That’s the pattern of the next days in the Sierra. Or almost… But let’s start at the beginning:

As we posthole our way down Kearsarge pass, I can’t stop thinking that going back up here will be terrible as it’s long and steep and the snow crapy. But then, we’re on our way to town now and I try to push this thought aside, knowing that we’ll be more rested when we have to face that climb. We’re quite lucky to meet some hikers coming up as they give us the number of a man who drives hikers to town from the Onion Valley trailhead – so early in the season, there is practically zero traffic there, as the campground is still closed. It’s quite expensive, but hey, we have no choice and are glad we don’t have to walk the 30 miles down to the valley!

Once down, we feel like melting ice – it’s around 30° C here, a big contrast to the below freezing temperatures we had in the morning! We are lucky again: Andy and Vincent catch the bus to Bishop that leaves five minutes after we get to the bus stop in Independence. They will organize accomodation for our zeros. Chrigi and I have to go to Lone Pine first, as we have packages to collect. We are less lucky: For more than an hour, we try to catch a ride, but nobody stops. Do we really look that bad? It can’t have been the ice axes, as we hid those so people don’t think we’re crazy axe murderers…😉

We finally decide to get the bus that leaves another hour later. In the meantime, we eat half a liter of chocolate icecream each! It tastes like he best icecream I’ve ever eaten…😉 The busride is quite entertaining, too, as there are some special characters on board…

Once in Lone Pine, we quickly get our parcels and try to get a ride to Bishop. And we are successful the first time we try! Asking people if they can give you a ride at a gasstation seems more successful than sticking out your tumb… Greg and Jay who take us along to Bishop turn out to be super trailangels! On their way back home from a wedding, they have lots of snacks – in particular fresh fruit and veggies – and they say it’s too much. We can certainly help there😄 Our conversation is great as well, we have a lot of fun! Thank you so much, Greg and Jay!

In Bishop, we take a shower and have dinner. After eating the first dish, we order a second one, so famished are we! The Sierra was certainly tough so far!

The awesome Hostel California… We feel very at ease here...

Our two days in Bishop are busy. In addition to the usual town tasks, we also pay the outfitter extended visits. The last days have made it clear what of our gear worked and what didn’t, and all of us buy some new things…

With all these tasks accomplished, we find some time to relax and go to the cinema! The new “Aladin” is shown, and I quite enjoy. It’s funny to see them in their beautiful costumes and compare these pictures with our shabby hiker-selves😉

Trailangel Chipmunk brings us back to the trailhead on the evening of our second zero. Thanks so much! The plan is to camp there and start early over the pass back to the pct. Camping on dry ground seems so easy suddenly, all the precautions we have to take in the snow aren’t necessary here!

Going back over Kearsarge isn’t so bad after all. Yes, it’s steep and demanding, but having imagined something truly horrible, I find the reality managable. Unfortunately, there is a lot of postholing again, although we start so early. Because of the heatwave of the last few days the snow didn’t freeze over night and is quite soft. Andy especially breakes through the snow a lot. And this doesn’t go without damage. On the way down, he twists his ankle and it hurts him a lot. We’re not sure what to do now, going back or staying? We decide to stay and decide the next day depending on how it feels like…

While Andy is resting, I fetch water in this lake – there is a part at the end that is not frozen…

In the meantime, we rest and ice the ankle (for once all the snow is useful!) and treat it with a special cream. As a big group of hikers pass us, I ask if somebody has a compression sleve or something similar. They don’t, but a hiker named Pricess (it’s a man😉) gives us bandages! Wow, I’m once again amazed at the kindness of other people! (As it turns out, we can pay back the favour in another way: A girl of the same group looses her sunglasses – a real problem with all the snow and the bright June sun – and Andy finds and returns them.)

Our treatment must have worked, as Andy feels better the next morning and he thinks he can give Glen pass a try. We make his pack as light as possible – I carry all the water, Vincent some of Andy’s food and Chrigi later helps me with the water. And off we go! Glen pass is very steep on both sides, but as the snow is still frozen at this altitude, we don’t have major problems.

The views are breathtaking!

The descent, though first not difficult after we got down from the steep upper part, becomes very tiring, though. It’s long, which means we get down quite far. The snow gets less and less. You might think that this is good, but in reality it becomes just very hard finding the way in the labyrinth of slushy snowheaps, fallen treas and water. Especially water! It’s everywhere, and the rivers and creeks are swollen with the snowmelt. We cross two bigger creeks that day, one easy because slow (we cross in underware and our campshoes and have lunch on the other bank to warm up, it looked quite funny), the other fast and a bit tricky.

At the end of the day, we are truly exhausted! What great things a camp on dry ground and a fire are – they really help me to stay motivated! Before we started our hike I expected to see beautiful nightly skys quite often. This is not the case, though, as we’re often going to bed before it’s completely dark – because we’re mostly super tired and also because we need to rise so early to take advantage of the frozen snow…

Pinchot pass, our next one, isn’t easy as well, although the obstacles are different here. We have a long uphill to face (almost eight miles). Yes, the beginning is snowfree, but there are also three creeks to cross. Although we scout for dry crossing possibilities, we find none, which means we have to get wet at 6 am when it’s still cold and everything is frozen and slippery.

The first creek isn’t too bad. On the second one, though, my feet turn to unfeeling blocks of ice. Despite of the super thick, warm socks and the toewarmers I got in Bishop, they won’t thaw and I get scared that there is some real damage. Eventually, I start to be able to move them again – just when we reach the third creek.

Andy lends me his waterproof socks (I gave mine up as they didn’t work for me), which helps a lot. They don’t keep my feet dry, but they keep them from freezing again! And this is good, as the water in this creek reaches our thighs and we really have to focus in order to not be swept away by the current!

Along the way…

After, we climb and climb and climb, soon again on snow that turns to slush again! Not very reasuring in the last very steep part… But we safely reach the top and have lunch as we’re very hungry!

The way down luckily is neither too steep nor too long. And the big and raging Kings river we have to cross isn’t too bad, either: We find a log and a snowbridge on which we can cross without stepping into the water…

Mather pass is the next one. This one is feared for its steep south approach. We’re early and this is good: The sun hits it directely and starts to soften the snow very soon – not good if you have to cross steep slopes… Like on Pincho pass, I feel slightly sick, which doesn’t help at all. For me, this is the toughest of the passes we cross in this part of our journey. Nevertheless, we finally reach the top safely, too.

The view from Mather pass…

The guys on the way down…

The snow is still frozen when we hike down from the pass – stepping over it produces a funny sound, almost like stepping over shards of glass. We make good progress, but then reach a steep and slippery part where the trail is alternativly snowcovered and rocky. I don’t know why, but suddenly, I get very scared (quite unlogical for somebody who just went over steep Mather pass, but then, fear is never connected with reason). It takes me ages and a few falls to make it to the bottom – a bit bruised, but not hurt, yet quite grumpy.

Taking a break before the steep downhill…

Having lunch in a sunny, dry spot shortly after improves my mood a lot, it feels so good! We are all tired and when we reach a great campsite a little after, we decide to call it a day although it is still early and we’ve only walked an hour since lunch…

We’re close to the river, which is a raging torrent. Just where we camp, though, there is a little sheltered pool. A perfect bathroom! With icy water, but completely worth it! I manage to get in to the neck (for aound 10 seconds), but I can’t put in my head, too. For that, I would have to be way, way more dirty…😉

Resting, reading and just enjoying the beautiful valley we’re in feels so, so good! We have another fire that night and play poker – Vincent wins it all in the end😊

Camp…

My “bathroom” and Andy’s “sitting room”😉

Due to our early camping, we don’t want to force it over Muir pass the next day (it has quite a long ascent and we aren’t even at the start of it, yet), but rather walk close to it’s top and camp there so we can cross the day after on hard snow instead of in the slush. We have an easy day with not many miles, therefore – first in the valley on the actual trail (I’ve almost forgotten how that feels like, the desert seems a lifetime away), later, as we climb again, on snow… It’s hard to climb when you slide around with every step, and I’m very glad when we reach our destination…

In the valley – spring has arrived…

Filtering water – we usually find a hole in the snow somewhere…

Muir pass, I really enjoy. We’re on the top early and the snow is perfect to walk on. Also, I feel good this time: A little change in the breakfast (a bit more time so I don’t have to wolfe it down and warm instead of cold water) seems to have done the trick! And it’s super beautiful here!

