This post originally appeared on The Trek, which you can read here .

If you want to see more from my 2025 PCT thru hike, make sure to check out my Instagram (@annamckinney22) and TikTok (@magicinthemountains) for daily vlogs!

*these posts are coming straight from trail, I apologize in advance for typos!*

Day 81: June 27, 2025

Location: High Sierra
Start: Tentsite – 1024.4
End: Highway 4 and Ebbetts Pass – 1049.6
Miles: 25.2
Ascent: 5054 | Descent: 5485
Sleep: Tent

Another near marathon day! We woke up at our normal time and were on trail just after 6:30am. We had a mellow descent down to the valley floor where we hiked through dense forest. We went up and down a lot today and honestly it all kind of blurred together. We climbed for a while, it flattened out, we went downhill, it flattened out, we went up hill, it just kept going on and on. The terrain alternated between forests and sprawling meadows. I was thankful the mosquitoes weren’t nearly as bad as they have been.

I spent most of the morning hungry. I am worried I didn’t get enough food at KMN and have to limit myself to 3 bars a day. I typically eat 2-3 bars in the morning and 1-2 in the afternoon. I didn’t eat much for dinner last night because I was still kind of full from lunch at the restaurant, so I think I just woke up hungry. My pop tart didn’t satisfy me and I wouldn’t let myself eat my first snack until after 9am. I wasn’t allowed another snack until 11am. Even with all my experience, I never can seem to get my food portions right when I’m resupplying. Typically I carry way too much food, but this time I know I’ll be going into town with an empty food bag.

Today felt long because I was constantly thinking about food, and because I started listening to my audiobook early. Typically I don’t put headphones in until after lunch, but I was close to finishing my book and decided to start listening around 8am. Just since I’m used to listening to stuff in the later half of the day, I think it set me off my game. Between that and my hunger I was constantly looking at my watch to see if it was close enough to my allotted snack break or even lunch. I just felt off all morning.

The scenery at least was beautiful! Very different than the mountains we’ve been used to seeing for the past month, but stunning non the less. There’s been a lot more exposed volcanic looking rocks instead of the sheer granite mountains in the Sierra. Seeing those different views was a highlight every TJ e we crested a ridge.

Our up and down trend continued throughout the day. We stoped for lunch around 1pm and had already hiked 15 miles. Since I was feeling kind of off I decided to treat myself to some hot coffee at lunch to pep me back up. When we were at KMN yesterday, we overheard folks talking about potential trail magic at Ebbetts Pass. We didn’t know anything about who or when, but at lunch we realized we were only 10 miles away. We decided to try and push to the trailhead in hopes of getting trail magic. I was glad I had that cup of coffee!

The rest of the afternoon was simple to the red rod the day I terms of the constant rollercoaster we were on. We climbed up to the saddle above Noble Lake and spent some time looking back over the mountains we had crossed. The descent had one of the thickest snow fields we had to traverse and we couldn’t find any boot prints. We slipped and slide enough to get aggravated, and decided to go over trail and bushwhack rather than suffer through the snow.

We made it easily enough back to trail and had a short hike down to Noble Lake. Past the lake the trail zig zagged through a deep canyon made up of more of the crazy looking volcanic rock. At the bottom of the canyon we began the last climb of the day and slowly made our way up to Ebbetts Pass.

I tried to keep my expectations in check as we neared the junction. There’s nothing worse than hoping for trail magic and then it not being there. When we got to the junction there was a cardboard sign saying “trail magic!” We were so excited and hurried down the trail to the working lot.

When we arrived we were greeted by Cool Shorts who was serving up street tacos. She is a PCT section hiker and was doing trail magic for the group she hiked around in the desert. In attendance were Tracks, Jinx, Swish, and another guy. We all sat around the table Cool Shorts provided with lawn chairs and were so happy and content. We spent several hours eating and chit chatting before setting up the tents in the parking lot. What a great end to the day! 

