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 102: July 18, 2025

Location: NorCal
Start: Castle Crags Campground – 1503.2
End: Porcupine Lake – 1532.8
Miles: 29.6
Ascent: 7420 | Descent: 2270
Sleep: Tent

Our biggest ascent day and we didn’t even know it! The elevation profile looked deceptively easy, so we figured we could do an easy 30 miles. We woke up around 5am and talked to an older couple in the campground as we were packing up. They were visiting the area and had done the PCT several years ago.

We left the campground around 7am and began the ascent via Bob’s Hat Trail up to the PCT. This section of the PCT is closed, so we were on the official reroute. It was only about 1.5 miles and was an old forest service road the majority of the way up. We finally reconnected to the PCT and were off.

The trail did a bunch of pointless ups and downs this morning before building to a long climb. Before beginning to go uphill in earnest, we stopped to filter water at Disappearing Creek. We ran into a couple we were convinced was section hiking, but they were adamant they were thru hiking. They were nice and we chatted for a bit before they left to tackle the hill.

We finished filtering and set off with a goal to catch up to the couple and blast past them. This was the section where the trail got steeper. We had dramatic views of the aptly named Castle Crags as we climbed, and thankfully it was only in the 80s today instead of the 90s. It took us a little while, but we caught the other couple and continued hiking up towards the next water source.

When we arrived at the water we found a shady spot to sit and eat lunch. The couple arrived and introduced themselves as Lioness and Mantus. We all talked for a bit and enjoyed our meals before they took off again. Truffles and I lounged around for another half hour or so before packing up. We decided to carry 3 liters of water, so my pack felt very heavy when we got going again.

The views in the afternoon was absolutely breathtaking! We got our first unobstructed views of Mount Shasta from the trail. We saw it for the first time yesterday in the car with Liz, but being in the remote backcountry and beholding this giant is something awe inspiring, especially when it’s in the same line of sight as Castle Crags. The trail continued going up and was just below the ridge line for the rest of the afternoon.

Views aside, I started getting tired when we had about 10 miles left to do. That meant we’d already done 20, but still had a long ways to go. We again didn’t realize how much elevation there would be today, so I just kind of thought I was in a funk. My heat rash also came back with a vengeance after having cleared up in Burney. I was uncomfortable pretty much the entire rest of the afternoon from my rash, tired feet, and sore legs.

As the hours wore on our visibility began to decrease. The winds must have shifted because we could see less and less of the mountains off in the distance. Around 6:45pm we reached White Ridge Spring and treated ourselves to some of the best water in the PCT (according to FarOut). We had just under 3 miles to go to our desired campsite, but I was pretty cooked. I ate a granola bar and promised myself that we’d be there in less than an hour.

We trudged the remaining couple of miles and were so happy when the lake junction sign came into view. Unfortunately the 0.2 side trail to the lake was uphill, so it seemed to last forever.

We made it to Porcupine Lake just before 8pm. What smoky day! We were best but still had to do camp chores. I filtered water while Truffles found a spot. Together we set up the tent and then I put our sleeping stuff inside the tent while he got the water boiling for dinner. We were both tired and surprised by how challenging the day was, especially when we realized how much ascent we’d done. I wonder we were killed!

We ate quickly and then crawled into the tent. I guess we’ll do it all again tomorrow.

Day 103: July 19, 2025

Location: NorCal
Start: Porcupine Lake – 1532.8
End: Tentsite – 1566.4
Miles: 33.6
Ascent: 3047 | Descent: 3914
Sleep: Tent

Our biggest day on trail yet! It was so hard to wake up this morning, I was exhausted from yesterday and slept great. I had felt like I had been hit by a truck yesterday evening, so I took some ibuprofen and Tylenol before going to bed and I woke up feeling good as new. We were on trail around 6am and had a very gentle incline to work our way up once we were back on trail.

The smoke from the fire burning to our west was very prevalent this morning. It was super hazy and our visibility was limited. We couldn’t see Shasta or any of the closure mountains to us. Even trees a couple hundred yards in front of us were hazy. The air smelled like campfire but we didn’t have any issues breathing.

The trail wound its way up and over one saddle before taking us around the backside of the mountain. This meant we were walking in the mountain’s shadow for a good chunk of the morning and it was shaded and cool. Truffle’s thermometer was in the high 40s when we got up today, so it made for perfect hiking weather. This was a start contrast to how hot it’s been the last week. The cooler temps were a welcomed relief!

We stopped to get water from a stream flowing over the trail before descending towards the Parks Creek trailhead. We were hopeful we might get trail magic since the parking lot was large and FarOut comments said trail magic happened often there. We hoped that a Saturday morning was as good of time as any for trail magic. Alas, the only thing waiting for us in the parking lot were pit toilets.

