Monthly Data Update (M-1; 30 days)

Distance traveled on PCT: 631 mi / 1015 km

(actual distance traveled would be about 10 miles more for misc activities)

Total time: 280 hours

Total ascent: 117,830 ft / 35,915 m

Total descent: 115,912 ft / 35,330 m

Highest point: 9407 ft / 2867 m

Average distance/day: 21 mi / 34 km

Average time hiking/day: 9.3 hours (incl Zero days)

Average pace: 2.3 mi/hr (or) 3.6 km/hr

Number of Zero days: 1

Number of Nero days: 4

Number of meals eaten that I hadn't carried on my back: 15 (out of a total of 90)

Number of proper showers taken: 7

Number of animals seen: 1 bear, 10+ snakes, thousands of lizards, birds & other insects

Number of items lost: 1 beanie, 1 filter bag cap

Number of items lost & found: 1 pair of sunglasses

*Lessons learnt* :

- As my friend & mentor, Mark, says: always check and double-check the spot where you have stopped, even it is for a short time

- I am not an Ultra Light Backpacker. However much I want to be, I like the margin of safety & my comfort too much to be one 🙂

- Per my friend & running buddy, Vijay: I have got excellent training for Ultra Running now...eating, drinking & walking!

- Humanity is underrated - there are lots and lots of good people all around us

Comments

Kusum said…

Truly there are still angles in the world. You are experiencing it first hand!!

May 20, 2022 at 12:37 AM

Aam Aadmi said…

Ravi, it has been a month for you and every Saturday morning I go through your updates. Your posts teleport me to the great outdoors better than any Nat Geo documentary. You will have stories to tell from some time and I look forward to hearing them all.

May 20, 2022 at 5:22 PM

A thru-hike attempt... successful! (D-117: 2642.6 - 2653.6, D-117S (SOBO): 0 - 17.1, D-118S (SOBO): 17.1-30.6)

It is done! Finally, on August 10th, 2022, 117 days after I started at the US-Mexico border on April 16th, 2022, I reached the US-Canada border. Walked 2653.6 miles (4270.6 km) south-to-north through the states of California, Oregon and Washington. No bittersweet moments...just sweet relief to be done 😀. We were few of the lucky thru-hikers this year who were able to go south-to-north continuously without any interruptions. People who started even a couple of weeks earlier and maintained this pace hit a lot more snow in Seirras and a hell lot more in Washington, the latter being almost hike-stopping. By the time we got to Seirras, the snow was much more manageable, and almost all the snow had melted in Washington. People who started later or were slower have had to skip parts of Northern California due to forest fires. Even Oregon and Southern California have some fires starting already. Anyway, reached the northern terminus of the PCT yesterday morn...

More trail magic and a lesson learned (D-5)

The day was pleasant with lots of wind again, but the trail was mostly flat or gently uphill. It also went through a very large meadow with only grass and cows for miles around 🙂. My goal was to reach Warner Springs since I had seen this sign yesterday at Scissors Crossing. The shower, recharging & WiFi along with possible cold/hot drinks was very tempting. BTW, this is the first time I found out that there was a name - "bucket shower" & "bucket laundry" - for what I had thought was normal bathing and washing clothes all during my childhood in India 😀. Made it to Warner Springs after 23 miles, well before the 7 pm closing time. The Community Resource Center provides all these services for PCT hikers. Though the Center itself was closed (no cold/hot drinks alas), their grounds were open and showers/laundry/recharging were all available and I made full use of it. Very thankful to the Center! Sinks for laund...

Resupply (4 days to go)

(Finally gave up on HikerFeed app which seemed good on paper, but never worked properly for me 🙁) 10-day resupply in the bear canister, ready to ship - 7.6 kg / 16.8 lbs (gulp!) Already shipped the first box last week

A thru-hike attempt

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