One hundred mile mark!

Cailtin and Rod had full packs on that day. Wendy said that they would pass the 100 mile mark before she saw them again. They made it on April 15. Here's a selfie they took. Congrats, Rod. Only 2,553 more miles to go!

April 18, 2014

Today was an incredible day for Rod. He set a personal best for miles in one day. The last eight miles were hiked in a thunder storm -- yikes! He hiked a total of 24 miles. He was on a ridge with no way down except to follow the trail. He was cold, wet and to be honest, very concerned that he would be hit by lightning. However, he lived to tell the tale and learned a few things from the experience. Life is good!

Mostly photos

This blog post is mostly photos along the trail!

 Caitlin and Marcus, friends along the trail

Around Milepost 76

Caitlin

On the second day of the trail, Rod met up with Caitlin, a physical therapist (man, isn't that someone you want to hike with you after a long day on the trail ha ha). At the end of the day, Rod shared his foot soaking tub with her. It must have felt really good after a long day on the trail.

Road crew

Rod's road crew consists of wife Wendy and Jim & Evy. This photo is from the Pacific Crest Trail south of the starting point at 7:10 a.m. on April 10. Jim will be on the road crew for most of the hike and Wendy and Evy were the road crew the first week and periodically throughout the summer. Great pic!

Rod wrote on the first day of the trail -- 4/10/14 Rod Osgood Life is Good!

He was hiker number 225 on this 2,663 miles journey from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. It is an amazing journey.

Buddy the Backpacker

 This is Rod, Dion, Andrea and Buddy the Backpacker. Rod met them one day on the trail. Buddy is the youngest hiker attempting the Pacific Crest Trail and finished the Appalachian Trail last year. Quite a feat for such a little guy! Go, Buddy!

Along the way

Rod has seen a lot of beautiful sceneries since he started on his journey. Here are some photos of some of the desert flora. As he said on Facebook, you gotta watch out for those thorns!

First day on the trail

Rod left for Mexico on April 6 and started his journey on the 12th. Along the way he has met some cool people. One person he met was a 70 year old gentleman named Mick who was riding his bicycle across the U.S.

Here's Rod on the first day of his journey!

 He looks pretty darn happy!

Here's some of the country he saw on that first day of hiking. Gorgeous views!

Camping equipment

It was important to get the camping equipment as light as possible. Here's a photo of the supplies he started with:

Starting from the back row from the left are the stove and gas for the stove. The smallest roll is a 1000 down coat, next is the sleeping pad, sleeping bag, tent, walking poles (collapsible), water purification bottle and camel back for hauling water. Front row: hygiene supplies, bag of clothes, shows, and crampons. He revived a solar panel to recharge his phone and a solar light from guys from Local 701. Rod would like to thank the guys from Local 701 for the gifts. It will be well used.

Shoes

This is a kind of a boring post but Wendy, Rod's wife, took photos of all of Rod's shoes so she could purchase more when the time came to replace them. It's amazing how many shoes a person has to wear for all types of terrain and weather. Here are the boots and shoes:

Thi