Day 82: June 28, 2025

Location: High Sierra
Start: Highway 4 and Ebbetts Pass – 1049.6
End: Seasonal Creek – 1074.2
Miles: 24.6
Ascent: 4196 | Descent: 4603
Sleep: Tent

Another big but good day! We woke up in the trailhead parking lot and Cool Shorts was busy on the grill whipping up pancakes, bacon, and sausage. Pebbles, Score, Jinx, Tracks, Truffles, and I had all slept there and were excited for another delicious trial magic meal. Cool Short’s husband and son had shown up last night as well, and they were busy setting out fruit and boiling water for coffee.

As we feasted, a few other hikers showed up. First Lina arrived and got a drink and some fruit and was off in a hurry, she said she was trying to make it to Truckee in the next several days and needed to hike fast. Ashley came next and took time to sit down and eat but also was off in a hurry to try and catch Lina.

We enjoyed our meal and were so grateful to Cool Shorts and her family. I enjoyed several cups of coffee and ate my fill of pancakes and meat. Fuels and ready for the day, we said our goodbyes and got on trail around 8:30am.

Our morning was fairly easy as we just went up and down some small hills. I was grateful to be full but glad I hadn’t overindulged and didn’t feel bad while hiking. The trail took us through a wide open meadow with crazy spiny mountains on our left hand side and wildflowers all around. The mountains off in the distance looked more like rolling hills but they were still impressive.

Once we were through the meadow we had a small climb to get up on a ridge before our big climb up to 9,000’. We stopped for water and then pressed on. The climb began in a forest but the trees quickly fell away and it felt like I was back in the desert. The rocks all were dark or rust colored and there was minimal shade. Thankfully it wasn’t too steep and I was able to keep a good pace going uphill.

Getting to the top of the mountain was a huge reward because there was a peaceful meadow with tons of flowers overlooking the mountains. I found a shady spot to sit and wait for Truffles. It took a while but he finally caught up saying he was going slow and that his stomach was bothering him. He went to dig a cat hole and returned saying he felt much better. Together we set off on a long descent that took us back down through the forest, past a creek, and then back up again.

On FarOut there was a hazard icon for a “steep traverse”. Apparently when there is still a lot of snow, the snow chutes in this sections are dramatic and dangerous. Lucky for us almost all the snow was melted and we hardly had to walk on snow at all. The ruggedness of this area reminded me of the peaks preceding San Jacinto (Apache Peak maybe?).

After the traverse the trial bombed downhill. When we got to the bottom we decided to stop for lunch in a shady spot by a creek. While we were eating another hiker stopped and ate with us. Her name was Lindsey and she was from New York. We chatted about our hikes and the mosquitoes and I really enjoyed our conversation and the extra company.

After lunch we had a mellow stretch of trial before another big climb and long descent. We realized at lunch that we could get close enough to Carson Pass today to then go into South Lake Tahoe tomorrow, meaning we’d get there a whole day early! I’d much rather do all the climbing in the morning, but a tough afternoon would mean town tomorrow so I knew I could do it.

We hiked around ponds and up and down rocks before crossing Blue Lakes Road and beginning to final climb of the day. It wasn’t a steep climb but it was long and drawn out over several miles. There was minimal shade so it was hot and I was running low on water. The views were outstanding, though, and kept me motivated to keep climbing. We hiked through fields of wooly mules ear mixed with lupines and Indian pant brush. As we got higher we could see several lakes down below us and tall snow peaks reaching towards the Sierra.

Towards the end it got steep and I was thankful for the pretty views as an excuse to stop and catch my breath. Finally we started going down along a narrow ridge line with a sheer drop on one side. We both ran out of water and made plans to stop at the first running water we saw. The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur. We had less than 4 miles to the campsite but I was tired and thirsty. Thankfully we found water quickly and filled up a couple bottles to get us to camp. We passed wide open fields and streams and even a few lingering patches of snow.

