The one where I roll my ankle

When I told my friends and family that I was going to hike the PCT, their worries inevitably turned to things like me being eaten by a mountain lion, bit by a rattlesnake, etc. My worries have been mostly about shin splints, plantar fasciitis, stress fractures, and sprains. Why? Because these are the injuries that are most likely to cut my thru-hike short.

Day 23: 8 miles hiked. The tramily got up and had a huge breakfast before leaving our Airbnb.  It was so nice to be showered, laundered, and fed as we left to go back on trail.  After resupplying on food in Big Bear, we were on our way to get back to hiking.  The only problem was, we couldn’t find the best way to get back to the trail! After an adventure on the bus system, as well as a hitch, we were finally on our way.   We got back on trail in an area that had recently burned, so we saw our first batch of the dreaded poodle dog bush (pdb).  Pdb is a plant that is supposed to give you worse blisters and burns than poison oak or ivy, and it’s something we have to be careful of for most of California! Thankfully, this pdb was very far off trail, and only in a small patch, so we didn’t have much to worry about. Our packs were heavy from our food resupply, so as we climbed up the hill we schemed of ways to lighten our loads. We had some leftover wine from our night in the Airbnb, so as we hiked, we had sobriety checkpoints, where you couldn’t pass by if you didn’t have at least a few swigs of wine.  Afterall, wine weighs a lot and no one wants to carry the extra weight of added liquids up hill! We started to play a new game where when we reached a downhill section we would “fly”, meaning we’d spread our arms wide and let gravity take over in pulling us down the hill. (I know you’re thinking this is where I rolled my ankle… but it’s not). Along the way, we met Gravy’s beard twin, which was a strange sight to come around a corner to! We had intended to hike all the way to the next water source, but we found an amazing tree with some rock formations next to it that was perfect for cowgirl/boy camping! We figured we’d all fit on Merlin’s tarp, under the tree, and we had an amazing sunset and setup for the night! Merlin and Beast found some things to climb, and Gravy and I had fun watching on solid ground.  We cooked up a pretty good feast, finished the wine, and had a great night under the stars!

Day 24: 12 miles hiked. We set off the next day with the intention of hiking 15 miles.  As we packed up for the day, Merlin and Gravy talked of how they each wanted a ukulele and banjo, respectively, to start a band of people that barely know how to play those instruments.  After an hour of hiking, we stopped and took a break on a rock formation that had an amazing view of Big Bear Lake and the surrounding mountains.  From there, everyone left to continue onward.  I’m usually the slowest walker in our group, not because I’m a slow walker, but because I stop and take A LOT of pictures, so I was last to leave.  I was taking my time to get going again, and as I turned a corner, I stepped on a rock incorrectly with my left foot, rolled my left ankle, which caused me to fall onto my right knee, then elbow, followed by my face. To clarify: I roll my ankles on an almost daily basis, but this time was bad, and I’ve never fallen over because of it. For better or worse, I’ve always been the type to shake of injuries and keep going. I knew something was not good this time, as I couldn’t easily put weight on my left foot, so I called Merlin, knowing she usually doesn’t keep her phone in airplane mode.  It was actually pretty good luck that I had rolled my ankle when and where I did, because Merlin had missed a turn, and was well on her way to getting lost.  By having to come back, she got unlost… just another one of her wizardly tricks.  I let Beast and Gravy know that I wasn’t going to be moving for awhile, and Merlin and I did our best to tape up my ankle (thankfully I had taken a first aid course, so I knew how to do it).  By the time I was taped up, Beast and Gravy were back, and I was able to hobble over to a nice log where we had a great lunch/siesta while I elevated my foot.  While we were resting there, a section hiker named Nutcrusher came by, as she almost got lost along the same path that Merlin had taken earlier.  We let her know she was going the wrong way, and as she turned to go down the correct path, we saw her ukulele.  The wizard struck again.  Nutcrusher obliged us in a song, and as she began to sing, we all looked at each other with our mouths agape, as it was absolutely amazing.  She then gave us her number and told us to contact her when we’re in Washington, and then gave us some homemade cookies from her mom.  We asked her to stick around, but she told us she was listening to a motivational speaker that screams “What is your capacity?” at her over and over again, and she was trying to do a marathon everyday! I’ve never been so impressed or in awe of a person over the course of 15 minutes in my entire life and I was sad to see her go!   We got moving again, and I was able to hobble along for a bit.  Eventually, my ankle loosened up, but I still had to be incredibly attentive to how I was stepping because if I stepped the wrong way, it was shooting pains along and around my foot.  We continued onward through some burn areas, which was very eerie to walk through.  Eventually we came upon a campsite that was next to a stream so I could soak my ankle, and we stayed there for the night.  Despite the injury, it was still a great day, though very tiring.  I usually like to zone out a bit and meditate while I’m walking, so the constant concentration was very taxing!

Day 25: 21 miles hiked. We woke up in a cloud today, with everything wet and misty! At least it wasn’t windy like on the top of San Jacinto, so it was actually really comfortable to walk through.  The combination of the ankle and the mist made me walk incredibly slow today.  All of the flowers and plants had water droplets on them, and it was very pretty.  I was able to take out my macro lens and play around taking close up pictures of all the beauty around me.  After 12 miles we got a shelter where we could dry out a bit, and Beast was kind enough to wrap my ankle again, as it was starting to hurt a lot. From there we pushed on, knowing that in 9 miles, there were going to be hot springs! We passed the 300 mile marker today! We also saw the tallest blooming yucca I have EVER seen!!! I say this, as someone who has seen approximately 200 blooming yuccas/ day for the last 25 days.  I literally said WHOAAAA!!! as I turned the corner to see it! We pushed on and did some night hiking in order to get to the hot springs, despite it being very cold and wet outside.  When we got there, we didn’t bother to set up camp, and instead cooked and ate our dinners while soaking in the hot spring while it continued to rain on us. It was a pretty great dinner location! We set up camp as it started to pour, and I have to say, getting wet sand off of your feet, when everything you own is soaking wet, is a very difficult thing to do, but after about 30 minutes of trying, I was finally able to get into my sleeping bag for the night.

