Work in Progress – Writing these is pretty time consuming, and I just haven’t had enough time to work on it. I’m planning to expand on the bullet points and add photos. Expect future posts to be shorter, since there won’t be as much to explain.

Day 0, 5/16

After a restless night of camping in my newly emptied apartment, I packed the few remaining articles into my car, took a deep breath, and began the drive down to San Diego. I had made some reservations beforehand to store my car in an outdoor lot near San Diego, and catch a 2pm shuttle to Campo, where the southern terminus of the PCT is located.

Dropping off the car was straightforward, but I also had to prepare the car to be stored for 5+ months. I had remembered to pick up some fuel stabilizer and a cover at the auto parts store, but I forgot to pack a wrench to disconnect the battery. After spending a little too long struggling to remove the cable, I gave up and called an uber to get to the shuttle pickup. The battery will need to be replaced when I get back, but it felt like a small price to pay after everything else I went throught to get here.

Arriving at the shuttle a few minutes after the designated time, I apologized profusely and introduced myself to the other hikers gathered there. There was Philip, Bullfrog, and a couple from Seattle. We spent the ~1 hour car ride making small talk about the trail and where we’d come from.

The shuttle dropped us off at the southern terminus where we posed for photos and stuck our hands through the border wall to be able to say we’d been in Mexico. It was a short 0.25 mi walk to the CLEEF campground where we set up for the night.

CLEEF was really nice, considering it only cost $12 to stay there. A few veteran hikers including Papa Bear and One Speed gave us a sort of safety lecture / fireside chat, covering topics like heat exaustion, staying hydrated, crossing rivers, getting hitches into town, etc. Breakfast the next morning was promised at 5:30am, and they gave us each a few packets of electrolyte drink mix too.

Day 1, 5/17

Breakfast at CLEEF was fantastic – chocolate chip pancakes with walnuts, fruit, and coffee. I got to spend some time talking with the other hikers that’d shown up, including John, Bryan, and a guy from Denmark whose name I didn’t catch.

Keeping all of these names straight was starting to become a challenge, but the reality is that I won’t see very many of these people after the first week, either because they’re hiking slower, or because they’ll leave the trail with an injury.

Naturally, we were all chomping at the bit to get started with our first day on trail, so I packed three liters of water to last me to Hauser Creek at mile 15, and set out at 7am. My goal for the day was Lake Morena at mile 19.5, where there’s a shop selling burgers. What better way to celebrate my first day on trail?

It was pretty easy going with lots of nice scenery and no difficult climbs. The only difficult part was the intense sun and lack of shade. Luckily, the humidity in the desert is always low, so sweating is effective, so long as you stay hydrated. My sun hoody covered my head and arms, but my hands and legs were still exposed to sun. I used sunblock, but they still felt a bit burned by the end of the day. This is going to be a constant struggle for the rest of the desert section.

One thing I quickly noticed was a bit of swelling in my hands. Supposedly this is an indicator of low electrolytes – when the concentration of salts in the blood falls, it causes water to diffuse into cells, so you can actually feel the change in your osmotic balance in some of your soft tissues. I popped an electrolyte pill, and sure enough, the hands went back to normal after an hour.

I grabbed a couple of liters at the creek and treated them with Aquamira. There was lots of talk about norovirus going around, which filters can’t remove, so chemical treatment seemed like the way to go for the time being.

After two miles of brutally hot and shadeless hiking out of Hauser Creek, I ran into an older woman who introduced herself as Phoenix Genesis. She had apparently camped at the creek last night and had only made it this far after an entire day of hiking. She asked me to look for her husband at Lake Morena. Little did I know that she would become the hottest trail gossip for the first week. Talking to other hikers, I slowly got more details about how she was completely unequipped for the hike, refused to carry more than one liter of water, was only hiking two miles per day, and was basically living off of whatever food she could get from the hikers passing by. Total weirdo.

After that, it was smooth sailing into Lake Morena. I arrived with plenty of daylight left to grab a burger, mosey over to the campground, and socialize with the other hikers slowly streaming in. A thoroughly satisfying first day.

