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Entered the Sierra and holy shit, it is amazing. I had probably the best day of my life relaxing at guitar lake then heading up to Mt. Whitney. Once I got up there I ran into Produce, Kerouac and HD having a picnic of wine, bread and cheese on top of the highest summit of the lower 48. Afterwards, Produce, Prime, Dirty Knux and I waited on top for the sunset then made our way down into the night. It was one of those special days that I will always cherish.

[twelvedaysofxmasandawhopper]

Pokes somewhere along the Angeles National Forest.

[twelvedaysofxmasandawhopper]

PCT day 32 mile 444

Well, I’m taking time off trail to heal my foot. Unsure if it’s a stress fracture or not but this sucks. Having to leave a trail fam and get off trail temporarily always sucks. Hoping for a speedy recovery but even it this takes me out for a month I’ll still be in a good spot to get back on trail. Less snow in the sierras. But yeah, the last section was rad, wrightwood was too good to us, almost didn’t want to leave. 22 mile road walk to avoid the trail closure sucked though.

[twelvedaysofxmasandawhopper]

PCT day 22. Mile 340

Finished the section of the PCT that is local to me. Big bear was rad, got vortex’d at deep creek, and am currently chillin it up at cajon pass.

[twelvedaysofxmasandawhopper]

PCT day 13 mile 210

Words can’t describe how happy I am to be back on this trail after getting off last year for obvious reasons (global pandemic). The weather has been more than amazing. Already have a little trail family going with some super cool cats and the miles are flying by.

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Pinhoti Trail

Pinhoti Trail. February 09-February 22, 2021. Alabama/Georgia. 108 miles.

The Pinhoti Trail: missed flight, bad weather, scary encounters with loose dogs, gnarly creek crossings, very long road walks, and too much money spent. 

The fun times: shelter hopping, lots of joking around, burger king, and the nice reward of a few days of sun light.

Although we bailed on this hike, I don’t really regret it. I did not have the experience I was hoping for and was a bit miserable having wet feet all day and going to sleep cold. Not to mention going way over my budget in a very short amount of time. We just did this hike at the wrong time of the year. 

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Pinhoti Trail day 9. Mile 111.

Finally made it to the city of Heflin, AL. The people at city hall were extremely nice and accommodating. Weather is starting to clear up a little bit and the sun is finally coming out so hopefully we can start seeing what Alabama actually looks like.

Note to future self: stop eating Mexican food on trail. You know it’s good but not worth it the next day.

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Pinhoti Trail day 2. Mile 30.

Currently at a hostel in Talladega waiting out a thunderstorm. Tried hopping on trail and immediately doing 20’s after months of not hiking that hard so the body is definitely feeling it. Alabama is very nice so far. Very green and the Southern hospitality is very real. First 2 days on trail were nice and sunny with great temps, this coming week looks very wet but it is what it is.

[twelvedaysofxmasandawhopper]

Grand Canyon: Rim to rim to rim.

01/22-01/26 2021.

Unknowingly, my cousin and I started down the South Kaibab Trail a day earlier than our permit stated. Luckily it worked out in our favor. 14 miles in I reached Cottonwood campground and was greeted by a very worrisome park ranger. I was in my standard shirt and shorts when she saw me and asked where I was headed. I told her we were camping here for the night and heading up to North Rim the next day. That didn’t sit well with her. She asked me if I would reconsider my hike as the weather was getting very bad and a winter storm was approaching, that if something were to happen to us up there no one would be up there to save us. I told her no, that we were fine and knew what we were doing and that we were looking forward to hiking in that storm. Looking at my pack size, the ranger thought I was a day hiker and did not have the proper gear to survive a few days down in the canyon. I assured her I had everything I needed and that I was experienced and knew what I was doing. That still didn’t change her mind as she kept telling me about how dangerous it was up there and how much she really did not want us hiking up there and with her 15 years of being a ranger there this storm was going to be very harsh. After about 5 minutes I finally agreed with her and said, “Okay, we wont go up there. You’re the ranger and know what you’re talking about so if you say it’s bad up there, we wont attempt it”. She was relieved to hear that and thanked me and gave us permission to changed our permit and camp wherever we pleased. Bummed and feeling let down, we kind of accepted the face that rim to rim to rim might not be possible this trip and went to bed.

Waking up the next morning, the sun was out and the weather was perfect. We spent the morning thinking that we could reach the North Rim, but with everything the ranger told us and knowing that weather in the canyon could be very unpredictable, we accepted our fate and started hiking back South. About 5 miles in we came across an older couple hiking in the opposite direction. I asked if they were heading toward the North Rim which they responded that they were. I told them everything the ranger told us and they responded that they just talked to that same ranger. She told them that with this sudden change of good weather, they could attempt the North Rim as long as they knew when to turn back if they needed to. Also that the ranger felt, “horrible for telling the couple at cottonwood not to go up there because the weather was so beautiful today”. Feeling a bit aggravated and unsure what to do, we thought about it for a minute, said fuck it, and started heading back North. We decided we would camp at Cottonwood again, wake up early and do the North Rim as  day hike and come back down to camp at Cottonwood again.

