Taking some much needed recuperation time in a hotel in Julian CA for the night before heading back to the trail tomorrow. Here's what's been happening in trail world:
4/24: Rain. Hiked 5 miles uphill in the weather in to Annual Day Zero PCT Kick Off at Lake Morena. Went to a bunch of seminars, met lots of hikers, but mostly slept.
4/25: ADZ Day 2, more seminars, a little gear review, more rain in the morning but it cleared up enough around 2 that I decided to hike out early with a few other hikers looking to beat the crowds, since it was overcast skies but no rain. Hiked an easy 6 to Boulder Oaks campground. Some trail magic along the way included an avocado and a Cadbury egg. Wind and rain picked up again just as we hit camp. Pretty bad storm, uprooted my tent stakes a few times. Stayed relatively dry, and made chili to go with my avocado under my tarp vestibule. Storm ended around midnight.
4/26: Hiked 14ish miles solo to Mt. Laguna in the first sunny day we've had so far on the trail. Still nice and cool from the rain, made some new hiker friends along the way. Camped at Burnt Rancheria campground with a whole slew of thru hikers, had our first fire in the fire pit (fires are not usually allowed in southern California in the summer, because of the potential for wildfires).
4/27: Took a SHOWER. The campground had showers for a dollar so I "splurged". Went into town to pick up my bounce box from San Diego and get some real food, bumped into my friends Anne (Color Wheel), Nina (Rafiki?), and Barbara (Madam Hooch!) from the first day. We resupplied out of the store and our mail drops and then hiked 6 miles to Laguna campground, made new friends "Cheney" and "Schmuck" who had some really funny stories. Slept without a rain fly for the first time, great stars out here.
4/28: Hiked 16 miles to a dry creekbed. Very little water on this stretch, so we had to carry a lot extra. Very heavy packs. Had the best views by far all day long and an awesome breeze to cool us off. Hard and steep descent to the campsite, we were all wiped out, decided to get to town early for a "nero" (nearly zero, otherwise known as a half day of hiking) to rest our beat up legs.
4/29: Woke up at 4:00 AM to dark sky lit by every single star, it was absolutely breathtaking. Packed up camp, ate a quick breakfast, and hiked out at 5:00 in the dark. We hiked into the first stretch of REAL desert today. It was 90 degrees before 9:00 AM. Lots of cacti and succulent plants. Hiked my first "10 by 10", which means I hiked 10 miles before 10 in the morning. 14 miles total today, putting me at 77 miles complete of the PCT. The last hour of hiking was ROUGH. It was close to noon and I was walking towards the highway through the valley in direct sunlight. No sunburns, but the heat wiped me out. I reached the underpass and a trail angel was waiting with shade, a chair, a beer, and a sandwich. I was so shell shocked, all I could do was sit down and stammer out a few thank yous before I inhaled everything. Color Wheel was there, as well as a few other hiker friends, so we stayed there for a while, scrubbing the dirt off our feet and chatting with those amazing trail angels who literally turned the day around for us. Got a ride into Julian, got a hotel room with Color Wheel, Rafiki, and Madam Hooch, and got a slice of the best pie I think I've ever had. This town is great.
I have gotten my trail name now. I am HAPPY FEET. I have not had any blisters, knee issues, etc, so MY feet are happy, but sadly, the feet of my peers have not been so lucky. I came prepared with a sewing kit though, so I now have a reputation on trail as a skilled popper of blisters. My ratio of number of blisters popped (not my own) to miles hiked is approximately 1 for every 7.
I have seen three kinds of snakes and two kinds of lizards, but no mountain lions or rattlesnakes yet. Just a lot of cacti and sage brush and poodle dog bush (yes that's a real thing, and it's worse than poison ivy, look it up and don't touch it, EVER). My appetite is WAY down, to the point of forcing myself to eat, but part of that is from my body not being used to the trail and the other part is probably from the heat. Like I said before, no sunburns yet, but I do have trouble telling the difference between the color I get from the sun and the layer of DIRT that cakes itself onto my hands, legs, and especially my toes. This is a very dusty trail. But my goodness it is gorgeous.
I'm hoping to hike out tomorrow late in the afternoon with Rafiki, after the heat of the day passes. Color Wheel has a terrible blister and needs to zero so it can heal. Madam Hooch was only supposed to stay three weeks to hike with her daughter (Rafiki), but she's had enough and is staying another day too and flying back home on Friday. My next stop is at Warner Springs, just past the 100 mile mark. In the meantime though, I'm resting up and hanging out with all the hikers in town. I've done 77 miles in 7 days!
Some photo highlights from the past week
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