I'm happy to report that Mike and I are alive and well and as of yesterday evening we have completed half the PCT!
Since we left you a lot has happened! Some highlights:
•We did a 20 mile detour to finish the John Muir Trail which the PCT follows for 200 miles. It was awesome to complete a (world renowned) long trail in the middle of a long trail!
•After finishing the JMT we found ourselves in Yosemite valley and we took the opportunity to attempt a climb of Half Dome. Neither of us actually made it, but our buddy Sparrow somehow mustered the courage to tackle it. Hats off to him!
•We encountered our first wildfire! The flames were only a few short miles from us as we skirted around it. The trail was actually closed by rangers just after we passed through and all hikers behind us have had to miss 60 miles of trail due to it. Great timing on our part!
•We saw a bear! Just a few days ago we "bumped into" our first California bear who was grazing on a slope just off trail. The bear was cinnamon in color, almost golden, and was HUGE. No pics because we didn't want to get eaten. As for other wildlife, we have seen tons including numerous coyotes, jackrabbits, snowshoe hare, weasel, marmots, pikas, lizards, fish, crawdads, bats, rattlesnakes, etc.
•We have officially finished the Sierras! We've made it to the start of the Cascades and we are getting closer and closer to beautiful Mt Shasta which is looming in the distance. It feels nice to be near volcanoes again. We're definitely getting closer to home!
Thanks to everyone who has been following along with us, and we hope to be able to continue to share (sometimes shorter) updates when we can. Also, we're trying to pick up the pace now by doing close to 30 miles a day which doesn't always give us a lot of time to blog, so please bear with us. More to come- and as always- thanks for all of the encouragement and we love you guys!
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