Muir hut at the top of the pass…

On the way down…

We make such good progress that we reach the crossing of Evolution creek almost 15 miles away before lunch! That crossing is feared because the river is very big. We find a good spot, though, where the current is not too strong as the creek gets broad and slower (the alternate route, if you’re a pct-hiker and interested in that detail). Nevertheless, the water reaches almost to our hips and for me, the current is in the limit – I need all my stenght in the deepest part.

We realx in the sun and dry out wet pants and gear afterwards – these moments combined with our surroundings make the struggles we have on the trail worth it! It’s simply so beautiful here! And I think we all really enjoy that there are not many people here now – somehow, it feels more wild and free and we connected to it all…

The view descending after lunch...

We camp early again, planning to do the same with Selden pass as we did with Muir pass: Take an extra day to approach it. Like this, we can enjoy our amazing surroundings better and it is of course also very good for our bodies: These days are hard, and we feel it!

There are many animals around our camp! We see squirrels, chipmunks, lots of birds and a deer. Only the bears are missing… Comment from Vincent: “Watch your food, it’s like a zoo here!”😉

The next morning feels like from another world: The trail is completely snowfree, the trees start to get leaves, there are blooming, sweet-smelling bushes everywhere and a stunning scenery to admire! Walking alone for a little after a toilet-break I suddenly come upon a deer as I turn a corner. Startled, we both stop, looking at each other. Unlike a deer at home would do, it doesn’t bolt away after a second, but ratther steps carefully around me with a distance of around 4 meters! Behind a bush, it stops. I peer through the branches, and it does the same… What a magical encounter!

I can’t believe to see this after all the snow😉

It looks far away on the picture, but it’s really close in reality!

There is only one negative thing that may (or not) become a bigger problem in the coming weeks: Mosquitoes! Where the snow is gone, they start to appear. Our merino shirts don’t hold them of at all! There are many itching bites on my body in the evening…

The trail – a mosquito breeding- place…

Finally, we reach the snow (and mosquito-free land) again and pitch our tents in a spot with awesome view! We really hope it will be the last time on snow, as we won’t climb much over 11’000 feet anymore (though I think that this might be a bit too optimistic…). Soon, we are joined by Crow and Yuki whom we have met once before. It’s nice to exchange our experiences with other hikers…

Then, there is the river-crossing day. Not that we haven’t crossed rivers yet. In fact, we’ve crossed many. But so far, we’ve been lucky: Many creeks we could cross over snowbridges (one good thing of the snow!) and with the other ones we usually found a way to keep the feet dry or ar least dryish (with the exception of the ones before Pinchot pass and Evolution creek). But now, we’re facing a serious crossing we were warned about – Bear creek just after Selden pass – and many other rivers marked in the map.

We decide not to cross Bear creek twice, but rather stay on the east and cross two of its – hopefully less strong – tributaries. It works, although we have to walk upstreams a lot to find safe crossing places as these creeks are very powerful, too. And there are many more creeks, some of them with a lot of water and a very strong current! It’s amazing how much water is in this valley! Andy, who doesn’t like log crossings, wades through one we others all cross over a log (the practice we got with our grandma on countless log-walks when we were kids really pays of now for Chrigi and me). The water reaches his hips and he needs all his strenght to make it across!

Snowbridges – very practical!

Andy in one of the trickier crossings…

Chrigi and Andy building a bridge….

Chrigi is comfy on the logs😉

When we are done with the major crossings, we are quite relieved. As we have come quite far, we think we might reach our stop along the way, VVR. We give our best to reach the ferry that will bring us there (it’s a little off trail). We don’t achieve our goal, though, as we come across a very steep slope Yuki later names “hill of doom”.

Chrigi, Andy and I decide to bushwack our way straight down as the trail does a big loop. It’s an “interesting” experience 😉 The cool thing, though, is that we really are in untouched nature, it really feels different from what we normally see from the trail (although that already leads through the wild)! There are colourful mushrooms and Andy and I find a birds nest full of eggs…

After camping another night with Crow and Yuki, we catch the ferry to VVR the next morning. It’s so nice not to walk for once😉

In VVR, we mainly have one goal: Eat, eat, eat! Although we brought a lot of food for the last days, it was nowhere near enough to cover our calory need in this demanding part. On top of that, Andy and I made a calculation mistake with the snacks – mainly bars – we brought, so we didn’t have enough. As a result, my trousers are quite loose now… What is more annoying, though, is that the belt of my pack is at its tightest now, so if I should loose more weight, I’d have to carry all the weight of the pack on my shoulders – something I’m really not enthusiastic about… Vincent has the same problem. I wonder what really thin people do? I guess we just have to eat really a lot once we’re in the next town…

We are playing poker – at stake are energy bars…

When we continue hiking again the next day – quite late – we don’t get very far. We climb, and it’s hot, very hot! Summer seems to have arrived to the mountains… I can clearly feel that I’ve got more energy than before: The day spent eating and the fact that we have enough snacks now seems to have a big effect! I didn’t clearly notice before how drained I was and how much this effected my mood negativly…

It’s hard what we’re doing, but I think it makes us stronger. We recently laughed about a short exchange we had here, thinking about how it would have been at home:

Before the pct:

Andy: “I hurt my toes in football, it’s very bad.”

Me: “Oh, no! Here, take this ointment! Would you like to rest? We can have a relaxed evening at home…”

On the pct:

Andy: “My toes are super cold, they hurt a lot!”

Me: “Oh, good! That means they are still alive! Let’s continue…”

Crossing the creek just below left us completely soaked!

The next pass, Silver pass, is not very hard, nor are the river-crossings we have to do: Mostly, the creeks are still buried under snow and over the others, there are covenient logs or even bridges! Every bridge seems like a gift now – I’ve never appreciated them so much before…

It’s a special day because it’s Andy’s birthday! It’s quite tricky out here to organize something, but we manage to surprise Andy with a birthday-poptart with candle, a birthday-beer (cooled in the snow) and singing happy birthday accompanied by Chrigi’s ukulele… Andy likes it😊

When we finally reach Mammoth Lakes (we leave the pct and hike over Mammoth pass, which is super easy compared to the other passes we had to go over), we see lots of people in shorts and t-shirt out for walkes. Clean shorts and t-shirts! And they carry bags and other – so it seems to us now – ridiculus items such as oversized earphones and shiny jewelry. In short, they are like us in normal life.😉 But coming out of the backcountry where everything has to be functional, light and warm, this suddenly seems weird to us. And it makes us feel even more dirty… I think we look like homeless people, and we certainly smell worse! A shower never seemed to be so welcome😄 And the possibility to sleep in a warm place (I wouldn’t mind sleeping on my mat and in the sleeping bag, but it’s so much nicer if you don’t start shivering every time a part of your body gets out of it…) and eat as much as we want (or can) sounds truly wonderful!

…is still buried under a big snowpack in many places. To hike here at this time of the year, we need to change some gear. Warm merino layers, for example, and waterproof socks, as our shoes will be wet most of the time from the snow and the river-crossings. Also, we again have our mikrospikes to help us walk in the snow without slipping. To make crossing steep slopes safer, we decide to get ice axes. And then, there is of course the mandatory bear barrel! In there, we have to store our food so the bears can’t get them!

Four peoples’s equipment. It looks like a lot of gear – it is and it isn’t, depending on how you look at it. Here everything is drying in the sun during a lunchbreak…

All this new equipment makes our packs heavier (especially the bear canister is a heavy brick, it weighs more than a kilo) and packing them quite challenging – it takes a few tries (combined with some frustration and cursing) until it works!

