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The PCT 2000 Hike Journal

Foreword: Los Angeles 9/8/00

No more easy living in the woods... Now it is all hard-core city standards for the 2 man combo. This page will get one more update when Joe informs us of his experiences on the trail. Kimmo could not get a job in Los Angeles and is going home and JB continues to go to School. Joe is still hiking. Steve is now living on the East coast after many wild adventures this summer.

Scroll down for the complete journal.

Start May 10th 10:06 AM

There is four of us. JB Benna, a film Student from USC, originally From Reno NV. Kimmo Syvari, a photography student from Finland, Joe Lane, a Biology student from Reno and Steve, a poet from Reno. Our objective: Hike from the US-Mexican border at Campo, California, to Manning Park B.C., in Canada, on the Pacific Crest trail. We are carrying a camera to document our trip.

May 15th Warner Springs

At this point we would like to apologize for any Blair Witch innuendoes that our footage might seem to be referring to. No one has died yet even tough Steve passed out twice yesterday (this is no joke). He had to hitchhike in to the nearest town and he will not be continuing his journey by foot. We reached Warner Springs last night and finished hiking our first 100 miles, section 'A'.(80 percent of the thru-hike drop outs take place during this section) . JB and Kimmo hiked in at 8:30 PM after a one day 34 mile hike (longest so far).

Our hiking crew ended up with a new member. 46 year old Dave from Washington State. Toughest guy we've seen yet. He motivated us to hike faster and faster until we reached the point in which JB and Kimmo hallucinated of beating the record of the fastest though hike, set by the legendary Ray Jardien and his wife Jenny. Ray is a legend in the long distance hiking world, so I guess that gives us license to make tons and tons of jokes of his adventures with corn pasta and shower booties. We figure that he must have stock in the Corn Pasta industry. Props Ray, thank you for help cutting down our pack weight. Next update May 23

May 23rd, Big Bear City

We've reached the point in the trail where we don't care how dirty we are, and we have no idea what day of the week it is. If some food falls on the ground you simply pick it up and put it in your mouth. After about a week, one gets to this point where you can't get any dirtier than you are, so you stop caring. It's a great feeling.

The last week on the trail was hot and dry. A couple days ago near Palm Springs the thermometer read 110 degrees. We found a bush and huddled in it's shade as if we were dodging a terrible rain storm. However, we also got to experience the high, cool mountain air of the San Jaciento and San Bernandino Mountains. On the 19th, the group had a close call by running out of food 16 miles from the mountain community of Idyllwild. There wasn't a single moment on that 16 mile stretch where we didn't think of food. I(Joe) was thinking about an extra large cheese pizza with olives. JB wanted vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. Kimmo wanted the largest vegetarian burrito the town had to offer. When we arrived we settled on a large 17" pizza each. Despite strange looks from others in the pizza parlor, we were in heaven.

It's kind of neat to live such a simplistic life. All we do all day is walk, eat, sleep, make fun of each other, constantly drink water, eat some more, and answer nature's call every once in awhile. One of our favorite things is meeting the other PCT hikers. It's a little subculture all with the same goal of reaching Canada. Everyone knows each other by our first names or trail names, and there's a good amount of gossip that goes along with knowing everyone. It's not all fun though. There's leg problems to worry about. JB is missing his girlfriend Jen, and Kimmo can't stand it when other PCT hikers pass us. As for me, well, I'm miss drinking coffee. Sometimes I think about if for hours. I didn't realize what a caffeine addict I was till I did this trail. The next update will be around May 31st give or take a couple days.

May 31st, Auga Dulce

In Big Bear City we decided to go see the movie Road Trip. We sat down in the theater and some teenager girls a couple rows behind us said, "Dude, Someone smells like ass." Another voice said, "Yeah, something smells terrible." About ten minutes later a guy right behind us said, "Someone has some bad b.o.." We looked at each other and smiled. They we talking about us and we thought it was funny.

A couple days after Big Bear we were walking down a canyon and we saw Interstate 15. The cars we flying past at high speeds. It seemed so uninviting. We walked down to the McDonald's a little ways down the interstate. There was 60 million people in there all moving like they were on speed. It was loud and uncomfortable. The food was ready in 2 seconds and we were out of there 2 seconds after that. We ran out like we were escaping a burning building. It's safe to say that we are getting used the trail and it's going to be hard to leave if we get to Canada. Some people have said that long distance hikers experience a little culture shock when they get home. That should be interesting.

