And so the journey begins!

After 7 months of planning, it’s finally time to get started! I’m hoping to write and post pictures on this site every 1-2 weeks while hiking (basically when I can get access to WiFi!). I’m really excited and simultaneously more nervous than I’ve ever been about something before. The anticipation from working on this nonstop for months has built up so much that for the past several months or so I’ve been saying to anyone who will listen that I wish I could teleport myself to the starting line. Well, here’s me at the starting line 😎.

Day 0: nerves, nerves, nerves! Have I packed the right things? Did I forget anything? What if I don’t pack enough water in my first day? Am I in over my head?  Have I made a huge mistake quitting my job and doing this for 4.5 months? What if I don’t finish? What if I quit after 20 miles, after all of this work and effort? These are the things running through my brain as I’m getting on a plane in Michigan to go to San Diego. It had snowed right before I left, and I was looking forward to the warmth of Southern California, but a sense of fear of the unknown was still weighing heavily on me as my sister drove the 2 hours to the airport (thanks Katy!).  The night before, I had packed, repacked, and repacked again, trying to be sure I hadn’t forgotten anything.  Lo and behold, as I boarded my pane, I had indeed forgotten to bring a book to entertain me throughout the flight, so my jitters continued unabated.  I had made arrangements with some trail angels (people who volunteer their time to help out people hiking the PCT) to pick me up from the airport and bring me to their house, where I would spend the night, and have them drive me to the trail the next day.  The house was filled with my fellow hikers, and it was nice to meet the people I’d be starting with the next day.  I was so grateful to them for hosting us and making it so much easier to get on the trail. I had a bunch of errands that needed to be done, and I was happy to be walking around La Jolla knowing it would be my last day of civilization for while.  I ate dinner with the 30 others that were staying at the house and I was happy to hear I wasn’t the only one with nerves of anticipation.  We had an after dinner talk about Leave No Trace principles, safety, and trail etiquette and after that, it was off to bed so we’d be ready for the 4:30am wake up time!

All my gear spread out for sorting

Day 1 (15 miles hiked): the trail angels (Scout and Frodo) made us a great breakfast of muffins, eggs, and oatmeal, and we were on the road by 6am for the hour drive to the southern terminus. We took lots of pictures of the whole group, and we’re on our way by 8 am.  I couldn’t resist sticking my finger through a hole in the border fence, so part of me was technically in Mexico before I started walking. It was a really cold and rainy day, which I was kind of bummed about when I started, but have since learned to be grateful for! There were so many beautiful flowers along the way, and I’m really excited for the desert bloom! Since such a huge group of people started at the same time, I ended up on and off hiking with different groups of people for the whole day. I met so many people, and I don’t remember half the names.  I got into the place where I wanted to camp, that was 15 miles in, and was met by 5 other tents. I set up camp at around three and decided to take a nap before dinner. When I awoke 2 hours later, there were close to 20 tents, all squeezed in a very small space! We a sat around and chatted for a few hours before hitting the hay. It was great meeting and talking with so many people, and we’re all so excited for the next few months of hiking! Fell asleep to lots of frogs croaking in the creek.

Day 2 (10 miles hiked): oh man, putting on cold and dirty clothes first thing in the morning is not my favorite thing. I understand that I can’t pack too much in terms of clothing because it will be too heavy, but putting on these clothes took me an insane amount of time, as did packing up my bag for the day. After a slow start, I hiked the 5 miles uphill out of the canyon and arrived in Lake Morena with a hungry belly. In Lake Morena, there’s a small little restaurant/convenience store where I was able to get a huge plate of eggs, hash browns, and ham. Yum! We hung out for awhile, and I started hiking again around noon. Big mistake, since that’s right when the desert heat was setting in! I hiked for a few miles when a saw a group of people hanging out off in the distance soaking their toes in the creek. I joined in, since it was close to 90 degrees out with little to no shade! The toe soak did my spirit wonders! I had planned to hike 10 miles, since 15 the day before had tired me out so much. When I arrived at my planned destination (Boulder Oaks campground) I saw a sign for trail magic (where angels give, bring, or do nice and amazing things for hikers)! Free hotdogs, sodas, beer, and snacks brought to us by Jimmy and Elwood😍! I hung out and met a lot of new hikers- Real Irish, Morley, Blase, Tyrra, and Eric- to name a few, and chatted til bedtime (9pm). Tyrra and I wanted to hang out food because we had seen mice, but I didn’t have cord (ha! My dad is going to say I told you so since he insisted that I bring cord and I said no, it weighs too much!), so we invented a new hang style for rodents. Overall, a much better day than originally anticipated!

The Lea and Tyrra rodent hang method

Day 3 (13 miles hiked): for the first time, I spent most of my hiking hours with a lot of people! Much of the day was spent with Tyrra, Eric, Morley, Blase, and Natasha either hiking or taking breaks together. I was an idiot and didn’t start til around 8 or 9, which meant that it was already hot by 10 and I wanted a break by 11. Thankfully there was a beautiful stream under some trees 5 miles in, but this also meant that I was wanting to start hiking again in the hottest part of the day. I need to figure out the timing for when is best to get going so I can do some miles and not have to walk during the heat of the day. I left the idyllic setting and was immediately baked by the sun and hills. In the end I hiked 13 miles, and the heat alone made it the hardest day yet, even though it wasn’t the longest! I dry camped (without a water source nearby) for the first time ever on a bed of squishy pine needles.

Dinner of champions

Day 4 (6 miles hiked): I did a nero (near zero) day today with only 6 miles. Two miles after my campsite was the town of Mount Laguna. I had planned to go straight in in order to get a results of food and a burger, but I came upon more trail magic! The wolverines gave us fresh food, drinks, snacks, eggs, and bacon. They’re a group of former pct hikers that come together to help this years class early on I’m their hikes. In addition to the food, the offered pack shakedowns (where they go them a persons pack and talk them thru if they need to actually bring it- in an effort to get as light of packs as possible) and a first aid how-to for common issues. It was incredibly helpful and really wonderful to feel like I’m part of such a great community. It’s gotten me thinking how I could potentially do magic in the future, even if not for the pct. While there, I found my gear twin: SWD bag (a rare find), and a purple rain skirt (even rarer)! After waiting out the days heat, I left with Morley and Blase to get a few more miles in before dark. We ended up sleeping on top of a ridge with an amazing view of the sunset. Unfortunately, ridge= a ton of wind, and that meant I had trouble sleeping, but overall pretty happy with the overall day.