jbwils
@jbwils
Hiking Record
Recent activity
September 18, 2024 - Day 124
Four months on trail. To the day. We woke up from a freezing cold night excited and filled with bittersweet emotions. Today is the day we finish the trail. It was just an 11 mile walk to the monument but we did everything we could to have a slow and leisurely pace out of camp. Spoons, Picasso and I all had Canada entry permits, meaning we can continue walking into the country an additional seven miles to reach Manning Park, a resort with beds and a restaurant. The rest of the crew has a 30 mile walk back to Harts Pass where they will get a ride into the town of Mazama, and then take a bus to Vancouver to meet us. The walk for us was all down hill and started with immense cloud cover but after an hour or so, the clouds began to clear revealing the mountain range surrounding us. We crossed over Hopkins Pass and continued down hill noting the mountain ranges ahead of us… Canada. After entering more dense forest and traversing down several switchbacks, we were greeted with a loud cheer… a crew in front of us welcoming our group to the monument. We arrived at the border of the US and Canada. It wasn’t anything spectacular, the views werent anything special and we were still in the middle of nowhere, but we’d never been more excited to reach this particular middle of nowhere. I’d like to say we had moments of clarity, and found the true meaning of the hike in this moment. I’d like to say we were relieved and incredibly emotional about reaching the monument. And I’d like to say we had the realization of our purpose and next steps… but alas, these moments did not come. In reality, I’m inclined to say we found these things along the way. An aggregate of experiences that can be seen in the details of our lives as we reenter society. Who knows. We did it. Something that has no true tangible value, and something that most people have no interest in doing or can even understand why someone would do this. But for us, it became integrated into our entire lives. I can hardly think of life before the trail. To not wake up everyday and hike. To not start each day with discomfort, struggle, joy, gratitude in the span of ten minutes in the company of some of the smartest, most motivated individuals I’ve ever encountered. We sweated, spat, bled, laughed, sang, cursed, cried, yelled, and rambled. Bust most of all, we walked. For four months. This experience will stay with me for the rest of my life. I can’t believe it’s over, but for now, I’m ready for a shower and a clean bed. Thank you mom and dad for the love and support. I’m sure being off the grid for four months was hard at times, as it was for me. I love you, Lizzie, and the rest of the family very much. Your love was felt on this trail in ways I can’t explain. I will post my photos, videos, and more on my instagram page @jbwils in the coming weeks. Thank you all and I hope you enjoyed following along. Happy trails…
September 17, 2024 - Day 123
Our last full day on trail. 25 miles with 4,500 feet of climb. We woke up this morning admiring a mountain goat traversing the ridge line about a mile away. It was a nice way to start a slower morning towards Hart’s Pass. Once at the pass, a man by the name of Doug served us our last and best trail magic so far. Eggs Benedict, bloody Mary’s, mimosas, coffee, and more. It was an awesome feast to send us on our way. Once moving again, it was about 11:30 in the morning and we still had 20 miles left. Good thing most of the afternoon, we spent traversing along gradual hills with amazing views around us. The trail really did save the best for last. Around 1, we stopped for another snack and then pushed onward. Given it gets dark around 7:30 now, we push to get to camp before it gets too dark. Today, we hiked through Harts Pass, Buffalo Pass, Windy Pass, Foggy Pass, Jim Pass, Holman Pass, Rock Pass, and were camped just shy of Woody Pass. A big list for a spectacular day. After dinner, we enjoyed each others company for our last night together on the trail. Right now, it’s Dice, Candy Crush, Spoons, Side Quest, Fly Lord, Squirrel, Dreamland, Brand Aid, Picasso and myself. A great group to end this great journey. Just 11.2 miles to the border of Canada. Then, a seven mile hike down to Manning Park Resort. Oh Canada!