We just finished the San Gabriel Mountains, which are close to Los Angeles. It was beautiful, but all three of us are a little excited about getting out of the desert heat and into the Sierras. We arrived at Auga Dulce yesterday and we're hanging out at Donna and Jeff's house. Donna is the nice women that lets dirty "hiker trash" hang out and clean up. It's so cool. You get to take off your clothing, stick it in a LAUNDRY basket, take a shower, and wear spare clothing while your clothing is washed. This hiker "oasis" is a bit too comfortable. We don't want to leave. There's about 25 thru-hikers hanging out. We're exchanging stories, comparing blisters, and enjoying how good we smell. It is the 21st day and we have now hiked 454 miles through the desert and we have about 260 more from here. Just ahead lies a great challenge as we head into the extreme heat of the Mojave Desert. The next update will be sometime around June 10th.

June 12th Kennedy Meadows

We finally made it to the Sierras. We faced many problems through the Mojave and the Tehachapi Mountains. Our water filter and stove broke down between Agua Dulce and Tehachepi. Joe got separated when they we were all supposed to meet at the 3 Points Road House.

Kimmo and JB ended up taking an additional 8 hour break to eat food, play pool and take showers. After the nice, yet long break, JB and Kimmo had a lot of catching up to do. We woke up at four in the Mojave and hiked 41 miles to get to Tehachapi by seven thirty at night. That is where we finally found Joe. In Tehachepi the water filtering system was replaced with chlorine and the stove got sent home and replaced with a stove that we made from tuna cans.

After Tehachepi Joe got separated again from Kimmo and JB and ended up walking around with no food. Kimmo and JB carried Joe's food in the first 16 miles until he was found. Some disastrous moments took place until Kennedy meadows were reached. We ran out of water and had to drink water from a stagnant spring contaminated with cow crap. We had to dig a hole in the muddy cow prints to get the water out. It was the most frustrating moment of the trip so far. We will know weather we got Giardia or not in a few days.

Two days before Kennedy Meadows a storm hit the us. It started out with high winds and very cold temperature. Just as we came to an unprotected ridge, the rain began to fall and it soon turned to sleet. We, only having ponchos, were not able to stay dry in the horizontal rain. We became very cold, but we luckily came to McIvers cabin, which has been set up for hikers.

We made a fire, dried our clothes and ended up staying the night in the cozy cabin. We finally made it to Kennedy Meadows, and just in time for the free Saturday night movie in the outdoor amphitheater. The amphitheater is where we have been camping out ever since.

Now after one month and 697 miles we have finally reached the Sierras. Kimmo and JB are going to continue to hike together, but Joe wants to take his time and climb peaks in the Sierras. Right now Joe is with his cousin Phil and his friend Mark taking a couple of days off from the trail to go backpacking to the top of Langley Peak. Next section will be 9 days and we have to carry a whole lot of food. Our packs are going to be heavy and the section from Independence to Vermilion has 74 000 feet of vertical elevation change. Next update July 1st

June 30th: Reno

We did not get gardia, though we both had days where we were sure we had it. However we really got mindbroiled by God's good nature on the last section.

Since Kennedy Meadows we have seen some of the most beautiful areas of our nation and yet at the same time our minds have been in constant agony. JB kept himself going with the thought of seeing his girlfriend Jennifer in a few days. Kimmo kept on going only because there was no escape, we were in the John Muir section and did not cross a single road for more than 200 miles.

After Kennedy we hit the High Sierra. Joe had hiked this section earlier and warned us about its toughness. He was saying that we could not climb more than one big pass per day and that we would be happy if we could average 20 miles per day. With this in mind we set out carrying 9 days worth of food. Our packs weighed 40 pounds, which was about twice as heavy as usual. We were both hating our pack weights. On the second day we realized that the only reason it was taking us 9 days was because we were carrying so much food. We ended up dumping 2 days worth of food in the woods and continuing the journey with lighter packs. We set our selves on a brutal 33 miles per day and started trying for 3 passes per day. The John Muir section has 8 high passes between 10 and 13 thousand feet.

