Hiking The Pacific Crest Trail For Our Honeymoon

By: Serge Pikhotskiy October 1, 2016

Pacific Crest Trail | A Walk Across The United States is a Short Film About Our 2016 Pacific Crest Thru-hike From the Vorder of Mexico to Border of Canada from Serge Pikhotskiy on Vimeo.

Trip Summary:

The seed of a PCT thru-hike has been planted a year ago when we got engaged and started thinking about our wedding and future lives together. Although, we have always had thoughts about taking time off and doing something for ourselves, the wedding was a big push that if not now then when? We began to think about our big trip in coherence with our wedding and eventually a honeymoon idea was born. For our honeymoon, we decided to follow our own dream and hike the Pacific Crest Trail.

Yes, this is us! Posing in our “Full on Hiking Outfit” right after we got married. Better yet, we are getting ready to Hike Pacific Crest Trail for our Honeymoon!

Navigation

DAY 1: CAMPO, CA | MILE 0

: Border Wall with Mexico

: Souther Terminus

: Our starting PCT Crew: From left to right: Sal, Shawn, Jeff Dasha & Me!

South Terminus is PCT’s starting point, located just outside of small town of Campo in Southern California. It’s about 2 hours drive by car from San Diego. The monument stands 30 feet from the Mexican border – a metal wall stretching out as far as the eye can see and heavily guarded by Border Patrol…Click to Read More

DAY 7: WARNER SPRINGS | MILE 109

For some reason each day on PCT is becoming more and more difficult. Each day you begin walking thinking you have stronger legs or your pack is going to be lighter today but everything is hurting by noon. Right now we are hiking through Southern California high desert. We started off our hike thinking that desert will bring us many hot days, not realizing…Click to Read More

DAY 10: IDYLLWILD | MILE 179

We have encountered several over 90°F days where we had to go up hill for most of the time. Water situation on PCT is no joke and should not be taken lightly. There are often times when we have to carry additional 6 liters of water (that’s 12 pounds) on top of the gear and food that we have in our packs…Click to Read More

DAY 17: BIG BEAR LAKE | MILE 266

San Jacinto is the second tallest peak (10,200 ft) in Southern California which is located right off PCT. Leaving Idyllwild, Rangers told us that the peak and a portion of PCT is closed due to recent rain storm which ended up causing snow precipitation in higher elevations. We were told it was waist deep snow and rescue crews were taking people off by a helicopter…Click to Read More

DAY 22: CAJON PASS | MILE 342

This has been so far our favorite part. Why? We got spoiled and got to S-W-I-M 3 days in a row!!! Going from carrying water purely for our survival to having such abundance of it that we can actually go for a swim has been such a treat. Our first night it was a small swim hole in a creek…Click to Read More

DAY 24: Wrightwood, CA | MILE 369

Unforeseen stop. Some hikers chose to resupply by going into grocery stores that are located in nearby towns that we pass on the trail (which could vary from as small as a gas station, to huge supermarkets). The towns could be anywhere from a walking distance to having to hitchhike several miles away from the trailClick to Read More

DAY 27: Nature On PCT | MILE 400

Our favorite times of the day are early mornings and evenings. There is something magical about those hours. Waking up with the first bird song when everything else is still quiet. Getting out of camp first ones to hit the trail, we can see foot prints of animals who walked the trail at night – deer, coyotes or occasional mountain lion…Click to Read More

DAY 30: Aqua Dulce, CA | Mile 454

Our favorite times of the day are early mornings and evenings. There is something magical about those hours. Waking up with the first bird song when everything else is still quiet. Getting out of camp first ones to hit the trail, we can see foot prints of animals who walked the trail at night – deer, coyotes or occasional mountain lion…Click to Read More

DAY 36: Mojave, CA | Mile 558

We got back to the trailhead at around 2:00PM. The sun was positioned directly over the top of our heads and with the complete lack of shade there was no escape from 100 degree heat. Despite the fact that we took almost a 24hr rest, we were still pretty exhausted from hiking during previous weeks….Click to Read More

DAY 43: Kennedy Meadows, CA | Mile 702

This is our last stretch in the desert before hitting Kennedy Meadows – entry to Sierra Wilderness. This was also the hardest stretch for us on the trail so far. We have been mentioning in the previous posts about the water situation in the desert, how scarce it is and that we follow a mile by mile water report which tells us where is the next reliable water source…..Click to Read More

DAY 58: Mammoth Lakes, CA | Mile 903

After taking a day zero in Kennedy Meadows (KM) to recharge our batteries we headed out into the Sierras. There are several resupply stops once you enter the mountains but we felt like we were prepared for an 11 day stretch without resupplying. From KM our next resupply stop would be the Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR). Carrying 11 days worth of food is no joke and needless to say our packs were gigantic weighting at 44lb for Serge and 38lb for me, that’s without any water…Click to Read More

