My Pacific Crest Trail Journey 😀

Radio Interview - Pacific Crest Trail

So after I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail I somehow found myself on the radio - Live!

It was such a great ten little minute slot and despite my nervousness

 I somehow manage to sound coherent and natural. It was a great experience and

fantastic to be able to share my adventure with others.

It was recorded on the 5th of November 2015.

I'd also recommend to watch the video below too. It was made by a fellow hiker

who set out to not only hike the trail but to make a video revolving around the Dr Seuss' poem 

 - Oh! The places you'll go. He filmed various hikers along the trail saying a line each of the poem.

See if you can spot me.

~ Thank you for watching and reading. ~

Top Twelve Breakfasts on the Pacific Crest Trail

Yes! Give me all the breakfasts!! 

Breakfast is my favourite time of the day, on or off trail and I had some fantastic morning meals whilst in the United States. I was blown away by how big a deal this meal is. Most restaurants like Ihop have tailor made menus and if you want to dine here at 8am and onwards you'll find yourself queueing for a table!

As well has having the trail name Yorkie I gained a second name: Cereal Killer because I would pack out cereal - mainly of the sugary children's variety with powdered milk and voila cereal on the trail.

~ enjoy!

~Disclaimer: Do not read on a hungry stomach~

• Breakfast at Papa Smurfs
  Now this was a grand occasion - thank you so much to Papa Smurf who puts on this amazing feast every morning when Hikers are present. We chowed down on doughnuts, pancakes, mini burgers, buttered potatoes, mini sausages in scrambled eggs, toast, orange and apple juice, coffee and tea.......

•  Breakfast at the Kennedy Meadows Restaurant
  Being pick up by the owner and driven back to his restaurant with as many hikers who can clamber into his hatchback. For unlimited pancakes but after two you begin to find yourself begin to struggle as they expand in your stomach. Pleasing food with great company!

• Breakfast at Vermilion Valley ResortI grew to love these simple little breakfasts and they made a welcome change after cereal bars and tortilla wraps with chocolate spread. This one was enjoyed with good company such as York, Puss in Boots, Tooth fairy to name a few. It was my last breakfast on the trail before I left it for a 2 week break.

• Breakfast with a trained ChefWhilst in Belden Town I was treated to a bowl of freshly made porridge with wild brambles by Beaver. It was a lovely way to wake up and a good way to get some fruit into my diet.

 

• Breakfast at Black Bear in Mount ShastaLook at that waffle with cream and strawberries and golden syrup to smoother it with.....

•  Cereal on the trail
  Rare footage of my cereal killing ways from the trail. This was somewhere in Oregon and the waterfall also served as a refreshing shower after devouring one of my favourite breakfast meals.

•  Pancakes at Paradise Cafe
  Breakfast here had a kind of legendary status for all PCT hikers. The Paradise cafe opens at 8am sharp and welcomes all through it's doors. Hikers, road-trippers, locals, tourists - all with one thing in common - to quench their hunger. Hikers probably have the biggest hunger out of all who pass through this cafes doors.

 

• Enroute to Venice BeachWhilst on a 2 week break from the PCT I stayed with a good friend and her parents in law who treated me like family - Thank you! They also paid for the entire 2 weeks I was with them - this meal below was the only one I was able to pay for after stealing the receipt and running to the till. I enjoyed 3 crepes with generous dollops of strawberries and whipped cream accompanied by a hot chocolate.  

• Breakfast from the Venice Beach HotelThis lovely little selection was available every morning. Cute little glass cups full of fruit parfaits. Scrumptious! A treat to wake up to every morning with unlimited orange or apple juice and tea or milk.

• Somewhere enroute to Oregon Country Faire Now this was a pretty simple breakfast but so pleasing to the eye and my stomach. The presentation was rather awesome: rice krispies, fresh fruit, a blueberry muffin and half and half milk. I could not have asked for more.

• In Lake TahoeWhilst having some down time from the trail, Wolf, Rambo and I found ourselves in a nearby restaurant enjoying the delight only to found by having food in the aurora light - well a few hours after dawn but you get the idea. I opted for fresh fruit with strawberry yoghurt, granola and powder icing sugar with orange juice. Bliss!

•  A Treat from York
  This was little dish was eaten near Sisters with good company. York a fellow hiker I met back in the Sierras who was section hiking and treated me (spoilt me many times to be true) to a fancy breakfast. Thank you! Again I'm a sucker for fruit, granola, Greek yoghurt and a sliced strawberry on top. Delicious!

~Thank you for reading~

The Pacific Crest Trail - 2 Years Later

 I can’t believe that the PCT was almost two years ago! I was actually in Japan, being a tourist and reading everything I could about the Pacific Crest Trail. I have no idea why I was drawn to it so much?

There I was living the dream, backpacking my way through south and east Asia, Island hopping and flight swapping. All I could think about was getting an American visa and hiking my way up the west coast.

At times it feels like a dream. Did it really happen? Did I really walk all the way? Did I meet all those people from all over the world?

Then at other times it feels like it was yesterday. It’s dubious and perplexing. Like a lot of things in life, you tend to look back at them fondly despite bad the moments. Through rose tinted glasses they say but I feel genuinely honest when I say that I enjoyed every day. Some more than others but who knew that walking day in day out through the wilderness could be so a kin with me.

Waking just before dawn when the world was still asleep and so still. The aurora glow illuminating everything. No wind to rustle the surroundings nature, just me as I stuff my sleeping bag back into its sack and sling my bag onto my back and march on. It’s still slightly dark as I tramp along, treading quietly along the long trail. It’s half a meter wide and goes all the way to Canada.

Soothing and calm, who knew I would enjoy the silence and my own company for so long. I revelled in it. Sloping up and then down, then zigzagging down then up, the height gained and lost was never ending. Slowly animals emerged, crossing my path. Jays, tiny woodland birds, rabbits, deer, marmots, chipmunks and all aware of me and accepting me as another  creature of the forest. I belonged.

PCT Day 113

PCT Day 112