A Pause, Not an End

6:26 AM

Uh oh, it was cold again last night. I had one bar of 5G internet, which apparently was just enough to book a flight from Medford to Amsterdam. Everything now seems to be arranged. At I-5, Doc will be waiting to take me out of the mountains to the motel in Dunsmuir. The next day he’ll drive me via Ashland to Medford to pick up the package that was too expensive to ship. And then on Sunday I’ll fly back, making a 9-hour time jump to land back in my own time zone.

7:17 AM

One last moment to fully enjoy the wide-open views. The sun slowly warms the earth, and soon I feel warm enough to walk in shorts and a sun hoodie.

7:42 AM

9:21 AM

10:21 AM

Mount Shasta keeps getting bigger, but it’s still a long way to reach I-5.

12:04 PM

The final 2,200 meters have been reached, and now the descent to 650 meters begins. I’m leaving the mountains 🥲 and I’ll miss them dearly. Bye bye, Sierra—until next time.

Oops, a large black bear on the trail. He doesn’t hear me and looks a bit dazed while still enjoying some leftover berries on the bushes. I have to make myself known, because I can’t pass without getting his attention.
“Hey bear! Hey bear!” I call calmly, without startling him. Slowly he turns his head toward me, lifts his nose into the air.
“Hey bear, may I pass?” I ask again. The bear rears up, makes himself big, but luckily turns around and runs off along the PCT in the same direction I’m heading. I continue walking, still calling out “Hey bear!” from time to time to make sure he’s heard me.

12:34 PM

With a few hundred switchbacks I have to skirt around this last mountain. One more beautiful view before I’m back among the trees.

2:13 PM

🤔 That is not a normal pinecone in terms of size.

5:11 PM

After hours of descending—and the company of new tiny gnats, which don’t bite but are still annoyingly in your face—I arrive at I-5. Doc is already waiting to take me to the hotel. Thank you 🙏

5:47 PM

What a luxury! I can choose from four beds. While Snow White goes for the smallest one, I happily take the biggest 🤣. My clothes are washed as a service and later brought back to the room 🙏. I’m going to take it easy and do absolutely nothing else.

Total: 40.2 km in 9:54 hours
425 m up · 1,731 m down

10:00 PM

State: California

Over the past period I crossed part of California and was deeply impressed by its imposing mountain ranges. They spark a desire in me to explore more and more, but climbing them is tough. Daytime temperatures are high, while nights can be icy cold.

Autumn has arrived, and the trail is covered with large pine needles, small leaves from blueberry bushes, and enormous pinecones. Even though I’ve only seen 300 kilometers of California so far, I already long to admire the rest. The Sierra Nevada and the High Sierra are calling to me, and I can see their peaks rising in the distance, fueling my curiosity.

My PCT journey ends here for now, but my adventure is not over. I will definitely return for the continuation—though I don’t yet know whether that will be SoBo (southbound) or NoBo (northbound).

Be continued.

In total, I climbed 8,494 meters and descended 7,723 meters.