Chapter 1: Hit the Ground Running

tl;dr: this will be fun. day 1: 12 miles, day 2: 20.5 miles, day 3: 19, day 4: 12, day 5: 16, day 6: 21.7, day 7: 8 as of 1 pm. bad weather days 3 and 4, but beautiful once again.

MOTIVATION

some people who i’ve spoken to about doing the trail seem to assume that it must be a spiritual journey of self-discovery. that’s not how i think about it. i’m doing the trail because i think it’s gonna be blast, because i know how great i feel when i spend the whole day outside, how fulfilled and complete i feel in nature. some people seem unsatisfied with this explanation.

last October when i was traveling through the UK i noticed “I feel like my primary mission in life is to wander around the world and bear witness to its beauty.” this spring after arriving in Tucson, I wrote, “i feel like my primary calling is to spend as much time outside as possible.” so the PCT lets me do both at once.

on my warm-up hike to Rincon Peak, i kept giggling to myself “i just love hiking.”

so this is to say that i’m not going to discover myself, but because i know myself.

i think my current goal is well captured in the desire to wander around the world and bear witness to its beauty. i don’t exclusively mean natural beauty; although, that may be my favorite type.

if you had asked me in my last 2 years of college I would’ve said that nothing else matters if you have a few good friends and a broader “community.” in 2021 or 2020 I would say something about trying new things or having new experiences which doesn’t feel too far from where I am now. Before that I would’ve said something about making the world a better place.

the entire PCT will be totally new to me. The only places in California I’ve been are Joshua Tree and Death Valley. The PCT runs far west of these. I’ve never been to Oregon or Washington.

for a long time i had yosemite as a mystical dream destination after reading about it in 3rd grade, but I’ve never been. now it’s just 900ish miles down the trail.

also, to be frank, it will be nice to get away from life’s typical routines and obligations. part of the appeal is getting to focus on my base needs every day: sleep, eat, drink, rest, walk.

GETTING TO THE TRAIL

Friday after work I had champagne with my Tucson lover to say goodbye, and to celebrate my last day of work and new beginnings.

Saturday I got an oil change, bought food and last minute gear items for the trail, packed up most of my stuff from my Tucson airbnb.

I didn’t get much sleep because I had to finish packing in the morning before heading up to my cousin Shawn and Alan’s place in Phoenix by noon.

I did a pack shakedown with Alan and made some final adjustments. I paid and filed for an extension for my NC taxes (where I’m claiming part-year residency). I submitted my timesheets. I called many but not all of the people who I owed phone calls. Taking care of all the last minute to-dos, I didn’t quite get enough sleep this night either.

Then Monday morning Alan and I left a little before 7. The last part of the drive on I-8 was absolutely beautiful and made me so excited to get on the trail, but I didn’t get any pictures.

Alan and I saw border patrol near the trailhead. Thankfully we don’t have any tattoos in tribute to dead or disabled family members and thus were not accused of being in a venezuelan gang.

Finishing everything to get to the trail was difficult enough as-is, but would’ve been 1,000x more difficult without the help of Shawn and Alan and I can’t thank them enough.

HIKING

day 1

I set off from the trailhead around 12:30 I think. What surprised me most was how colorful it was. And it’s so lush compared to Tucson i’m shocked we’re calling this the desert section, but the soil is sandy and the sun is hot.

I made good time and hit mile 12 around 6 pm where i stopped to take a break and soon decided I wasn’t getting back up. I was asleep before the sun went down.

photos within the days are non-chronological. i can’t control the order posting from my phone.

day 2

I woke up the morning of day 2 at 5, made oatmeal by moonlight, packed up, and hit the road by 6. I saw the sun rise within the first few miles.

I made it to Lake Morena at mile 20 a little after 9, where i diverted a short trip off trail to a convenience store that serves diner fare. I ordered a cheeseburger.

Just after noon I crossed the Cottonwood Creek at mile 25.5 and declared a siesta, having already done 13.5 for the day. It’s only 70 degrees, but as i said, the sun is intense and resting for the most intense hours of the day felt like the move. i was only 50 feet off trail but i watched at least 6 people pass and none of them noticed me.

Right after my siesta I ran into a USFS volunteer distributing lots of info. She said there’s a family of bobcats we might see and a mountain lion who we wouldn’t see (wouldn’t live to see maybe?).

She also said that birds of prey will sometimes drop animals they caught if they’re not dead, so if i’m lucky, wounded squirrels, rabbits, or snakes might rain down on me from the sky.

