hiking

What Heaven Looks Like (PCT Day 21)

April 7, 2021 by Rachel Lanman Leave a Comment

We woke up to sunshine filtering into the tent. It is a chilly morning so we decided to warm up with breakfast and coffee at the picnic table. After our climb yesterday, we were taking our time, coaxing our stiff muscles into the idea of walking all day. Our hiker friends Smooth and Puffy were beginning to stir in their tents. After some breakfast and coffee, we filtered water from a hidden creek about 1/4 mile off trail. It was just a trickle and we had to get enough for a 17 mile water carry, so it took a long time to filter all we needed.

After chatting briefly with Smooth and Puffy, we head out into delightful hiking weather. The sky is bright blue, a perfect backdrop to the scenery of the day. It’s not too hot and there is a gentle breeze.

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Optimized for Trail (PCT Day 20)

April 7, 2021 by Jon Lanman 3 Comments

The days begin to merge together as we climb through the dry, barren hills of southern California. The scenery is beautiful, but the views are less inspiring than those we beheld from San Jacinto.

Have I become jaded to the scenery? Will only the most epic vistas capture my attention from here on out? I question if this fickleness is the problem with humanity – this need to be endlessly amused, and entertained.

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Back into the Desert Hills (PCT Day 19)

April 6, 2021 by Jon Lanman 9 Comments

We’ve spent two days off the trail. Although we’ve enjoyed resting our feet, visiting with family, and cleaning our clothes, by the time we hit the trail we’ve grown antsy. Our feet are craving movement. Our eyes are craving the visual stimulation of new scenery every day or even every hour. Nature is a luxury that I feel lucky to walk back into.

Around 1 pm, Uncle Eddie drops us off. We situate our bags and walk again onto the trail. It’s over 80 degrees. The landscape is rugged and brown. We are surrounded by canyons.

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Idylwild and Rest (PCT Day 16-18)

April 5, 2021 by Jon Lanman 3 Comments

We awake early and rejuvenated. After a couple weeks on trail, and a limited number of showers, we are ready for a little break. And, today it’s within reach once we get to Idylwild. But first we have some snow to cross.

We spot Dimebag packing up his gear as Rachel and I drink our coffee. We’ve run out of breakfast so caffeine will have to carry us.

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Apache Peak (PCT Day 15)

April 2, 2021 by Jon Lanman Leave a Comment

I awake to watch the sunrise over the Palm Desert. The nightime lights of Palm Springs are still illuminated, speckles in the darkness. The sun splits the horizon into color layers. Blue, yellow, orange, the black of Palm Springs below still in darkness, and the brown sand of my surroundings.

I wonder how many others have just seen this. Maybe none. A few early birds tweet their appreciation, creating our fellowship of the sunrise. It’s just us. No instagram or television to broadcast it to the world. There’s no need for more than just us today right now.

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Out of the Desert and into the Alpine (PCT Day 14)

March 31, 2021 by Jon Lanman Leave a Comment

It was windy last night. We are both tired from two weeks of hiking without a break. I’m not motivated to get out of bed, but eventually I find it. The air hisses out of my sleeping pad as I squeeze it like a tube of toothpaste.

Today we have more elevation to gain. We will see snow. We will see views of the desert. This can be expected.

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The Paradise Cafe (PCT Day 13)

March 30, 2021 by Jon Lanman 2 Comments

Today is the day we get to eat a full breakfast of fresh food. We pack up our tent in the cold air, as soon as we awake. We are eager for the meal ahead.

We march down the trail before 7 am toward the Paradise Cafe. It sits at the base of the San Jacinto mountains, right along the highway. We hiked last night to get as close as possible, to make it an easy approach today. We camped close to the highway about a mile away from the cafe.

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Heat Coma (Day 12)

March 29, 2021 by Jon Lanman 3 Comments

I wake up to birds chirping. It’s 6:30 am. The air is still cool. My legs tired from the previous two days worth of miles. We’ve done an accumulative 30 miles or so in the past two days. How far will we go today I wonder. 10 miles? 15 miles? Maybe less. Likely no more.

We’ve been trying to ease our legs into longer miles, starting with days around 10 miles, then 15. Before we continue at that rate or ramp up to 20 or more we need to give our muscles and tendons time to recover. In order to finish the trail, it’s important to average at least 15-20 miles per day. But if you hurt yourself you’re likely not to finish at all. Most of the injuries we’ve seen thus far are from people pushing into high mileage days right off the bat. You may be able to handle 15 miles or 25 miles for a few days. But sustaining that day after day is the challenge. You’re not taking one hike on the PCT. You’re taking 120-180 consecutive hikes day after day.

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Mike’s Place (PCT Day 11)

March 28, 2021 by Jon Lanman 1 Comment

I’m finding one of my favorite things about the PCT is the unexpected nature of it. Each day you can expect to walk for miles. You can expect for the skyline and landscape to merge into a tapestry of beauty. But you don’t know exactly how. The humidity or clouds can dramatically shift the contrast, creating a unique display of beauty that’s unpredictable. Often I lay in the tent at night thinking about what the next day will bring. Rarely can I predict it. And more often than not, nature has a better plan than I can imagine.

But, the beauty of the unexpected goes beyond just scenery and reaches into moments, often punctuated by people and sometimes the absurd.

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Hitting Our Stride (PCT Day 9 & 10)

March 26, 2021 by Jon Lanman Leave a Comment

Day 9 and 10 fly by as Rachel and I begin to hit our stride. On day 9 we awake to better weather, after a night of rain tapping on our tent. But it’s one of our best nights of sleep yet, as the wind has let up

We wind around ridgelines looking back at the hills of Mt. Laguna from where we came. The clouds layer over the mountains like icing on a cake. They lift up higher as the day goes on, splitting to allow more blue to shine through the gaps. Occasionally a gust of wind still smacks us in the face as we round around the corners of the mountains.

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