PCT 2021! – An Early Exit

Fire. Lots of it. Blow Downs. Too many to count. Nature Hugs. Maybe a little too much love from Mother Nature.

We’ve ended our 2021 attempt to reach Canada. We did complete hiking all of California, which is just short of 1700 miles of the 2650 mile Pacific Crest Trail.

We came for fun and beauty. We got a lot of both. However, fires started breaking out early this year, long before the typical lighting storm season began. Snowfall was low in California leading to another drought year. While snowfalls were high in Oregon and Washington, early heatwaves melted the snow quickly and they also moved into drought conditions.

Fires raging. Conditions worsening. Overgrowth and trees over the trail from maintenance postponed or delayed due to COVID-19. Bottomline: Less fun and only smoky views with no sign of conditions improving. The combined results lead us to declare the end of our 2021 hike when we reached Callahan’s Lodge in Oregon, just north of the California border.

With less than a 1,000 miles to go, we hope to be back hiking the PCT. However, it won’t be in 2021.

To see all of our adventure on the PCT in 2021, here is a playlist from YouTube:

PCT 2021! Playlist – Teasers and All

Also, Top Rock captured a number of interesting scenes, most of which are not included in the YouTube media. We lacked connectivity when on the trail where the videos for YouTube were produced. He also purloined a few of his favorites from Kedger’s media, so you might recognize some from the YouTube videos. New photos are at the bottom. Here are links to his media shares:

Southern California (0 new)

Sierra (46 new)

Northern California (157 new)

Oregon (6 new)

Note from Ken: Oregon link should be good until we finish hiking that section in the much later future. However, I plan to remove the Southern California, Sierra, Northern California albums later. (When I run out of room, or when the alerts that I’m running out of space begin to annoy me.)

Until next time…

Fair winds

PCT 2019 Epilogue

Top Rock and CBS are off the trail. This video recaps a few of the statistics from their adventure, a few thoughts, and what the future may hold. About half of the video is a ‘Relive’ 3-D map of their journey.
Thank you for coming along this year.
Fair winds,
Ken and Rob (AKA Top Rock and CBS)

PCT Northern California – Mile 1373 to 1501 – Photos and Videos from Ken Benson

Flowers on the PCT 41°09'28.7"N 121°46'32.4"W

Click here (link also shown below) to open a Google Photos tab to see the photos and videos that Ken has been capturing during a portion of what Guthook’s Guide calls “PCT: Northern California”. The images are in chronological order, from near mile 1373 at Old Station, California to mile 1501 near Dunsmuir and Mt. Shasta.

Each of the images are full resolution, meaning that you can click on them individually and zoom-in intensely. Ken’s got a great eye for color. Check out some of those flowers. Hovering the mouse over a video will play it. Alternatively, you can double-click it to play it in full screen mode.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SDf5WTCy8GnyTZ357

Thank you for sharing Ken!

PCT Sierra – Mile 566 to 943 – Photos and Videos from Ken Benson

Silver Pass

Click here (link also shown below) to open a Google Photos tab to see the photos and videos that Ken has been capturing during a portion of what Guthook’s Guide calls “PCT: Sierra”. The images are in chronological order, from near mile 566 near Tehachapi to mile 943 at Tuolumne Meadows.

Each of the images are full resolution, meaning that you can click on them individually and zoom-in intensely. Ken’s got a great eye for color. Check out some of those flowers and landscapes. Hovering the mouse over a video will play it. Alternatively, you can double-click it to play it in full screen mode.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/k2skLTwTA9p9BFpP9

Thank you for sharing Ken!

PCT 2019 Day 127 Mile 915 to 931

Leaving Mammoth Lakes following a surprisingly strong rain storm, Top Rock and CBS make their way from Agnew Meadows past 1000 Island Lake and over Island and Donohue Passes. The beauty continues but the trail takes its mental toll.