Day 5 May 11, 2017

• Miles hiked 19
• Total miles 95
• Hiked from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm

So today I got initiated on SoCal desert heat.

One of the main reasons I decided to head into Julian last night was to latch onto some Wifi and check in with the family.  I have not been in contact with them since I started the trail as I do not carry a cell phone.  Well, there was Wifi, but only just.  I could make voice calls on Skype but no video.  Uploading pictures onto this blog was out of the question.  When I asked the front desk at the hotel why it was so slow, the nice young lady explained that it was because of the fog?!?!?

The day started off in Julian.  I got up at 5:30 and was out hitch hiking by 6:00.  By 7:30, I said screw it and walked back to the hotel to partake in the very good continental breakfast and to take advantage of the facilities.  More about that later.  Anyway, back onto the highway just before 8:00 and the third car by picks me up.  Yup, could have slept in.  A super nice lady, whose name I cannot come up with picked me up and whisked me the 12 miles to the trail in no time.

Picking up the trail at Scissors Crossing, there was a 1,000 foot climb up into the San Felipe (I may have that name wrong) Mountains.  Again, the PCT never hurries these climbs, so it went very smoothly.  The area was like walking through a cultivated cactus garden.

I just am not getting bored by all these cacti

The day had broken clear and warm right from the get go.  Also, my late start did not help.  The trail settled into a pretty easy undulating affair, but by noon my thermometer on my pack was reading 90 F.  Definitely slowed things down and upped the water consumption.  At one point, I was minding my own business going through a broad pass when an F18 comes screaming through, from behind me, at what felt like about 500 feet above me. Now do you see the significance of the morning constitutional in town?  Scared the bejesus out of me.

Fellow grey haired hiker Buck

The ever present Granite Mountain

The day settled into a routine hike, albeit a very hot one.  At about 2:00 I got to the "Third Gate Water Cache".  Some really amazing volunteers truck hundreds of gallons of store bought water to this cache.  Without it, we would have to haul our own water some 28 miles or so.  After getting water, everyone pretty much found a shady spot to wait out the afternoon heat.

My refuge from the heat

Around four, it was cooler so I headed out.  Steady uphill for two hours. Again, not a tough climb, just a long slog.  Made it to a wonderful camp area which I am sharing with Juston from New Zealand, Tom from Australia and Hershey from Washinton State.

Granite Mountain again

Mountains to the west of the trail

Sunset from camp

Now, talking of Hershey and his hiking buddy Max, they suggested a trail name for me today.  I have been leap frogging with them since the morning of the first day. Apparently they have started calling me the Silver Fox because each time they believe that they have hiked out of my range, I come plodding along.  I was resolute on not getting caught up in the whole trail name thing, but I kind of like that one.  Time will tell.

Home for the night

Day 4 May 10, 2017

• Daily miles 18
• Total miles 76
• Hiked from 6:30 am to 3:00 pm

Lots of "cruiser" trail today.  And lots of hikers compared to yesterday.

Woke up at around 5:30 to a very foggy day.  Unlike yesterday, it was more of a high fog, so at least I got some views in.  The cool weather that came with the fog was a godsend.  The trail mainly cruised along up high on the ridges, with the exception of one 1,000 foot decent and subsequent 500 foot ascent.

Easy "cruiser" trail early in the morning

More easy trail.  If you look carefully you can see the trail wrapping around the hill.

The trail was a little more social today.  Played leapfrog with a group of about 6 hikers.  Once the trail wrapped around Granite Mountain, it was a very long, slow decent into the desert valley below.  At around noon, the sun broke clear of the fog and the temperature jumped about 20 degrees (F, I am in the States after all).  I would have to guess that there were land ownership issues that forced the trail to stay up on the hillside far longer than seemed necessary.  But eventually I did make it down.

Starting the long decent to the valley below

Granite Mountain with TJ and Michaela leading the way

Three miles of this to get to the road crossing once the trail left the mountain

Eventually the trail lead to an underpass on a highway.  And that highway leads to a small town called Julian.  My plan did not include going there, but the thought of a shower, wifi, a warm bed and restaurant food was too strong, so off to Julian I went.  Hitched into town with a young guy (Alex from Iowa) and got a ride with a great guy, Patrick and his daughter.  Checked into the Julian Lodge which is great and got dinner at somewhere that will not be named because it was terrible.

