The First Week

I’ve just finished my first week on the trail! So far I’ve had pretty perfect weather and only minor setbacks. Overall, it’s been a great week with my thru hiker “training wheels”. Here’s how it went.

April 13th – Day 1

After getting my apartment in order and returning my work laptop to my office the evening of the 12th, I drove to my hometown to meet my parents for dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant. The next morning I got up, showered, doubled checked the contents of my pack, and started the roughly 3.5 hour drive to the southern terminus with my parents, who generously offered to drop me off. We got to the terminus about quarter past noon and were met with cloudy skies, wind, and temperatures around 60 degrees.

I waved at Mexico, signed the registrar (there were about 30 people who started before me that day), took some pictures, said goodbye to my parents, and set off heading north into the town of Campo, where the trail briefly follows the road before veering off west.

The weather was perfect for hiking and I was in good spirits. At the railroad crossing at the 3 mile mark I passed Tom and Cameron from Nashville, who took photos of my parents at I at the terminus. Cameron paid for his thru hike with his profits from buying and selling GameStop stock!

I made good progress the rest of the afternoon, meeting many great people along the way, including Denette, whose positivity is infectious. We had agreed to camp together at mile 11.2, a popular campsite, but when I got there late at night it was full. I continued on until mile 11.9 where I jumped in the first acceptable campsite I could find as it was quickly getting dark and a few raindrops came down. The site was less than ideal; it wasn’t level and I couldn’t get a good pitch for my tent. I was concerned that rain would flow in, but fortunately those few drops were all the rain I’d see this week, and I stayed dry. Between the excitement and the slanted spot it was a restless night, but I was in good spirits.

April 14th – Day 2

I was up fairly early and promptly boiled water for my first breakfast on trail. I opened up my “oatmeal” to find that it was actually a cup of instant chocolate chip pancake mix. Oops. But adding hot water turned the batter into a dough-like consistency, and it was actually delicious, so I wasn’t mad about it. I might even consider Kodiak Cakes pancake dough for future PCT breakfasts. Next I turned my attention to foot care. I had a few blisters on my pinky toes, which I expected, but I also had blisters on the back of my heels, which surprised me. I guess my trail runners go up too high in the back, and had rubbed quite a bit. I applied some Leuko tape and hoped for the best. I packed up my bag and set off towards Hauser Creek. On the way I met Will and Andrew, and we hiked together into Hauser Creek, making a wrong turn once heading down a fire road that ended near a power line. We separated at Hauser Creek where they chose to take a longer break and I continued on. The climb out of Hauser is considered to be the first big climb of the PCT, gaining about 1500 vertical feet in about 3.5 miles. Fortunately, it was a cool day and I was able to make good time, with beautiful views of Lake Morena as my reward.

Lake Morena is the first “Trail Town” of the PCT. It offers a campground with a dedicated PCT section and a general store/malt shop with enough greasy food to fill any hungry hiker’s belly. The campground looked nice, but as it was only noon I decided to grab a burger and continue on. The normal people to thru hiker ratio at the malt shop was much higher than I expected when I stopped in for my burger, and I felt quite out of place and self conscious of how dirty I was. I felt better after a nice family asked how my hike was going and told me that they were rooting for me to get to Canada.

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I continued on through a fairly warm afternoon. At mile 26 I entered Boulder Oaks campground. The campground was empty, except for a handful of PCT hikers setting up tents around a picnic table and campfire pit in an area not associated with any site in particular. I had planned to continue on as it was still early on in the afternoon, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to stay somewhere with picnic tables, clean bathrooms, and running water. Ultimately I was glad I stayed there. I got to meet Jim, a 74 year old Vietnam veteran from Saipan who is hiking the trail and documenting everything on his YouTube channel, Haole Hiker on the PCT. He is also featured weekly on his local new station and gets a 60 second spot every week. Jim has a great attitude and says he “might be too old to hike this trail, but he won’t know unless he tries”. You can see me about about 5 minutes in and follow his hike here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3wzSWjRLG4&t=414s. I also camped with Rooster, Rocky, KTown, and Hawaii Fast. I did a little over 14 PCT miles that day.