Day 2 5/18

Yet again, there was another town in easy striking distance, this time only 21 miles ahead, so I did the only reasonable thing and planned to hike into Mt Laguna for dinner.

I’m planning to shoot for at least 20 miles on most days in order to adhere to my schedule. The weather starts to turn in Washington around early October, so I hope to finish before the end of September. From May 17 to September 30, that gives me 157 days, or 2650 mi / 157 days = 19.3 miles per day. So, including any rest days, I need to average a little over 19 miles every day to stay on schedule. Of course, I want to take lots of rest days, so I need to eventually be hiking significantly farther than 19 on the days I do hike.

Around mid-day, I met a hiker named Elisa who was particularly easy to talk to. She’d only been hiking 15 mi/day, so I clearly wouldn’t know her for long, but she was headed to Mt Laguna for the day, so maybe I would run into her later on.

The hike into Mt Laguna was pretty uneventful, aside from a rattlesnake encounter. After exploring the tiny town, I decided to go to eat at the Outpost, and sure enough, I ran into Elisa again. We had lunch together, she told me about her job as a construction engineer, and I gave her some new hiker advice.

Having eaten, I started looking for a place to stay for the night. As if on cue, a bearded man in a truck pulls up and asks if I want to stay with him and his family for the night. I wasn’t about to turn down my first opportunity for some trail magic, so I accepted and hopped in.

It didn’t take very long for me to figure out that this guy was from the Yellow Deli. For those who don’t know, the Yellow Deli is basically a cult, but I wasn’t partucularly concerned since I’d already had experience with them on the AT in Vermont. They do recruit hikers if they show interest, but they aren’t pushy at all.

At any rate, I got a shower and a home-cooked meal, and camped in their yard. We had some rather interesting conversations, but nothing particularly uncomfortable.

Day 3, 5/19

After eating some breakfast, I left the Yellow Deli house around 9am and got back on trail, and immediately ran into John and Elisa. We gossiped about the Yellow Deli for a bit before heading out.

The day started off really strong, with by far the best views on trail so far. The climb up to Kawaami Point wasn’t too bad, and there were lots of interesting memorials near the top.

For maybe half the day, the trail was covered in caterpillars, almost to a ridiculous extent. I must have shown up just at the right time for their spawning season. It was pretty difficult hiking while trying to avoid stepping on them, and there were lots of dead caterpillars in the water source too. Luckily I didn’t notice any obvious flavors.

Sun exposure is beginning to be a problem. My sun hoody covers up most of my upper body, but I still insist on wearing shorts. I’ll just have to be very meticulous about applying sunscreen. My lips are starting to get pretty badly chapped. I’ll have to look out for some chapstick in town. At least the heat is less of a problem, since there’s more wind at altitude.

Day 4, 5/20

  • Woke up and hit the trail at 6:30
  • Walked 7 mi to Scissors Crossing
  • After descending to the valley, it’s finally looking like a proper desert
  • Stuck my thumb out and got a hitch right away from a military pastry chef
  • Stayed in Julian at the Oak Hill Inn
  • Stopped at Mom’s for a free slice of apple pie, ice cream, and coffee
  • Did laundry in the tub
  • Ate at the Italian restaurant, got lasagna and a cannoli
  • The PCT gear shop had good food resupply