Waking up at 5 in the morning, we ate and packed a day pack and set up for the North Rim. It had rained that night so everything was wet and there was fresh snow at higher elevation. Around 7:30 the sun started peaking out of the cloud to present us beautiful misty views of the North Rim. The snow was fresh and there were no tracks in front of us meaning that we were most likely indeed the only people on the North end of the park. It was cold but as long as I was moving I kept warm and leaded the path up to the top. Just past Supai Tunnel, the post holing really began. Not too deep but enough to definitely slow me down and make me work for it. A few miles in I was starting to consider heading back down. I knew I was getting closer to the top but it was starting to feel never ending. However with the beautiful views and the fact that I was almost there, I had to push through and keep going. At about 9:38 AM, I was at the North Kaibab Trailhead, the only soul on top of the North Rim. Feeling accomplished but knowing that a storm could be approaching any second, I started heading down. I ran into my cousin about a mile from the top and told her she was almost there and that I would wait for her down at the restroom at Supai Tunnel. Not too long after, she came back down after reaching the top and met back up with me and we started heading back down, just as the snow started falling. Coasting down trail was relaxing and rewarding knowing that we just completed rim to rim of the Grand Canyon. We made it back to Cottonwood, chilled in our tents, and avoided the rain.

The next morning, we quickly packed up to avoid the morning rain and hiked an easy 7 miles to Bright Angel Campground. Getting there way too early, we had the whole day to relax and do nothing. Bright Angel was a lot more populated with hikers and tourists coming down to Phantom Ranch. (Phantom Ranch: where the tourists come down into the canyon on mules and stay in fancy cabins and get a hot meal from the restaurant with a months in advance reservation). We got the idea that since the weather was shitty, there had to some cancellations at the restaurant and we could maybe snag a fancy gourmet dinner, which to our luck there were and my cousin paid for both of us (thanks Lauren). Dinner was at 6:30, giving us a few hours to hang around and wait. Soon enough the weather hit us with 40 mph wind gusts and some rain. Hunkered down in our tents we waiting it out and hoped that it would end soon, which it did. 6:30 came around and we hit the restaurant and got our meals. A salad, cornbread, vegetarian chili and a cookie for dessert. Coming from previous thru hikes and getting used to the hiker trash lifestyle, I couldn’t help but laugh at how boujee I felt. But it was delicious, rewarding and I enjoyed every second of it. Expecting rain and wind all night, we went to camp and hoped for the best.

The next and last morning, we woke up and was shocked at how peaceful the night was. No rain, no wind, just calmness. Happily packing up dry gear, we left Bright Angel Camp and started on Bright Angel Trail, heading up to the last rim. There were mild rain showers and snow flurries but the views of the Colorado river were epic and the higher we got the views became more epic. The snow on Bright Angel was a lot more chill compared to North Kaibab. I got my groove going and reached Indian Garden in no time. After that it was the home stretch, only 4.5 miles of climbing to the top and we were done. I was back in my groove and was crushing it and by 11:30 AM I was at Bright Angel Trail head and had just completed the rim to rim to rim hike. Feeling accomplished, I took a few pictures and went straight to the restrooms to dry off and to my surprise, there were heaters in the restrooms, the greatest thing I could have asked for at the time. I waited for my cousin to reach the top, high fived and headed back to the car and left the Grand Canyon feeling accomplished. I don’t think that many people experienced their rim to rim to rim hike quite like ours and it was, as the word for this adventure was: epic.

Don’t ever ever ever visit the Grand Canyon in the Summer.

[twelvedaysofxmasandawhopper]

I am making this blog to document my adventures and for my future self to look back and cherish these moments. 

If you happen to stumble across this blog, let me introduce myself. My name is Travis. On trail known as hand me down. I began thru hiking last year on Mach 9th at the Southern terminus of the PCT in Campo. My dreams of reaching Canada were quickly crushed by the pandemic and even though I was only on trail for a short time, I had the time of my life and quickly met some amazing people. After waiting things out for a little while I completed the Tahoe Rim Trail and a week later flew out to Denver to hike the Colorado Trail along with every other hiker that had their original plans crushed. My time of the CT was incredible and I cherish every moment I had on that trail. 

Now fast forward to 2021. I will be hitting the Pinhoti Trail in February and plan on linking it to the Appalachian Trail and heading north toward Katahdin from there. While I was on the Colorado Trail I wished that I had somehow documented my time on there because unfortunately only a few months after I finished some of it feels like a blur. I have zero interest in vlogging nor do I have the kind of money for a camera. I am not the best writer but I enjoy writing so I have decided to try this out and create this blog.

***EDIT- After the PCTA announced that they will indeed issue permits for the 2021 season, my plans of hiking the AT have shifted as a second go on the PCT was my first choice to begin with. As of now, still hiking the Pinhoti in February, then thinking of either getting another early start on the PCT or hitting the Arizona Trail right after the Pinhoti. Plans are still up in the air but the PCT is definitely happening for 2021. 

Cheers.

-hand me down