Day 12 3/28 A Tadpole and an Eagle

I slept in a little bit today (9:30, that used to be getting up early for me!) I didn't sleep much last night with my tent whipping around in the wind. Got packed up and Joe and I continued on through the dry San Felipe Hills. Most of the morning was spent hiking through bushes as the trail is really overgrown in parts- can anyone tell me why there's so many ticks in the desert?!? I must have flicked 50 of them off today!
We hit the hundred mile mark a little before noon and made a little 100 out of stones and shared one of my sacred and much revered handisnack cheese and crackers to celebrate.
Water was definitely on our minds as theres not much in the area. Barrel springs, one of the main places to fill up today was NASTY. At least the source tank was. There were waterbugs in it and growths that I didn't recognize and things decomposing in it. We filled a bottle just in case it came down to that-luckily it didnt and there was a cache right after.THANK YOU SO MUCH whoever put that water cache there.
But seriously the water was so nasty I saw Joes bottle had a tadpole in it- he took a swig just to say he did.
We came down from the dry hills into what seemed like heaven- miles of grassland prairie and cattle pasture- it was so peaceful to walk through fields like that and just hear the breeze and the crickets. We came to eagle rock (which seriously looks like an eagle, way more than any other "this or that rock") and Joe set up camp for the night and I continued on. The prairie turned into beautiful anncient oaks and sucamores, it reminded me of 100 acre wood from the Winnie the Pooh cartoon. I set up camp at mile 109 on a little beach next to a creek. Tonight Im gonna sleep way better- instead of high winds threatening to pull my tent stakes out of the ground, ill sleep to sounds of crickets, frogs and a babbling brook . It makes me think of those sound generating machines people buy. Except this is free. And real.

Check out the mtn lion and deer track I saw today below! Also saw an Indian grinding stone, or metaté!

Day 11 03/27 No more bacon :(

Got up early today and had a free breakfast provided by the Julian Lodge (thank you very much you guys!) and got a ride with Joe from one of the guys who works at the hotel back to scissors crossing, at mile 77 where we left the trail to resupply. Ahead of us was an ominous 13 mile waterless stretch and a climb from approx 2300 back up to 4300 ft. I normally carry 3-4 liters but I left with 5 and it ended up being plenty, even though it got really hot. We made it to the water cache 13.6 miles uphill, and It felt like striking gold- it wasn't empty. I filled up and ate lunch as I watched five blackhawk helicopters and three Ospreys ( a plane/helicopter hybrid) pass overhead. I could have camped there but I wanted to put a few more miles in for the day. It's seven days til the next real town, Idyllwild, so I need to average 15 miles a day for the next week.
I ended at mile 94.4 today and camped on top of a windy ridge with the only bare spot I could find to put my tent. Check out the mtn lion footprints that were nearby on the trail. Notice they have an inverted m in the paw, and are much bigger than bobcat tracks. No claw marks though, cause just like your little cat at home, they retract their claws.
Right now it's 10:54pm and I can hardy sleep. Gale force winds are whipping my tent back and forth .I have a week in the wilderness before I see a town or people again. Fun fun. It's like survivor man, except I brought food. :)

