[pct-l] finished...for now

[saskia.home@wanadoo.nl (Saskia)]

Hi everyone,

We have just arrived back in Europe. We have hiked from Willamette 
Pass to Stehekin on the PCT, skipping the section between White Pass 
and Snoqualmie Pass. At the end of the hike my knees hurt and I 
thought I'd be hiked out for a while. But now I long to do the part 
of the PCT in the High Sierra. Maybe next year?

In Skykomish we met up with a couple of thruhikers: Ira and Ethan, 
Nobo and Hersh and Lightning Bolt. All of them were hiking incredibly 
fast and finished their thruhike around mid-August. By them, and by 
other friendly hiking creatures on the trail we have been convinced 
to change a few things in our hiking gear. Most importantly: tent and 
pack. We've already partly replaced those.

 From a Moss Stardome II (8 pounds and 4-season), we've switched to a 
North Face Slickrock (under 4 pounds). My hiking partner has switched 
from a Lowe Alpine Crossbow 70+15 to a Marmot pack that weighs half 
the weight of the Crossbow and carries about 40 liters. So now we are 
going to experiment with our boots.

We thoroughly enjoyed the hike. We met so many wonderful people, who 
invited us to their houses or shared their campfire and icetea with 
us. We expected the impressive landscapes, but were impressed with 
them nonetheless. It will be fun to follow this list for a while, as 
a kind of 're-adjustment' to our flat lands and busy cities.

CU
Saskia
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Jan Heideveld & Saskia Daru
janpalm@wanadoo.nl
saskia.home@wanadoo.nl
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