My first week (with lots of photos)

c) Andrew Carter, 2021

In the first 6.5 days of my hike, I covered 86.7 miles of the trail from Walker Pass to Tehachapi. That’s 13.3 miles per day.

My shortest day was the first day when I covered about 5 miles in 3.5 hours, climbing the entire way.

My longest day was the last day when I covered 16.1 miles in 8 hours. That included a long downhill stretch at the end.

Allowing for breaks, my normal hiking pace is about 1.5 to 2 miles per hour. But if there is a steep climb, I may struggle to complete one mile in an hour.

The first 3.5 days, I was exhausted all the time. The fourth day, I started to find my hiking legs. By the fifth day, I was truly enjoying myself.

After a zero day today in Tehachapi, I’ll be back on the trail tomorrow morning. The next major road crossing will be in 47 miles. That’s Route 138 which connects Aqueduct. The I-5 near the top of the Tejon Pass with Lancaster. Part of the way, I will be walking on top of a buried portion of the California Aquaduct.

There’s little shade along this entire section. Sometimes hikers will hike the southern portion at night to avoid high temperatures. Fortunately for me, the weather report is calling for temperatures in the 70’s. Nonetheless, it can be brutal in the sun even at these temperatures. I’m glad its also supposed to be … you guessed it, windy.

Here are some photos from my first week.

Me at Walker Pass
Joshua trees along the trail
My Joshua tree campsite, end of Day 3
Kelso Valley Road
Dirty feet
Still some snow in places
The interplay of light and shadow
I hiked off the trail to the “sheep ranch” for water. No sheep, but one large bull.
The water tank at the “sheep ranch”
Dead trees. I’ve passed through many fire zones.
Golden Oak Spring, end of Day 6
Yes, I do on this section of trail, at least tonight
Mohave view
Feeling like 100 Grand

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Andrew Carter

I just completed a multi-year thru hike (MYTH) of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). It took three years. I hiked 1840 miles in 2021, 733 miles in 2022, and 122 miles in 2023. The only reason I had to hike in 2023 was a wildfire closure at the north end of the PCT in 2022. During the past two years, I've also thru hiked other, shorter US trails. I hiked the Benton MacKaye Trail (GA, NC, TN) and the Tuscarora Trail (VA, WV, MD, PA) in 2022 plus the Ozark Highlands Trail (AR) in 2023. I hope to hike the Long Trail (VT) next year and the Colorado Trail at some point in the future. Please note, all content on this site is copyright.

16 thoughts on “My first week (with lots of photos)”

  2. Absolutely Awesome! The reason I am so interested in your progress is that a lifetime ago as a young Student Conservation Program participant in Zion National Park for a summer I had aspirations of hiking The PCT. Alas, life got in the way although I did other hikes not as ambitious. Your planning, experience, and conditioning (?) obviously have served you very well. Just terrific. Please keep the blog posts coming. How about a feature film – “Wilding – Andy Carter style” .

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  3. I agree, absolutely awesome! I’m loving your blog. It’s fun to tag along in a virtual way as you follow your dream. Please feel free to share more info as you go- about what you eat, your daily schedule (or the variety of it), what you carry, what you do in the evening after you pitch your tent, how often do you meet others on the trail. And do you have a current trail name?
    Was thinking yesterday as I was out walking – not as ambitious as backpacking, I know- how grateful I am that Dad passed on to us the love of walking and being out in nature. So enjoy!

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  6. 🥾I love reading your blog AndyCarter ☺️.
    When one is watching a movie you always know if it’s going to be a happy, comical or frightening scene based on the background music. So please feel free to include any music links with your posts – Song of the week! With all these questions and requests for info you are getting, your fan club is going to keep you very busy. Enjoy every mile 🥾

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  7. Love reading your blog! Are there many people on the trail? Made any new friends? Do you listen to music or podcasts as you hike?

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    2. I’ll try to address these questions. Yes, there are other people. The number I pass varies. Only two today, a low day. Over the weekend, given my proximity to LA, there were lots of day hikers.

      I don’t listen to music as I hike. I like to hear the sounds of the woods — the animals, especially birds. Also, the sound of the wind.

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