We didn’t let this disappointment dampen our spirits. We hiked hard for the next couple of hours before coming to a seeping spring for lunch. The water was hardly more than a trickle, but there was a log in the shade that serves as the perfect backrest so that meant leaving wasn’t an option. We patiently collected water then sat to enjoy the shade while eating our lunch. We’d already covered about 18 miles at that point and wanted to try and go another 16 more.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty boring. I felt sluggish and slow after lunch, but thankfully got a second wind after dropping to filter water. The smoke came and went throughout the afternoon and the trail was mostly flat. I listened to audiobooks and podcasts to pass the time.

We stopped one last time for water before descending towards Highway 3. We saw a handful of hikers attempting to hitch into town as we crossed the road. The only “big” climb of the day was the push up towards the sign announcing entering into the Trinity Alls Wilderness. The hill was a good distraction and podcasts kept me entertained as I chugged up the hill.

After greeting the ridge and coming down somewhat, Truffles and I arrived at the campsite for the night. The campsite is tucked in a sprawling meadow with lots of flowers scattered about. The only decent rent site, though, was already occupied by a single cowboy camper. He had all his stuff sprawled out around him, taking up room so that we couldn’t fit in the Tentsite. We found another spot, but there were several dead trees close by that looked like they could topple over at any moment. We decided not to camp there and instead made a makeshift site in the grass.

As we were setting up the mosquitoes came out so we ended up eating dinner in the tent. After finishing dinner we set up our sleeping pads and crawled into our bags. To have hiked nearly 34 mores today, I feel pretty good! It’s amazing how much elevation is a killer because I felt so bad yesterday. I’m proud of myself for doing two 30+ mile days back to backs. We’ll see what tomorrow holds.

Day 104: July 20, 2025

Location: NorCal
Start: Tentsite – 1566.4
End: Paynes Lake – 1595.6
Miles: 29.2
Ascent: 5376 | Descent: 5303
Sleep: Tent

It got kind of chilly last night, when we woke up the thermometer said it was in the high 40s. It was hard to get going, but we started hiking around 6:30am.

We started going uphill almost immediately, but in true PCT fashion it wasn’t that steep and was evenly graded. We were socked in by smoke all morning, but when the wind would shift we could see jagged peaks poking through the smoke. It almost looked like the area was just covered in fog, but the lingering campfire smell made it obvious what we were actually seeing. Truffles and I talked a lot about how beautiful this section would have been if we could actually see anything.

The trail surprised us this morning by looping around the side of the mountain rather than going up and over a pass. We passed the time by talking about the different cultures on the PCT compared to the AT. I really think whichever trail you do first is the one you fall in love with. We are obviously very biased but so far we still are convinced the AT is the better trail.

Hiking today wasn’t that eventful and we just spent a lot of time going up and down. At some point on a ridge we got cell signal, so we sat down and played on our phones for a while. We saw an ominous Facebook post saying the road into Etna would be closed the day we were trying to get into town, so that really put a damper on our mood once we started envisioning the 10 mile road walk into Etna.

We hiked downhill for a couple of miles to the South Fork Scott River where we found a shady spot to sit and eat lunch. Neither of us felt very motivated to hike in the afternoon, so we took shots of coffee to put some pep in our step. We looked at FarOut while we were eating to try and find some potential campsites. We found one that was 12 miles from our lunch spot and another one that was 15. We decided to get to the one in 12 and see how we felt.

We left our lunch spot around 1:30pm and began hiking uphill away from the river. The higher we climbed the better the views got in spite of the Smokey haze. It seemed to get more and more windy as the day wore on so sometimes we had clear views without smoke, and then minutes later we’d be totally socked in again. When we could see, though, we had views down into the valley and dramatic rocky mountains surrounding us. Trinity Alps Wilderness must be beautiful when it isn’t on fire.

As we neared the first campsite we had a big push uphill that was right on the side of the mountain. The heights made me a little nervous but we kept moving. Again the views were hit or miss from the smoke. Hiking uphill basically through a campsite was hard in my lungs and I was convinced we’d stay at the first campsite. My mood was not improved by all the blowdowns we had to navigate around and over.

When we arrived at the first campsite we had already hiked 26 miles. The campsite was small, sloped, and completely full. There wasn’t a question of whether or not we could squeeze in, it was obvious there wasn’t space for our large tent. At least it made the choice to keep hiking an easy one!

It was around 7pm and we had to do an additional 3 miles. It could have been a lot worse, but I had been looking forward to getting into camp a little earlier. Oh well. We had to go up and over a hill and then would descend to the next campsite. I put my head down and hiked hard, and thankfully the terrain wasn’t bad.

We arrived at the lakeside campsite around 8pm and were surprised to only see one other person. We found a decent spot and Truffles set up the tent while I got water. Since we’ve been getting into camp later because we’re hiking longer in the day, we have started splitting up the camp chores to divide and conquer. Truffles started cooking while I set up our bedding. As soon as I finished the water was boiling so we got to eat.

The view from Paynes Lake was beautiful and reminded me of a lake in the Sierras. It was basically down in a big bowl with sheer rock a surrounding it. Thanks to all the smoke we got to watch a pretty sunset as we finished dinner. We are tired and ready for bed. Three almost 30 mile days in a row! We did the math and covered 92 miles in 3 days, no wonder we’re beat!