Category: Musings from the Trail
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PCT Fitness
I don’t have a FitBit, but my iPhone does track a number of health statistics. Over the past month, these are the averages it shows (and, of course, this is including zeroes): Walking + Running Distance: 20.03 miles/day Steps: 42,491 per day Flights Climbed: 120 per day
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Hiker Hunger
Hiker Hunger doesn’t really begin until about four weeks in. Before that, I ate like I did on days I did long training runs (say, 20 miles and up): I could eat a lot, but usually only for one meal, and then I’d feel more than plenty full. Hiker Hunger is unlike anything you’ve ever…
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We Have No Idea Where We Are
Ask any PCT hiker where they are, and you’ll probably get an answer back immediately, accurate to within ten miles — “Oh, about mile 1270 or so”. (Ten miles is just a morning or afternoon of hiking, so that’s actually pretty accurate, to us.) But ask any PCT hiker where they actually are, and the…
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We’re Coming Up On You!
A quick shout-out to everyone in San Francisco: From now on, if you want to look and see where we are…look north, not south, ’cause, as of last night (June 21st), we passed you!
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Hiker Midnight
Hiker Midnight is a special time of day. By Hiker Midnight, most people are asleep in their tents, some for almost an hour. By Hiker Midnight, you’ll rarely hear more than a whisper from hikers — it’s time to keep quiet. As Hiker Midnight approaches, you’ll see hikers scurrying to get ready for bed, hear…
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Gettin’ Buzzed in the Sierra
One of the weirder aspects of hiking in the southern Sierra: about a dozen times per day, you’ll hear a really loud noise, look up…and, if the sky is clear and you look in the right direction, see a pair of F–16s blazing past really, really fast. (More often, though, you look up and see…