Margheritaville

Wednesday, April 30
Mile 110, town of Warner Springs

It's time to wax poetic!

Walking through the golden field this morning, with the cheats whispering and my ankles, with the sun fragrant and benevolent in my nose, brought on that homesickness, instantly healed by total bliss in where I am, right now.

Ekone in my heart, snot in my nose, grace in my steps, ache in my feet, herd running with me. These landscapes are the ones that lift everyone's hearts.

Gypsytown kickin it in Warner springs. A well-deserved break!

And then, my first town day! I successfully picked up my resupply package at the double-wide trailer that serves as the Warner Springs post office. Then, lunch and margheritas at a Mexican place we all managed to hitch out to.. Well, without a hitch. (Har har) We're camped out on the community center lawn, where we'll grab a breakfast tomorrow morning and check the trail for fire closures. Cali's already burning, I guess.

The most important laundry got done..ish

Earlybirding

Tuesday, April 29
Mile 101, Barrel Spring

Colin loving the sunrise mountain  breakfast

Big climb in the desert? Three AM wakeup. Gypsy Town hit the trail running this morning and hiked by headlamp until sunrise, when we had a glorious mountaintop breakfast.  Aah, bliss!

Got my first blisters today.. I'm using the avoidance tactic and hope that they figure themselves out. My feet are really feeling this first week of hiking, too. But what are ya gonna do except walk it out?

San Felipe hills at dawn

We had our biggest mileage today at 24, and also hit the 100-mile mark! Big day! We're camped about eight miles from warner springs, and we have big plans to be sipping margaritas and eating giant burritos twelve hours from now.. Bring it on!

Reinstating Siesta

Monday, April 28
Mile 77, Scissors Crossing

We rolled out of our cuddle puddle at dawn, and the mountains were staring epically at us. The PCT wind tunnel is living up to its notoriety so far.

Taken from my sleeping bag this morning :)

We busted out twelve miles before one today and took a looong siesta at a water cache. It's amazing what some water and napping does for my energy; I was ready to cruise again and had a great afternoon chatting with Lizzy (Laugh Track) and Josh (Magic Stick).

The crew: Patches, Mike, Liam, Colin, Laugh track, and Magic Stick, all chillin at siesta

We had heard that the next water cache was gone, so we were carrying six liters each for the next 32 miles. But! There was water after nine miles thanks to the trail angels watching over us thruhikers. :) so grateful to be able to tank up before tomorro. We agreed on a 3am start to work our way into the San Felipe hills; a very hot and exposed hike during the day. But we'll be hiking into the sunrise!

Montanafornia

Sundayy, April 27
Ridgetop boulder field, mile 56

It was a beautiful day of hiking! The terrain has been so cruiser so far, which makes for relatively easy miles. We felt like we were back in montana this morning, complete with cool pine forest and snow patches. So crazy how quick the trail changes here. We rolled into mt Laguna, a little mountain town, around ten and I treated myself to a Klondike bar and an orange. Ah, the finer things.

Mt Laguna general store, aka hiker hangout. I wonder what the locals think of us..

I hung out with Lizzy's crew at lunch, which has turned into a motley crew of around 8. Got to know a couple more hikers, including Colin, Lizzy and josh's good friend. We hiked and chatted most of the afternoon, and I completely lost track of time and missed the first campsite that I was planning on meeting b-hugs and Shelby at.. Hopefully they'll catch me tomorrow!

Lizzy! (Laugh Track)

Now I'm cowboy camped (no tent) in a cuddle puddle with the motley crew on a ridge at mile 56. So many stars..

Misty drizzles

Saturday April 26
Mile 38.8, in a meadow at 5200 feet

It's wet and cold in the desert, who knew? I'm writing this entry from snug in my sleeping bag, which I entered at six to escape the frigid clouds blowing in.. now we're in one!

