I started the PCT on April 13th, hiked to Kennedy Meadows south, flipped to Chester, and continued North. On my way through Oregon I was feeling really good and decided to attempt this FKT. I went completely Unsupported, carrying all food and gear I needed from Cascade Locks. I didn’t resupply, accept trail magic or outside help in any way. And in the previous record holder’s style, I didn’t forage and carried my trash with me the entire way. I carried 4 power banks (2 10,000mah, 2 20,000mah) to keep my phone, garmin, and headlamp charged without having to stop somewhere to recharge them. I began recording on my Garmin as well as Strava, but had to stop the strava recording on Day 8 since it was depleting my phone battery too quickly each day.
Day 1 (7/17) - 41.71 miles
Started off from the state line on the Bridge of the Gods at 5am. I started with what I hoped would be 14 days of food (13 for the record plus 1 to hike back to Harts Pass). I didn’t have a scale but my estimate is my pack weight was around 45lbs. The climb out of Cascade Locks was difficult with the heavy pack, and my shoulders suffered under my overburdened Hyperlite. I camped at PCT mile 2191.3 with an amazing view of Hood to the south.
Day 2 (7/18) - 43 miles ; 84.71 total
Hot and sunny. Shoulders in a lot of pain from pack. Otherwise uneventful day. Camped at PCT mile 2233.8.
Day 3 (7/19) - 43.78 miles ; 129.49 total
Entered Goat Rocks wilderness and over Cispus Pass at sunset. The valley was full of stunning waterfalls and color from the sunset. Camped at PCT mile 2277.6.
Day 4 (7/20) - 41.7 miles ; 170.9 total
Crossed Hwy 12 at White Pass around 1pm. Despite my pack feeling lighter, my legs were more fatigued than I expected and I wasn’t able to steadily push bigger days as my pack lightened. Camped at PCT mile 2319.2 at 10pm.
Day 5 (7/21) - 44.8 miles ; 214.99 total
I wanted to try to hike later into the night today, knowing that I would be on a longer downhill at the end of the day. But I had some pain in my knees and decided to call it knowing there was still a long way to go. Camped at PCT mile 2364.0.
Day 6 (7/22) - 41.06 miles ; 256.05 total
Hiked through the Cascade Crest Ultra marathon. I was offered meals and snacks from multiple aid stations and it took all my self control to turn them down. Around 3:30 I crossed Hwy 90 and ascended into Alpine Lakes Wilderness and reached the halfway mark through the state. 10,000+ in gain and descent today. Camped at PCT mile 2405.1.
Day 7 (7/23) - 42.31 miles ; 298.36 total
Very hard day. Another 10K gain and descent. I felt like I was pushing as hard as I could and still haven’t been able to increase my miles like I wanted now that my pack is lighter. I found myself feeling defeated for the first time and made an effort to remind myself I was making good time. Camped at PCT mile 2447.4.
Day 8 (7/24) - 44.5 miles ; 342.86 total
Hiked through Stevens Pass around noon. It began to rain around 4, a big problem because I sent my rain fly home based on a hot and dry weather report. My Garmin report said the rain would stop around 8 so I planned to hike until it stopped, but it rained through the night and was colder than forecasted, around 40 degrees. Around 10, I found a dense fir grove that kept a majority of the rain away(mile 2491.9 at Pass Creek) and made a makeshift shelter out of my tyveck groundsheet and some branches. I was soaked through my rain layer and puffy. I didn’t sleep all night and had to do sit-ups to stay warm.
Day 9 (7/25) - 39.6 miles ; 382.46 total
Luckily, the morning was clear and I was able to dry out my gear in the sun and warm myself up. I was checking my Garmin weather report almost every hour, and it reported no rain that night but cold temps. At 7pm it rained just briefly, which wouldn’t have been a problem, but the climb out of Milk Creek is a few miles of bushwhacking. The bushes dumped water on me as I pushed through them, leaving me soaked and chilled to the core again. The uphill battle through the brambles kept me warm enough but once I stopped I was shivering constantly. I made another makeshift shelter (PCT mile 2531.5) and spent another sleepless night attempting to stay warm. Temps dropped to around 35 that night according to my Garmin. That night I decided that my gear gamble had made the trip too dangerous to continue. I had no immediate bailouts, since I was in the middle of Glacier Peak Wilderness, the closest road being Steven’s pass ~60 miles back, or Steheikin ~40 miles north. I didn’t want to be out there anymore. I started out early in the morning planning to get off trail in Steheikin.
Day 10 (7/26) - 40.2 miles - 422.66 total
Sun came out enough to dry off and warm up again. Even though the temp at 6:30am was just over 40, the sun felt hot and I was able to take off my soaking layers and bask in sun for about half an hour before it dipped behind the clouds again. Throughout the day, I continued to feel that it was the right decision to quit, I felt completely exhausted and overwhelmed. But the sun ended up staying out most of the day, and my body felt good hiking the 40 miles. When night came around and it was clear it wasn’t going to rain again I resolved to press on. I had just 83 miles left (113 including the return to Harts pass from the border) and just enough food to make it. I felt that if it didn’t rain again, I had enough left in the tank to make a big final push. I also knew I would have an opportunity to bail at Rainy Pass, halfway through the day, if I needed to. I decided to do 53 miles to Hart’s Pass because if I pushed on after Rainy Pass, and then it started raining later in the day, I knew there were pit toilets at the campground, which means shelter from the rain, and possibly a few degrees warmer than outside. I made an early camp at PCT mile 2571.7 to try and finally get some sleep after the previous nights.
Day 11 (7/27) - 53.4 miles ; 475 total
I began at 2:55 am and pushed as hard as I could all day. Saw a bear on trail, without stopping I yelled at it and it ran away. I continued on over Rainy Pass, committing to the 53 miles, since skies were clear-ish, I felt good, and my Garmin reported 0% chance of rain (not that I trusted it all that much anymore). Of course, at around 3:30, a thunderstorm materialized as I was racing over Cutthroat, Granite, and Methow passes. Today was much warmer than the previous days, so although I was pissed at my Garmin, and myself for making what seemed like the wrong choice, I knew as long as I kept hiking I would be warm enough. The thunder stopped around 6pm and I summited Glacier pass and descended to harts pass in a light rain. I made it to the pit toilets around 9:30. Although I ended up getting almost no sleep that night due to a cold draft I could not figure out, I was completely committed to pushing through the 60 mile out and back to the border the next day.
Day 12 (7/28) - 30 miles to the terminus + 13 back towards Harts Pass.
My feet were in a lot of pain, and swollen to the point my shoes almost didn’t fit. Working on about 5 total hours of sleep in the last 4 days, I found it difficult to keep up a fast pace and didn’t make it to the border until 3:40 despite starting at 5 or so in the morning. I didn’t spend much time at the terminus since no one else was there, there were a ton of bugs, and I was more than ready to be out of the backcountry. After about 5 minutes I turned around and hiked 13 more miles back. Thankfully it was a clear, warm night. If it rained, I would have hiked the full 60 miles out and back to get back to my pit toilet shelter.
In the morning I ate my last protein bar and raced the 17 miles remaining back to Harts Pass.