Week One: A Single Step

Week 1: May 6th through 12th

"A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. " (Lao Tzu).

The thought of hiking 2650+ miles across all of California, Oregon, and Washington is daunting to grasp, so instead, I'm trying to focus on one week at a time. One day at a time. One mile at a time. Heck, even one step at a time. This week includes the first step I'll take towards a journey of many miles. 

Day -2 (I start in two days)

Today was my last day home before flying to California to begin my journey. It was full of lots of last-minute planning, finalizing my packing list, finalizing and packing my backpack, running errands, and spending time with Dave and the three doggos. It feels surreal right now, and I'm not actually leaving tomorrow. 

Day -1 (I start tomorrow!)

I woke up at 3 am and was too excited to go back to sleep. I flew from Rochester, NY, to San Diego, CA, with a longer-than-planned stopover in Chicago, IL. I met many nice people, almost missed my shuttle to the trail, ate a delicious turkey sammy from the green store, took a picture with the southern terminus, and camped at CLEEF. CLEEF is an equestrian facility about half a mile into the PCT. They also have accommodations for thru-hikers like talks about the trail, places to set up a tent, restrooms, places to charge electronics, and a free pancake breakfast. They also have a huge banner that all the thru-hikers sign as they start the trail :)

I had to do what is known as cowboy camping, which is where you sleep out in the open without your tent because I had mailed my trekking poles and tent stakes to the Campo post office, and they closed before we arrived. My tent is ultralight and requires that my trekking poles be used as tent poles. Anyway, I made it through the night unscathed.  Despite all of the travel delays and missing items, it was a perfect day. Tomorrow, it all officially begins (plus, I'll retrieve my box from the post office and be able to set up my tent)!

Day 1

16.7 trail miles

17.25 total miles (detour to post office)

2838 elevation gain

It's happening!!!! Ermahgerd, it's happening! I woke up super early because of the time change, packed up my stuff and headed to the PCT monument. It's literally right next to a huge 30-foot iron wall that marks the border with Mexico. I stuck my hand through the wall so I could say I went all the way from Mexico! Then I walked the first 1/2 mile of the PCT, which took me right back to CLEEF. I helped myself to a delicious pancake breakfast with the other hikers and chatted for a bit. At 8 AM I headed out again. After walking another mile or so, the trail meets up with a road that goes to the Campo Post office. I headed there and retrieved my tent poles and stakes and a surprise box from Dave :)

I walked with a hiker named Ash for a bit but then separated after taking a break at a water source. Shortly after, I saw my first rattlesnake! It was huge and right on the trail. I was a wimp and waited for Ash to catch up. We tapped our trekking poles together to encourage it to move off the trail, which it did, but then it sat right next to the trail, rattling at us. We decided to give it a wide berth and had to detour through some shrubbery. 

Overall, the day was even better than I had imagined it would be! It was so beautiful, and wildflowers were blooming everywhere. The other hikers are from all over, and I met folks from England and Germany, as well as a bunch from the United States. At the end of the day, I set up my tent at a beautiful campsite and was so tired I fell asleep at 8 PM. 

Day 2

17.6 trail miles / @ 34.3 on PCT

19.35 total miles (detours to the malt shop and kitchen falls)

3875 elevation gain

I woke up early again and was a bit smug because I had made it through Day 1 without acquiring any blisters. I was on the trail by 5:30 AM on a mission to reach Lake Morena campground, which had bathrooms with running water, and by the road to the Malt Shop! I made it to the Malt Shop around 7 AM and bought a few items I needed for my resupply, like cheese. Unfortunately, they didn't serve hot food until 8 AM. I met a nice couple from Australia who were hiking the trail, too, and we decided to wait for hot food. The veggie omelet and hot coffee hit the spot, and then it went back to the trail.

As the day went on I felt the sensation of a blister forming and when I took my shoe off later, it was confirmed that my left pinky toe had betrayed me, and was my first blister of the trail. I hiked throughout the day and took a nice detour to kitchen falls, which was a running stream with a waist deep pool. It was hot at this point and very exposed so I took the opportunity to "swim". I hiked on feeling more tired throughout the afternoon and eventually found a cute little camping spot tucked under a tree. I didn't have service and felt a bit lonely, missing home. 

Day 3

18.3 trail miles / @ 52.6 on PCT
19.76 watch miles (1 mile went the wrong way)
2854 elevation gain

Today was fun! I made it to the town of Mount Laguna, a small mountain town and experienced my first trail magic. Trail magic is when people do nice things for hikers, like give out tasty treats or offer rides to town. As I was approaching town I saw a cooler and box of delicious snacks and helped myself to some fresh strawberries!

I stopped for a bit in town and bought snacks from the store. After heading out of town I saw so many beautiful lupines, which reminded me of a book I had as a child about a woman who lived alone in a cabin in Maine and planted thousands of lupines. 

The trail continued on and soon changed to more desert-y. As I approached Sunrise Highway to get water from a spigot, I met a nice family doing more trail magic. One of the sons, BoneCrusher, had done the PCT in 2017 with his mom, MamaCrusher. The ice-cold, bubbly water and fresh clementines hit the spot. Later in the day, I saw them again and got more trail magic - cucumbers and pickles (you can tell I was craving fresh fruits and veggies). I camped at Pioneer Picnic area with a nice older couple from France and a woman from Germany who are also hiking the trail.

Day 4

15.8 trail miles / @ 68.4 on PCT
17.13 watch miles

1739 elevation gain

Today was hot! Did most of my hiking this morning and then took a longer break from 12:30-3 PM in the shade. In the afternoon, I saw Bec and Mike (an Australian couple) and Andrew and hiked with them until it time to camp. We camped by a water source, an underground cistern with a tap next to a rutty dirt road. Surprisingly a bunch of pick up truck drove up the road in the evening, but they were just looking for somewhere to park and see the northern lights. I fell asleep before the northern lights were supposed to come out. I woke up and went outside at 12:30 AM but didn't see anything. Ah, well. 

I think I'm allergic to one of the plants along the trail because I had a itchy rash all over my legs at the end of the day today :(

Day 5

14.6 trail miles / @ 83 on the PCT

14.6 watch miles (hurray for no extra miles)

2034 elevation gain

Today was hot! (Have I said that before?) I descended from our campsite up on a ridge down into the valley floor and crossed it to a highway intersection known as Scissors Crossing. I waited there for Bec, Mike, and Andrew and then we got rides into the town of Julian to wait out the heat of the day. Julian is a little town that is best known on the PCT for Mom's Pies, an establishment that gives out a free slice of pie and ice cream and a cold drink to any PCT hiker! It was divine. I faffed around town for a bit and went to the public library but it was closed. At 3 PM, we got a ride back to the trail from Mini, a trail angel who offers rides back and forth to Julian from Scissors Crossing. Her car said that it was 86 degrees out. We hung out under the highway overpass until it got cooler, and I felt like a bunch of hobos. At 4:30 PM I made the hot climb up from the valley floor and back onto the ridge and hiked for a few hours until I found a sick campsite. As I made dinner a bunch of other hikers I've met came and set up camp at sites nearby. 

What I'm Reading This Week on the PCT

I read Pacific Crest Trials by Carly Moree and Zach Davis. This book is mainly about approaching the mental aspect of hiking the PCT. I found a few parts really helpful, like writing down why you are doing the hike, what you will feel when you've accomplished it, and reasons why you shouldn't quit. I did skip a section on returning to normal life after the trail and will save that for the trip home. I would recommend this book to anyone hiking the PCT, but it probably won't interest many others :)