Day 5, 5/21

  • Got a ride out of Julian with Professor. Really cool dude, retired engineer. We were talking about how the sun is more intense at altitude because there’s less atmosphere to pass through, and how carrying too much water is like the space shuttle carrying too much fuel.
  • Climb out of Scissors Crossing was hot. I was thinking about the ride with Professor and how I miss having people around who really talk like engineers. Made me consider if maybe I want to see if I can push my career trajectory more towards EE.
  • Saw another day hiker who mentioned that this area was like a “museum of desert plants”
  • Ended up hiking 24 miles
  • Met a really fast hiker at midday at the water cache. He warned me about the chollas right before I proceeded to plant my hand down on top of one. They drop off these tiny pieces of themselves with spines. Nasty
  • Found a rice crispy treat on the ground. Trail Magic :)
  • Ran into two rattlesnakes in like a 1000 ft stretch. The second one refused to move off trail.
  • Reading Guthooks, I found out about the possibility of having a burrito delivered to the trailhead at mile 101. Suddenly I had a new destination for the night, so I hustled. It was fun ordering the burrito with texts using the InReach. Definitely pulling its weight.
  • Camp was crowded – everyone must have had the same idea.
  • Bullfrog was there, along with Robin Hood and Hunter. We sat around and BSed about Phoenix Genesis.

Day 6, 5/22

  • 24 miles from camp at 101 to camp at 125
  • Burrito! The Burrito Lady showed up promptly at 7:10 with our burritos from Punker’s Cafe. My Cali burrito was delicious.
  • Cow pastures in the morning
  • So many grasshoppers…
  • Had fun climbing on Eagle Rock and taking pictures with Bullfrog and Hunter.
  • Bullfrog and Hunter peeled off to try to get a resupply and get a delivery from a dispensary when we passed Warner Springs.
  • Packed too much water at Agua Caliente Creek, the climb after was long
  • Passed Colin taking a siesta. He’d decided to camp before the climb.
  • Ran into lots of hikers I haven’t seen before.
  • Passed through Cleveland National Forest. Very pretty area. Scrub pines mixed in with the usual desert vegetation.
  • Saw a comment mentioning a particularly beautiful campsite, so decided to hike up to 125 and dry camp.
  • Trail got very rocky as we passed into an area with massive boulder fields scattered across the mountains.
  • Set up camp and made a hot meal as I watched the sunset. Was joined that night be German hiker (Sabrina? Samantha?). Exchanged lots of tips about hiking with her.

Day 7, 5/23

  • 27 miles from camp at 125 to Paradise Valley Cafe (PVC)
  • Watched the sun rise and had coffee and a complete cookie for breakfast at my very excellent campsite. It was perfect, not even any wind during the night.
  • Still struggling with sleep. My body is so sore that I can’t help but toss and turn constantly because everything hurts.
  • Stopped for water at Mike’s Place – trail angel who keeps a tank filled. Hikers were gathered there to get water before the next stretch, which is a long carry.
  • I had planned to get water at the cistern after 15 miles, but it was dry, leaving me to decide whether to backtrack or push forward with too little water.
  • I pushed forward to the hostel 5 miles ahead without any water. I was worried I would be severely dehydrated, but I never stopped sweating, so I think I was ok.
  • The hostel wasn’t a fun place to be. The overworked mom running the place was too preoccupied to give me the rundown, and the hikers there gave me bad vibes. They weren’t friendly, and I got the impression that they were yellow blazers. The kid there wouldn’t leave me alone either. Kept wanting to play with the timer on my watch and phone. Odd kid.
  • I decided I didn’t want to be there, so I made the grueling hike back to the trail and booked it to PVC. The road walk to the cafe was pretty sketchy.
  • Arrived at PVC 30 minutes before closing at 8pm. Ordered a big plate of pasta and meatballs with garlic bread.
  • Camping behind PVC was sucky. The ground was way too hard for stakes, had problems with water condensation.

Day 8, 5/24

  • Zero in Idyllwild
  • Woke at packed up at PVC. Tried to get a hitch into Idyllwild, but no one would stop.
  • Went back to PVC and got coffee and biscuits and gravy.
  • Found a few other hikers and started calling trail angels for a ride. Vic came and drove us to Idyllwild. Super nice guy.
  • Found a room at the inn. They were almost booked full, since it’s the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. They let me leave my pack there until checkin at 3. I can’t keep spending so much for hotels, but it feels like a lifesaver for now with how bad I’ve been sleeping.
  • Grabbed some food from the gas station and the Village Market.
  • Stopped at the coffee shop and had a long chat with a really nice couple that like to give hikers rides. Talked a lot about trail life, doomsday preppers