PCT Day 43 – PCT Mile 610.1 to Mile 637.3

May 17, 2026

Total PCT miles: 27.2

Non PCT miles: 0.0

Total: 27.2 miles / 43.8 km

Total elevation gain: 5318 ft

Total elevation loss: 5448 ft

Steps: 63402

Today was certainly a day out here on the Pacific Crest Trail. It started out mundane enough after one of the better nights sleep I’ve had on trail no doubt in part due to the amazing meal I had last night. I was up packed and hiking at 0615 hrs. My plan was to go to the first water cache of the day at Kelso road, about 7 miles, have second breakfast and move on from there.

The cool air was refreshing and the miles through the pine forest were easy. About a mile into my day I saw a deer grazing in the bushes. It was completely seemingly unbothered by my presence and continued eating occasionally looking over to check me out. I spent a good few minutes just watching it eat before finally continuing along. The trail continued mostly downhill with occasional views of the Sierra In the distance.

As I decended and got closer to the water cache the landscape changed from the pine forest i had been enjoying back into the desert landscape I have come to know so well. Along with the change im scenery the winds slowly began to pick up. I filtered water and ate a full breakfast, that included a delicious orange I had received last night at the cache. Just as I was packing up to continue on my way a local trail angle, “Cinnamon” who helps keep this cache stocked arrived. She gave me a banana, 2 tangerines and some donuts. She made mention of how bad the winds had been and said it must not be fun to hike in. I replied they had Not been that bad and at least it kept me cool. I had no idea what was in store for me later today. She pointed out that the second range of the Sierra was visible and was on her way.

From here the desert got interesting and beautiful. It was probably some of the most beautiful parts of the trail I’ve hiked so far with views into Mojave desert. The landscape was littered with pop Joshua trees that served as the only wind block as it rapidly continued to intensify.

I passed the 1000 kilometer mark on the PCT. To put that in perspective Ottawa to Halifax is slightly less than this distance as the crow flies. Out here on trail it’s kinda easy to loose track of how impressive this is. Everyone out here are doing the same thing and hitting the same milestones. It’s just what we’re all doing for some strange reason or another. But when I stop to think about it… I suppose outside the trail, in my normal life, I don’t know anyone who has done anything like this. Maybe this is impressive but to me right now it just feels like hike, eat, sleep, repeat.

The winds were getting bad as I got closer to the water cache at Bird Spring Pass. At times I couldn’t walk forward. All I could do was brace myself from the unrelenting punishment it was continually unpredictably slamming me with. Most of the time I could hear a strong gust approaching before I felt it, giving me time to brace myself. Other times I got hit without warning. I almost lost my hat. Another hiker I talked to lost a water bottle. For fun at one point I leaned into the wind and it held me up. I later learned wind gusts at Bird Spring Pass were in excess of 76 miles per hour (122 kilometers per hour) which is equivalent to category 1 hurricane winds.

I arrived at the Bird Spring Pass water cache and was rewarded by finding a giant cooler with cola inside! I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to open a random cooler in my entire life. I had thought of camping here as there was a significant climb ahead and I was getting tired from battling the wind but there were no places sheltered from the wind so i carried onward and upward.

The climb was fine with the occasional bracing needed against the wind. Eventually I found a nicely sheltered spot . Or so I thought. Having now hiked 24 miles I was eager to be done for the day. I set up my tent and for the first time used my trekking poles for additional support (a nice feature of the x-dome tent I have), placed big rocks on all the tent pegs and set up guy lines. I’m not sure if the wind shifted, or if I was just being overly optimistic about the spot I had found but just as it was all set up a gust of wind came and lifted my tent off the ground. I acted quickly, grabbing it and dismantling it faster than I’ve ever done before. I saw damage, nothing catastrophic I thought but I could not inspect it here. I decided to continue on. What a shame… the sun set and sun rise at this spot would have been magical.

I hiked a few more miles as the sun was setting frantically looking for a place to set up for the night. I passed a few places that were all ready occupied with no more space for me. Maybe I would be hiking into the night… what if I just never found a place… I could cowboy camp. 3 miles and change later I finally found it. A shelter spot not on the map well protected by trees on all sides. A place to call home for the night assuming my tent wasn’t worse than I thought. I pulled it out of my bag and set up… only one small hole likely from the trekking pole I had used for the extra support. Nothing some duct tape couldn’t eventually fix.

I was exhausted, wind blown, sore, hungry but had no appetite. I forced myself to eat 1/2 bag of granola and some bars and went to bed.

I had basically just walked a marathon in hurricane force winds with over 10000 feet of elevation change. Not to many people can say that.