Siesta was the right call because the next section was totally exposed and uphill and unbearable enough in the 3pm sun (the monkey’s paw curls). Thought I would make it further given how much I got done in the morning, but I decided to camp at a spot I saw at mile 32.5. Finishing off 20.5 for the day, stopped a bit after 6 and in bed right at sunset.

day 3

I’m having a lot of condensation accumulating on my sleeping bag at night. At one point I woke up and I was in a cloud. In the morning it was clear but I saw a cloud creeping up toward me from the valley. When I woke up there was frost on the outside of my sleeping bag, on my backpack, and my trekking poles. My clothes from the day before were stiff. Thankfully my water and water filter didn’t freeze. Good reminder to keep the water filter with me in my sleeping bag. I got up around 6:30 I think and left camp around quarter past 7. I would not mind if this were my coldest morning, but I’m not holding my breath. Doesn’t seem fair that it gets so cold at night when it feels so hot during the day.

I made it to the turnoff for Mt. Laguna at mile 42.5 a bit before noon. I stopped at The Outpost for the best burrito of my life, where the locals are sharing their stories from the earthquake in nearby Julian on Monday. From my siesta yesterday up to town was almost all uphill from 3100ft to 6000ft.

The few miles before Mt Laguna were through a beautiful evergreen forest that smelled so fresh.

As soon as I left town it got windy and cloudy and looked like it was going to rain. I tried my hardest to out-hike the rain but it was futile. i gave up around mile 51. i set up camp and indeed rain it did. my tent is a cheap 1-person trekking pole tent, and in order to save weight, it doesn’t have much structural support. the second time strong gusts of winds blew my tent stakes out and it to collapsed on me, i thought, “what is a collapsed tent but a tarp sandwich, and isn’t that exactly what i need?” at 6:30am when the sun was coming up i got out to set it back up so i could climb back in and sleep some more.

i will probably be replacing the tent. its not been a priority because i will sleep under the stars whenever weather permits.

day 4

i didn’t write anything on day 4. i made oatmeal for breakfast and took my time packing up my wet camp.

it was super windy all day. 25mph with gusts up to 40. you just get tired of it having now shelter from it. i only did 12 miles. didn’t see the sun at all. i camped near some people and i wanted to talk to them but i just laid in my tent instead. it rained a bit at night again.

day 5

the morning didn’t feel too cold and wasn’t too windy but it was still cloudy. after 4.5 miles the sun came out for a bit and i passed a camping spot that looked into the valley. i stopped for an early lunch, and to dry out some stuff. clouds came back in under an hour. i was ready for a long break in the sun after all the clouds and wind. i

didn’t get as much as i wanted, but glad i stopped while i had the chance.

wind picked up again later in the day. but didn’t feel as cold. skies were grey a lot but getting clearer. what i hiked through today was a lot more like real desert. made it easier to be grateful that it wasn’t bright and sunny and hot.

i’m looking ahead at other hikers’ comments about warner springs. no joke they’re all gushing about the gas station. apparently good, cheap hot dogs and an outdoor seating area. a couple days ago that would’ve sounded pathetic to me. but now i’m so exited for it. might be the only meal there. i see a couple closed businesses in town.

there was a water cache under an overpass near a road crossing at mile 77. there was a box of oranges there too. a few hikers came up after me and one lady shouted for joy when she saw the oranges. i didn’t shout for joy until i tasted the orange. that’s when i realized how good it was.

it’s amazing how such a simple thing can be so meaningful. those oranges lifted my spirits for the rest of the day.

also in warner springs there is a community center with a ton of self-services for hikers. bucket laundry. supplies. power. wifi: so that’s probably where i’ll finally end up posting this. they are only open on weekends, but by a stroke of luck i should be set to get there early sunday afternoon. 30 miles out still.

day 6

sunshine and clear skies have returned. hot during the afternoon but i’ll gladly bear it.

set a new personal record with 21.7 miles today. camped at 101. feet are dog tired. positioned to get into warner springs early tomorrow. ran into gump and taylor early today who i hadn’t seen since mount laguna 3 days ago. ate lunch with them and a couple other people at water cache at mile 91.

day 7

beautiful hike through a valley with wildflowers to get into warner springs. and beautiful beautiful things in warner springs. community center has showers, electricity, bucket laundry, resupply shop.

feeling clean and refreshed. bought lunch and a bit of resupply to get through to idyllwild.