Jeff Wright's Blog: PCT 2020 part 1 Start (0/Aprl 29) to Kennedy Meadows South(680.8/May 30).

Before I start to tell of my adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail I would like to thank some people for helping make this journey a little easier. Laurie for helping with all the resupply. This saved me a lot of time out there. John for picking me up at Harts Pass in WA and giving me a ride home. John, Linda, Roger, Laurie, Scott, Leila and my daughter, Brenda and her family for coming to see me and bring me treats at some of the road crossing. As you can imagine, the same diet for months on end can get dull. Last, I would like to thank all the people I meet on the trail and in the town for all they did to make me feel welcome and enhance this experience.

What is the PCT?

2,653 miles on a trail between Campo CA and the USA/Canada border.

489,418 feet of elevation gain and 488,411 feet of elevation loss on the PCT.

The high point is 13,153 at Forester Pass in CA. The low point is just above sea level at the town of Cascade Locks OR

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail

I will break this trip down into sections

Start to Sierras

Here I am at the southern terminus of the PCT on April 29 2020. I flew in to San Diego from Seattle. It took me three buses to get to the town of Campo where the terminus is about a one hour walk away. I saw five border patrol vehicles as I did this section. One of them saw me and stopped to chat.

The desert is not flat. This was my first misconception. Here are a few photos for this section.

I meet a few friends along the way.

Young couple I meet on day 2.

My shadow that was with most of the time.

I saw these dudes most everyday in this section.

Gentleman who checks this water supple here.

Gal is fellow PCT hiker and guy is trail angel who gave us fruit and ice-cream. This is a real treat in places like this.

Rock formation. I wish I could have jumped on and gone for a ride.

PCT hiker Case and Momma Bear. MB is a trail angel that had soda, fruit and water for us.

Giggles, I spent a couple days hiking and camping with him.

Some Off road people that gave me a sandwich and snacks.

At the bud farm. My new buddy.

At Action KOA. Fellow PCT hikers.

I saw lots of these. They did not want to sit still for photos very often.

Part of trail family I hung with for a few days. Snack size, Joy ride, Pittsburg, Cinderella.

Pittsburg, Cinderella and Mother ship.

Trail family on LA aqua duct. Me, Pittsburg, Joy ride, Cinderella and Mother ship.

Can you see me? This guy does not move unless you are going to step on him

A nice and slow fellow taking his time in life.

One interesting thing about this section in getting water for yourself. I use 5 to 8 liters of water per day. Sometimes I had to walk up to 1/2 mile off trail, usually downhill, to the water source. There were times when I had to walk 20 miles between water sources. There were sections where the water source was provided by some generous person for us PCT hikers. Without people like this, it would be a very long way between water sources.

Nice easy source for water.

Not as nice, but easy to access. I always filter my water.

Note water bottles filled in the tub. These would be refilled once they were empty.

Again, water in bottles to be refilled once we get what we need. Some of these places ask for a small fee to help with the cost.

Water tanks at Mike's place with water for us.

This is Mary's place. She had water, outhouse, portable shower and covered picnic tables for us. Her place comes after Mikes place. On this day all my water came from the generosity of people who own land on the trail.

Kind of ugly. When you need water and will walk 1/3 of a mile down hill to get it, you do not complain.

One of those water sources where I walked to get. I am thankful that they are here. A lot of these have a sulfur smell.

Look what is around here. The gov put this source in for the hikers. Your tax dollars at work.

An oasis in a very dry place.

You make due with what is out there. Note all my supplies for getting water and filtering it.

Generous people, thanks.

One the springs on the trail.

Mother ship and I getting water from a tank someone built. We had to pre filter the water first to get the floaties out before running it through our filters.

One of the springs for getting water.

Thanks to who keeps this water supply filled. It is a bit warm here.

The last thing I want to show you from this section is some of the flowers and plants I saw along the way. I do not know the names of them. I would enjoy them every day on this section. The desert is a very beautiful place and harsh place.