Heart tests all came back healthy. Blood work is coming in, all is in healthy ranges. Next up is the sleep study, I'll be needing to follow up daily to see if they can get me in earlier. Getting back on trail in June is looking like a long shot, hustling to try and make it back in July.

Monday’s doc visit was a mixed bag. Staying true to reputation, I’ll have to push and advocate for proper attention and care from Kaiser. - ekg showed no heart issues - Blood pressure looks good - Ultrasound on heart scheduled for June 8th - I’m behind on tetanus shot, getting that asap - Doc thinks I have sleep apnea, I’m in the sleep study queue. It’s a 3-4month wait list, I’ll be following up daily to see if I can slip the line - Requested blood work to check: * CBC * CMP * BNP or NT-proBNP * TSH + Free T4 * Ferritin + Iron studies * Magnesium It’s looking like a month before I can get enough info to be confident I’m healthy enough to go back on trail. This looks like it’s turning into a section hike. My goal is to get back and do the lower Sierra’s (the hard passes) and get to south tahoe (500mi stretch). More updates to come!

The meadows are stunning in the Sierra’s. Big bubble of people going through the mtns. Most of the day was clear sky’s but that changed quickly as we approached 10k of elevation, a storm rolled in. We got to camp around 4pm after a 20mi day. Saw a really healthy and large coyote crossing a meadow next to our camp, way different than a city coyote. It snowed nearly all night. A couple of times during the night I had some challenges breathing, woke up to shortness of breath. Decided to come off trail and get checked by a doctor before going up to 11k-14k elevation. I suspect it’s nothing major but I’m at that age where it’s better safe than sorry. Doc appointments setup for June 1st. Huge thank you to Amy for driving back down to Ridgecrest to pick me up…I’m lucky she’s my life partner.

Only a 7mi day since we started around 3:30pm. The trail was smooth and easy, crossed a bridge with a river with a lot of flow. The wind picked up as we approached our camp spot, made the night cold and noisy but overall wasn’t bad.

Woke up early and hit the road at 5am to start the drive from Martinez back to Kennedy Meadows South. Wouldn’t be a proper send off without hitting an hour of Bay Area traffic, gonna get to KMS around 3. Plan is to walk 7mi and setup camp. Tomorrow and the next day will be 20mi days, Saturday is the day we are targeting to hit Mt Whitney, over Forester Pass on Sunday. Monday we’ll hit Kearsarge Pass to get to a town called Independence to resupply. Not expecting much cell reception the next couple of weeks, will try and update whenever signal is available (likely town days). It was great seeing my daughters, my family, and especially my wife. Was a great 10 days of rest and recovery, now it’s time to take on the Sierra’s.

Just got into Kennedy Meadows South! The official close to the desert section! Next up are the Sierra's. Thankfully Amy is coming out to KMS to pick us up, we'll be off trail until May 27th-ish, gotta take care of some life stuff. Its time for new shoes, rework the backpack for whats needed in the next leg.

Woke up at 5 to beat the sun rising, glad we did. got into hikertown at a out 3pm. went to the store, resupplied however I could, photo of the haul uploaded. going to bed by 8pm, getting up at 2am to walk 25mi through the mojave, 17 or so of the miles will be on an aquaduct. staying at hiker town, its cool, setup a tent anywhere on the property. they have a ferrari here too, go figure. showers are $5, water washt working quite right so i just did a foot wash. two 25mi days and we'll zero a day in tehachapi.

Got into Agua Dolce by 3pm, was beaten up pretty good by the heat. Saw one rattler, photo posted. Walked through a famous rock park, supposedly Star Trek and stuff has filmed there, the rock photos may look familiar. In Agua Dolce we hit the grocery store, I drank a cherry coke before checking out and bought enough candy to address any cravings on the trail. Hiker Oasis was great, it’s ran by a guy named Farmer John, super nice. Took some photos of the oasis. Also went into town for way too much Coca-Cola and Mexican food. Got everything squared away, ready for the next three days pushing to Hiker Town. From Hiker Town we’ll resupply and push three more days to Tehatchapi…taking a well deserved recover zero day there.

