San Francisco or Bust

My original plan for the pct was to do about 15 miles a day, but once I started the trail I realized I could do quite a bit more. So my mileage went from 15 mile days to 30 mile days. In most cases this would be a good problem to have but this year is different. The snowpack in the High Sierra is 200% of normal and hikers haven’t yet been able to make it through that section yet. So because of my excellent pace I have reached the front of the pack. That’s a problem because I don’t want to be the first one to blaze the trail through the snow.

This realization hit me while in a town called Tehachapi. From this town you can take a bus pretty much anywhere. So my hiking buddy and I decided that the next day we would take off the trail and head to San Francisco. This decision was very spur of the moment but I guess that’s the nature of this kind of travel. It’s about just going for it and letting the details work them self out. By 6:30am the next morning we were on a grayhound headed toward San Fransico without a place to stay or a a plan of what we would do when we got there.

Iuckily I recently discovered an app called couch surfer. This app has hosts and travelers. Each writes reviews about the other so you can make sure it is safe you are a good travel match. So I contacted hosts in the area and got a response. A super nice guy named Curt is now letting me and Harry sleep on an air mattress in his apartment. Oh and his apt has an amazing location. From his apartment we can see the golden gate bridge and walk to the water in a few minutes.

So far it has been a shock going from seeing ten people a day to thousands, but I think this trip is one of the best things i’ve ever done. And it was all done last minute, which adds an additional excitement and uncertainty to the whole thing!

-Noel Nelson