Pacific Crest Trail 2010

[Guthook]

Hey everyone. I've been back from the PCT for a few weeks now, and I'm finally starting to fall into a routine. It's a long process. Mostly, I'm trying to stay away from computers and the internet as much as possible so I don't get sucked in right away.

In the meantime, I managed to put all of my pictures up so far. Check them out here.

Next, I'm slowly and surely getting some brief trail reports to my blog. If the pictures aren't enough for you, maybe the words will help out

Next step, getting used to New England hiking again. I can't wait to hit the whites this weekend!

 

[mtruman]

What an amazing journey!! I'm still going through your pics (and probably will be for a few days - they're just amazing). We were in Yosemite in late June and picked up a PCT thru-hiker who was hitching into the valley because the post office in Tuolumne was closed due to snow and his drop had been forwarded. We got quite the earful of stories in the hour drive - and that was obviously barely the beginning. From your photos you clearly had all the same conditions and challenges. Pretty incredible. This has got to be one of the most beautiful continuous stretches of landscape in the world. Thanks for sharing the experience. Will enjoy following the blog. You definitely could consider making it a book...

Have fun in the Whites. Hope you enjoy being home again!

 

[Guthook]

Thanks, Mark. I weeded out about 1500-2500 more pictures that didn't make the cut, which took days to go through, but I'll take your word to mean it was worth the effort

I wonder if the hiker you picked up in Yosemite was anyone I knew. It would have been the right time for people I had hiked with early on. It was a hell of a time out there. But like I said, I'm so happy to be home. There's just something so comforting about New England mountains...

 

[mtruman]

Yes, the editing of the pics was definitely worth the time! Figured you probably had a pretty big pile to sort through. Had to stop taking them when the scenery is like that. Considering how many I took in less that a week in Yosemite I'm surprised that you didn't have even more than you did (although you do need to spend a bit more time hiking and less with the camera when you're doing what you were).

As for the guy we picked up - just checked my pics and the date was June 22nd so probably a good chance it was someone you'd met earlier on. He told us that day was the toughest on the trail so far for him. They'd come over a pass that morning that someone had previously glissaded down from and he decided to do the same - not realizing that it was sheer ice now (and he hadn't taken his ice axe off his pack). Slid and tumbled down the slope and stopped just short of a huge pile of rocks that he figured probably would have killed him if he'd hit them. Not sure if that story rings a bell. Just another average day on the PCT I suppose What I found most amazing was that after that experience he was planning to spend his unplanned "rest day" in the valley by bagging Half Dome. Thru-hikers are definitely a different breed!

 

[Guthook]

I'm glad you met him, Mark. That was Moleman, who I hiked with for about five hundred miles. He was one of the best friends I had out there, and when I got off the trail in Mammoth Lakes to head back home for a friend's wedding, he continued on and I never saw him again. We talked on the phone several times, and after that fall he was pretty shaken up. He ended up having a great time in Yosemite Valley, but decided to go home from there. He tried to come back to the trail after a visit to home, but his heart wasn't in it anymore and he decided to quit while he was still having a good time. That made me really sad. But he was a great guy to hike with. I think that's the person you picked up, since the timing is just right. Does the picture I linked to above look familiar?

Cheers
Ryan

 

[mtruman]

That's him! He was looking much worse for wear on the day we picked him up than he does in the picture. What really confirmed it for me was Google-ing Moleman PCT and finding his unfinished (sadly) PCT website where on the front page he talks about just having biked across the country before starting his hike. He told us about that as well as his prior AT hike so I'm sure it's the right person. I'm really sad to hear that he didn't get back on the trail. He seemed a bit (OK, maybe more than a bit) shaken when we met him but he didn't seem to have lost any determination at that point. Maybe after he had a chance to think about what could have happened that day it changed his mind. There are surely many life-changing experiences that happen to thru-hikers (which you know 1000 times better than me). I'm really glad we had the chance to meet him and at least make the end of his tough day a bit easier. I continue to be amazed at what a small world this is and how many threads there are that tie us all together. Perhaps we'll run into each other on trail someday as well.

 

[mirabela]

Wow, congratulations! Completing a thru-hike is an awesome accomplishment; you will treasure this the rest of your life.

<edit> -- as you already know. and, ps - your pictures are fantastic.

 

[roadtripper]

Incredible!

How many bears did you see? I was in California for 2 weeks this summer and all everybody was talking about was how bad the bears were. We saw 5, which we thought was a lot, but maybe that's just how the Sierra is.

Your albums were all incredible btw.

 

[Guthook]

Mark, it is indeed a small world. Pretty cool that we ran into the same people out there. Moleman seems to be doing pretty well, as far as I know. I haven't heard much from him since the trail, but I did just hear that he got engaged. I guess that's just as good as finishing the trail

Mirabela and Roadtripper, thanks indeed. I'm glad you enjoyed the pics.

Bears... three. But that's a lot more than I usually see, and one was quite close. I don't usually see much wildlife except rodents. Maybe I'm just a noisy hiker. There were a heck of a lot of marmots, come to think of it.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Congrats on doing the PCT. It's a long toot!

A section of the PCT crosses the ridgeline due west of me on section about 5 miles north of Walker Pass (in the southern Sierra). I can't actually see the PCT from my house - although I can see my house from the PCT - as it's about 8 miles away.