DAY 66: Our Number One Fans

Maybe it were the countless Facetimes where they saw how skinny our faces are getting, maybe it was the interest to see the beauty that they have never seen before, or maybe it was simply missing each other after being away for several months – our number one fans came to visit, moms….Click to Read More

DAY 69: Tuolumne Meadows, CA | Mile 942

After taking 8 days off to spend with our moms it was extremely difficult to get back on the trail. Although we got plenty of rest, it almost felt like our legs forgot what it was like to hike. From Mammoth to Tuolumne, our next resupply point, is approximately 34 miles – a distance doable in 2 days…Click to Read More

DAY 78: Lake Tahoe, CA | Mile 1090

We left Tuolumne on 4th of July, passing by places where we have walked with our moms just a few days ago. Once out of the touristy over crowded trails, we were back in solitude of river waterfalls and granite mountains….Click to Read More

DAY 88: Belden, CA | Mile 1248

The number of PCT thru-hikers greatly reduces after Lake Tahoe. Why? It is considered amongst many that Sierras is the most beautiful & challenging part of the PCT. Once a hiker is done with Sierras and arrives to Lake Tahoe, the realization settles in of the fact that we are STILL in California, and we STILL have about another 600+ miles of Cali before we move on to Oregon…Click to Read More

DAY 91: Drakesbad Ranch, CA | Mile 1347

Northern California terrain by any means is not flat. Even though we are out of Sierras, we still have to climb hills every day. Especially if we go into towns which are situated at much lower elevations, so we have to drastically drop and gain elevation each time we get into a town. For example, just a few days ago we were hiking out of town and had a 3,000ft vertical climb just over a few miles. Coming out of Belden our climb was 4500 feet….Click to Read More

DAY 98: Mt.Shasta, CA | Mile 1493

Just when we thought the dessert days were over… Waking up at 3am to walk 30 water-less miles felt harsh (no natural sources of water, making us carry enough H2O for entire day) . In 2003 a huge storm passed through the Hat Creek Valley. Lightning struck over 900 times, igniting 27 wild fires that ended up burning over 100,000 acres of forest…Click to Read More

DAY 109: Ashland, OR | Mile 1716

Well, our animal encounters did not stop here! Coming out of the town of Mt.Shasta, about 8 miles in from town, the trail was curving in a shape of a ‘U’. We were standing on one end of the ‘U’ and had to walk in a half circle to get to the other end. As I was walking I heard a moaning noise but did not pay much attention to it as I thought maybe it were other hikers ahead of us…Click to Read More

DAY 114: Crater Lake, OR | Mile 1818

So now we are in Oregon, and we are TIRED. At this point we have been on the trail for almost 4 months and our bodies are exhausted. Probably mentioned somewhere before, but now we are averaging at 24 miles a day which is equivalent to running a marathon every day….Click to Read More

DAY 131: Cascade Locks, OR | Mile 2144

Boy did taking 3 days off help us recover. Doing absolutely nothing, laying in our hotel room and staring at the wall, we patiently waited for the bug to make its course through our bodies to exit. Coming back on the trail we could immediately feel new strength and recovery benefits of our time off…Click to Read More

DAY 141: Snowqualime Pass, WA | Mile 2390

Washington is hands down our most favorite state on this trail. PCT has saved the best for last. Often times Serge and I regret how fast we have went through the beautiful Sierras and wish that we would have slowed down. Here in WA we feel like we have gotten our second chance. Although we have only 2 weeks left of our journey, and as much as we are excited to get back, it is getting bitter sweet and we are savoring each minute spent here on the trail….Click to Read More

DAY 153: CANADA | Mile 2650

Leaving Snoqualmie has brought us to a 2 week mark of time that we have left on PCT. Feeling so bittersweeet, we decide to take a 30 mile alternate route that eventually rejoins PCT to check out the last hot springs we would see on the trail. Now that we are in Washington, the temperatures are much lower making it oh so perfect for a hot spring soak. In addition, Serge and I have committed to go through entire WA without taking any days off, meaning our muscles need all the rest they can get…Click to Read More

DAY 155: FINAL THOUGHTS

The thought of what will Serge and I get out of this thru-hike has crossed my mind before we even started. I have tried reading literature about experiences of previous thru-hikers but couldn’t really relate to their journeys. The truth is, I had no idea what to expect other than just do it, taking it one day at a time…Click to Read More

Hiking The Pacific Crest Trail For Our Honeymoon