Finally we made it down to the stream that had tons of campsites scattered around. As soon as we stopped moving the mosquitoes were upon us. I put my rain pants on to pitch the tent, and once we were inside we didn’t leave for the rest of the evening. I am tired but rightfully so. I’m impressed that we made it to camp before 7pm, especially since we got a later start. Excited for town tomorrow!

Day 83: June 29, 2025

Location: High Sierra
Start: Seasonal Creek – 1074.2
End: US Highway 50 – 1091.9
Miles: 17.7
Ascent: 2670 | Descent: 3738
Sleep: Tent

Our first town and shower in what felt like forever! We were motivated when we got up to hike hard to get into South Lake Tahoe. We were on trail around 6:30am and had our big climb up to Carson Pass. The trail was graded well and while we were obviously going uphill it felt manageable.

The climb was less than 2 miles long and went by quickly. The views were pretty all around and we encounter a very small amount of snow so we were able to move quickly. We ran into Fox while when we crested the summit and all made our way down to the info center at Carson Pass.

The info center was an adorable cabin on the side of Highway 88 that apparently is a major trailhead. There were pit toilets and the center volunteers has trial magic for hikers! One of the volunteers had made and individually wrapped a bunch of baked goods, there were sodas, fruit, chips, and a bunch of other goodies we could pick from. They even had WiFi and would fill up or water bottles. We hung out there with Fox and Lindsey for about 30 minutes using the WiFi and enjoying the volunteer’s hospitality.

Around 9am we headed out and began working our way towards our second climb of the day. This section of trail has been so beautiful and today was no exception. We saw a lot of day hikers around the trailhead and were happy to get further away from the road.

At a certain point today the PCT intercepted the Tahoe Rim Trail. We began seeing backpackers that were doing that trail or other smaller sections of the PCT. The signage as we drew closer to Tahoe was well established and visible and had icons for the PCT and TRT.

Lindsey told us she did the TRT last year and spoke about how much elevation change there was in that trail. We definitely felt part of it today because once we were on the TRT it felt like we had some big climbs and even bigger descents! We climbed up towards Showers Lake and kept climbing past several other trailheads. This felt like one of the steepest sections we’ve had in a while, but maybe I just felt that way because I was hungry and ready to get into town.

Around noon Truffles and I stopped to filter water and debate whether or not we should stop for lunch. We decided to press on and snack hard so we could great good one we got to town. The afternoon felt like it lasted forever just because I was so ready to be done hiking for the day. I thought the long descent would be a good thing, but it ended up being super steep and rocky and was honestly pretty challenging.

Finally we made it to the side trail for Echo Summit and walked down to the highway. We didn’t have our thumbs lie for long before a van pulled over and we were invited in. Donna was a Tahoe local who loved helping out hikers. She’d already picked up Fox and was happy to drive the 3 of us into town. She dropped us off at the Tahoe Valley Campground where hikers can camp and shower for free!

We pitched our tent in the PCT area and as we were set up another trail angel, Charlie, pulled up and wanted to help us resupply. I’d never encountered a trail angel like him- he goes to Costco and buys a bunch of bulk food he thinks hikers would like for resupply. I feel like trail angels usually make food for hikers, but Charlie had a full resupply he wanted us to comb through and take whatever we wanted. He had pop tarts, oatmeal, ramen, Knorr’s, drink mixes, beef jerky, and so much more! He was so kind and selfless and just wanted to help hikers.

After we got some goodies from Charlie, we took showers and got ready to go get some food. Truffles wanted to go back to Lake Tahoe Pizza Company since we had takeout from there a few weeks ago, and the restaurant was conveniently right across from the campground! We had a delicious pizza and then walked down the street to South Lake Brewing Company for drinks. We’ll do town chores tomorrow and try to enjoy a day of rest tomorrow, we’ve earned it!