5/6 – I’m going to finish the PCT this year! My plan is to start hiking from where I left off in Oregon on July 1st. It has been a few years so I thought it prudent to do a few hundred miles locally to retest my equipment and see if I’ve still the stamina to do it. I figured while I’m at it, might as well make a few friends that I might see in Oregon. So, going to start from mile 0 and walk to Idyllwild at 179. I’m starting in early May, so I should see some of these folks passing me up North in July/August.
Steve and Maria did me a solid. They hosted me last night then agreed to get me on the trail early today. We got up at 5:30, breakfast, then at the trail at 7 am. There were a few folks milling around after getting dropped off. Everybody wants the hero shot at the southern marker next to the border.
I was debating whether to stay for my turn at a picture. Some gal was there offering everybody birthday cake. I don’t know, something about section hiking for 4 years and finally finishing. She was very insistent. Any hiker who came within 30 feet of the marker was getting an earful. So, yeah no thanks. I strapped in and started walking.
Shortly after that I crossed a campground for PCT’s planning to start the next day. Legend was out there offering up breakfast. I met him in ’17 . He likes to follow the hiking bubble north offering up pancakes, eggs and spaghettis for dinner. Nice guy, though a little odd. Anyway, I quickly ducked into the bushes before he saw me.
The climb up started shortly after. I was crushing it, doing a 3 mile/hr pace. I pretty much kept that up for 15 miles to Hauser Creek. Saw a few hikers on the way. Some gal tucked into the shadow of a rock, few other guys and gals taking breaks. They were all nooblets judging from their pack setup. I did stop and spend a bit of time talking to a guy named stormtrooper. He definitely had the “look”. Tall, lanky, nasty cap, and a ultralight pack. He was whining about the heat which I found amusing (it was <80). I carried on for a bit and eventually Stormtrooper caught up and we hiked together into Hauser. He’s 28 years old from Wisconsin and hiked the AT a couple years ago. His parents own a bait shop there and he’s full of fishing stories. Super nice guy.
Well Hauser creek was not….a creek. There was a couple sad little puddles to draw water from. A couple gals spent an hour there filtering water. They kept adding extra filtration steps using a shirt to on the same bottle over and over again while going on about bugs.
Stormtrooper and I grabbed a couple liters each, then layed down in the shade for a couple hours. I shared some tips about dealing with hiking in the arid/desert environment. One key tip was start early, sleep through the hottest part, then grab some more miles.
We left to do the exposed climb out of Hauser at around 5:00. Temps were pretty good, but I was dragging ass. The super hiker I was before was a worn out old man on that climb. Storm had his first rattlesnake encounter on the way up. The thing was noisy, but far enough off the trail to walk around. Eventually I made it to Lake Morena, had a sandwich, bought a couple supplies I had forgotten, and brought a 12 pack back to camp for the hikers. 20 miles today. Life is good.