Day 3 We were up before sunrise and took our time enjoying coffee on the lakeshore. Once we left camp, it was the typical long climb to start the day. Unlike the last 2 days, my knee pain kicked in from the start. Uphills hurt like yesterday's downhills, and downhills turned into excruciating slow descents.... Continue Reading →

I took a day off in Portland to give my knee a rest in hopes it would feel better. It did, and Matt and I headed out the next morning hike the 70-mile stretch from Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens Pass. Day 1 We hit the road early to get the 4-hour drive out of the... Continue Reading →

Day 3 Similar to yesterday, I woke to the sound of rain and took my time getting ready, hoping it would let up before I started.  The rain was stubborn, and I wasn't in too big of a hurry, so I didn't get on trail until a little after 9 am.  Most of the morning... Continue Reading →

I started this section hoping for great views of Mt. Rainier as I'd spend a couple days passing to the east of it.  What I got instead was rainy mornings and cloudy skies, but the bright side was temperatures were cool and comfortable. Day 1 Angela drove me to White Pass to start, and it... Continue Reading →

I'll preface this with saying this was not my favorite stretch of trail. I'm almost convinced it's some sort of sadistic attempt to connect and traverse as many burns as possible. The sad reality is that there are vast areas of Oregon that are fire scorched, and many are added every year. Day 1 I... Continue Reading →

I didn't have a chance to get a post up for our summer trip, but here's the short version. We're living with Matt and Jessi for 6 weeks this summer. I'm working remotely for most of it but will squeeze in PCT miles every weekend and on some days off. First up for was a... Continue Reading →

Day 1 We spent the night in Ridgecrest last night, and Angela dropped me off at Kelso Valley Road for a 2 day, 36-mile stretch. It was cold and windy to start, but that didn't last long. It felt great to be back on trail again. The rhythmic crunch of trail under feet brings back... Continue Reading →

I meant to get this out months ago, but it seems fitting to look back at our time on trail on the 1 year anniversary of our start date. We've been back home since October and are mostly adjusted to life off trail. I'm back at work and Angela and the kids are busy with... Continue Reading →

It's hard to explain how quickly you make friends on trail, but between the shared experiences and lack of distractions from everyday life, friendships form quickly and deeply. The last couple weeks of the trip saw us saying goodbye to our closest friends from trail. The first up were the Daleys. They had to head... Continue Reading →

My last day on trail would also be my biggest. Matt and I headed out to cover a 35 mile stretch from Cascade Locks to Panther Creek.  I had already done the stretches north and south of this and didn't want to leave a small hole I'd have to come back to get later.  With... Continue Reading →