To have a little extra safety and because we’re not sure how fast we’ll be able to advance on the snow, we plan with eight days of food for a distance we’d usually do in no more than five days. More food we can’t carry: It would be too heavy and it wouldn’t fit into the bear canister (we have big difficulties with that as it is, it’s a bit like tetris…).

Everybody told us not to go alone into the Sierra Nevada but to form groups, as this is safer. We follow this advice: We will go together with Chrigi and Vincent. We get on very well, have similar ideas about how we like to hike and walk at more or less the same speed.

Steve and Vera kindly bring us back to Kennedy Meadows, where we say goodbye and start hiking in the later afternoon. We don’t go far that day: Around 5 pm, it starts to snow heavily. As we are in a nice, sheltered spot next to the South Fork of the Kern river, we decide to call it a day and pitch our tents.

We wake up to blue sky and sunshine. The fresh snow from the day before is glittering as it slowly melts and the landscape we walk through is super beautiful!

The last cactus – suffering a little under the snow!

It doesn’t stay sunny and warm, though, around lunchtime we get some clouds and some snowflakes – a pattern that is going to repeat over the next few days… It’s not so much a problem while walking as that keeps us warm, but a bit annoying as our wet gear (mainly shoes and socks) frequently can’t be dried before it gets dark and cold. And when there are more than just a few snowflakes, the footprints get covered up which makes is difficult to find the path…

Higher and higher we climb that second day, until we reach the snowpack. Luckily, there are some free patches under the trees here and there where we can camp. It’s a great campspot, in fact, shelterd and flat, and there is a lot of dead wood: We have a fire that night, which is awesome!

Before reaching the snowpack…

…where it starts…

…and now we’re definitely on it!

The next two days are partly snowfree and partly covered. This allowes us to move quite fast – or at least faster than expected. On our fourth day, we get a lot of snow after lunch. It’s a challenge to find the path as the footprints of previous hikers are quickly burried under the white flakes. Then suddenly, the sun appears and reveals a place of wonder! We have a lot of fun playing in the snow like little kids!

Hiking through the new snow is very tough and we only cover 3.5 miles after lunch (compared to the nine miles in the morning, that is super slow)! Going further doesn’t seem wise, as we’re quite worn out. So we decide to camp next to Chicken Spring lake – a very beautiful spot. It’s quite high up, though, and everything is covered in snow. So that night, we camp on snow for the first time. It’s very, very cold! Now I’m even more grateful for Steve’s goodbye-present, awesome down-socks – my feet that are usually cold at night (which makes sleeping difficult), are nice and warm!

Our camp – the picture isn’t sharp because I was shivering so much when I took it!

Thank you so much, Steve!

The snowpack is now continuos and there are no more patches of earth. Nevertheless, we cover more miles than expected – partly because we get up earlier than usual and start walking when the snow is still frozen. By late afternoon, we drop in elevation and find a nice place for pitching our tents on dry ground. I’m very glad we won’t have another super cold night!

Our campspot the next morning…

We’re now close to Mount Whitney and have to decide if we should try to summit it. As we’ve advanced faster than expected, we have got enough food for an extra day. After a long discussion, we decide not to try: We’d have to get up around 1am and walk most of the (to us) unknown, snowcovered and partly very steep path in the dark. Otherwise, we’d still be up there when the snow starts to get slushy and dangerous. Neither seems wise…

As a compromise, we agree to do a day hike into the valley leading up to the mountain which is supposed to be very beautiful. And we’re not disappointed! Chrigi, Vincent and I enjoy the great and impressive views all around the valley. Andy, on the other hand, doesn’t feel in the mood for day-hiking, so he stays at camp, relaxes, reads, goes for a walk down the river and makes friends with our neighbour, a marmot…

For once our packs are very light!

Andy’s friend😊

Then, we have a short – only 8.5 miles – but very tiring and frustrating day: The snow we got the last night covered most of the footprints of the hikers ahead. We search for the trail while it continues to snow and it’s quite unconfortable! Then suddenly, just as we are on Bighorn plateau, the sun appers, and it gets super hot in minutes! The weather is really crazy!

Ok, there were beautiful parts, too…

Hiking to the grey sky – just before the sun appears…

The purpous of our short day is to bring us in an ideal position to cross Forester pass the next day. We’re still sheltered (although on snow), but close enough to reach the pass in the early morning when the snow is still hard. Forester pass is the highest point of the pct (over 4000 meters above sea level) and feared for it’s steep ascent and particularly the snow chute almost at the top. We’re a bit nervous because of everything we heard about it and don’t sleep very well that night (the snow and the high altitude probably don’t help, either)…

Dinnertime!

At 3.30 am, we get up and pack our things in the dark. As we start hiking, the sky slowly gets lighter and super beautiful!

It is very, very, very cold! Our toes are numb and we walk fast to warm them. It doesn’t work, but it brings us to the last and steep part of the ascent earlier than expected. Here, we put on our mikrospikes (so far they haven’t been necessary as the snow is hard and we haven’t had to climb very steep slopes) and get our ice axes ready. And then, we start to climb the wall.

You can see Forester pass in the background – it’s the lowest point slightly to the left of where Vincent stands.

It’s steep, but not as sketchy as I thought it would be: In the hard snow, our feet have good hold and we can see where other hikers climbed (although their prints are now covered by the snow that fell the previous day and night), so we don’t have to search a route. It’s demanding, though, especially on the short section where we posthole a bit! Vincent goes ahead and makes the steps, followed by Chrigi, Andy and me.

We cross the infamous snow chute, that is actually not so scary, and then, we reach the top! We stand there on the small space and feel at the top of the world and super proud to have done it!

Andy and I crossing the snowchute…

It’s sunny and quite warm up here, a chance to thaw our frozen toes! Sitting barefoot in the snow, we have a celebration-coffee and chat with Daniel from Portland who came up after us.

Soon, we have to continue, though. We want to get down as long the snow isn’t slushy and the risk for avalanches lower. It turns out that descending is sketchier than climbing up. Because we want to take a safe route, we do an – in hindsight- unnecessary circle which includes a long and very tough ascent. I’m very slow there and feel sick – wether from the exertion or from the altitude, I don’t know (maybe both combined; on the higher elevation on Forester pass, I felt perfectely fine). After descending a little and resting, I luckily feel fine again.

Andy’s trekking pole doesn’t feel good, though – descending in soft snow was too much for it…

Down in the valley, we fight our way through the wet and slushy snow. It really doesn’t help that it starts raining! But on the bright sight, it stops a little just when we have to pitch our tents, so we can do that without getting everything wet… All in all, it was a super demanding but very cool day!

We exit the Sierra Nevada the next day over Kearsarge pass to resupply, plan our next section and most of all, relax! Because the last eight days were equally beautiful and tough…

On Kearsarge, Andy encounters another spanish hiker for the first time!

Old movies sometimes have an “Interlude”, where the movie stops and there is just music and you have time to think about what happened so far. We have our little interlude after reaching Kennedy Meadows. We camp there one night and enjoy the breakfast at the general store. Then, we meet Steve and Vera!

They are spending a week of holiday with their rv at the Lone Pine campground (Lone Pine is a town in the Owens valley east of the pct that we’ll reach again when we hike on and have to leave the mountains to resupply) and have come to get us so we can spend a few days together. As it was last time, it’s just great!!

We pitch our tents in the Lone Pine campground next to the rv and from there, have our adventures. As we are at the base of the highest mountain in the US outside of Alaska, Mount Whitney, we hike up to Whitney Portal from where the climb up to the peak starts. It’s foresty and beautiful, despite of the clouds! And so nice to hike without pack for once, it almost feels like flying up the mountain!😉

At breakfast in the Lone Pine campground…

On the way to Whitney Portal…

In the Alabama hills…

We also visit “Mule day” in Bishop further up north – I’ve never seen so many mules in my life!

A special mule…

Five mules – or burritos😉

There, we also meet High Noon and Duncan who already hiked the first part of the Sierra Nevada. Their impression and their advice is very interesting for us…

In the evenings, we have a fire to sit around and talk while relaxing and making smores (marshmallows melted over the fire with cookies, it’s a little hard to describe – very American😄).

