Brooke Guyot was a through-hiker, originally from Oklahoma. She had already walked over 1,400 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail by the time she reached State Highway 299, in Northern California. Her mind was occupied by the fact that she still had more than 1,200 kilometres to hike.
The “NorCal Blues” is a well-known phenomenon among Northbound (NOBO) PCT hikers: After the honeymoon phase of the desert and the exciting adventure of the Sierra, reality sets in. You’ve been hiking for well over 1,000 miles, you’re still in the same state, and you have a long way to go.
Brooke had a bad day.
“I got to that road and thought, ‘I could be home in 24 hours,’” she said.
Brooke was last seen by me at the beginning High Sierra, in mid-June. On the same day, we summited Forester Pass – a literal high point and metaphorical peak of our trip. Both of us had hiked in solitude since finishing the Sierra.
Most 2023 NOBO hikers have rerouted from Kennedy Meadows South up to Chester, in Northern California, to avoid the snowpack record in the Sierra. Another contingent flipped up to the Northern Terminus and started heading south, “SNOBOs” joining the “true SOBO” crowd. Then,…