So, let's talk PCT hikers.  I have been out here four days now, and I have yet to meet anyone that I would not like to be friends with in the real world.  Just a great bunch of people who are out here doing what they love.  It is interesting that all discussions revolve around where are you from, what school did you go to etc.  Politics, which is such a hot button issue down here in the States is simply taboo.  

Now for some random pics.

Cacti still fascinate me

The trail is home to countless ant colonies

Home for the night

Day 3 May 9, 2017

• Daily Miles - 18
• Total Miles - 58
• Hiked from 7:15 am to 4:00 pm

Well that was an interesting day.  Spent the whole morning with nothing to look at because the fog was so thick and then spent the whole afternoon hiking solo.

 Big vista early in the morning

The picture above shows a great view point I came to early in the morning.  You can see the fog rolling in at that time.  

Lost in the fog

Then this was the view the rest of the morning.  I mean it made for great hiking because it was cool, but it would have been.nice to see something! 

The afternoon broke cloudy and cool, but no fog.  And there were some great vistas out there.  I was hiking way up on a ridge looking thousands of feet down on the desert below.  At one point the trail was an old abandoned highway that obviously gets used by the local hang gliders.  There were a bunch of memorial plaques commemorating those who did not land safely.

Looking way down on the desert

The trail on an abandoned highway

The thing that was missing all afternoon were fellow hikers.  Before i left for this hike, the most common question I got asked was whether I was hiking the trail with anyone.  Well, in the first two days, I would fall in with a group, never hiking directly with them, but leap frogging each other all day.  Today, I saw one fellow (who is now sharing this campsite with me) early in the morning, then two young ladies early in the afternoon, and nobody else.  But I did see a coyote.  There is coyote scat all over the trail (I mean why travel in the chapperal when there is a perfectly good path), but this was the first one I actually saw.

Now I am in camp and in bed at 6:30.  Living the dream!

Put my four year old Sawyer Squeeze water filter to work here for the first time

Camp for the night

Day 2 May 8, 2017

• Daily miles 20
• Total miles 40
• Hiked from 6am to 4 pm

OK, that one was tough.  The second day is always hard on a hike because your legs are a bit stiff and sore from day 1 and you aren't quite as gung-ho.  That was certainly the case for me today.

Today was all about uphill.  I started the day at around 2,000 feet elevation and ended here at Mount Laguna at around 6,000 feet.  I'll let you do the math!  But the weather was great, slight overcast and cool all day.

Today started out with a very easy six miles from Morena to Boulder Oaks.  Had to take my shoes off to ford Cottonwood Creek twice.  Little baby steps for the crossings that await me in the Sierra. 

First of two crossings of Cottonwood Creek

Then the trail went under Interstate 8 and the climbing began.  The grade of the trail was pretty easy all day, but it was just a very long slog uphill.  Again, the scenery is not breath taking, but the certainly is a raw beauty to the high desert.

 

Looking back on I8

 

Pretty typical view

As the climb got higher, small patches of snow, remnants of yesterday's storm started showing up.  This was a bit worrisome as there was no way of knowing if the camping area I was heading for would be snow free.

First small patch of snow.  Do not worry, I got around it

More snow as the trail gained elevation

I finally got to Mount Laguna and was very relieved to see the camp ground was pretty much snow free.  PCT hikers are cordoned off into our own area (ok, we are starting to smell a bit ripe, so I guess that makes sense).  There are around 20 of us camping here tonight.  Because it is a State campground, there are even hot showers.  I had a really fine evening chatting with hikers and sharing a few beers around a campfire.  The only bummer was that the only restaurant in town (and I use that term lightly) closes at 3 on Mondays, so no town food.

