Daily Mileage

21.61

Elevation

1614 feet up
4470 feet down

Campsite

Mile 528.0

Total Miles Hiked

269.6

Hours Spent Hiking

8 hours 0 minutes

The Best Part?

🌞Warmer weather (it was in the 60s!)

What Did I Learn?

👉Eating lotsa snax is good

Date Hiked

May 8, 2023

PCT Trail Journal Day 27: Mile 549.0 to Mile 528.0

Day 27 on the PCT from Mile 549.0 to 528.0 was quiet and super long.

Last night was in the 30s but I was nice and warm in my sleep system. The sun was shining and it warmed up quickly on the hike. There were lots of wildflowers too! Today was a lot of down so I planned to go a little further. I saw a lot of NOBOs and chatted with a lot of them.

I saw old hiker friends from Idyllwild, Sadie and Caroline, again! It was nice to see familiar faces. We chatted for a few. They mentioned they see a lot of southbounders. I’m excited to meet up with other SOBO folks hopefully soon. It would be nice to have some folks to hike with. Before I was complaining that I didn’t get any alone time. Now I’m like I want some friends. Lol.

I listened to Greenwich Park all day and it was great! It was nice to be warm and listen to a book. I don’t think I have ever seen so many windmills!

To minimize my pack weight, I carried very little water. It felt nice to have a light pack. At Cottonwood Creek, I got 5 liters to do a dry camp somewhere closer to the aqueduct. It was killing my back. I decided to try to only camp near water sources to not break my back.

After Cottonwood Creek, it was 7 miles of walking on a long straight dirt road in the desert. It was monotonous. Someone said make sure you have a good book to listen to 🤣. I saw a couple of new wildflowers that I hadn’t seen before.

It was getting really hard toward the end. I was ready to be done. 21 miles in one day is tough for me! I started to get a bit of the hiker hobble toward the end.

It was hard to find a place to camp. I found something a little off the road, made dinner and then set up camp. I had service and talked with my SO for a while 💛.

Overall it was a good, quiet day with a lot of solitude.

Read my PCT Trail Journal Day 26: Willow Springs to Mile 549.0 here

Read my PCT Trail Journal Day 24: Mile 578.1 to Tehachapi here

Read my PCT Trail Journal Day 23: Mile 597.3 to 578.1 here

Trail Self-Reflection

PCT Trail Journal Day 27 Mile 549.0 to 528.0

✨3 Things I’m Grateful For

1. Being warm
2. Getting these not so fun sections (road walks) out of the way
3. Having snax

PCT Trail Journal Day 27 Mile 549.0 to 528.0 wildflowers

✨3 Things I’m Excited About

1. Warmer weather
2. Getting the aqueduct section done
3. Figuring out how to do less long water hauls

PCT Trail Journal Day 27 Mile 549.0 to 528.0 windmills

🌟How Was Today? Did I enjoy it?

It was a good day. I was warm and I saw some of my old NOBO hiking friends.

PCT Trail Journal Day 27 Mile 549.0 to 528.0 lots of windmills

⛺How Was My Gear?

My sun gloves have holes in the left thumb and pointer fingers. The armpits of my sun shirt smell.

PCT Trail Journal Day 27 Mile 549.0 to 528.0 more windmills

💪How did my Body Feel?

By 20 miles my back and knees were hurting. The heavy pack didn’t help.

PCT Trail Journal Day 27 Mile 549.0 to 528.0 pct sign

🍴How was my food situation?

Great! I ate so many snacks today and it helped fuel my day.

PCT Trail Journal Day 27 Mile 549.0 to 528.0 campsite

🤔What did I learn and how will I action it?

I don’t like my pack being heavy with water. I want to do fewer dry camps and camp more by water sources.

Read Other PCT Trail Journals

✨ Day 26, Day 24, Day 23, Day 22, Day 21, Day 20, Day 19, Days 15-18, Day 14, Day 13, Day 12, Day 11, Day 10, Day 9, Day 7 & 8, Day 6, Day 5 , Day 4 , Day 3, Day 2, Day 1

Map for Hiking the PCT

Maps are fun. Plus you should always have a paper map. 

Nat Geo PCT Map Pack Thumbnail

PCT National Geographic Maps

Map pack for the PCT (affiliate link)!

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