difficult than that of the Sierras, and I was emotionally wrecked. I wept peri- odically and got nauseous because my six-month dream was almost over. The feeling of accomplishment was there for me sure, but not being able to see my equally dirty friend every morning, or lean my pack up against a tree and take a nap were things I would miss. Things I still miss while sitting at my desk in my cozy chair with a roof over my head. I set off from Campo, California on
April 13th at around 2 pm. I finished the trail on October 10 at 1:20pm. Five months and 27 days or 180 days total: 2,650.10 trail miles, 2,781.16 total miles hiked, 253 trout caught, 46 passes hiked over. I hitch-hiked 39 times, lost 34 pounds, got 27 days of rain, took 22 showers, used 15 fuel canisters, stayed in 11 hotels and eight campgrounds. I took seven buses, got snowed on six times, went through five pairs of shoes, saw three bears, climbed three mountains, stayed in three houses, spent two days in below freezing weather, and had one life changing adventure.
Sean can be reached on instagram @Jansenjournals.
“My favorite sunrise from the entire trail. Someone told me that this is the mountain they use in Paramount Pictures. But regardless, this was typically the view I had for 20 days in the Sierra's.”
howto handle. Many have been said to lose up to a tenth of their body weight in this section because of the sheer effort it takes to go over some of the passes. You wake at 7,000 feet to know that after
20 miles you have another 6,600 more feet up and the equivalent down. You huff, puff and curse under your breath about how these climbs always seem to work, only to reach the top and hike slowly down the backside cheer- ing the legendary John Muir because of the in- sane beauty to be witnessed. The Orange glow of a granite wall at sun-
rise or sunset, and my memory card reminding me that I couldn’t take any more photos when the card is full, simply spoke Sierra. I averaged 9.8 miles a day for 20 days. Not because I was tired or because it was hard, which it was, but purely because I wanted to. I let my friends go and do their 18 mile days while I basked in the beauty that John Muir inspired us to see. Transitions were abundant along the PCT.
The descent out of the Sierras was slow but ob- vious. When the highest elevation I hit for the day was around 7,000 feet and not over 10, I knew Northern California and Oregon were knocking. The temperatures began to climb again, but the terrain got easier. The climbs were far mellower and the days were getting longer and longer. Pretty soon my slow casual pace turned into marathons and the occasional ultra.
Making Friends This part of the trip turned out to be a
highlight, despite the fact that it wasn’t up to the standards of what I had just gone through. It was because it was different. It was social hour. This is where I met some of the most in- credible humans that I still call friends to this
day. Having the ability to share 20 plus mile days through some gorgeous terrain made the rest of the trail fly. Some of my fondest memories of the entire
trip are of the people. Simply the passion that you share for hiking the trail is all that was ever needed to strike up a decent conversation. I often joked about how I lost more weight on the trip from laughing over poop conversations than actually walking the trail. It was just amaz- ing the outpouring of love given and received within five minutes of meeting another hiker. Falling in love with someone on the trail seemed like it only needed a week to happen.
Coming to the end We were all puzzled through Oregon and
Washington. It was such a mixed-emotional part of the trip. We could all see the light at the end of the tunnel. Noticing differences in ter- rain, it seemed like it was clear as day with every border. And once that happened, some were ex- cited to know that it was almost over, while others, including myself, wished it could keep going. It was the never-ending chase from volcano
to volcano in a bazaar game of cat and mouse. Back at Lassen, hiking through the sisters re- gion in Oregon made me think I was standing on Mars, then getting to that luxurious break- fast buffet at the lodge on Mount Hood, and finally getting my first glimpse of Rainier as I rounded one of the fingers of Mount Adams. But the experience really started to set in
when we reached the North Cascades. The snowcapped spires shot up to the sky blowing all of our expectations away, but keeping our- selves in check, we knew we still had work to do to get to the finish. The last ten days were by far the hardest. The terrain was even more
“There was only one thing I could do after I screamed at the top of my lungs at just how hard this day was. But this sunset started going off right as we got to the top of the climb. And the only thing I could do was just throw my arms to the sky and scream some more.”
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