Jeff Singewald, 52, a resident of Mountain View, just spoke about hiking the 2,658-mile Pacific Crest Trail to the Saratoga Boy Scout Troop 566 scouts during their troop meeting at Saratoga Presbyterian Church. The timing was ideal because they have an upcoming backpack trip.
In 2006, when he was 45, Singewald took a five-month leave of absence from work and hiked all 2,658 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail that goes from the Southern border of California to the Northern most point in Washington State. It’s one of the three major long trails in the U.S. The others are the Appalachian Trail and Continental Divide Trail.
It took Singewald four months and 16 days to finish the trek and he experienced wide swings in weather. He’d typically hike 12 hours and 20 to 40 miles per day starting at 6 AM. The highest point was 13, 180 feet.
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When going through nearly 300 miles of snow in the High Sierra, he hiked “only” 12 miles a day and at the end, there was a danger of the trail closing due to a forest fire, so he pushed it to 48 miles that day. He also sweated it out in 110-degree temperatures in the Mohave Desert.
He said he was never lonely and kept busy journaling two hours a day. He saw people once in a while including two scout troops each on 50 mile treks. He hiked the first half of California with a couple from Michigan before deciding to forge ahead alone. This couple provided him with his trail name of “Elevator” as they frequently found him waiting for them at the top of long climbs.
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Singewald, a former Boy Scout encouraged the Saratoga scouts to pack lighter and give each other trail names as well.
He ate around 5,000 calories a day and had his cooked meal at lunch. He ate granola, power bars, giant Snickers and Pop Tarts in addition to a bunch of healthy stuff. Despite all of the fun food, his weight dropped from 198 to 160 during the hike. There were some scout cheers when he said “Pop Tarts.”
He couldn’t carry all the food for the entire trip so he had arranged for shipments to various post offices and outpost sites near the trail for what is called a “resupply.” A supply would typically last 125 to 150 miles.
Singewald was sad to not see any mountain lions but he did see bears, bobcats, and elk as well as rattlesnakes nearly every day in Southern California.
Singewald gave the scouts several tips. The first two have to do with attitude. I’ve put them into a list of five:
1. SURPRISES HAPPEN. By this he means expect the unexpected and stay flexible. He was surprised nearly every day.
2. YOU ARE (PROBABLY) NOT LOST! Just think of it is losing the trail temporarily.
3. PACK FOR THE WALK AND NOT THE CAMP. For example, instead of using a “heavy” Thermarest pad, use a more comfortable and lighter blow-up mattress.
4. DON’T COOK WHERE YOU SLEEP. Cook your hot meal at lunch and dinner meal before arriving at camp because preparing food attracts bears.
5. INVEST IN A GREAT HAT. It serves more than one purpose. You drink less water if you are well shaded. It also protects against rain.
I want to thank Jeff Singewald who is a member of my family’s church, Saratoga Presbyterian for taking the time to speak to my son’s scout troop. Also, thank you Scoutmaster David Okamura for arranging the talk. To learn more about Singewald's hike, visit www.trailjournals.com/jrsingewald.
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Michelle McIntyre is a high tech public relations consultant based in Saratoga who blogs and hikes in her free time.
