13 March 2022

Tomorrow I fly to Tucson to start the AZT!

And what better way to spend the day than to do some pay-it-forward trail magic on the PCT!

I was especially eager to make some chili for the thru-hikers, since it was my favorite magic from my own hike last year. I followed Kenji Lopez-Alt’s recipe for vegan chili (but I had to quadruple the recipe of course!).

Double Down, Guppy, Half Cookie and I loaded up our cars with shade, chairs, drinks, and food and headed for Kitchen Creek Road where it crosses the PCT.

Around noon hikers started trickling in. One from Denmark was called “Pussycat” due to his habit of napping anywhere and his love of milk (he once drank almost 2 gallons at one sitting)!

I was especially happy to meet Just Mike, who tried a Southbound thru-hike of the PCT last year. I picked his brain for half an hour, getting good details about what to expect in my own hike later this summer.

All in all we saw about 15 people or so in 5 hours. We packed way too much food (and beer!). But with all the leftovers at least we didn’t have to cook dinner when we got home.