Day 09-10 03/25-26 Julian

We decided to wake up early and book the last 6 miles or so to hwy 78 in time to hitch to Julian and catch breakfast before they stopped serving it. I was up as soon as the eastern light hit my tent and was packed and on the trail by 7am.
It went by like nothing, and the whole time I was salivating thinking about going to a diner and getting my first real meal since I left the border. As the trail winded down out of the mountains I could see the highway in the distance, beckoning me to town. Right before the hwy the trail actually was FLAT for a couple hundred yards, a first! I was practically running the last mile or so and had a big goofy grin on my face thinking about what I was gonna eat in town. I felt like a little kid on the way to Disneyland, except I was dreaming about bacon instead of rides.
Hitchhiking was not anywhere near as scary as I thought it would be, it actually was quite funny to watch the people driving by struggling with guilt or looking away. I think everyone was actually more afraid of us. Joe reassured me to have faith, that we'd be picked up within 20 mins. (hes actually hitched over 40,000 miles in multiple countries and at least 5 times across the states since the seventies!!) Sure enough, the first guy without a guilty look on his face picked us up, another hiker!! Thank you Pat and Christine for making sure we didn't have to walk another 13 miles off trail on the side of a narrow winding two lane mtn hwy just to get to town to resupply. Seriously, you guys were awesome.
Julian was a nice little town, and I ended up avoiding another storm and spent two nights there. The town was founded during the gold rush, and they maintain that old west feeling. Now they're famous for apple pies and their orchards. I didn't have much pie while I was there, but I did have eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, biscuits and gravy and three BBQ bacon cheeseburger meals over the course of two days. :) I finished everything-gotta calorie load when in town, it doesn't happen often! I needed the protein too. I was tired and slept a ton. I felt 90 from the knees down, I hope I didn't give myself shin splints.
PCT hikers- it you come to Julian, stay at the Julian Lodge!! They cut the price in half for us and give us a free meal! You can't beat that. The cost of staying at the other hotel doesn't even compare. They also were willing to arrange us a ride out of town when we couldn't find one on day 9. Tip them and I'm sure they'll go out of their way for you too!

Day 08 3/24 Going, going, lost

Woke up to an overcast day, booked a good 15 miles with Joe, the guy I camped with the night before. Everyone asks me all the time if I'm doing this alone, and the answer is 99% yes and sometimes no. This is mainly a solo thing, but there are others that you run into that are attempting the PCT as well. Joe is a good example. Like me, hes doing this alone, but since we're often within a couple miles or an hr of each other a lot of the time well camp or hike together. He's a 59 year old mechanical engineer from Washington, and a pretty interesting guy. I learned today that he voulenteered for the Vietnam War when he was 19, but it ended while he was in Basic. He ended up doing LRRP, or long range reconnaissance patrol, which I think is damn cool.
The day went on descending through the desert mtns without much event until we set up camp roughly 6 miles from Hwy 78, where we would have to hitch into the little old mining town of Julian for food.
That's when I made a stupid mistake and got lost for a half an hr.
We had set up our tents in this little canyon in the shadow of Granite Mtn. There was absolutely no signal, so I walked up to a ridge a hundred yards away to try and make a call while Joe settled down to make dinner. As I was walking away from my tent the sun was a half hr from going down and I had thought to grab my headlamp, but I wasn't going far. I even thought a second time that I should go grab it but I felt fine.There was nothing so I continued walking on looking for signal. I finally found it but it was only barely enough to send a text and by then the sun was going down so I turned around to head back to camp-except I couldn't see it.
I walked back up the canyon- and nothing. No tents, no Joe. I felt incredibly stupid for not grabbing my lamp as I maybe had ten mins left of usable light. I made my way back up to the ridge and looked down on both sides, and couldn't see anything. I walked up slot canyon after canyon, and nothing looked familiar. I decided the best thing to do would be to head back in the direction of the PCT, intercept it and follow it back until I found camp. I did that and found camp in less than 15 mins. Turns out, I had originally been in the right canyon, I had just gone around a bend and hadn't noticed. I was incredibly grateful to be back in my tent as by then the sun was down. I also felt like a total idiot. I mean here I am hiking border to border with no major navigational issues and I get lost two mins from camp. Ego aside, it's really that easy people. One or two stupid decisions ( like leaving my light and not looking back enough) and that's that. You're lost.
Really, I was ok and the worst that could've happened was a cold night spent and no meal, all within a couple hundred yards of camp. It is a reality check though, and a reminder that every little thing out here has a consequence. Let your attn slip for one second, and youll pay for it. :)