April 15th – Day 3

My alarm went off at 5:45 am and I found ice on my sleeping bag. I got up to go to the bathroom and promptly decided it was too cold to start my morning, so I went back to bed for another hour or so until the sun started to warm things up. KTown, Rooster, and Hawaii Fast all got out of camp before me. I turned my attention to changing the Leuko tape on my blisters. The blisters on my toes seemed to be heeling, but when I took off the Leuko tape on my heels some skin came with it. Ouch! I packed up and said goodbye to Jim and Rocky and started the long, hot climb to Mt Laguna. The temperature couldn’t have been much higher than about 70, but it felt so much warmer.

I saw very few hikers, leapfrogging Rooster a few times but otherwise seeing no one. The day ended with a very rewarding campsite in the first patch of pine trees after a day climbing through desert shrub. I camped at 6000 ft, but the evening was much warmer than the one before and the smell of the pine felt so refreshing. I was close to a campground and the area felt like a place bears might hang out, so I hung my food for the first time rather than keeping it in my tent. I did about 13.5 PCT miles that day.

April 16th – Day 4

When packing up in the morning I went to untie my bear hang but got the line hopelessly tangled. After what felt like 30 minutes of trying to untangle it I eventually just cut the line to get my food bag back. I guess I need more practice on bear hangs. I headed into Mt. Laguna for a resupply. Before I headed to the general store I stopped in the bathrooms at the Mt. Laguna campground to make myself presentable. I scrubbed the dirt off my legs and washed my face, and I changed into my sleep shirt because it was much nicer than my hiking shirt. The store had plenty of options and I definitely overbought food for the next few days. As I was packing up my bag, a thru hiker came into the store asking for a ride to Julian. He had an appointment at the post office that morning but was having no luck hitching a ride. Just when things seemed hopeless, a man named Cowboy pulled up in his truck and asked if anyone needed a ride to Julian. They say the trail provides, and it definitely did for that hiker that day.

After I resupplied I continued on, leapfrogging Cody, who now goes by the trail name Tiny Pack, along the way. I met a few day hikers who said they had hiked the entire PCT over the course of about 12 years and wished me luck. Apparently they told Cody he smelled good. They did not tell me I smelled good, if that’s any indication of my hygiene at this point.

I passed the 50 mile mark and headed into the Pioneer Mail picnic area, which was rumored to be the last sure water source for the next 25 miles. I had planned to camp there, but was discouraged to learn camping wasn’t allowed. My feat hurt and I really didn’t want to hike the additional 2 and a half miles to a suitable campsite, especially carrying the 6 liters of water I’d need for the next 2 days and 2 nights. After a long break with Tiny Pack, Paulina, Chris, Wasteland, and Zod, which included dinner and a beer left by a trail angel, I topped off all of my water and continued on. Tiny Pack caught up with me about a half mile up trail and offered to hike with me until the camp site, which made the remaining 2 miles very pleasant. I found a sheltered campsite that was relatively wind free and had a pleasant evening. As I prepared for bed, a man came running through the trail. He apologized but explained that it was getting late and he was having a hard time finding a place to camp, so he asked if we could share the area. He apologized profusely, but there was plenty of space so I assured him it wasn’t a problem. I couldn’t even see his tent from mine! It was a calm night after a windy day and I slept well. I did about 15.5 PCT miles that day.