So in short, we have three great days! And now, we are ready to enter the mountains…

American towns tend to be a little difficult for pedestrians. Often, there is no real centre and everything is far apart, and there are few or no sidewalks. Tehachapi is no exception. After finding a motel for the night, I leave Andy and Chrigi to get hypnothised by the cycles of the washingmachine (with the laundromat we luck out, it’s close to the motel) and walk to the postoffice which is more than a mile away.

The good thing when walking is that you feel the atmospere of a place much better than if you just drive through. I really enjoy my walk, I see the offices of the local newspaper for example and little businesses. And the caracteristic thing of this town, the trains – every 20 minutes a huge train (I count 105 waggons on one) slowly drives through and while doing so is honking loudly. Sleeping might be a little difficult here😉

Sunset over Tehachapi – I like that town😊 (pic by Chrigi)

I get our bounce boxes (we send ourselves a package up the trail that we pick up now and then, it contains spare contact lenses for me and other items we don’t need on trail at the moment but might want later) and start my walk back, clearly less enthusiastic than before. The parcels are quite heavy and I’m wearing nothing but my raingear as everything else is in the laundry. It’s clinging to my skin, unless there is a strong gust of wind. Then my homemade rainskirt has the annoying habit of flapping open and revealing a bit more than just my bare legs if I’m unlucky… Just as I have to cross the bridge over the freeway where it’s quite windy, a car pulls over behind me and a woman shouts “Do you want a ride?”

Of course I do! My trailangels introduce themselves as Claudi and Travis. Claudi is originally from Germany and enjoys talking German with me. They drive me to the motel and help us again the next day (we zero in Tehachapi because we have many things to get done) to reach the postoffice before it closes for the weekend. They even wait for us while we pack our boxes there to bring us back! Just wow!

To thank them, we suggest to invite them for drinks. They like the idea and we agree to meet that evening. We play pool (or try at least in my case😉 – Travis plays very well and teaches me how to play) and try the local beer while chatting. There is a jukebox that we take advantage of – so there’s always good sound, too! It’s a super nice evening and we all enjoy it a lot! Thank you so much, Claudi and Travis, for everything!

Leaving town is sometimes a little difficult, especially if the conditions are not favorable. Like now: The upcoming section of the pct is apparentely the driest of the whole trail. That means we’ll need to carry a lot of water – we have bottles for five heavy liters each. Also, it seems to start with a tough climb everybody warns us about. So we set out a little anxiously…

The start is quite underwhelming. If you have seen the movie ‘Wild’, you know it: It’s where Cheryl Strayed started her pct-hike. The trail followes the freeway for about a mile (and therefore wouldn’t exactely win an award for a scenic trail) and then leads uphill. Slowly, it becomes beautiful again. And the feared climb is not so bad – maybe because we subconcientely prepared for something terrible. After only two hours, we’re in a very nice forest!

The pattern desert – forest – desert – forest repeats over the next few days. Every time we reach another part of forest, it seems to be a bit more like an alpine one – a glimpse maybe of what is to come in the Sierra Nevada that we are approaching at last?

Desert…

…and forest…

…and desert again!

Aha, we’re still on trail!

Said Sierra Nevada is a very beautiful, higher and more alpine area. There is a lot of uncertainty connected with it: The last winter saw a lot of snow, which means that there is still a lot covering the pct that climbs very high up into the mountains. Nobody really knows what to expext, and there is a lot of contradictory talk. Our plan is to go and see for ourselves and then make a decision based on our own experience…

Right now, our problem is not too much water, but rather too little. Sources are around 17 miles apart at first and then there is no natural watersource for 35 miles! So even doing 20 miles per day as we manage now it’s going to be very tough, or rather, we’re going to be very thirsty… Thanks to anonymous, awesome trailangels there is water in this stretch, though! As we can’t count on it, we still carry five liters each – a little training for the physically demanding Sierra Nevada…😉

A much appreciated watercache!

We reach a few milestones: 600 miles, 1000 km, 1/4 of the trail and 700 miles! Being Europeans, the 1000 km especially makes us feel really happy – never did I dream that one day I’d walk 1000 km!! It feels quite surreal…

That’s mile 621,4…

One quarter done!!

Out bodies feel strong after so much walking. Going uphill with a heavy pack has become much easier – it still takes energy and we sweat in the hot climat, of course, but we are much faster now and it simply feels good! Healthwise we are doing quite well, too. The only problem seem to be our knees: They don’t bother us while walking (well, not too much at least), but when we stop and need to crouch down, they protest! And you need to crouch down a lot when backpacking! You’d think we’re at least 90 years old if you saw us in these moments😉

After a few days, we reach Walker Pass from where we hitch-hike into Lake Isabella to resupply and get much needed showers and laundry. On the way there, the pct comes up with something we haven’t experienced yet while on this trail: A snowstorm! In the desert! I know, I know… We have witnesses for our story, though😉

It doesn’t look too bad here, but the strong wind blows everything in our faces – it feels like little stones hitting us at times! I’m quite proud I’m still smiling😉

Hikers trying to stop a car by showing their sexy legs😉 We actually managed to make three big campers stop for us!

In Lake Isabella, we wait for Chrigi. He wanted to walk this section alone to find his rythem. The only problem is that there is almost zero signal on this part of the pct, so it’s very hard to stay in contact. We as the ones who are ahead leave messages for him in the trailregisters that now and again are positioned along the trail. For us it’s more tricky to get news from Chrigi. We ask other hikers, and on day three since Tehachapi meet somebody who has hiked with Chrigi. It’s very good to hear he is doing fine…

When he showes up and we are complete again, we start discussing how we should proceed. Vincent received a winterstorm-warning for the weekend and we are not sure if we should hike on or sit it out here in the more protected valley. Also, we talk about our plans for the Sierra Nevada where a lot of fresh snow has fallen these last days and will fall in he next days. Finally, we decide to wait in Lake Isabella: We’re on a nice and not too expensive campground and I’ve got a cold, so it makes more sense to relax a little here. This gives us the chance to repair some broken gear and relax, play poker and horseshoe-throwing, watch movies and read… We quickly get “itchy feet”, though, we just want to go on!

Chrigi and Vincent throwing horseshoes

After three zeros we finally start hiking again. The land still resembles the desert, but a cold wind is blowing that reminds more of icy peaks… We still see cacti and sand, but more and more pines and big rocks.

On our last day in the desert, we get a mix of everything (as goodbye-present perhaps?😉): Snow, sunshine, wind and rain! What a crazy trail! I see my first scorpion (thank you, Vincent, for showing me!) and Chrigi and Vincent find Obsidian!

Chrigi in the snow!

Ok, it’s tiny…😉

Other animals on the pct: A beautiful lizard…

…and an owl😉

Descending from the last peak in the desert, we find ourselves in big valley that definitely doesn’t look like desert anymore! It’s wild, there is a big river (the South Fork of the Kern river) and it somehow looks very ancient with the granit peaks and rock-formations surrounding it. We almost expect to see bears and wolves! It’s super beautiful!

And then, we finally reach it: Kennedy Meadows, the official end of the desert!! Now, a new chapter of our adventure will start… Slowly 😉

In Agua Dulce, we stay in a place called Hiker Heaven. It truly lives up to its name! Like at Scout and Frodo’s, a couple opened their house and garden for us hikers, providing us with everything we need on a stop in town. It’s amazing and so helpful for us! A big thank you to everybody who helps us there!

So after eating, showering, preparing laundry and resupplying (in that order; if you have been dirty for the past six days, staying filthy for two more hours really doesn’t matter if you can get a lot of food during that time😉), we hang out with other hikers around a gas-fire, sharing stories and relaxing… It’s great!

Chrigi gets a hearcut by a Spanish barber in Hiker Heaven…

A ride to town – crazy hikers in a truck…

The next day, we continue our northbound journey – or in Chrigi’s case, start it for real. It’s hot (hello again, desert), and we climb, but soon we reach beautiful green hills.

