If I had to name some motifs from my hike so far, they would start with “HOW did I break THAT?” and “holy cow, this WIIINDD”. A mouse ate part of my tent and the wind broke my umbrella after turning it inside out and almost swiftly lifting me off the mountain like Mary Poppins and I sheared one of my tent corner’s paracord on a rock and I broke my pack’s belt buckle. Whatever, I have duct tape. The wind, though. My new least favorite type of incliment weather. It has turned my sun umbrella inside out too many times to count, and whips sand into my mouth even when I sleep. Woo! This section even brought us about 4 inches of unexpected snow (unexpected to me, the one who didn’t know about the incoming weather until a sweet hiker named Big Owl knocked on all of our tents and said that there was a 75% chance of snow this coming night and that we’d have temps dipping below 25*, yikes). I woke up to my tent sinking in from the snow, and flakes brushing in on my face from the wind....
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Is it too soon to say I have a favorite trail town?? I am spending my second zero day in Idywilld and it is an absolute treat. The trek to get here was some more long water carries with some especially sketchy sources- one cistern with a live snake and a dead lizard in it (rightfully named lizard cistern), and a creek that smelled so bad I called it Schitt’s creek. Good thing I brought a lifetimes worth of activated charcoal to keep the giardia away. Aside from the water, the walk was very fun. It was the least amount of people I have seen on a stretch of trail, only running into other groups at water sources. Our campsite one night looked just like Joshua Tree, which had me feeling right at home. I had my first plastic bagged meal for dinner- a mixture of instant mashed potatoes, lentils, and a packet of lemon tuna. Good thing I carried at least 7 lbs of gourmet home made food! We hiked through hot desert stretches with some inclines that definitely got my heart rate...
Feeling VERY rejuvenated after my first zero (a full 24 hours off of hiking) in Julian. We got back to trail on Sunday morning for an infamous climb up Scissors Crossing near Sunrise Highway in eastern San Diego. To be honest, the climb was lovely. Hikers mostly dread it because it’s usually extremely hot and very exposed, and with those conditions a consistent gain in elevation is no fun. But I had some fabulous friends with me and the temperatures were not bad, so we had a good time. This section went by so fast I didn’t even realize I was in Warner Springs (my second resupply, yay for new food!!) when I got here. We FLEW. Which is both good and bad- our bodies still need some time to adjust to the consistent high mileage days. I love how quickly miles go by- yesterday morning we hiked 6 miles before sitting down for a break, having no idea how far we’d come. We were having so much fun hiking and not giving a care about where we were that we missed the 100 mile marker. We found ...
Having a great time! A windy, hot, exposed desert hike with some heavy water carries (5-7 liters, as the water sources are few and far between). Some lower mileage days to let everyone get their bodies settled into their new routines. The group I’m camping with all have the same tents, apparently it was THE choice. My body feels pretty good considering I have given it no breaks since the start of my longest hiking experience yet. We hiked across ridge lines and it was awesome to wind across mountains and see all the hikers in front of us, and look back and see all of the trail that we had already completed. We’ve been hiking most of our miles in the early morning when the heat isn’t too bad and our bodies feel fresh. Hiking into Julian was our hottest section (97*F and very exposed!), through a well known freeway underpass and frequented hiked water cache called Scissors Crossing. We got a shuttle into Julian and I spent my first zero days here at Trail Angels’ houses- with ...
Here I am on day 1! The trail start is designated by a monument in Campo, California. Two of my dearest friends, Maddie and Melissa, drove me from their home in San Diego early Monday morning. A few others starting that morning were there- we all signed the trail register, received a little briefing from the trail organizations representative, and got some photos. Here’s a photo of me and Scout, the author of Journeys North (a very popular book about his and his wife’s trek on the PCT) and a previous PCTA president! I saw him walking up as he had driven a few folks and dragged him in for a photo. The hike itself on the first day was beautiful, lots of new people to meet and views to enjoy! The stats I care about: 20 miles! My longest hike in one day, ever. The stats you might care about: 3 snake sightings, one rattle that really was not pleased to make my acquaintance. Day two was equally as enjoyable, continuing to settle into meeting new people, learning the tr...
Hi all! Thanks for being here. I am leaving April 4, 2022 to hike the Pacific Crest Trail (a 2,650 mile trail running continuously from the Mexican border to the Canadian border). If you'd like to follow along, I will post photos and updates here as I can. Woohoo! If you're interested in knowing anything more about the PCT aside from what I'll share here, this is a great place to start: https://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/. Enjoy!