Its been thirty days since I started this and I've managed cover over six hundred miles (pct miles 705 to 1290; w/ ~35 extra credit miles: Whitney + onion valley). So far so good. Its hard to believe its been so long but I suppose as they say time flies. Getting to manning park, Canada will be rough but I think I'll be able to make it before October. Here are some tidbits of what my life has been like over the past month. My typical day starts off early, I've been getting up usually around five thirty upon which I usually stay in my sleeping bag for another half hour. Around six I'll get up and do breakfast. I'm usually on the trail by seven ten. I snack and drink water from a camelbak while moving so I generally don't stop often (usually stop only to get water or go for a swim). I started taking a lunch break at around eleven thirty. If I encounter a nice stream or lake/pond before four thirty(so I have time to dry) I'm definitely going in the water. I'll stop for dinner in a nice spot (I prefer breezy ridge tops to avoid bugs) grab the water I need and then cruise into a campsite by about eight thirty. I find that I make the mileage I do (more than all the other northbound hikers I've seen so far) not by being faster than anybody but by being more efficient, less stopping. Bears. I have yet to encounter a bear on this trip. I carried a rented wild-ideas bearikade from Kennedy meadows to sierra city where I replaced it with an ursack (basically a Kevlar bear can). I've also almost never cooked in my campsite, and am generally careful about keeping food/smelly things secure. A lot of the other through hikers are much less careful, but I'd rather not deal with bears over something relatively easily dealt with. Water. I treat my water with aquamira. This stuff is awesome, like magic angel tears. Basically mix part a and part b of aquamira and then add it to your water to treat it. I haven't gotten sick AND get to mix drops of solution chemistry style. Very cool. Pro tip (from Avery's backpacking tips book)carry a separate dropper bottle and premix all your solution in the morning. This saves a bunch of time (you're supposed to wait five min from mixing to using). There has for the most part been plentiful water (I was mostly in the sierra though) but I'm prepared to carry up to six liters if necessary for deserty stretches. Shoes. I wear light breathable trail runners (brooks cascadia 6) which work well except on really silty sand. In these type of trails the sand basically pours into the shoes via every pore and I generally hate life. Just about every other type of trail is OK though. I replaced my first pair in sierra city, they had gotten holes in the upper and stuff was getting in and destroying my socks. Food. Food is heavy, it's also kind of necessary (and tasty). I've been mostly eating dehydrated meals, as well as some pre prepared boil bag in water type items. Things like couscous, oatmeal, mashed potatoes and stuffing are decent. The best on trail meal I've had so far was thai red curry with tuna (boil in bag type) + couscous + extra bag of tuna(I added this before I knew what was in the mystery silver pouch ), I had this and then hiked seven more miles hitting a new daily max(27 miles, since defeated). Protip: if you eat oreos before rather than after dinner, its easier to brush your teeth after. Five things I miss most. people, fruit, toilets, soap, music. Random ass songs stuck in my head. That damn call me maybe song, miller64 song? Commercial? The popplers song from futurama, the stonecutters song from the Simpsons, another futurama song about the backwards time machine. Gear. I managed to rip my backpack (ula conduit) but upon shian's advice was able to repair it with k-tape. Luckily this happened literally the morning that I was going into mammoth. Some jerk animal ate or carried off the hand strap of one of my trekking poles but I've learned to use it without the strap. Another animal bit the hell out of my camelbak bite valve but I was able to replace that as well. The only things I've lost so far are chapstick and a bag containing my spare SD card, cable release and camera battery. Thankfully my d90 still has a bit of charge but I need to replace that soon. Sleeping. I've been getting by just fine using a forty five degree sleeping bag (phantom45) with no tent. I love this bag, and it doesn't hurt that it only weighs seventeen oz. I'm being very careful to pick warm spots (sheltered, away from lakes) and I've been pretty lucky with the weather. There have been three rainy days so far but I've been able to get by under a tarp (it hasn't really rained at night ) Poison oak. Terrible terrible stuff. Whenever I see some my pace drops as I examine every single plant I'll brush by. I don't think I've touched any, but iirc it takes a couple days before the rashes. I have both technu extreme and zanfel in my pack, I'd be plenty happy never using either. Future trips. I definitely want to do a Yosemite to mammoth jmt hike so I will have hiked the entire jmt. I also think the tahoe rim trail or Tahoe yosemite trail could be fun. Favorite part of trail so far. Evolution valley area definitely. I'd recommend anybody with a spare long weekend to do a lake Florence to south lake (or vice versa) trip. Second favorite part would be from tuolumne to glen aulin. This is only six miles but definitely breathtaking.