Two big days of pushing 23ish miles to setup a shorter Wednesday (29th). Wednesday we will walk through Agua Dolce, a sleepy town that has nice homes, restaurants, and resupply options. We’ll pay $30 to stay at the Hiker Oasis, fee includes shower, toilets, laundry access, and setup a tent anywhere there’s an open spot.

Mt Baden Powell & Mt Williamson update Photos will be uploaded asap, you'll see it was cold, snowy, icy, and all around a day that was going to be uncomfortable. If you didnt know, Baden Powell is named after the founder of the boy scouts. First 5mi were to get to the base of Baden, on the way there we saw fresh bear tracks crossing the path, going up the hill. Happy it was going the opposite way. Going up was only as hard as the vertical climb, there were multiple fresh tracks from local day hikers going up the mountain. Once we got to the top we signed the log book, saw two other pct'rs bames in the book for the same day as us but we couldnt see their tracks going down the other side of the mountain. We were the first pct'rs going down the other side of the mtn, it was rough and gnarly. It was very cold, we knew we had a long day ahead to try and get low enough so we dont camp in the snow. We lost the trail sometimes and needed to scramble back up the mtn to get back on trail. We didnt take breaks, just kept pushing to get off the mtn. We passed a popular camp spot called Little Jimmy's, it was covered in snow. We later heard 15 people camped there that night, bonkers busy. The problem was once we got off Baden we needed to go straight up Williamson. It was 4pm and we decided to push the 4mi up and over Williamson, it was cold and icy coming down the back of it. Coming down it we came across a road with some flat spots, we setup camp and was asleep by 6:30, slept 12hrs straight to 6:30.

Have a trail angel picking us up from the airbnb at 7am, trying to get back on the trail as early as possible. It rained and snowed last night, clear this morning though. Baden Powell is the last big climb of the southern section, after this its warmer and flatter. 20mi day is the plan, compression leg sleeves and new sole inserts should do me a world of better. Thursday we should be rolling into a town called Agua Dolce for a quick resupply and back out Friday morning.

Holy cow my ankles hurt. Will add photos of how swollen they are. Gonna get compression leg sleeves and sole inserts. Gotta get these buddies better to keep this thing possible. Got to the parking lot, walked through an off season ski resort, was an odd place. There were a couple ponds they keep full up top for making fake snow. There was a fire a year or two ago, lots of burnt trees and stacked logs. When we got to the parking lot that should have been an easy hitch, no cars were coming by. We walked four miles towards town to a busier road, got a hitch there from a very nice couple that also gave us orange slices, was so good. Staying tonight plus tomorroww before going back up and climbing Mt Baden Powell on Sunday. Will be about 3500ft of climb over 7mi. We are gonna try and the pace up over next two weeks and see how the body holds up.

Yeaterday we made the progress on getting ahead which meant we got to a must stop, McDonalds on hwy15. got there in time for sausage mcmuffins too :) After the junk food stop its on to a water cache and then the start if a 5k ft ascent over 12mi. Gonna break the 12mi over two days. The camping spot we are aiming for will have a nice view back down over riverside.

Today is going to be a big day, aiming for 25+mi today. Goal is to get 6mi ahead of schedule this week so we can get into town easier. If we stick to the plan and dont get 6mi further we'd go down Acorn trail which is 2k ft decent over 2.5mi and still need a hitch to town. If we do get the 6mi ahead we'll get to a parking lot and hitch to town from there, plus we'll be 6mi closer to Mt Baden Powell after a Wrightwood zero day.

Attempted to schedule an uber ride for a 6:30am pickup to get back to the trail head, no luck. No uber or taxi running before 8am in big bear lake it seems. We walked a couple miles toward the trail direction and hitched a ride from a very cool dude named Benjamin. Looked to be an army vet from the hat in his back seat, he said he's battling cancer, wishing him the best. Really cool that he was willing to give two hitchikers a ride while he's dealing with so much. Plan is to walk about 20mi to make headway to Wrightwood.