Between each pass we went all of the way back down to about 7000 feet before starting up again. All the passes had snow on them, sometimes we had to walk through as much as ten miles of snow over a pass. We could never make the 3rd pass and ended up camping right underneath the third one. It was always high altitude, cold and constant wetness. We became very familiar with the concept of wet shoes on the Muir section. Our prayers for more water had obviously been heard. We encountered water in its every form; snow, sleet, hale, rain, rivers and ice. On one of the river crossings Kimmo became frustrated. Instead of taking off his shoes, he just plowed trough the river with his shoes on. JB responded to this; 'You idiot', but 5 seconds later he did the exact same thing.

In our group of 2 we have now realized that if one person does something that will slow them down, the other might as well do the same, because you are only as strong as your weakest link. JB actually began to cry on the John Muir section after much frustration, snow, insane river crossings, smashing his knee on rocks after falling through the snow and then very happy thoughts of Jen. Kimmo would have also cried but he thinks he is emotionally crippled.

Our next stop was Vermillion Valley Resort. a great place for hikers but a horrible place for the wallet. We spent 16 hours at the resort ending up spending $80 each even though the room and the first drink were on the house. We left the food box for Joe and got out of there in time. For the first time on this entire journey we got out of a resupply station as planned. We still had a few passes to go but the next section allowed us to do 2 day hikes by resupplying in Reds Meadows. We don't know why we slept at the campground there. JB burned his neck when a hot coal landed on it and in the morning our sleeping bags were full of holes.

Our pace since Kennedy Meadows has been way too fast. We figured that if we had keep up that pace we would have both dropped out in a week because it is so painful. After Reds Meadows our next stop was at Tuolomne Meadows. We have not been drinking any alcohol on this trip until the hike from Reds meadows to Tuolomne. We were climbing the first of the 2 passes on this stretch when we ran in to a guy who was carrying a 24 pack of beer with a broken handle. He offered us each a beer. Kimmo was hesitant at first but since JB started drinking one, Kimmo thought that he might as well have one. You would think that one beer would not affect you but after 6 weeks of hiking, a small amount of alcohol can work miracles. We got really lazy and started walking really slow. It was a 36 mile day and we still had about 16 miles to go.

The beer incident resulted in a night hike and we ended up fighting over whether to camp or keep hiking all the way as planned. We ended up reaching Tuolomne at 10.30 P.M. being extremely tired. Kimmo found out that his sleeping bag had been traveling in his backpack with a gallon of melting snow an was completely wet. He left his shoes to dry by a resort campfire and went to look for a room. When he returned to get his things he found one of his shoes burning by the campfire and JB asleep. We were both horrified, knowing that we had to meet Jennifer in two days, Kimmo had no shoes, and there was not a shoe store within 60 miles. Though we were upset, we both began laughing from the exhaustion. In the morning after an attempt to duct tape his Superfeet insoles to his feet Kimmo luckily got a pair of Catepillar working boots 2 sizes too small from a shopkeeper at the general store. Kimmo and JB hit the next brutal section at 10:00, Kimmo in the Catepillars and JB in a pair of Asics that should have been exchanged a long time ago. We were going to meet Jennifer at Sonora pass in two days. We thought that it would only be sixty-mile hike, however it turned out to be seventy-six miles. We spent the entire day silent just dreading the painfulness of the forty-six miles we were going to have to walk the next day. To top it all off, we were on some of the roughest trails yet. The next day we woke up at 3:30 A.M. and began hiking. We hiked until 10:00 P.M. with only two twenty-minute breaks all day long. We set the record this year for the longest daily mileage (46 miles).

We came from a day of hell and arrived in a heavenly oasis. Jennifer met us with great food, comfort, and pure love. She cooked us tasty food, made us nice camps and gave us the comfort that we had been missing on the trail. It is amazing how wonderful regular camping can be after long-distance hiking. Thank you Honey/Jennifer.

PS. JB got chased by this animal.