It began at lake Morena last night, when I flung myself from my tent at three am to re-pound my tent stakes as the rain blew sideways into my tent. Needless to say it was not a restful night. Everyone looked a little haggard in camp this morning--the only ones safe from the carnage of last night were those with regular tents, not the ultralight setup like I have. Sigh, sacrifices must be made I suppose.

Wild Sweet peas :) so pretty.

 I spent most of today trying to keep moving and stay warm and dry my stuff out, but it was still beautiful, with the hills coming in and out of the mist. We leapfrogged around with a handful of other hikers, including spirit, love line, and sheriff woody. A boy scout troop was in our planned campsite, but we found a lovely meadow a mile later with a springfed trough. Hopefully I get a bit more sleep tonight, even with all this wind.

ADZPCTKO

Friday, April 25
Mile 19.8, Lake Morena Campground

Annual day zero pacific crest trail kickoff! A gathering of people involved with this magical trail show up for a weekend of seminars, vendors, events, food, and movies. There's a good chunk of this year's class of hikers, along with past and future hikers. It's both inspiring and a little overwhelming to see this many people together, loving this niche community of long distance hikers.

I spent most of today wandering between seminars, learning about trail conditions, water reports, and trail etiquette. Lots of chatting and socializing, too--people are so friendly! A few names of people I met: Bambi, zombie, shredder, Elise, gold mine, Nigel, big red.. And so many more. It's been helpful to pick the brains of hikers who hitched back to kickoff from further down the trail. Even at just two weeks in they seem well adjusted and so wise! Haha that's me soon maybe.

Clara (now Bathroom Hugs), Shelby and I are getting an early start tomorrow to hit the trail again.. Kickoff technically lasts til Sunday morning but we're feeling antsy after talking to so many people and feeling super inspired. There's a campfire near me that is very tempting to get in on, but I'm tired and waking up at 5:30.. Let the dawn hikes begin!

The first day

We've all gone through the first day of school enough yes to know how it goes. You feel a little awkward, a little nervous, you adjust your clothes and hair obsessively. The first day on the trail was a lot like that. Better, of course, but still with the shy hellos and smiles and how-are-yous. Checking out everyone's interpretation of the "thru-hiker dress code". Lots of excitement and hope in everyone's eyes!

A 4:30 wakeup got us to the trailhead at 6. We started at the monument about fifty feet from the border fence with a mob of people brought in by some trail angels (kind people who volunteer to help hikers on the trail). Among them was Lizzy, a friend of mine from missoula who's hiking the trail with her brother! I was ecstatic to see her (and ecstatic in general). So after taking the obligatory photos with the monument and saying goodbye to Clara's parents, we set off into the sunrise! Journey... Begun.

Lake Morena

Clara, Shelby and I stuck together and flew through the twenty miles. We didn't fly up the last hill, actually. It was pretty hot and exposed but with the most glorious breeze at the top. We decided that siestas are incredible and necessary for morale. Even with a long break mid afternoon, we rolled into lake Morena at four, where ADZPCTKO was already hoppin' with tons of hikers!

More on that tomorrow, cause I'm falling asleep as I write. My best first day yet!

Here we go!

A year of planning and preparing and double checking everything for a therd thurd third time and I'm on my way! Just arriving in San Diego where I'll meet my friends Clara and Shelby. Clara's parents are kindly giving us a ride to the trailhead in Campo, CA in the earrrly morning. We'll all start the trail together and walk to hiker kickoff tomorrow (more on "adzpctko" later).

I'm coming' for ya, High Sierras!

I'm all sorts of strung out from nine hours of food-packing insanity.. I actually have some PTSD so I'll spare the details, but it was scream-inducing. Mind-numbing. I recommend NOT putting off food prep until two days before your hike (duh). But it's done, and in my wonderful parents' capable hands. They'll be shipping as I go, thank goodness. All the last-minute prep work left me with no time to get out and run much this past week, so hopefully my body remembers how to exercise.

Besides that, though, I'm feeling so excited and ready. This is my path! There is no other place for me to be!

IT'S HAPPENING!