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Twice As Old: Following Suit
This is the second chapter in a series exploring a Pacific Crest Trail hike that began on April 16, 1996 and didn’t end until my partner Peter Miles Bergman and I had doubled in age and fulfilled a 23-year-old pact, completing a TAOist thruhike. In the first chapter I looked at how the planning of…
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Twice As Old: The Plan
This is the first of a series exploring a Pacific Crest Trail hike that began on April 16, 1996 and didn’t end until my partner and I had doubled in age and fulfilled a 23-year-old pact, completing a TAOist thruhike. Anyone who has tried to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, or any long trail, will…
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The PaCT is fulfilled
I’m now home in Reno after two months on the Pacific Crest Trail that defied many of my expectations. I plan to digest and write about it in the months to come. Though I didn’t carry a phone, Pete did and he posted some amazing photos and stories on Instagram. I have a stack of…
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PaCT – walking beyond the horizon
On this day, May 31, in 1996, I hiked up a snowy Mount Whitney with my hiking partner Pete. We were 767 miles into an attempt to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, and had no inkling how much snow lay ahead of us in the Sierra Nevada mountains. It was our first time wielding an…
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A handful of days disconnected in the Willowa mountains
I spend much of my life online, something I once reveled in, but have always sought to balance by disconnecting and going outdoors. This year, 2018, I made the longest solo backpack trip I’ve managed since Ann sagged me on the Continental Divide Trail in 2004. On that trip my longest stretch between resupplies was…
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July 25 – Climbing results, final thoughts
I try climbing at Mores Mountain, then head for Ann’s parents house in Nampa.
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July 17 – CDT East Centennial Ridge to Little Table Mountain
The trail feels remote and high, but I encounter a local with his kids, who provokes some thoughts on grizzlies. A descent causes some worrisome foot pain before the entries suddenly stop, as if I had dropped my recorder in a creek.
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July 16 – CDT Mile Creek to East Centennial Ridge
I encounter hawks, elk, cattle, and Ann! The trail takes a different route than I expect, then takes me high.
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July 15 – CDT Targhee Pass to Mile Creek
I get some time in high on the continental divide, encounter a pair of grouse, solve terrain puzzles, and reach my first rendezvous point at Mile creek.
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July 14 – CDT Fish Creek Road to Targhee Pass
I leave Ann for the trail and get straight into water issues while I think about my hopes for the hike.