Sunday, July 31, 2011

Halfway to Canada!

That's right followers, 1325 miles! I am officially half way to Canada, after leaving Mexico over 3 months ago. Wahooooo! Haha, it is so incredibly hard to believe that I just walked farther and have seen more of America than many people will in their whole lifetime. I gotta say, I love this country and all the amazing people I have met along the way. This is America and I am proud to be an American, truly! I'll admit I wonder about the decisions we make as a country, but I think we have some of the most beautiful land in the entire world :) Ok, so enough of the patriotic mumbo jumbo, time to talk about this last week on the PCT...

Once again, I hit the trail with Chris and Nicole after leaving Sierra City. Happy Whale was awaiting a package that had not arrived and stayed behind to receive it. The mountains had become much less rugged and were slowly starting to turn into more sort of forested rolling hills. No longer were we in the rugged High Sierras, but we were now in the transition from Sierra to Cascades. Also, we were once again having to think about our water sources and how plentiful and clean they would be. I have to be honest, I haven't really treated or filtered any water since we entered the Sierras after Kennedy Meadows. It has been so amazing to fill our water bottles from runoff and creeks that came directly from snow! Now water was becoming more scarce and slightly less pure as we descended in elevation.

That next day after leaving Sierra City, we were surprised to see Happy Whale run up to us in early morning. He had left the same day we had, just later in the afternoon and still caught us. Also this time we were joined by JimBrick, who we'd done a bit of hiking with up until Sierra City. We did encounter more patches of snow along the way, but not enough to make us wander around looking for trail. We spent an amazing night at Honker Pass, a trail angel home on Bucks Lake. They fed us great food and got us back on trail early in the morning. Thanks Honker Pass!

Next we rolled into a very small place called BeldenTown. The guidebook recommends not stopping here, saying it is "creepy". However the trail goes right past the resort and provided an opportunity to get a meal at the restaurant. Apparently this tiny resort on the Feather River is host to insane, out-of-control raves through the summer. Thousands of people come here from the bay area to party for days at a time and escape the city. There was no rave the night we were there and although I could definitely see the "creepiness" in the place, the people were quite nice and hiker-friendly.

The next day, we lost track of Nicole and Chris and Happy Whale, so JimBrick and I pushed on towards Chester, CA. It was really neat to see Mt. Lassen come into view and watch the terrains slowly become very volcanic. We have now basically hiked the entire length of the Sierra Nevada's and are entering the great Cascades. Exciting!!!

JimBrick and I broke camp this morning and set off towards the halfway point. Along the way we ran into team Canada, Lighthouse, Broken Record, and Chewy. We also met up with Chili Dog and Seahorse and began the milestone celebrations. What a great feeling to know we were halfway, but a very incomplete feeling at the same time to know we still had halfway to go haha! It took over 3 months to get to this point and now I have the next half to do in about 2 months. No prob though, I just hiked through the tallest mountains in the lower 48 ha!

So now I am in Chester, CA, staying with some very generous trail angels. I wonder what kind of adventures the rest of the trail has lined up for me to experience. It will be such an amazing feeling to cross the state line and finally be in a different state, Oregon! Just a couple weeks there and then on to my favorite state and home, Washington! I've now got deadline to finish, due to my little Sister's wedding on October 1st. It will be a crunch to be finished by then, but I do not want to stay out longer than that anyways. The trail has become my temporary home and I love it out here, but I miss friends and family in Spokane so much. This is the hardest thing I've ever done and I chose the worst snow year in a long, long time to do it. However, it will make it that much cooler to say "yeah, I hiked the PCT in 2011. Kind of a big deal..." Haha!

Just want to throw some shout-outs to the amazing Hiker-trash I've spent some time with in the last few weeks: Chris and Nicole of course, love you guys. Hope we can meet up again at some point down the trail. Happy Whale, you helped me through the toughest part of the whole trip bro, couldn't have done it without you. JimBrick, I've loved our recent time together and the opportunity to pick your brain about Australia and share my knowledge of stereotypical America ha! Lighthouse, Broken Record, and Chewy, our friendly neighbors to the north. I've also spent some time socializing with Boots, Bubbles, Chili Dog, Seahorse, Tum Tum, Seahorse, Push, Outlaw, Sparrow, HotRod, and Daybreaker. Keep truckin hikers, we're gonna make it! Keep it true, red white and thru!

Well that is about all, make sure to go check out the 2 new sets of pictures I just put up. Until next time guys, thanks for the support. Keep following, love you all! -Banger

4 comments:

  1. Holy cow Cody! What an accomplishment! You're attitude is a testament to the inner strength you have, keep on keeping on man! You're doing amazing things!

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  2. Hi Cody,
    Reading your posting had me feeling incredibly sentimental. I agree-I love our America and I also am proud to be an American. It is a dishonor and sad shame when others do not appreciate all our wonders in our land, freedom, and in each other.
    As you acknowledged my HappyWhale and other fellow hikers, I trust and believe you also are a source of strength, motivation, inspiration, and a true friend to them in return.
    Cody- Congratulations on all your trail miles as of today!! Onwards into Oregon!
    Truly awe-inspiring with what all you have set your mind, body, and being to experience.
    I just read your latest post and viewed your updated pictures. ABSOLUTLY BREATHTAKING!!! I have so many favorites. And, you are even capturing the beautiful wildflowers.
    Love it- Keeping it true, red, white and thru!
    ~Mama HappyWhale

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  3. I cannot believe you are halfway! Congrats, this is such an accomplishment. Everyone is so proud of you!!

    -Jillian

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  4. Cody,
    Great post and pictures! We are so glad to hear your spirits are high and you are enjoying the unbelievable scenery. We do live in a great and beautiful country, and most people just cannot appreciate it like you have been able to, when they are sitting in the comfort of their homes.
    Dad

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