After Jennifer left us we hiked another couple of days and finally reached the Lake Tahoe area, my home town area. Once we reached Donner Pass I finally had a great sense of accomplishment. It was an overwhelming feeling to know that we had walked 1200 miles, all of the way from Mexico to the place the I have lived my whole life. It created a great sense of space between the two places. Right now we are taking a week off of the trail in Reno to rest and have a little fun wakeboarding, cliff jumping, going to concerts, and parties. We will continue hiking on the 5th of July. Next update July 20th.

July 20th: Ashland Oregon

Ashland is a very nice city. We are now spending our 2nd layover day and we will take a 3rd since JB's sleeping bag did not arrive in the mail yet... What is JB's sleeping bag doing in the mail? Well, read the update and find out.

Getting back on the trail after our layover in Reno was much harder than we had expected. Our bodies had been resting for too long and we were in extreme pain after the first day of hiking. However, the mental readjustment was much harder to readjust to than the physical stress. Getting back on the goop (that's what we call our food)and going to sleep with a body strained by 10 hours of sweating was not fun at all. It took us about 3 days to start feeling better again. Our first stop after Reno was in Belden. By the time we reached Belden we had noticed that our diet contained no fat at all. We purchased some butter, cream cheese, and peanut butter at the store and kept going. Butter is plain fuel!

A flood had damaged the trail 12 miles out of Belden and we ended up taking the alternate route around the flood area. 4500 feet in 6 miles. It was an intense climb out of the Feather river canyon, but the sugar high we had put on right before leaving Belden kept us going. It is amazing how the trail changes ones outlook on nutrition. All we look for now is the maximum calories and as much fat as possible.

OK all trail purists! Stop reading now! We have done something horrible. We have done a ROAD WALK! Yes. We left the trail at Old Station California 5 days ago and met back with it 10 miles south of Ashland Oregon last night. Why did we do this? Well, because the trail goes 100 miles back south here and we were really anxious to get to a new state.

The road was very boring and by Burney we were both were convinced that we needed some kind of entertainment while walking. JB had been reading the book, OP-center, by Tom Clancy out loud for the past 40 miles. That just wasn't cutting it, so we purchased 2 Walkman radios and tired to tune them into the Northern California radio blackout. The only stations that could be heard clearly were the country music stations, but who has the ear to listen to country music? The Walkman combined with trucks roaring by at 55mph added a factor of excitement to the trek.

Since we were doing a road walk and could end up in a town at the end of each day, we decided to mail our sleeping bags and get rooms at motels. This worked good for the first night. The second night we ended up at the Bartle Lodge, a small place with nothing but a bar. The guy working at the bar, Rufus, a biker in his 50's, looked at us like he had never seen anyone more careless in his life, after we told him that we had no sleeping bags or shelter. He offered us a ride to Mt. Shasta. We told him that we had to hitchhike back to Bartle in the morning if that was the case. He shook his head and finally let us sleep on the floor of his apartment. He gave us pizza and let us watch TV. It was great. Thank you Rufus for your help.

The next day nothing special happened. We got to MT Ashland and found a motel carrying the name 'Finlandia'. It turned out that the owner had moved to California from Finland in the 60's. Kimmo talked to her in Finnish and she gave us a good deal on a room. We slept there and continued hiking the morning. Again we arrived at the small town of Montague and after some free drinks and hot dogs at the bar, we discovered that there was not a motel in the town. We tired to sleep by the train tracks, but it started raining. We went to look for a place that would give us shelter, but before we could find anything, it stopped raining. We went to the park and tired to sleep. After about an hour, 2 teenagers came to the park and invited us to spend the night at their friends house. At that point it was 3am and neither of us had gotten any sleep. We ended up sleeping on the floor in the middle of a high school party. We slept for 3 hours and kept on walking. The next day was hot, dry and we were extremely tired. We crossed the Oregon border on interstate 5 because that is the only road that goes over the pass. We were finally done with California! 1700 miles

And now we are in Ashland Oregon, a very nice town, with a lot of cultural activity going on. We went to see a play last night, part of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. When you have been on the trail for so long your mind becomes like a dry sponge. You soak up all forms of entertainment. It was great. The play "Stop Kiss" was very good and so was the backstage tour that we took. Aside from the play we have been eating a lot of good food, going to a lot of good shops and best of all doing flips on the human sized hamster wheel that is in the park. JB has been wishing that Jennifer was here with him, as it is one of their favorite towns. This time has been no exception, everyone has treated us so great. Thank you Ashland Next update August 3rd.