 

Home for the night

Day 1 May 7, 2017

• Daily miles 20
• Total miles 20
• Hiked from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm

Day one is in the bag.  We (daughter and I) left Anahein at around 4 am, expecting to have the freeways to ourselves.  Nope.  Even at that time, there is a fair bit of traffic.  Anyway, made it to Campo and the southern terminus of the PCT without any issues.  Thanks Annalies.

One quick picture of me and the monument, and I was away at about 7am.  I was the second person of the day to sign the register.  Never did see the first fellow.

 All shiny and clean with a strange phallic shadow beside me

                 

Everyone who hikes the trail takes this picture

It was kind of a mixed morning weather wise.  Rain jacket on, rain jacket off.  Repeat.  As the day wore on, it bacame rain jacket and pack cover on to stay.  It was cool, but entirely manageable so long as I kept moving.  

The hiking generally was pretty easy.  There were no huge grades, either up or down.  The first climb of the day was about 1,000 feet over the course of several miles.  The second climb of the day was a bit more strenuous, about 1,400 feet over about 2 1/2 miles.  For any future PCT hiker who may stumble upon this blog, a word of warning.  The climb out of Hauser Canyon is a bit tricky.  You get to the top of the face and switchbacks, and you start a small, personal happy dance.  But wait, there's more.  The climb continues for about another mile.  Then, when you first glimpse Lake Morena, you do a second small celebration, but the trail turns away from the lake and continues up.

But, like I say, considering it was over 20 miles, it was a pretty easy hike.  Now onto the scenery.  I have decided that you do not hike in high desert for sweeping panoramas and breath taking scenery.  I mean it was alright and I have never seen this type of terrain before.  But what was really pretty and interesting were the individual features.

I am sure I will be used to these later, but not on Day One

           

 

Is there a dentist on the trail?

         

 

Cool looking manzanita

As the day wore on, the rain increased until the point that it was a steady downpour.  I hid out in the men's washroom at the campground for a bit until the Park Ranger came along.  He mentioned something about cabins being available.  Well, let's just say, I doubt I have ever been happier to part with $50 in my life.  Yeah, go ahead and judge me, but I am warm, my stuff is drying by the fireplace and I am listening to the rain on a tin roof rather than a nylon one.

My camping arrangement on day one

   

All in all, a very good first day.  Because it was cool and wet, I only drank one litre of water today.  Definitely going to have to increase that.  The trail was nowhere near as crowded as I had expected.  Only saw six other people on the trail all day.  Much larger group once I got to Lake Morena, but that is to be expected.

The Adventure Begins (sort of)

Here I am in Southern California!  One very big step closer to the PCT.  My daughter and I are putzing around LA for a few days before she drops me off at the trail head.  This is all getting very real now.  

Screen shot of our progress over Lake Tahoe

 

I have already bagged three mountains since arriving.  Splash, Space and Big Thunder.  All in the same day.  I even saw my first rattler right beside a goat who was chewing on a stick of dynamite.

We are getting up very early tomorrow to get to Campo (apparently in the pouring rain) and then I will start the long walk home.  

Four Weeks to Launch

Yes, I know, last post I promised that there would be no more pre-hike posts.  So, I lied.

Four weeks tomorrow my daughter and I will Westjet our way from Comox to Calgary to San Diego.  Then three days of goofing around in LA.  Finally, on the 7th, she will drop me off at mile zero of Trail 2000 and off I will set.

As I have mentioned in a previous post, the mountains of California have been hammered with snowfall this year.  To emphasize that, the picture below was recently posted by a blogger showing the extent of snow in the Sierra.  Once I saw that picture, I knew those mountains and I are going to get along just fine.  Seems we are both white and fluffy!

Pretty much everything on my pre-hike to do list has been done.  Got several pieces of either new or replacement equipment and clothing (I have found out that I really like Merino wool clothing).  I have made a few adjustments to my resupply plan, some for the better and some otherwise.  I am wise enough to know that plan will be thrown out the, well not the window as I will not be in the possession of a window, but it will be changed as the trail dictates.  I even got my renewed passport the other day.  Yes, I believe that all systems are go.

So, that is going to be my last post before the hike.  Most likely anyway.