Most of the 21mi were downhill, double edged sword as its faster pace but puts a lot of strain and pain on my ankles/feet. Taking a zero day tomorrow (Sunday). My stomach is still a bit uneasy but ate a bunch of kimchi and getting plenty of rest. Bought new water, filter, toothbrush, etc. in case something is contaminated and getting me sick. Also, was a super cool couple at the hwy 18 junction where the pct drops into big bear, they had gatorades and snacks and offering rides into town. We would have taken them up on the ride but I ordered an uber when we were a half mile from the highway, I was super ready for a proper dinner (ended up being Thai) and a full bath. Will be in Wrightwood in 5 days, should be next Friday.

Closed yesterday (April 16th) starting the Mission Creek washout, did 3 miles of its 10mi total. The Mission Creek washout is a 10mi section, 4k+ of constant elevation gain walking through sand, river rock, and bouldering. The remaining 7mi of Mission Creek would normally take us 2.5hrs but it took 4hrs, easily. We were shooting for a 19mi day but unded up doing 16. Was a very very challenging day, caught some stomach bug that killed my appetite. Setup camp in a mountain top saddle looking back down over Palm Springs. Temperatures got down to freezing, my backup water left outside my tent froze. Pushing 21mi tomorrow to stay on track and get into Big Bear.

Had a great stay at Nitsy's. Shower, laundry, dinner and breakfast. She's dropping us off back at the trail at ~6:30. 19mi day ahead, next town is Big Bear. Wont hit Big Bear for three days. Going to be paying extra attention with stops and stretching of my ankles/legs.

Going up to the peak of San Jacinto (10,800ft) yesterday and now back down to 1,700ft today has kicked my butt. Snow and slush up on San Jac and now its desert next to Palm Springs. Nitsy (trail angel) is picking us up at mile 209 (hwy 10), we are staying the night at her place and back on the trail tomorrow.

Rained and hailed most of last night in Idyllwild. Woke up to blue sky's and the sun warming everything up. We go back up to summit San Jacinto this morning, sanjacjon.com is best place to see mtn conditions. After summit to 10,600ft we walk down to appox 6,700ft to camp. Should be about a 17mi day.

Came off San Jacinto yesterday, storm blew through and lightly dusted the peak with snow. Taking a zero day today in Idyllwild, going back up tomorrow. To summit San Jac will be 6mi of straight up and 5k ft of climb from our dropoff point, Humbert Park. Packing microspikes for the summit just in case. Next town after this will be Bear Valley on approx April 19th.

Camped behind Paradise Valley Cafe last night. Started up San Jacinto today, walking 20ish today, 12 tomorrow. midday tommorow make our way into Idyllwild for a zero day. summit san jac on tuesday.

Got in midday yesterday (4/8) to Warner Springs Community Center, charged up, resupplied, and talked with other pct'ers. The next 4 days will be all uphill, approx 6k ft of climb to a town called Idyllwild. Should be cool weather so no worries about 15mi stretches of wayer carry.

Fossil Lady (trailangel) gave us a ride at 7am back to Scissors Crossing, plan is to walk 15mi to first water cache then maybe another 5mi to camp. Ditched size 13's in town (shipped home) and picked up 12.5 wides + toe socks. Climbing ~3k ft today, hopefully clouds roll in and its not all sun.

Taking a full rest day here in Julian. shuttle leaves tomorrow morning at 7am to get back on the trail by 7:30. restocking food for two days, will buy food at Warner Springs. aiming for Idyllwild by next Saturday.

happy easter!! got to scissors crossing and hitched a ride 10mi to Julian, Sprinter is the trail angel that picked us up. Staying for a full rest day tomorrow, blisters amany on the feet to heal.

another 15mi day, dry camped again. looking at another 15 tomorrow.

started at 7:30am, walked 15mi to Hauser Creek. Water cache 1mi from camp. Creek was bone dry, getting up at 6 tomorrow to start day 2!

First day on trail will be april 1!!