A professional siesta-sleeper😉

Chrigi is lucky, already on his second day we see two big snakes – a rattlesnake and another one.

The other snake – it was very slow…

Our path leads us to Casa the luna, another trailangel place that welcomes hikers. While Hiker Heaven is all organized, this place is more chaotic, but great in its own way!

We camp in the magic forest behind the house and hang out with all the other hikers there, having a lot of fun. Also, we get the pct-bandana – after we dance to earn it! It’s so nice to rest a little without having all the usual town-tasks to do… And in the evening, Vincent showes up, juhui!

The magic forest…

What happens in Casa de luna stays in Casa de luna…😉

On and on we go, getting surprised once more by the always changing trail. It’s very green for the next few days, we almost can’t believe we’re in the desert! Also, we see many squirrels and chipmunks – they run around and seem to play hide and seek, it’s very cute! Our hopes to see a bear are not fulfilled, though. I guess we just have to wait until the Sierra Nevada for that…

There are drier parts, too...

What a milestone!

We start leapfrogging a lot with Bruce (aka Springsteen) and Pankace on this section – they are both from the states (though different parts) and it’s super nice to share stories with them! Bruce comes up with a trailname for Chrigi: (Peter) Pan! It fits, and Chrigi likes it😊

And then, we reach the desert – the real desert! After walking around it for weeks, we finally have to cross the Mojave desert. It’s flat, and hot, and there is a lot of wind. Also, there are flowers and butterflies!

Like us, they travel from Mexico to Canada – but mach faster! Up to 500 miles a day they can fly… Unless there are such beautiful flowers like these, then a little rest seems better😉

In the middle of it all, there is Hikertown. That’s a sort of hostel in the form of a village in the Wild West. Some people think it’s amazing, some others think it’s creepy. With such contradictory reports, we were naturally very curious to see it for ourselves! And when we’re finally there, we join the first group: This is an awesome place (at least in daylight, Bruce, who stays there for the night, says that at night it’s creepy…)

We are able to borrow the old van from Hikertown and together with Vincent, Bruce and Pancake we drive to a coffee/store to satisfy our current and future appetite. Driving through this vast, flat land, we feel like in a movie…

Finally, we move on – in the late afternoon to avoid the heath. The pct followes the aqueduct that brings water from the Sierra Nevada to LA. It’s very impressive!

At first it’s open and later covered – the big aqueduct!

We feel good and decide to nighthike – together with Kevin and Mama (he’s actually a man😉) who we accidentally meet on trail (Bruce, Pancake and Vincent decided to spend the night in Hikertown). We see the light slowly fading and changing the flat desertlandscape… It’s great! The only downside is that there is a lot of wind. A lot of wind! When we decide to rest, we’re barely able to put up the tent!

The desert at sunset – there are many Joshuatrees here…

So much sand was blown into our tent last night!

The next day we realise how good it was to split the flat aqueduct section in half by camping in the middle: We literally see it in different lights and it’s more interesting that way. Also, we partly avoid the heath.

The desert in the morning – flat and hot…

And it is hot the next day! We’re glad when we start to climb up into the hills, as there is a breeze there… And a big windfarm. At first, the big blades of the windmills barely turn. Then suddenly, they all start redirecting their turbines, although we don’t feel a lot of wind – it’s a bit creepy… Then 20 minutes later, a strong wind starts blowing!

Once again, walking becomes difficult, but we don’t mind, as at least it’s not super hot that way. And hiking close to the huge windmills is very impressive! They sound like plains… Swush, swush, their big blades go…

Reaching the last watersource for the next 16 miles, we fill up (water is sooo heavy😉) and head on to the next campspot as the one next to the water is quite crouded. At first, we’re a little disappointed by our choice: Unlike the previous one by the water, it doesn’t look like much. But when the sun sets, the fading light somehow turns the colours into amazing shades, the crickets are chirping and the moon is visible – our plain campspot becomes a magical place! I feel so happy to be here!

Desert hills – would you expext water here?

Although we had filled all of our bottles, it turns out that this wasn’t enough: The next watersource that is located 16 miles away from the other one is dry (a few days ago it was still running and we counted on it)!

We don’t know what to do now. In the vage hope that somebody might have left water by the highway close by, I leave my pack in the shadow by the river and walk up to check. There is no watercache, but a man sitting on the back of his pick-up. I greet him and we start chatting a little. When I mention our water-problem he introduces himself as “Magic Man” – he’s a trailangel who offers cold drinks and snacks to PCT-hikers, and in our case, water! How lucky we are! I run back to fetch the others and Andy runs up the trail to fetch other hikers we saw camping there. So we not only get enough water to reach Tehachapi the next day, but also good company and cold drinks😄

As it’s already getting late and the next miles are said to be exposed and windy (there is another windfarm, an ominous sign), we decide to camp under the trees next to the dry river. A better decision than we realised just then! In the middle of the night, I wake up, quite disorientated. What is that weird sound? And where are the flashlights coming from? Then I get it: It’s a thunderstorm, and it’s raining heavily! In the desert! I certainly didn’t expect that😉

Packing up a wet tent with cold fingers in the rain is not very fun, but we know we’ll reach town around lunch, which makes it a little less bad. We hike on through the windmills (luckily, there is not much wind now!) in the mist, which is quite eerie as it looks a little like a graveyard… Yet another perspective the pct offers!

We’re very happy when we finally reach town where we can warm up with a hot soup and an equally hot shower (well, almost😉)! And we’re even happier when we meet Vincent, Bruce and Half & Half and Penguin (an Argentinian couple whom we haven’t seen since BigBear)! The pct not only offers wonderful nature, but also meeting great people!

Wrightwood is a very hikerfrindly town. We haven’t been there more than two minutes when local trailangels offer us a place to stay (we have already organized accomodation, so we have to decline), tell us about where to eat, where to buy food, get stickers and pins etc. Resupplying and getting a few items from our parcels and reposting them takes some time, and then we satisfy our hungry hiker-stomaches…

T

Look, I opened a bakery😉

The next day, we have a slow start: First comes breakfast, a big one, of course! Then we slowly get ready to hike on. The trail is gentle for a few miles, it feels like a sunday-walk in the woods (apart from the fact that our packs are heavy again). We meet a few other hiker, Outlayer, Second Chance and Panda, and chat a little. The trail is amazing in that way, you meet so many different people with different stories and backgrounds!

Then we reach the base of Mt. Baden Powell. The path starts to ascend steeply. After about a mile, we hit the first snow. There are only patches at first, but soon they become bigger and bigger, until the trail is completely covered in snow. We put on our mikrospikes as the snow is quite slippery. Finally, the footprints stop following the trail and instead climb up in a straight line. It’s physically very demanding! The people going ahead must have been a lot bigger than us, because the steps are far apart. This doesn’t help, nor does the fact that the snow is very slushy and often we slip and stumble. It feels like fighting for every meter, and I have to remind myself repeatedly that I can do it…

It doesn’t look that steep on the picture, but I tell you, it is!

At last, we reach the top. And the feeling of accomplishment combined with the awesome view are a great reward for our struggles! We decide to camp there, as it’s getting late. So we also get to enjoy an amazing sunset!

Proud at the top!

The next day, Andy and I follow the ridges westwards (to avoid he mojave desert, the pct followes the mountains to the west) through the snow, while Vincent returns to Wrightwood as he lost his knife there, that is very important for him. Our progress is slow, we only do about a mile per hour…

Watching snowfree lower mountains…

Reaching the end of the snow, we think that we can advance faster now. But we’re wrong. After a few faster miles, we reach a parking lot. There, we run into Second Chance again. He is amazing, reaching Canada is only his secondary goal, the real reason for him to hike the pct is to loose 200 pounds of bodyweight! (You can follow him on youtube, he has become quite famous.)