September 15, 2024 - Day 121
Today was our last official ‘town day’. We head in to Mazama after a 13 mile walk and a hitch. The morning walk wasn’t too eventful aside from a ranger asking if we had permits for the trail. After waiting about five minutes for a ride. We sat in the bed of a truck for the twenty minute ride in and then Devin and I headed straight to the local public house. We had to sample all of their beer to decide which can to bring to the border of course. We did our due diligence and decided on a pale ale. Devin and I each grabbed a four pack to share with the group. After grabbing a quick bite, we headed back out to trail. It was about six when we got back to walking and we all noticed the trail was soaking. We missed hail and rain while in town sipping on beers. Seemed like the move to grab beers was a responsible one. We’re camped by the trail and the temperature is dropping fast. After a quick bear hang, we’re back in our tents. Two more full days left on trail. Happy trails…
September 13, 2024 - Day 119
We’re headed to Chelan via bus. After breakfast and loading up our gear, we hopped on board a free bus north. We were debating the detour route to prevent any skips in Washington, but after hearing news of treacherous river crossings and glacier trails, we opted out. After getting to Chelan, we set up our tents at the local RV park and wandered around the town. It’s located on Lake Chelan, a beautiful narrow yet long lake that stretches all the way to Stehekin. The ferry doesn’t leave until tomorrow morning so we have plenty of time to relax for another day. We played a round of putt putt at a course that was actual turf rather than Astro turf. That’s a first for me, though I’m sure it was much more common at some point. Burgers and shakes were next before heading back to our tents for the night. We were told that the sprinklers go off by our tents within the window of 11PM and 7AM so we located all the sprinkler heads and built walls around them out of sticks and rocks. Fingers crossed this keeps our tents dry. Resting easy…
September 11, 2024 - Day 117
19 miles to reach Stevens Pass… we got up and out of camp by seven this morning to reach the road at a reasonable hour to catch a ride into the town of Leavenworth. The hike itself was grueling… up then down then up then down then up then down. When looking at our elevation maps of the full 19 miles, it didn’t appear to be too bad. That’s when we zoomed in to see all of the climbs. We hiked a quick seven miles to the base of a 900 foot climb over .6 miles. Straight up. There’s a challenge within the PCT community called the ‘dump truck challenge’ where individuals race up the climb to see how fast people can hike it. On average, we saw people listing their times at around 15.5 minutes. Our group averaged around 13 minutes with the fastest time being 12.5 minutes. At the top of the climb, we were all panting like crazy covered in sweat. The cold weather rolled in and we all bundled up for the remainder of our hike into Stevens Pass. The remainder of the hike was cloudy, foggy, and damp. We were all thankful to have a warm bed in town waiting for us. After getting a hitch into Leavenworth, we grabbed a bite to eat and headed to our bnb. The town of Leavenworth is a funny Bavarian town that seemed more of a tourist trap than anything else but we had a pretty awesome place to stay where each of us got a bed. A rarity on this hike. We’re now lounging about, most likely going to have an early night tonight. Guten tag!
September 10, 2024 - Day 116
I wished the photos would upload… they’re quite spectacular. Today, we had some gnarly climbs up and down but the views were incredible. We rejoined the PCT after hiking about eight miles from camp before stopping for a brief lunch and continuing on. The majority of the afternoon was spent climbing. We had some big climbs that were reminiscent of the Sierra Nevada’s. Technically no passes but they may have well been. The views on top of the passes, as I’ll call them, were of wonderful valleys filled with the bluest lakes as rocky spires surrounded us. So incredible that it makes it difficult not to stop early for camp to soak in the views a bit more. But, food carries dictate our days. It’s hard to plan around views and much easier to plan around miles and elevation for how much food to bring. Still, just being there and witnessing these areas is plenty incredible. Tomorrow, we hike to Steven’s pass to get a ride into Leavenworth where we’ll spend two nights, taking our final zero of the trail before hitting Canada. We’re approaching just over a week until we finish. Can’t believe it. Happy trails…
September 9, 2024 - Day 115