April 17th – Day 5

I got a late start despite not having to cook breakfast. My overzealous snack purchasing at Mt Laguna the day before actually worked to my advantage, because I had enough snacks to make up all of my calories for the next few days, allowing me to not have to cook, which helped my save water in what I thought was a 2 day dry stretch. I made it 5 miles to the Sunrise trailhead by about 10:30. Sunrise trailhead is traditionally a reliable source of water with a faucet and a cattle trough, however this season the faucet is off and any water at the trailhead is supplied by trail angels in a water cache. I expected the site to be dry, but headed to the parking area anyway to use the bathrooms. In the parking lot I ran into Tiny Pack and his friend Andrew, who was meeting him to hike for a few days and had brought about 10 gallons of water to add to the cache. I was a little frustrated that I’d carried so much water the previous evening when I didn’t need it, but if I had been at the cache just 20 minutes earlier I would have found it dry, so I was still glad I played it safe.

I hiked on through a hilly section of trail on another hot day. There was a pretty significant descent, and I could feel all of the extra water weight on my back and especially in my knees. I was feeling pretty sore and eventually made camp around 5 pm near a very sketchy (but not dry) water tank. I didn’t need any of the water, which probably saved my filter a few weeks of its life. I camped with Miting and Heart, and we had a nice little girl power campsite going on. The sunset was beautiful and the evening was warm and still. I did about 13 miles that day.

April 18th – Day 6

I had only 8.7 miles to get to Scissors Crossing, where my parents were meeting me at 2 pm to take me back to their RV campsite in Julian for a much needed shower and some laundry. I had planned to sleep in, but it was so warm that I found myself on the trail by 8. Even at an easy pace, I was at Scissors Crossing by noon with nothing to do but hang out under the bridge and wait. When I arrived there was a very drunk PCT hiker rambling on. I guess he continued his party in Julian from the night before into that morning. He seemed determined to hit the trail that day, but eventually fell asleep under the bridge. When he woke he gave up on hiking for the day and headed back into town for a hotel room. You meet all kinds of people on the trail.

After he left I waited alone until Luke showed up. Luke had gotten up at 5 am that morning and hiked 18 miles to get to the bridge by 1. He was sunburned and exhausted, but we found a single Snickers bar that a trail angel had left and vowed to split it after it hardened up in a cooler. My ride showed up before we got the chance, so Luke got the whole Snickers bar. I can’t be upset about it, though. He definitely deserved it more than I did.

When my Dad showed up to pick me up he had 3 PCT hikers in the bed of his truck. To my surprise two of them were Tiny Pack and Andrew! It’s a small world out on the PCT. My Mom was so impressed that the hikers they picked up knew me. I guess she needed proof that I was making friends.

Once back at the RV I had the greatest shower of my life, changed into clean clothes, and had an incredible dinner at Romano’s, a Sicilian restaurant in Julian. That evening we had a campfire and walked around the RV park, which was very nice. I hiked 8.7 trail miles that day.

April 19th – Day 7

Today I took a zero day – or a day in which I hike zero PCT miles – to rest, do laundry, and write this post. In the morning I did my taxes and finished up a few things I’d missed before I left. My Dad grilled burgers for lunch and we headed into town to claim my free slice of pie from Mom’s Pie House. Yes, free! All PCT hikers get a free slice of pie by showing their PCT permit. It’s a generous and delicious offer that draws many PCT hikers in Julian. We stopped by 2 Foot Adventures to get new shoes and swap out some gear. Hopefully my new shoes and gaiters will help keep me blister free from now on.

Now I’m packing up my bags and preparing for the stretch ahead. Yesterday I heard the sad news that the Montezuma Valley Market had burned down the previous evening. The market offered groceries, mail service, bunk houses, and more to PCT hikers and was a critical resupply point for many. I had looked forward to stopping there are I am saddened that I won’t get the chance. My hope is that the owners, who have worked so hard to create this business, will be able to rebuild and serve more hikers in coming years. A GoFundMe has been created to help them here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-montezuma-market?qid=11e0c9605759280f28be8d121e5627ee

In the coming week I will be heading through Warner Springs and then Anza, and hope to be well on my way to San Jacinto by next Monday.

Until next time,

Megan