Day 07 03/23 Gettin In the Rhythm

Let me just start off by saying I really appreciate each and every one of you who reads these entries, I don't take you guys for granted! I apologize if occasionally I drone on, most of the time I'm writing at night when I'm exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open. :)
Today was awesome. Great weather and beautiful views the whole way. This morning I left the Laguna Mtn Lodge behind and headed off into the snow to begin the slow descent into the Anza-Borrego desert. I came across some weird govt construction site with signs to scare people off, I wonder what they're doing? I also saw a marmot and a desert fox, sorry guys, both were too far for pictures. In other news, I have a blister the size of a quarter!!
Weird things go through your mind while hiking day after day. You think about family, friends, things going on that you miss. It's funny I love politics and before this I followed the news closely. It occurred to me today that since I've been out here I haven't thought about it at all! It's also odd how you can drift off in your head thinking about anything and everything and come back to reality and realize you've been on autopilot the last two miles.
Right now I'm camped on a granite boulder-strewn ridge with a view about a vertical mile down to the desert below. That's where I'll be tommorrow. I have to hitchhike 13 miles to Julian to resupply possibly tomm. or the next day. I dont want to but it's normal for PCT hikers. Otherwise it's an EXTRA 26 mile walk off trail. I've been thinking of what I'm gonna put on my sign- I came up with the top three:

3. UNARMED AND HUNGRY
2. WOULD IT KILL YOU TO STOP?
1. THIS KNIFE AIN'T MEANT FOR YOU

I decided "Hiker to Julian, 13 mi" would be sufficient. :)

Day 05-06 Ascent to Laguna Mtn 03/21-22

I got a good start on Wed morning, and ended up hiking from 10:30am-8:45pm. I made my way up through the hills above hwy 8 and through a military ordinance range to the higher reaches of the laguna mountain meadows, which were still covered in snow. At the beginning of the day it was pretty hot and I was brushing ticks off every 50 yards or so and by the end of the day I was at 6000 ft and I traded ticks for snow and I was cool with that. At one point I stopped melt snow to fill my water reservoir and I saw a Mountain Lion silhouetted on a rock a few hundred yards away. I couldn't even believe it so I got out my spotting scope and sure enough, there it was. I shouted "LION!!!" at the top of my lungs to try and scare it, and it looked around, when it saw me it dropped off the rock in what seemed like half a second. I kept my ice axe out for the next few miles and constantly looked behind me. The snow got really deep as I got further up the mtn, Literally from 5-8:45pm was the most intense cardio of my life as sunk knee deep with each step. I made it to Laguna Mtn a couple hrs after dark and got a room at the Laguna Mtn Lodge, a hiker friendly place with hot showers and wood burning stoves in the rooms. I spent thurs. resting up there and exploring the area which has a lot of history. They had pictures in the lodge of people carving out a life there all the way back in 1917.

Day 04 03/20

I slept in and took my time today packing up my tent and eating breakfast, soaking in the first sunlight in a few days. I also found a shower, my first on the trip and the coldest of my life!!! I hit the trail fresh and clean, and ran into a man named Joe from Oregon who's also living the dream. He talks alot about age and not getting younger but I think the trail doesn't discriminate. We hiked the rest of the day and camped together on a ridge high above hwy 8 east of San Diego. It's really dark out here...Its so nice being able to see stars again. I lived in a city for the last four years and could never see any stars.
Just in the last week I've met so many people, on and off the trail. I'm glad to see that there are a lot of good people left in the world, and given the chance most people do the right thing.
Sometimes I get bored and try mimicking birdcalls but i get mixed reactions. A lot of times they keep calling to you. Or swoop really low over your head like theyre gonna divebomb you.

Day 3. 03/19 Waiting it out

I slept (almost 12 hrs! )here at Lake Morena campground and woke up to more snow and rain. I spent the first half of the day huddled in the bathroom next to an outlet letting my phone charge until the rain stopped (fun, fun) and then when the sun came out it was glorious.... even if only for two or three minutes at a time. I ran into the four hikers from the first day, and they said that three of them came close to hypo as well, I was happy to see that they were off the mountain and safe! Apparently someone had to be rescued by the fire dept. during the storm, and they were glad it wasn't me. Nothing much going on today, I'll be starting early tomorrow back on the trail. While I was cooking dinner and writing this however, a pack of turkeys strolled right by! Tonight I sleep to sounds of crickets chirping and frogs croaking. Way better than my tent whipping in the wind.

