Ebbetts Pass to Carson Pass, 8/17/26 to 8/20/26, (30 PCT miles)

 

Frog Lake Near Carson Pass

This short trip was the culmination of over a year of diligent work at the gym to overcome a bad case of tendonitis in my right leg and hip that I developed in 2025.  I had planned a longer trip ... but when it came time to hike I felt this was about my limit.

This 30 mile section of the PCT is mostly unsung, while being a truly spectacular stretch of trail with many very clear volcanic features, including some large lava flows that are unusually clear.  The weather was perfect, and the sky was often as beautiful as the mountains with white clouds against a deep blue background.  We had campsites at Pennsylvania Creek, above Wet Meadows, and at Lost Lakes.

There were very few hikers on trail, and they were all "section hikers" or simply destination hikers.  Lost Lakes is reachable by 4WD truck, and there were at least six parties with vehicles at that lake, but it there were no loud parties, so it didn't really affect our experience significantly.

Alex Jodidio, a friend from college, joined me on the hike.  He had recently retired and was eager to get out on the trail again.  Even the short days felt a bit challenging, but we were in good spirits.  Our pre-hike trip started with two nights at Curry Village in Yosemite Valley, and one night at Bridgeport (elevation 6,463 ft), which helped with acclimatization.  Christine joined the pre-hike days and generously drove us to the trailhead and then picked us back up a few days later.

As usual, there is a photo album for the trip:  Ebbetts Pass to Carson Pass

How much faster are trail runners vs. boots? What does the research tell us?

 

I hiked over 5,000 miles on the PCT in Asolo Falcon boots ... and was definitely an outlier.  About 90% of thru-hikers wear trail runners.  Just ask a typical thru-hiker and you will be greeted by wild enthusiasm for this lightweight, cushy footwear that breathes and dries out quickly.  I like the Asolo Falcon boots because they are reasonably lightweight, provide good ankle support, and keep my feet dry everywhere except stream crossings.  However ... they are heavier ... and that matters.  But how much does it matter?

Let's see if we can figure that out quantitatively for a person weighing 150 lbs.  You could pick a different shoe, but to get a comparison, I'll use the Brooks Cascadia 19, with weights per pair from the REI website.

Asolo Falcon:  32 ounces (pair)

Brooks Cascadia: 19:  21.4 ounces (pair)

Difference:  10.6 ounces, or .662 lbs, almost exactly two-thirds of a pound.

The Mountain Tactical Institute did a quantitative comparison of heartrate, backpack weight, and ankle weights and determined that for typical hiking speeds, we can assume that one ounce of ankle weight is equivalent to four ounces of backpack weight.  In other words, that 10.6 ounces of additional shoe weight is equivalent to about 42.4 ounces of additional backpack weight, or 2.65 pounds.

Next question ... for a person weighing 150 pounds ... what is the impact on calories and speed of an additional 2.65 pounds in the backpack?

Outside magazine published an article with a calculator in it "The Ultimate Backpacking Calorie Estimator" and we can estimate calorie usage with just a few extra assumptions.  Let's assume a 150 pound hiker, 2.5 mph hiking speed, and 7.5% uphill grade (the PCT average), and a 25 pound pack as the base line.  Result:  195 calories per mile.  Add 2.65 pounds and we get 197 calories per mile, or about 40 calories over the course of a 20 mile hike.  

Doesn't a heavier pack slow you down?  The Mountain Tactical Institute also looked at that and found "every 1% of your body weight in your pack makes you six seconds slower per mile."  So, applying the 2.65 pounds of backpack equivalent weight, for a 150 pound person it will take about an additional 3.5 minutes to hike 20 miles.

So the cost of wearing lightweight boots over a 20 mile hike would be about 40 calories and 3.5 minutes.  The benefits of boots are typically:  fewer foot problems during the hike, better ankle protection, easier to kick steps in snow, better edging in slippery conditions.  Boots also have a downside in addition to weight:  they are less convenient for wet stream crossings.  Many people will say that you "can't get your boots dry," however I did not find that to be true on my hikes.  

If you want another look at this topic, here's a video where the author reaches the same conclusion and provides a lot more details:

https://youtu.be/bMsFM9A8-S4?si=OHmIuUSKiOyuuMYT

Just for fun ... here is my song about ultralight backpacking, which I do think makes sense, but maybe not as an obsession: