CAJON PASS, Calif. — Having completed the Appalachian Trail, Jeff Garmire of Vancouver is a week into the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail in his attempt to accomplish the Triple Crown of long-distance hiking: the Appalachian, Pacific Crest and Continental Divide trails in a calendar year.
Garmire completed the 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail on April 29, traveled to Southern California, and began heading northbound on the Pacific Crest Trail from the southern terminus on May 3.
At mile 2, his father, Fred, joined him for a few miles, “then he left strategically right before the day got really hot,’’ Garmire wrote in his blog about Day 1 on the PCT.
He also mentioned the switch from a New England climate rarely reaching 40 degrees to the California desert that is around 90 degrees.
“At mile 15, I met a large group of people in the shade and I immediately began learning social skills again. My solitude for the last month is over and I need to remember how to have conversations.’’
On Mother’s Day, Garmire was in Idyllwild, Calif., then hiked to 10,000 feet elevation over the San Jacinto Mountains and Fuller Ridge.
“Past Fuller Ridge is my least favorite part of the entire trail,’’ he wrote about the 20 miles of switchback down to the desert floor. “I ended up running most of the down hill.’’
Monday, Garmire left Cabazon, Calif., near Palm Springs and made is way to Big Bear, where the trail elevation ranges from 3,000 to 8,500 feet. He has supplies waiting at Cajon Pass, mile 341 on the Crest trail.
His next section will include walking along the edge of the Mohave Desert, ending up at Kennedy Meadows, the gateway to the Sierra Mountains at mile 700.
So far on the PCT, Garmire has seen three rattlesnakes.
His trip can be followed on his daily blog at http://freeoutside.com.