Day 26: 9 miles hiked. I woke up to the sun shining, with a beautiful river and hot springs all around me.  Sigh, I never wanted to leave.  This is what hikers refer to as a vortex.  You mean to spend only a little bit of time at a place, and somehow you enter a vortex, and you can never leave.  We had planned to spend 1-2 hours here, and ended up not leaving until 2 pm.  It was glorious. We spent much time soaking in different temperature tubs, and when we got too hot we went into the river (sometimes with the rope swing). A trail angel came up and gave us beers, the sun was shining after not seeing it at all the day before, suffice it to say, it was really hard to leave. Not too many pictures of this place, as it was clothing optional, and therefore difficult to not get pictures of naked folks, and I don’t want to put their nudity on the interwebs.  Regardless of the lack of clothing, the scenery was stunning, with big boulder formations (which Merlin climbed) everywhere. We eventually broke the vortex and made our way onwards.  Beast and Gravy were walking ahead of Merlin and me, and they saw a rattle snake off to the side of the trail. They wrote us a note in the sand so we could see it too.  This one had very obviously just eaten, so it was very docile and chill. I’m gonna guess it was a Southern Pacific rattlesnake.  This is my 6th interaction with a rattlesnake so far, meaning, I’ve seen or heard one every 4-5 days now, and at this point, it’s more of an “oh hey, there’s a rattlesnake over there… cool” reaction instead of an “OMG there’s a f*cking rattlesnake! AHHH!” reaction.  We made our way to a dam, where Gravy, looking at his book, said “hey! we can get to town and get pizza if we leave trail here!” Merlin, who at this point has had hiker hunger (non-stop eating) kick-in fully, said she’d like to go in as well, since she ran out of snacks.  Beast and I were content upon staying on trail, so we agreed on a future meeting point and separated.  Beast and I climbed up a ridge, that was FULL of flowers and recently burned manzanita bushes.  We found a campsite on a ridge, and it gave us an amazing sunset.  Eventually we heard back from the wizards (we’ve decided both Gravy and Merlin have magical powers), and they said they were on their way to us, with pizza and beer (see… magical)!!!! Beast and I hiked out to meet them to help them carry the weight, and our on trail reunion was one for the books! Let me just say, that pizza and beer were an amazing cherry on top of a great day!

Day 27: 13 miles hiked. I started my day with pizza for breakfast, with an amazing view!!!! It was mother’s day today, so I talked to both my mom and grandma, which was also a nice start to the day.  As I hiked, there were lots and lots of vibrant yellow and purple (go Vikings!) flowers all along the trail.  The trail walked along the highway for a bit today, and it’s really disconcerting to all of a sudden have to walk next to cars, after weeks of walking in solitude.  You forget that you have to look both ways before crossing, since you’re so used to just walking wherever you want to go, and nothing getting in your way. It was really hot today, and we eventually made our way to Silverwood Lake, which offered a promising dip in the water! Beast has been clamoring for the past few days to go fishing (he carries a fishing pole, amongst many other things… his pack is 70-90 lbs, thus the name Beast), and he ran ahead with the prospect of catching something to eat for lunch.  We ate lunch, and went for a swim before heading out.  Sadly, no fish were caught for dinner. As we continued around the lake, it became more and more beautiful! At one point, I turned the corner and saw tens of blooming yuccas, with the sun lighting them up from behind, which was a gorgeous sight to see.  We eventually found our way to a campsite where we made some vegan (only option at the grocery store) burritos, and slept in anticipation of the town day that was coming tomorrow.

Day 28: 12 miles hiked. We woke up today with only 12 miles between us and a McDonald’s! McDonald’s has never sounded so good before in my entire life.  We climbed out of our camping area, and then ridge ran our way into Cajon Pass.  Along the way, there were many pretty views of the mountains ahead of us, but pictures were quickly taken, knowing that minutes spent taking pictures would mean getting to McDonald’s minutes later than was possible if I didn’t stop to take that picture.  After what seemed like days (it was actually only 4ish hours), we finally made it to the intersection, and made our way up the road to get some food.  I had eaten a small breakfast in anticipation of this meal, so I was starving.  I’m not sure if they changed the recipes or something, but these were literally the best McNuggets and fries I’ve ever eaten at a McDonald’s in my entire life.  Gravy impressed me by eating 2 BigMacs and 20 Nuggets! After eating our fill, we made our way to hiker mecca (REI) to get and exchange some gear.  After what seemed like hours in my favorite store, we made our way to a burger joint, where it became apparent that the 2 wizards in our group had apparently gotten matching sunglasses… wizards I tell you! We made our way back to Cajon Pass to the Best Western and spent the remainder of our evening in the hot tub with a lot of other hiker trash that were staying at the hotel too!

Day 29: I decided to zero in Cajon Pass, since my ankle needed a break from walking.  It was a great day of hanging out and watching old movies while doing all of the chores that take over our rest days (gear repair, laundry, emails, etc.).  We eventually made our way to get some Chinese food, Dunkin’ Donuts for tomorrow, and go to some additional gear stores, but really nothing to write home about for today!