August 6th: Cascade Locks, Or

We are done with Oregon. One more state to go. At Crater lake we hooked up with a hiker that goes by the name Mule. Mule got back on the trail in Ashland after going to his cousins wedding for eight days.

Kimmo was convinced that Mule had come up with the most brilliant hiking concept in the history of thru-hiking, the Pyramid of death. It is an odd number of days in which you hike always ten miles further than you went the previous day. First a 30 mile day then a 40, then a 50 and the coming back down a 40 and a 30. JB and Kimmo had agreed to hike apart from each other for a few days and since Kimmo wanted to go for the pyramid with Mule, it all seemed to work out perfect. But then JB got sick. He almost passed out with a fever and chills before Cascade Summit and had to go see a doctor. Kimmo and Mule proceeded with the plan. On the 40 mile day coming down from the 53 mile day at the top , things got really unpleasant. They had to resupply at the town of Sisters and at 5:00 PM when they got back on the trail, had still 27 miles to go. It got dark and the miserable duo got lost. Now, the objective turned into just plain hiking. It no longer mattered whether they were making progress towards Canada. They might as well have been walking around in circles, as long as they made their mileage. Around midnight they found the trail again and kept hiking on it for an additional 2 hours, falling 7 miles short from the 40 mile goal. Ten minutes later a bear arrived in camp and immediately began possessing their food. According to Mule, the bear was already there when they arrived. The death marching continued until sunrise when the 2-man crew was convinced that the bear was not following them. They slept for 2 hours and then were awoken by an infinite swarm of mosquitos. The walk continued and the pyramid was completed, in pain. It was great.

Meanwhile JB was contemplating jumping on a train in order to get to a hospital. Luckily however he ran across the two nicest people he has ever met; Bob Dunning a dentist from Oakridge, Or and Maurice Comeau a doctor from Portland. These two men took time out of their fishing vacation to drive JB 30 miles to a doctor. Then the next day brought him back again to get his medication. Then on the third day Bob took JB in just like a son and let him stay at his house for two days. He also insisted on water purification and healthy food, so he drove JB to Eugene and purchased both for him. JB's excitement to get back on the trail was short lived. Four days later and ten days after originally getting sick JB had to leave the trail again. This time he was headed back to Reno and the trip was going to be over. However miraculously JB's Aunt and Uncle were staying in Bend, Or for vacation and they came and rescued him off of the trail. The Bruce family made JB feel right at home and took him to the doctor for many tests. Two days later, after good rest and no longer taking the medication, JB felt much better. He took a bus to Timberline to meet Kimmo and Mule. He will finish the 70 miles he missed after they make it to Canada. JB would like to thank Bob, Maurice and the entire Bruce family for their extremely generous help and allowing him to continue his journey.

Oregon was a beautiful state. Despite the flat and boring sections you sometimes find yourself in, the volcanic mountain sections were well worth the hike.

Since JB was sick, Mule and Kimmo ended up taking 3 days off at Mule's aunt Denise's house in Portland. It was a great time. She is a lovely person. Mule kept damaging his body on his cousins BMX bike, here is a sample of how he spent his rest days.

We are now getting ready for our last push through Washington. Tune in after the 29th to see if we made it back in time for Jennifer's 21st birthday. Hopefully we do.

DONE! 8/25/00

We are now done with the hike, and this means we don't have to HIKE(!) any more. A lot of interesting things happened on the last section from the Cascade Locks to Canada. Mule had his ATM card swallowed by an ATM machine. JB dehydrated and Kimmo managed to soak his sleeping bag and ended up freezing for the last few nights. A pair of sneakers are supposed to last for 300 miles, however Kimmo rolled in his second pair for 1500 miles. They were great shoes.

The weather got cold and it rained in the end. The last night the temperature dropped below freezing. Mule and JB had to put their legs on top of Kimmo in order for him to maintain some sort of tolerable condition.

Washington has a lot of beauty to offer. We had been warned about the Cascades, and the difficult climbs they had to offer. After hiking in Oregon for many weeks, it took us a while to get used to hiking in the mountains again .

