tehachapi, ca

short and sweet:

567.6 miles

had a very relaxing, very high calorie day yesterday. i think i was a little light on food for the last stretch of trail, so i happily made up for it here in town. a big thanks to tom for picking me and a couple of my friends up bright and early so we could enjoy our nero day to the max.

gearing up for the big entry into the sierras, should be awesome.

oh, and mama hillybeans is unbelievably nice to hikers. such a huge help.

agua dulce!

the trail angels/legends donna and jeff saufley are running at full capacity now as the big push is coming through. i arrived yesterday and last night was their first night of 50 hikers. it's amazing to watch the efficiency of this place, and how it allows everyone to relax in the midst of apparent chaos.

there seem to have been more bugs lately. sometimes while i'm hiking the little gnats that love my eyes and nose drive me crazy, leading me to take extreme measures - waving my poles erratically in front of my face as i walk, tying my bandanna over my mouth, yelling at them, etc. and there've been mosquitoes lately too, even when dry camping. i still prefer sleeping out in the open, but the other night i had to set my tent up in the middle of the night to get some sleep.

i had my friend john mail a new pair of shoes to me here, and there are few things more exciting to a thru-hiker than new shoe day. the shoes i've been wearing have been great, and i was pretty happy to get 450 miles out of my first pair since they're so lightweight. i'm kind of hoping to get a few more out of this next pair, but we'll see. in other gear news, i dropped my camera in a stream yesterday, while recording a video, and i was worried i'd lost all my pictures up to this point. after quickly taking the battery out i used a small screwdriver to open the camera body up a little and let it dry out overnight. it's probably one of the few times i've been grateful for the dry desert heat and the camera (and more importantly the memory card) seems to be fine. another crisis avoided.

planning a trip to magic mountain tomorrow in a rental car with four other thru-hikers as i try to make the most of my zero/nero days here!


an early morning time lapse.

wrightwood, ca

the trail climbed almost a vertical mile to get here today. got a nice early start so i was able to do most of it in the cool morning, but i still drank almost two gallons of water before finishing the 22 miles around 1:30. the town of wrightwood is very friendly to hikers, and several people in and around town have opened their homes to the smelly strangers that wander through town each spring. i'm staying with an incredibly nice lady named molly ann(e?) and her family.



looking forward to a big meal and some open-mic?! tonight. apparently, mystic is going to perform the world debut of his "ultralight man" song. should be good for a laugh. (that first picture is actually at the silverwood lake campground.)


flower along the trail.


rinse cycle on a full load of hiker clothes.

2000 calorie order at cajon pass mcdonalds. Wonder what i'll have for seconds? (mystic just ordered 10 double cheeseburgers+fries+drink)

double zero

also known as "two days off."


i'm currently 250 miles into the hike, taking two zero days in/around big bear city. nitro, a chronic thru-hiker but not on the trail this summer, and her parents are hosting tomato, myself, and two other hikers named bird nut and true. they've been extremely generous and welcoming, and it's shaping up to be a very relaxing weekend of food, hot tub, swimming pool, food, cold drinks, and food. and with a slack-pack (carrying little or no weight/gear in your pack between two pre-set points) planned with mystic on monday i'm feeling pretty lazy (and lucky) at the moment.

tomato and i had a rare sighting of a desert tortoise. it was just a little fella, and moving fast. well, for a turtle anyway.

a couple days ago i had a run-in with dehydration, heat exhaustion, and/or some kind of bug. climbing up mission creek canyon it all caught up with me and i really began struggling when it reached 96 in the shade with little to no breeze so i finally collapsed under a tree (no easy feat since this is the desert and this area was burned just a few years ago in the millard fire). hikers passing by made sure i had water and was doing ok (thanks nick and steel-eye), and finally mystic caught up to me and carried my food bag for me the remaining three miles to camp. it was a rough night as i tried to get some food and water in me, but eventually threw it all back up. fortunately that seemed to help with the nausea, so i managed to drink and eat a little before morning. mystic stuck with me all the next morning, again carrying some of my weight, and we managed the 15 miles to the first road access into big bear. i was feeling a lot better by the time we got there and was drinking and eating fairly normally. today i'm feeling 100% and am looking forward to hiking again - after taking another day off, of course.

there was some discussion last night about the philadelphia eagles drinking pickle juice as a way to combat dehydration, and today as a joke nitro offered some to me. turns out i really like the stuff. wonder if i can take some in my platypus...
*addendum to the pickle juice discovery: i learned after drinking about 20 ounces of the stuff, the recommended serving is 2. it gave me some sort of a salt-induced head rush. drink with caution.


i hear the hot tub calling. life on the trail can be rough sometimes.

idyllwild, ca (and some pictures)

a nero (nearly zero trail miles) day in idyllwild. heavy on the idle, light on the wild. had a fantastic evening hike last night with a few other hikers. hadn't planned on doing a 27 mile day this early, but the views were incredible with the evening light and we just didn't want to stop. the san jacintos have certainly moved themselves up in my list of beautiful places to hike. it's a strange feeling to look down from 8400 feet all the way to the near-sea-level desert floor (well, palm springs is something like 475 feet, but are we going to split hairs here?).

i'm about 178 miles into the hike. feeling great. some minor aches and pains, but all standard stuff while my body gets used to the idea that i'm not stopping anytime soon. i'm having a lot of fun, and my mind is already working to figure out how i can get back on the trail next summer!

the past few days have included: a free barbecue (ate a ton of beans with incredibly spicy hot sauce after the host, mike, said "it's not hot, it's just vinegar hot." yeah right, tell that to my melting lips.), a 7:30 am tequila shot (with same mike), a 24 mile slack pack from Nitro, more trail magic at highway 74 from Hector (the second time i've gotten trail magic from him so far), carrying nearly five heavy liters of water up into the san jacintos so i could avoid the long off-trail accesses to springs, and an epic evening hike through much of the san jacinto wilderness - culminating in Mystic the Nuclear Nighthawk, Tomato, Chris, and myself cowboy camping (sleeping in the open) on the trail itself between snow banks.

simply superb.



excited to be hiking with my lead weight (dangling from the back of the pack).


san jacinto range at dusk, looking south. i believe that's south peak in the foreground.

video of sink laundry, a thru-hiker staple (you never know what's happened in your hotel sink, people):