4/23 Day One

Today was my very first day on trail. Alarm at 5:00 AM, wheels up at 6:00, we rode to the trailhead, and arrived shortly after 7:00, about 20 hikers including myself. We took pictures, said goodbye to the amazing trail angels that cared for and fed us the last few days, and one by one we strode off along the narrow path of dirt receding into the brush. The weather was perfect, cloudy but not rainy, and just cool enough. An amazing breeze kept us content and smiling as our pack fell into pace groups. I enjoyed about a six mile stretch alone at the start, enjoying the occasional passes and greetings of my fellow hikers. I stopped for a mid-morning rest at about ten on a beautiful slab of limestone looking out over each mile I had just traversed. While I was snacking on jerky and raisins, I was joined by a woman named Ann from Austria I had met at the house the night before. Following closely behind her was a mother-daughter team, Nina and Barbara, respectively. The four of us hiked the next 9 miles together, all the way to camp that night. A bad descent down the canyon wall to the dry creek left us pretty beat, but to our happy surprise almost all of the hikers we had left the border with were camped there and enjoying their dinners. We joined them immediately, extremely glad for the rest, the company, and the chance to EAT. We made some food for ourselves and then began to tend to our wounded skin. I have bruises on my hips and shoulders from my pack, and the start of a few blisters on my toes, but nothing serious. My shoes are caked in dirt though, as are my hands, feet, legs and clothes. This is a dusty trail. The sky is spitting a weak little rain on and off as I write this, and the north end of the canyon is now eclipsed by fog, so it appears gloomy, but our ragtag bunch couldn't be in better spirits. We're all so happy to be here and to have had such a great first day. Tomorrow we can sleep in and walk an "easy" 5 miles in to the big kick off event at Lake Morena campground.

I just looked outside my tent because I realized it is now silent out there. It is pitch dark, and the only sounds are the rustling of sleeping bags against tent fabric and the faint hum of the border patrol helicopters several miles off. Oh, and there's the rain again.

Some pictures, and then that's all for now! Things are going great!