We stop to chat, and while we are there, several trailangels come and give us drinks, fruit, fresh muffins… We stay a little longer… And chat a little more with everybody…😉

Finally, Andy and I say goodbye. We hike on over a mountain only to reach the same highway again. Guess who we meet there? Second Chance and the same trailangels we talked to before! Also, there are Euro and Philip whom we met on our way to Wrightwood. They all did the roadwalk instead of the climb we took. We have lots of fun together! Joking and laughing we spend so much time there that later, we only hike half a mile on to a campspot. With all the food we got, we don’t even need dinner. What an unexpected, funny ending to our day😊

The next morning, the pct has another surprise for us! We wake up in a cloud. Everything is wet and dripping. The atmosphere is so different to everything we’ve seen so far on this hike! Almost all day long, we walk in the fog, and unlike I would at home where this is more common, I really enjoy it here! It’s fascinating to see the same world we saw yesterday in bright sunlight in mist…

Surprises on the pct😉

Yuhui!

The clouds are still there the next day, but now we try to reach sunlight again to dry all our wet stuff. We manage to do that, and also, it turns out to be another pizzaday: We hear that there is another possibiliy to order pizza. We joke about this with Outlayer, whom we meet again this morning. Later, we decide to skip the chance, though, as we think it might slow us down too much (we try to reach Agua Dulce quickly, I’ll explain later why). But when we reach the lunchspot, Outlayer, Euro and Philip are already waiting for us, with pizza! Thanks so much again, Outlayer, for thinking of us and ordering one for us!

We have lots of fun again, falling into pizza-coma and getting entertained by ants trying to get morsels of pizza… It’s the little things😉

Despite of the fact that we’re so full of pizza (it really almost finished me) and of a climb at the end of a day, we manage to do 22 miles that day! This is a new record, we’re quite proud! And it motivates us to speed up more to get to Agua Dulce, where we’ll meet my brother, Christian. We’re looking very much forward to meeting him!

The trail to Agua Dulce has unexpected surprises for us: Back in the desert with it’s blooming flowers, we see hundreds of butterflies, it’s amazing! They’re so fast, though, that I couldn’t take a picture, so just imagine lots of beautiful butterflies fluttering around our heads…

Just before reaching town, the pct passes through Vasquez Rocks. They appear in many movies (in fact, we see a movie-set there) and are truly spectacular! The San Andreas fault shaped them, I’ve never seen anything alike before.

Inspired by a movie…😉

After walking this great last miles, we finally arrive in Agua Dulce, and we meet Chrigi😄😄 We’re super happy! Now we’ll continue all together, and we hope Vincent will also catch up again!

There are hot springs on the pct. But beaches? No, not really! At least that’s what we thought. And it turned out to be wrong… But let’s start at the beginning:

Well rested, we start the next leg of our hike. We’re super happy to finally meet Vincent again!

We chat and laugh – and get distracted: Suddenly we realise that we’re not on the pct anymore! The view on our little sidetrip is great, though, so it was worth the extra mile…

Looking over the lake during our detour…

As this night is full moon, we want to try nighthiking. We don’t see the moon, though, as it’s also a little cloudy. So it’s quite dark and a little creepy – mainly because we both have an overactive fantasy😉 Eventually, we find a good spot to camp. Right next to us, a family is camping with their dog. Their little son is very cute! The moon finally showes up and it’s beautiful! In fact, there is so much light we find it hard to sleep…

The next day, we start to follow a river – first, it’s just a little mountain creek, but it gets bigger and bigger as we walk on. It makes for very idyllic lunch spots…

That night, we see our first pct-beach and decide to camp there. It’s under a bridge, but it looks perfect!😄

On the bridge over the beach…

Following the river – it has grown quite big and formed a canyon by now – we reach hot springs! This chance we can’t miss! We soak in the hot water and I also try the cold river (to clean, as the hot springs give me the impression that it’s not the cleanest water ever…) – it feels great. There are many locals there, too. We have the feeling there will be a big party tonight but as we’ve got there in the early afternoon, we decide to move on a little…

Finally leaving Deep Creek – we’re back in the desert…

Fording the river…

Every day, this hike is different. One day we hike in pine forest, another in a canyon or in the desert and today, it’s rolling hills and a lake! An awesome lake! We do 12 miles to get to a specific spot around lunchtime as we heard that it’s possible to order pizza there. And we are not disappointed! So we order and then demolish huge american sized pizzas each – and then fall into food coma…

Silverwood lake

Three hikers and their pizza…

Have you ever tried hiking in the hot Californian afternoon sun with your belly full of pizza? It’s tough going, I can tell you! We’re not as fast as in the morning now… Nevertheless, we manage to do 7 more miles! I think we finally got our hiking-legs😊

While waiting for the pizza, we got wonderful news: Steve wrote us he would like to meet us at the McDonald’s 7 miles away from our camp that night (yes, there’s a McDonald’s on the pct, and it’s famous amongst the hikers!). So the next morning, we hike on really fast to get there as soon as possible. Stopping at a viewpoint, we couldn’t have been surprised more when we suddenly hear somebody call “Cinnamon, Burrito!” behind us. It’s Steve! He hiked up to meet us!

We’re super happy, and we don’t even know the best yet! While we hike on, Steve says: “I’d like you to think about something. Vera and I would like to invite you to our house for a couple of days. So think about it and tell me later if you’d like that.” We look at each other and answer that no considering is needed – of course we’d love to come. We meet up with Vincent (he camped at another campspot last night) and he also joins. Now you know why the three of us skipped the McDonald’s!😉

My foto-proof that there really is a McDonald’s😉

We spend two absolutely wonderful days with Vera and Steve! They give us the incredible gift of a mini-vacation and also a lot of help. We relax in their lovely house, sitting on the terasse watching the hummingbirds feeding on the flowers in the garden and drinking and bathing in the fountain. We have many deep conversations and also laugh a lot. Steve makes pancakes for us and we taste Vera’s awesome muffins. We drive to different beaches along the coast where we walk, enjoy and also take a (very short) swim – it’s great and we enjoy it so much! Vera and Steve also drive us to shops so we can get a few very needed items…

I can describe what we did, but I find it difficult to express the very special connection we feel with Vera and Steve. Let me just say that we felt so much these days we spent together and we’re very grateful and happy for this time! Thank you so so much again, Steve and Vera, for everything!! We’ll never forget your incredible kindness and we really hope to see you again!

Watching the hummingbirds…

Five happy people at breakfast…

Different beaches we visit…

I make little bracelets on the trail for hikers I feel connected to – this evening, I finish Steve’s…

We’re sad to leave the next day, but we have to say goodbye eventually. Steve brings us back to the trailhead at the McDonald’s and after saying goodbye we hike on. It’s all uphill and the temperatures are not exactely low either. On top of this, we have to carry a lot of water: There is not much of it for a long time. Our packs are super heavy! The night before, I made the big mistake to weight my pack. The knowledge somehow makes it feel even heavier now…

We had to wait for an endless train to pass before crossing…

Crossing another train track…

All of this combined with my melancoly feelings after saying goodbye to Vera and Steve make me a little grumpy. I get a hug then from my caballero and feel better. And our campspot that night also makes up for the tough climb: We have – once again – an excellent view! We can see the lights of different cities as well as the highways in the distance…

The next day brings us into pineforest again – it’s very agreable to walk in and it smells so good! We finally decend to hitch hike into Wrightwood where we’ll spend the night and resupply.

High up in the mountains again...

What an adventure this journey is!

In Idyllwild, we take a zero-day, a day on which we hike zero miles. That sounds like very relaxing, but in fact it’s not: We have many tasks to complete and the day passes by quickly.

First of all, after yesterday’s hard day, we’re very hungry and so want to get a huge breakfast (again, I know, but I have the feeling this is going to repeat😉).

Andy and I find a hotelroom for the next night, while Vincent stays at the campground. A shower later, we wash our clothes to feel completely clean again and we pay the local outfitter’s a visit. Andy get’s liner-socks for me because we think they might help with my blisters (in fact, it turns out that they do, they’re amazing!). Also, we get a few other little things and do our resupply. We plan to hike to Big Bear which is six days away at our current speed (we calculate with 15 miles per day). Food for six days is super heavy!

And that’s not all of it – we have some cheese and sausages in the fridge...

“El coete verde” and “la pera limonera” – our backpacks, where everything has to fit in…

We contact family and friends and then get to the social part of our busy day: It’s Taco night at a local restaurant, which we can’t miss! Over 20 hikers gather there and we have a lot of fun!

The next day, we start late: Organizing our packs, pack the food etc. takes longer than we thought. It doesn’t matter, though, as we plan to only hike up the devil’s slide trail we came down two days ago and maybe a little further on the pct – if there isn’t too much snow. And in fact there isn’t: We climb the southern and therefore sunny side of Mt. San Jacinto, the highest peak around here. At saddle junction, we meet Jay and continue with him.

The three mountainers – Andy, Vincent and Jay

How old was this tree? We count over 150 rings!

Our campsite that night is great – very beautiful in a pineforest. I can’t fall asleep though, I worry about the path ahead. Everybody speaks full of fear about the miles in the snow and especially a place called Fuller ridge. Eventually I have to get up (although this takes some courage: it’s very cold outside). I’m blown away by the beauty of this place at night! The moon shines brightly and everything is cast in a silvery light…

As it turns out, my worries were needless. We hit snow the next morning, but it’s still frozen and easy to walk over. We also have microspikes now: We picked them up in Idyllwild. They bite into the frozen snow and give great grip (our trailrunners are actually also quite good, but the spikes are on another level). Because of the stories we heard about the path ahead, we decide to skip San Jacinto peak (it’s off the pct, but we’re close) and go on to reach the sketchy parts while the snow is still frozen. Vincent wants to climb the peak and so we part ways for a little.

Andy and the icycles!

Fuller ridge turns out to be much less scary and dangerous than we thought. Yes, it’s covered in snow, but that is still frozen and there are footprints that show the way, so it’s neither very difficult nor dangerous to cross with mikrospikes. (We feel comfortable on snow, we have experience with it as there’s often a lot at home. It might be a very different experience for a hiker who has not walked much over snow and/or who goes there when the snow is slushy from the afternoon sun…)

The whole thing makes me realise something I have of course theoretically known before but I’m unfortunately not very good at doing: It’s not worth it to worry too much about things that might be, as they might as well not come to pass. The difficult places and situations we experienced were mostly not expected. We just had to deal with them as they happened… Also, it’s better to go look for yourself instead of taking other people’s opinions for facts: everybody experiences differentely…

Now that the snow it crossed, we decend to the desertfloor again. It’s a long descent (15 miles!) and our knees and feet are glad that we camp halfway down and give them a rest. Once down we cross the plain to reach the mountains on the other side where we will – of course – climb again.

Beautiful sunset at our campspot on the descent from the mountains

Last look up to Mt. San Jacinto

We get to a dry riverbed where everything is sandy, it’s like walking on a beach. On top of this, a strong wind is blowing, against us. We fight our way through this to a bridge of the interstate in the valley where we hope to find a little shelter. It’s tough going! All the while we are trudging on, a looooooooong train drives parallel to us. It seems to never end! We’re told later that goods are brought by train from the port of LA all over the country. The one we saw was empty going to LA to receive containers again. It needed three engines!

Ok, I admit that I exagerate a little here…😉 But the wind was really strong!

When we finally reach the bridge, we discover trailmagic! It’s awesome, there is water and there are drinks, doughnuts and best of all, oranges! We sit there feeling a little like homeless people devouring oranges😉 If I had known that I’d end up under a highway-bridge in California…

There are many windmills here – no wonder!

Blooming cacti – we’re in the desert after all!

My dad told me nobody would believe that we’re in the desert if I only posted pictures of flowers – so here is a proper desert picture!

We try to do 22 miles that day. Our attempt fails, though, as Andy, who gets hayfever from one of the plants in the valley and has to sneeze a lot, gets very bad nosebleeding. We eventually stop to rest and find a campsite on a little hill where we spend a very windy night. All night long I dream the tent is being blown away…

The next day brings us to the Mission Creek labyrinth (Andy calls it the labyrinth of desperation). Once, it must have been a very idyllic valley with a little river. But the huge amount of water California received this winter turned the river into a raging beast that destroyed much on it’s way. The pct is washed away in many places and we have to find our way amidst the stones and fallen trees. The app we are using to navigate (it showes the pct and additional information like watersources, campspots etc. and our position via gps) is practically useless here.

Countless times, we have to cross the creek. The first time, we remove our shoes, but this becomes soon too complicated and timeconsuming: We walk straight through the water. Wet shoes are not very nice, but the cold water has also a good effect: It finally cures me from my last annoying blister!

After the labyrinth of desperation we climb. We climb a lot – we gain more than 1500 meters in elevation. Still, we manage do over 16 miles in a day, a lot for us considering the uphill hiking. We camp at the very top in a beautiful spot that feels like a reward for our efforts. It felt good and I’m proud – for the first time since we started, I have the feeling that we actually have a chance to reach Canada!

Beautiful pines above our high and cold campground

The next day, we want to reach town. We’ve been out for six days in the wild and we long for a shower (a bed and some fresh food would also be nice😉). This was our longest stretch between civilisation so far and we finish it with a 18 miles-day: We’re motivated not only by the thoughts of town but also by the fact we’ll have walked 10% of the pct!

Tired but happy we reach Big Bear lake (thanks a lot John and Joan for the ride) and find a very cool hostel. We spontaneously decide to take a zero again (partly because we really want to rest, partly because we hope Vincent might catch up). This turns out to be a good decision, as this time our zero is very relaxing! We enjoy good company, showers and food (in other words, all a thru-hiker wants😊), have interesting conversations, play ping-pong and just hang out. It’s great!

With a bear in Big Bear

In Warner Springs Community Center there is space for tents, there are bucket showers, bucket laundry, a charging station for electronics and resupply options – in short everything a thru-hiker wants. We take advantage of all these services and I discover that only washing your cloth by hand will get a thru-hiker’s fingernails completely clean (normal washing with soap doesn’t get rid of all of the dirt, no matter how many times you try). While our clothes dry in the sun and our phones and the external battery charge, we get a super breakfast in the same restaurant we visited the night before. It’s huge, and we make it vanish fast – hikers get very hungry😉

Warner Springs Community Center is a little paradise for hikers…

After doing all our tasks, we are ready to hike on. It’s a late start, as it’s already past noon, but we don’t mind – we don’t have a specific spot in mind for camping, we want to improvise. The trail is beautiful again, it continues first over grassy meadows and then follows a little, lovely creek up into the mountains.

A huge tree on the path… We are tiny compared to it!

I make two mistakes that day: Wearing my shorts while my long hiking pants dry, I’m not only too lazy to change when we start walking, I’m also too lazy to put sunscreen, thinking that we won’t hike for too long and that we will have shade. The result is an impressive sunburn on my calves – I pay for that mistake with pain during the next days and discover the real worth of sunscreen.

My second mistake happens unnoticed and involuntarily. Because my blisters give me pain, I set my feet differentely while walking without noticing. The tendons in my ankles don’t like that, my feet really hurt the next morning.

I’m a little grumpy when we start hiking that day. Andy, amazing gentleman that he is, offers to carry two of my waterbottles and my food so my pack doesn’t weight so much! Because of that and because I step really carefully the pain diminishes as the day goes on and my mood improves – thank you so much, Andy!

Mike’s place – a little weird, but we get awesome trailmagic there! Mmmmh, homemade lemon soda made with real lemons😄

A real moral-booster is that we get trailnames that afternoon! It’s a tradition on the trail that hikers get nicknames that are in some way or other meaningful – they are often connected with a funny story, a habit etc. I end up being “Cinnamon” (if you know me a little better and/or have been reading my posts so far, you’ll know why😉), Andy is “Burrito” (because he likes them, but more importantely, because it’s a spanish word and actually means “little donkey”, which fits, too😄).

We walk and camp with Steve, an amazing hiker from California. He is really tough and has a great humour, so walking and chatting with him is great!

