Day 1

Water is heavy. It weighs 2.2 pounds per liter. I never realized the implications of this until I had to carry enough to get me 20 minutes through a desert. Some experienced hikers suggested six liters, but since I'm tall I thought seven was a good idea. It wasn't. I got to Lake Morena with two and half liters to spare. That's five and a half pounds of water that did nothing but be heavy. It was also hot. With an estimated high temperature of 140 degrees, every step just added to the sweat dripping into my eyes. Also, everyone on the internet who said the first 700 miles of the PCT was flat has obviously never been to Nebraska. At mile 15 there is a climb that is steeper than anything at home and we aren't even close to the "real" mountains yet.

In short: Today sucked. It was awesome.

Steps today/total: 37,850/37,850
Miles today/total: 20.5/20.5
Elevation gained today/total: 2,814/2,814
Elevation lost today/total: 3,344/3,344