Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion PCT to Road Bike Adventure

Hey Steve C. I lost track of your sons pct adventure and was wondering what happened after he left the PCT to go road biking. I hope he had a grand adventure either way.

Thanks for inquiring!

He did have a good trip -- Once he switched to the bicycle, he rode about 50 miles a day coming down the Hwy 1 from Oak Harbor, WA. He had fun camping for cheap in lots of state park campgrounds -- bicycles are charged about $4 per night. He complained of being cold and not seeing the sun for days on end, until the last two days south of San Francisco.

We drove over to Morrow Bay, and met him as he rolled into Cayucos at the pier. He spent the night there with his wife's relatives, and we brought him back to Fresno. He then made it home to MI, in time to start his school-teaching job.

He's back riding his mountain bike around Ann Arbor, and getting ready for his next big adventure: His wife is expecting, due in March. (They're crazy! She finishes dental school in April, and THEN they're moving back to the west coast somewhere. ...with the newborn in tow!)

I have not checked lately, but the woman they started the PCT with is STILL hiking south! "La Machine" Adrienne (3rd from left here)

is still hiking.

...Just checked Darren B's Spot location, and it shows him at Walker Pass (Hwy 178 out of Bakersfield and Lake Isabella) on Oct 10, 2 days ago. He may be hiking with Adrienne, too.

Adrienne's blog shows her latest entry, a watercolor from Edison Lake, Sept 27, two weeks ago now:

Thanks for the update Steve. The watercolors are amazing! Still plenty of time by SoCal standards to make it to the boarder with good weather. We really don't hear to much from the southbound hikers. And congratulations on the upcoming grand baby!

Out of curiosity, I checked on Darren and Adrienne's progress.

Darren's last Postholer update was Aug 28, with the following picture from Kearsarge Pass



His last spot location shows him on a residential street in Pasadena, Oct 19. (ten days ago).

Adrienne just updated her blog yesterday:

I heard from Darren's mom that Adrienne and Darren should be stepping on the Calif - Mexican border this afternoon.

...And just as I write this, I get a text message from Dan and Esther Cohen that they are on their way to pick them up and ferry them to the Amtrak station. Dan started hiking with them in Canada, and I worked with Esther following their progress on the fateful first week.

Congratulations to Adrienne and Darren for persevering!!!