Day 2. 03/18. Gut check

uh

I froze my ass off last night. I woke up to at least four inches of snow and on and off hail sleet and snow. I had to make a hard decision.
I had met four other section hikers the night before, one pushing hypothermia. The weather was tough and I came close too. My speech got slow and I lost dexterity in my fingers. I took off my gloves and could see lines running from my wrists to my fingertips. Id never seen anything like that, and my first thought was the dye in my gloves had washed off. I realized they were the veins in my hand- they were dark and purple. I immediately found a rock overhang where I could dry off and I heated my hands around my stove. I changed clothes and did jumping jacks and pushups.
I was ok- I got warm. I'm used to pushing it when hiking and I love challenging myself. But yesterday was a real ego check. What I learned yesterday is how different this is from normal hiking, or even the strenuous hiking that I'm used to. Out here, you're on your own. Every damn little thing has a consequence.
Everything.
If you're lazy and you don't take your shoes and socks off when you take breaks, you get blisters. You forget to put your solar panel out, you don't get to phone friends and family at night. If you don't put your packcover on cause it's only drizzling and it's noon and warm and you think it'll dry later- you get proven dead wrong when a storm comes through and soaks you to the bone.
The mistake I made was not buying rain/snow pants and thermal underwear to wear at night. I have a fleece and a rain/wind/snow jacket. However, my pants were not nearly as waterproof as I thought they were, and over the course of the day, they soaked through from the rain and chilled me in the 20-40 mph winds this storm brought down on the mountains I was hiking in. I wanted to continue to Lake Morena where there was a market i could go into and get warm, but made camp just two miles short because it got dark and the storm got bad. I spent a cold night and woke up to find out none of my clothes had dried out-at all- and it was still going outside.

I had to decide whether to stay in my sleeping bag inside my tent with all my wet clothes not drying and ride the storm out for possibly 2 days, or pack everything up, put on wet clothes and book it to the safety of the Lake Morena campground. I waited for a lull in the storm and made a run for it. Probably a good decision too because the storm only got worse. I arrived at the Oak Shores Grocery and the owner Sam let me dry off and eat and wait while my dad made his way down to take me to get proper snow pants and thermals. Thank you trail angel Sam for letting me get your floor all wet while the snow was blowing sideways! And Thank you Dad for coming all the way down to make sure i wasn't miserable riding out this storm In wet clothes, even though the roads were icy and cars were sliding off the road!! I have to stay here at Lake Morena another day or two til this weather clears up. Next stop, Mt Laguna!!

St. Patricks Day!!

Day 1 03/17

Started out yesterday on the Pacific Crest Trail! This has been a dream of mine and to start it meant so much. I felt no jitters or anticipation, just a full realization that I wouldn't be coming home to sleep in a bed for six months. :) I imagined hiking near the Mexican border might be somewhat risky but it wasn't at all. People were waving to me when I went through Campo! I also thought it might be dry arid desert but it was completely green and beautiful! I was into the first mtn range within an hr and I was BLOWN AWAY by the sheer beauty... Granite rocks and green chaparral and cactus.. Blooming desert flowers and mountain vistas overlooking picturesque little ranches.. I saw a huge red hawk that swooped out of a tree and right over my head, plus rabbits, ducks, toads,mice and a pair of huge blue jays that followed me for a little bit! It rained from the moment I started but it was completely manageable. It rained all day. Then at about 6:30, it HIT. Rain became sleet and little balls of hail, and I continued on for another hr until I was forced to make camp at mile 17.5 because my clothes were soaked through and it was becoming intolerable. I expected this in the sierras, not on day 1! Well, you know what they say about assuming. It was 30 outside when I went to bed, and I literally peed in a Bottle and put it in my sleeping bag to keep my feet warm. Why waste it? :) I emptied it out every couple hrs and kept filling it up and kept warm all night. I had more experiences on the first day on the trail than I've had in the last year...
About 2:30 am I rolled over and felt the whole side of my tent crunch.
SNOW. lots of it.