April 25, 2022
Keeping a daily blog is tough. Especially when backpacking. On the PCT in 2020, I just stopped. I made bullet point drafts which I intended to flesh out and post. But I never did.
Here’s a summary of what happened. I entered California in a hot spell. I started seeing more smoke from fires. I went around Mt. Shasta, reached Belden and was forced to skip a section due to a fire closure and skipped down to Donner Pass. Made it all the way to Yosemite.
At a backpacker campground in Yosemite, the night before I was to head out in early September, the Ranger came up to me and said “Your hike is over.”
I asked why.
She said “The National Forests are closed.”
I asked which ones and she said “all of them.” This was due to terrible, widespread fires.
I didn’t like bailing out of Washington and was crestfallen to end halfway through California.
In 2021, one of the Texas hikers was married in Winthrop, Washington. Cole and Josh joined me to backpack the last section of the PCT to Canada. I then went on to finish the state of Washington.
Will I go back and fill in the details?
I might. If I do, I will just highlight interesting things during a section or a week. And photos.
But, you may recall, I am a slow learner. So I am starting another backpacking adventure in a couple days.
backpacking over the hill 