Super short day as we found a short cut. Instead of the additional 4,000 feet up, we opted for a reroute that takes us through beautiful lakes for us to all camp together - all 11 of us now. It’s now Brand-Aid, Dreamland, Squirrel, Spoons, Fly Lord, Dice, Candy Crush, Shotgun, Picasso, and myself. Quite the crew. The morning and early afternoon were absolutely stunning. Some of the best views we’ve had on the entire PCT. But as we’ve come to learn, good views come with a price. Big climbs. This made our decision to do the reroute a bit easier as we had already seen some wonderful views and wanted some cruisier miles. I forgot to mention (at least I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here), I learned a new term the other day. A hero day. So for context: Zero day: no miles hiked Nero day: some miles hiked, usually going into town, spending the night, and hiking out next morning. Now there’s a hero day: hiking into town and leaving town with resupply the same day. We’ve only managed to do that a couple times. Tomorrow, we’ll bump up miles a bit and go for a 22 mile day. The elevation in Washington has slowed us a bit. Happy trails…
September 7, 2024 - Day 113
Well we chose to take a 22 mile road walk into town for a bed to sleep in tonight. It would have been a 30 mile walk up and down 8,000 feet with nothing to special for views so the road offered more expansive sights and much less elevation. If it weren’t for these damn blisters, it would have been somewhat of an easy day but I had beer and pizza on my mind, so here’s hoping that’s a cure for blisters. The walk itself wasn’t anything too special but we did have an 11 mile flat section along a bike path. You’d think after hiking for over 100 days that flat would be easier. It’s always tough on the feet. The same motion over and over tends to tire out the fascia. We made it to town after getting a ride from an individual visiting from Seattle by the name of Drew and his dog Billy. We’re now at the Dru Bru grabbing some pitchers and reconnecting with some hiker buddies. Cheers…
September 6, 2024 - Day 112
Slow start for what was supposed to be a 25 mile day. Not a short day but not our longest. After doing some research and learning about the next stretch, we ended up doing a 30 mile day with roughly 6,500 feet of elevation up and another 6,500 down. Tough day but once our mindset switched, our bodies didn’t tire. The main complaint we’ll have typically deals with sore feet. We stopped by an amazing cabin 13 miles in a have lunch at Government Meadows and enjoy the cooler of beers that individuals have left for PCT hikers. It was an awesome structure that had me wishing we pushed more miles the day before. Either way, we had the chance to enjoy the space. I forgot to mention that I swapped my shoes out at White Pass for a gently worn pair. Finding size 13 shoes out here hasn’t been the easiest. Technically, I’m closer to 13.5 but the company I buy my shoes from doesn’t make half sizes above 13 so I’ve been taking the insoles out of the shoes and replacing them with a thinner version that I bought before starting the hike. These ‘new’ shoes have created some new blisters. It feels wrong to have blisters after hiking close to 2,000 miles this summer. I’ll have to triage in the morning. We’re set up near a dirt road next to a car camper that has already started snoring. Let’s hope that doesn’t bother us too much. Sesame, the Frenchman that joined our group recently, has already shared some funny comments relating to the man snoring. Happy trails… tomorrow, we gut Snoqualmie Pass to grab our resupply and drink our weight in beer and soda. This habit will have to change pretty quickly once I return from trail. Still no luck on photos. Hoping some service in town helps.
September 4, 2024 - Day 110
Well the photo feature of this app is giving me trouble. I’ll post ten photos and only two show up or sometimes none at all. Hopefully my post can share enough. Today, we got up and got moving through the green tunnel after waking up to our gear absolutely soaked. There were actual pools in our tent from the condensation. After packing up, our tent weighed a good two pounds more. To boost my spirits, I drank a Dr. Pepper that I packed out from White Pass. I learned two new terms today: Vitiman I (ibuprofen), and slowbo (hiking slow, whether you’re going nobo or sobo). After stopping at lunch and drying off our tents, we started our climb up to Chinoot Pass and met another Frenchmen who started in April, but after tearing his calf, had to take a month off in Bend, Oregon. We came upon Mount Rainier. It was a breathtaking reveal of the mountain. We stopped and soaked in the view for so long that it shortened the mileage we did in total. We’re now camped at Dewey Lake listening to the nearby elk call in the distance. Such a surreal sound. Polar Express vibes…