That night, we sleep without the fly of our tent to see the stars – it’s super beautiful! We’ll certainly do this more often now we’ve discoverd it…

The following day is the hottest so far – already early in the morning, we are sweating and wishing for a little wind. It must be 30° C at least. I’m very glad for my umbrella, wich allowes me to walk in the shade at least. Also, as you have seen in our fotos, we’re wearing long trousers and sleeves to protect us from the sun. We look a little funny, but that’s hiker-fashion😉 Despite of all these precautions, I repeatedly get to a point where I think I’m overheating. We do little breaks then. Even Andy, who handles the heat much better than I looks worn out. We are very happy therefore for a few highlights that happen today:

We see our first rattlesnake! Vincent, who goes first, startles it, and it rattles, loudly. We’re amazed at this discovery but also a bit nervous, as it’s quite big (around 1,5 meters long) and we don’t know what the safe distance is (later we’re told that they can strike in a radius of half their body’s lenght if they’re coiled up). Andy and I still have to pass it – we wait a little, take a picture and then quickly go past. Uffff, nothing happens!

It’s hard to see – we didn’t dare to approache more…

Apart from the snake, we’ve seen a rabbit, thousands of lizards (they sunbath and seem to do push-ups, then, when somebody approaches, they dart away with incredible speed) and countless mosquitoes (luckily the not stinging ones) so far. And today is the day of the butterflies: dozens of them start flying when we pass nearby bushes. It’s very beautiful!

It took me ages to take a picture of a lizard, they are so fast!

Around two pm, when it’s really hot, we reach an oasis: there is a table and seats in the shade, there is water and a kind of bucket-shower. A shower! It feels amazing to be clean(ish) again and we’re very glad we discovered this particular spot.

Another oasis: water placed in the desert by trailangels

Despite of the heat, we manage to do 15 miles. I’m very proud of us😄 Maybe we could do it because we had a good motivation: The mission of the next day is to get to Paradiese Valley Cafe for breakfast, so we had to get close the day before. Many hikers we’ve met previously are there, too. It’s nice to chat with them and catch up on their stories. Also, we meet Steve’s wife, Vera. They’re a lovely couple. They’ll go to Idyllwild by car to stay there a day or two, while we plan to walk a little more before going to that town. We’ll miss you, Steve!

We start walking around noon, but not befor ordering burritos to take away with us – we have to take advantage of townfood and Andy has to live up to his trailname, after all. Our hike starts beautifully, we climb up into the mountains.

After a while, the wind starts blowing stronger and stronger. I get more and more tiered and the tendons in my ankles start to hurt badly. I question my motivation to be here, but the answer is immediate: Yes, I want to be nowhere esle but here, even if I’m going trough a tough moment. It’s an adventure after all, and there can’t only be nice times… But I’ve discovered with certainty now that I don’t like hiking in strong winds!

Because of the whole situation, we’re forced to camp in a not ideal spot. There are many dead trees around, which doesn’t give us a lot of confidence with the wind that is blowing…

Very happy we survived the night, we decide to push to Idyllwild the next day. It’s 17 miles away, mainly uphill. The pct suddenly doesn’t have gentle grades anymore, it resembles more a path in the Swiss Alpes. We’re in good spirits, though, and my feet feel better; we think we can do it. Around midday, we hit the first snow! The path crosses a very steep slope in the shadow of the mountain. A fall would – let’s say – not be good. There are footprints in the snow, though. We focus and cross without problem, discoverying that Californian snow doesn’t scare us too much (at least so far).

Before we reach the snow – there has been a big fire lately and everything looks a little sad…

We climbed over all of these ridges!

Higher and higher we climb, up to almost 9000 feet (3000 m). The last three miles to the road to Idyllwild are covered in snow. We’re already tiered, but the thoughts of showers, a warm bed and a hot dinner keep us going. When we reach the junction from which we planed to hitch into town, we discover the bad news: There is no street, only a three miles long path down to a parking area from where a road leads the town. It seems we misinterpreted the information we had about the access to the town…

But as we’ve already come that far, we decide to push on. Exhausted, we reach the carparking, which is empty at this time of the day. It doesn’t feel like we could walk the remaing five miles into Idyllwild and it is getting dark. But then, we’re lucky! We meet Pouch, a local who lives in an old bus. He agrees to bring us to town. Super relieved, we climb in and sit down on his sofa – it feels like the comfiest couch ever😊 Pouch drives us very slowly to town, not without stopping to smoke a little on the way… It’s a very funny ride!

Because of a little misunderstanding, he drives us to Idyllwild park – a very desolat camping. We don’t feel good there so decide to walk a mile more to the other camping that welcomes pct-hikers. The day was so long and eventful that at this point we can only laugh and take it easy. The last discovery of the day: The last mile is always the worst, especially when it turns out to be four miles😄

After day four, on which we walked the whole time over mountainridges in very strong wind, I’m relieved when we finally arrive at our campspot. We walked 17 miles to reach it and are very tiered, but it felt necessary to get there and not to stop earlier: it’s the first relatively sheltered campsite and all we want is to get out of the wind. A breeze is very agreeable in the hot desert, but strong wind all day long (and the night before, so we couldn’t sleep much) drew away all our energy.

In the middle of the night, I wake up on the ground: My sleeping-pad has a hole. As I can’t do anything right now, I simply inflate it again and go back to sleep, but I’m not very happy with the situation…

We wake up in the rain. Packing up while everything is wet or gets wet is not fun but we manage to do it as a team and keep the inner tent relatively dry. As we leave, we see a rainbow – the trail, though hard sometimes, can be very rewarding as well (and overall, the good moments outweigh the bad ones by far…)!

In the afternoon, we get down to the desert floor again. It’s full of yellow flowers and it looks amazing! Reaching Scissor’s crossing, we easily get a car to stop for us: two friendly ladies drive us into the town of Julian.

Trying to find accomodation, we go into the townhall to ask for a list of places who host hikers. The lady at the counter looks at us a moment and then says: “You can come to my place.” (She later tells us she only brings home hikers she has a good feeling about.) We can’t believe our luck! Then she adds “We’ve got many dogs, so if you don’t like that, my place is not for you.” Andy makes a joke, but I get a little nervous: while I’m not downright afraid of dogs, I have a healthy respect… I say nothing, though, hoping it will be alright.

While waiting for our host to finish working, we pay the famous “Mom’s pie” a visit. PCT-hikers get a free pie here, and it tastes like heaven: I get a strawberry-rhubarb one with cinnamon-icecream! Life is sweet😄 We chat with Vincent and Eric (a hiker from America whom we met just a few hours before) and tell them about our plans – they ask and get invited, too! We do a quick resupply and then dance a tango in the townhall, in sneakers and hiking-cloth… It must have looked quite funny.😊

What happens then is absolutely incredible! We spend a great evening and night with Mark and Robin who host us in their super cool house that they built themselves and where they live with their four dogs (who are very cute and seem to like us, so I shouldn’t have worried). We can shower (aaah, soooo good to be clean again, I think I’ve never been so dirty before) and do laundry (in a singing washing machine). Then we hang out, chat and joke about all kinds of things, play pool and eat extra crunchy pizza (we have so much fun we forget it in the oven – it still tasts great, though). Mark and Robin, you are absolutely incredible, thank you so so much for the unforgettable time we spent together!

The next day we continue our hike and it feels very good, being fresh and clean as we are😉. The mountains we hike in are full of flowers – I’m very impressed with the beauty of our surroundings!The next day brings us to a big milestone: We pass the 100 miles sign! We’re super proud of having made it that far already and happy it continues to feel great to do it!😄It’s also the day we do the most miles on one day so far – 18.3 miles, that’s almost 30 km. We’re tiered after, but glad to know we can do it!

Another good thing happens that day: Around noon, we come across a big watertank and finally find the hole in my matress. It is super tiny, and we couldn’t find it with other methods…

Down from the mountains we continue over fields to the famous eagle rock and from there on to a little valley that looks like at home – until I spot a cactus also growing there…

Tiered but happy, we reach our destination, Warner Springs. There, we have an awesome dinner in a restaurant and celebrate the 100 miles together with Vincent and Hiker from Germany with a bottle of wine…