The nationwide fire ban helped us keep our camps bear free. We averaged 35 miles/per day trough Washington. This lead to an interesting conversation that with some heavypackers. "35 miles per day! Have you guys even seen anything?" they asked us. We pointed out that no matter how hard we tried, the astonishing 3 1/2 mph that our bodies were capable of traveling, was not fast enough to blur the scenery around us. Mule was the only fortunate one to be in possession of a pair of imaginary view blinders. Mule, you lucky one!

One day, when coming into re- supply, JB became extremely sick due to dehydration. Fortunately we got a ride from a man named Jonathan. He was really helpful. JB started feeling sick in the car, so he let us stay at his house. Thank you Jonathan.

Kimmo and JB tricked Mule to go for the "gallon challenge". Mule was confident that he would be able to drink a gallon of milk in 1 hour without throwing up. If he managed to do it, Kimmo and JB were going to pay for his bus ticket to Seattle, and if he did not, he was going to buy them ice cream. Immediately after arriving in Manning park, Mule started drinking the milk with plenty of self confidence. After about a half gallon, he started feeling very sick. One more quarter gallon of chocolate milk and he was done for. Nice try Mule! It's not physically possible to do it. The human body cant take it.

We finally, after weeks of wondering where he might be, passed Scott Williamson on his way south. Scott is attempting a yo-yo hike from Mexico to Canada and then back to Mexico. It is his fourth attempt. Good luck Scott. Another hiker, 'Walk-on', is also attempting a yo-yo. He was a few days behind Scott.

After reaching Canada, we headed back to Mt. Hood where JB started hiking the section he had skipped to continue hiking with Kimmo and Mule. Kimmo and Mule were meeting JB at the roads at night to camp out. The first night worked out good. The Next morning Kimmo and Mule drove to Portland where Mule stayed. (Take care Mule, it was nice hiking with you).

The second night Kimmo could not find JB in the woods. He spent 2 1/2 hours driving around on logging roads until he finally had to head back to Government Camp to get more gas. Unfortunately the gas station was closed and Kimmo had to wait until the morning to continue his search. In the morning Kimmo filled up the car and went back to look for his friend. He prepared himself mentally to find the frozen corpse of JB in the middle of the road. JB had spent the night in the woods, with no light, no sleeping bag and no shelter. Finally it had gotten so dark that he could not hike any further. He made a fire and slept by it.

Kimmo was very surprised to find JB hiking relatively happy and alive. JB hiked the last 5 miles and there it was. At 8:53 AM on August, 25th 2000 the PCT was in the bag. We have done it. It is over.

Thanks to:

We would like to give an extra big 'Thank you!' to the homebase girl Jennifer and her whole Yenick family for helping us, without your help this trip would not have been possible. Thank you!

Also thanks to our sponsors. Global Star for a great phone, Asics for isolating us from the dirt during our hike and Canon and Kodak for filmography support.

JB would like to thank my love Jennifer. Also the Yenicks, mom and dad. Joe. Dave Drum. Bob and Maurice. Jeff and Donna. Jonathan. Kimmo and Mule. All of the hikers we met and even those we missed, please contact us. All of our sponsors. Ed Yenick for finding me in the maze of dirt roads when I was sick. The Bruce family for rescuing me from them and God for all of the miraculous events that kept me on the trail. I am so thankful to have completed such a life long goal. Thank you everyone. If you put your mind to it you can do anything. Simple is better. Less is more. Keep the faith. Thank you.

Kimmo would like to thank Mom, Dad and Kirsi, my sister, Jen and the whole Yenick family, the Benna family, Mule and the Finnish bull, Pekka Aalto, for mental motivation. Mules aunt for being kind and letting me crash on her couch. Fast Dave (hope you made it!) all hikers we met, Joe, JB. Everyone who helped JB when he was sick. Jardien for writing the opus. Heavypackers and other happy campers for aggravating me and making me put on the miles. Jeff and Donna. And finally everyone who pick us up while we were hitchhiking. We did not kill anyone.

Some thanks in Finnish:

Eli kiitokset kotiin: Kiitos Kodille. Aiti, Isi, Kirsi ja meidan koira heffe. Sasulle. Hypposille ja Jampalle. Kiitos Rakalle (Mikko, Janne, Miia) sivuista.