slow down. ...

Today we were leaving Wrightwood to continue onwards. The place we stayed at offered us a ride to the trailhead at 0800 so we got up around 7. I had secured done breakfast at the bakery the day before so my breakfast consisted of a muffin and a cinnamon swirl. We all finished packing and made sure we had everything. A bit after 8 we all loaded in the a pickup truck and started the ride to the trailhead. ...

I woke early in the morning and started reading about my leg issues on the phone. My symptoms quickly lead me to believe it might be shin splints. I spent most of the early morning reading about tips for handling these for running and hiking. I found some nice stretches that I will start doing everytime I take a break during the day. Furthermore I read that elevating the legs while sleeping might help. I will be implementing all of these. ...

Last night was quite cold and with the location quite wet. This meant my sleeping bag actually had frost on it in the morning as I had been cowboy camping. We had decided on an early start to get to Wrightwood. So I started hiking at 0615. Early morning is like prime time for hiking both because of the the temperature and the sunrises ...

Again we had a kinda cold day so we got a late start with getting up at 0600. While packing up clouds rolled in and it started to look like rain. Because of this and the temperature I started in my rain jacket and gloves at around 0710. What are those white fluffy things on the sky, clouds in South California? ...

Before going to bed we had decided to get up at 0600. We were slow in getting up even though it was a rather mild morning. I was on trail around 0715 and had a few snacks before breakfast. Breakfast was planned for a ford of the Deep Creek River where we also restocked with water. I forded the river without issue but managed to soak my feet while getting water. ...

We got started very late in the morning as we wanted to wait for the sun to get up. I believe I got out of bed at 0700. The night was probably the coldest on the trail so far but I was actually pretty comfortable. My tarp was covered in ice and my bivy had a bit of ice as well. Also for the first time so far the water in my water bottles was frozen. ...

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. ...

One of the things I have focused a lot on in my preparations for my thru-hike of the PCT in 2018 is the gear I will bring along. In truth gear is probably the thing that I have spent the most time (and money) on for my thru-hike, I wager that might be the case for most thru-hikers. This is not entirely without reason as the gear should hopefully help keep me safe and dry. ...