Because 'Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations' Was Taken
Ike and the Bat Cave Fresh into Hpa-An, one of the last stops on our Myanmar trip, we booked one of the famous excursions offered by our guest house, Soe Brothers. Every night, a cave on the outskirts of town emptied itself of hundreds of thousands of bats, and we were going to watch. Initially, it … Read moreMore Stories from Myanmar: Hpa An to Mandalay
In northern Washington, the tiny town of Skykomish is the last outpost of human civilization for many thruhikers. We reached it in the early afternoon one day, almost entirely out of food but still energized. The Alpine Lakes Wilderness north of Snoqualmie was beautiful and everything we were looking for from Washington and we were on … Read morePacific Crest Tales: The Den of Legit Hikers
Hello from… St Mary, Montana. This is our fifth and hopefully final day in this tiny, tourist trap of a town. When we awoke this morning, at the ripe morning hour of 9:40, the sun was shining, bright and warm. The wind was still blowing in great gusts as it had the night before, but … Read moreWaiting in Montana, Waiting on Montana
To go Southbound from Canada, we had to go a bit Northbound first. It is against United States law to enter the country from Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail, and we’d be damned if we were going to hike up to the border and then turn around and backtrack to the first available exit … Read morePacific Crest Tales: Going Southbound
For over 200 miles in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the Pacific Crest Trail runs in unison with another scenic hiking trail: the John Muir Trail, or the JMT. 200+ miles of the best, most beautiful views in the Sierras. The John Muir Trail starts in the Yosemite Valley, one of the crown jewels of … Read morePacific Crest Tales: Muir Trail Ranch Resupply
It was a day when I felt like I had hiked 10 miles, but I had only gone 5.5. We took an enormous break at 11 AM and continued the hike towards a fire station 7 miles away, the nearest source of water. This was the Station Fire section of the Pacific Crest Trail. Entire … Read morePacific Crest Tales: The Day We Almost Cheat
After our first zero day, spent in the small town of Julian, a large desert storm began to bear down on the trail. A thick, cold fog enveloped the town, which was some miles away from the trail and at a higher elevation than Scissors Crossing, a popular trail junction. We hitched out with a … Read morePacific Crest Tales: Mile 100, or the Day Everyone Almost Quit
Early into our Pacific Crest Trail thru hike, just after mile 100 or so I started to notice an uncomfortable rubbing of the frame of my pack against my lower back. Since my thru hike was so full of uncomfortable sensations, pieces of gear rubbing against my body, pieces of my body rubbing against my … Read morePacific Crest Tales: Higher Power Hitch
Tehachapi. “Teha-choppy?” “Techachapi?” “Tehapachi.” “I’m just going to call it Te-pap-smear-chapi.” A little town with a name that we all struggled with, Tehachapi was the last town right off the trail before Kennedy Meadows, the end of the desert and the beginning of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It was the last big resupply stop in … Read morePacific Crest Tales: Hikertown
Part of a series of stories from hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Night Hiking The climb down from the peak of San Jacinto is a 20 mile network of descending switchbacks called Fuller Ridge. The second desert rainstorm within two weeks was looming, and most hikers within 1-2 days of us were banking on making … Read morePacific Crest Tales: Night Hiking
