My view tonight as I solo camp for the first time on the PCT is pretty awesome. I’m overlooking the San Felipe Valley, the moon looks full and no one is near. Totally different experience than last night where I was surrounded by numerous hikers.

Of course as I write and it’s currently 745pm I’m a little bummed that I’m solo here tonight. It’s not the first night that I’ve ever camped solo but it is the first night on the PCT solo and it is only day 5. I do expect more nights like tonight so I practiced a few things that I’ll need to get into the habit of. For example…. I put all my toiletries, food items and cookwear outside my tent in my Ursack. Critters have been known to eat threw tents so I opted to leave my food outside tonight. Let’s see how that goes. I also tried the spray method when I brushed my teeth tonight. That didn’t go so well as I spit toothpaste on my foot rather than the rock I was aiming for.

A few things about today, I got an early start today than the past days which was nice. Dani and Noah were up and out just as I was taking down my tent. I caught up with them and Dani and I made a plan for the day–which didn’t work obviously cause I’m here and she’s ahead of me still. I did message her about sharing a room in Julian as she plans to take a zero there.

The desert out here is no joke. Those first few nights of super cold and today I could have fried an egg on my Sunbrella. Yup, that made an appearance today…. then the wind picked up, so the sunbrella went back in for the remainder of the afternoon.

I didn’t get a photo of the water stops today but if you can imagine a horse trough with a spigot attach there is no need for a picture. I used my AquaMira drops which are quick and lightweight but then decided I shouldn’t chance the giardia so soon, so I finally quit being lazy and pulled out the filter for extra clean water. The drops do the trick when the water is flowing so I should be fine–famous last words right?

I’m forcing myself to eat which I’ve heard is kinda a thing. I had a Good-to-Go mushroom risotto packet of food for this evening along with the rest of the sour gummy candies I took from the Trail magic box today. Oh yes! My first trail magic! Some nice trail angel left wetwipes, blister care, trail mix and candy in this cooler at Sunrise Trailhead. I left her a Thank You from all that was chowing down at the time. What a cool surprise 🙂

I seem to always be between the groups. Faster than some and slower than others. I followed Chris and Paul all day long until I arrived at this camp site. I couldn’t fathom dropping down another hill today. Team SOS and Jacob are a few campsites behind me. I’m sure I’ll see everyone again tomorrow. With my knee sore and a rest day kind of planned tomorrow in Julian, it’s looking like I will be in Warner Springs on Sunday. As others have shipped their first resupply boxes there I’m hoping that my stay will allow me to catch up with Emily and Laura by Monday when they pick up their supplies too.

I did meet a nice hiker by the name of Sourdough Jim. He had just about fallen asleep on the trail with his pack on when I came strolling by. We had a good chat and then he gave me a “no drama” button from his random collection of pins. Don’t have the button on but here’s Jim:

My little bit of vanity is well aware that my hair is atrocious. It’s kinda fun “not to care” for once. I just care about the pain in my knee right now. Doran said he might be able to bring me a brace so we shall see how that goes. The others are still battling blisters. Everybody has something going on. My eyes are getting heavy so I will sleep now. Happy Trails.

Side note: sorry if the photos don’t load. Service is a little slim tonight for the media download I’ll uploadthem tomorrow when I’m off this hill. Goodnight.

As yesterday came to a close, Laura and I talked about what would have been today’s distance. We agreed that 15 miles seemed doable. Unfortunately as we both stretch out, Laura felt a minor pop in her ankle. As this morning came, she wasn’t feeling super confident about it. I slowly packed up and she lingered a few hours to give her ankle some time to heal. Emily came over to say good bye to me as she had to stick around for her sleeping bag still. It was kinda sad saying good bye but I hope to see them in the next few days. I packed my bag, gave them both a big hug and walked out thinking I was starting the day solo. I said goodbye to Tom, the manager at Mt. Laguna Lodge Store who graciously opened early for the hikers, and then promptly ran into Noah.

I think the easiest thing about being out here is meeting people. One look at a hiker and you instantly want to know their name, where they are headed for the day, where they camped at last night and where they are from. Noah has already done 5 miles before I met him today at 830am. He’s from Germany taking a break from college where he’s studying mechanical engineering. We managed to hike 5 miles together before catching up with a few others; Paul & Chris and then wouldn’t you know it another Pasta sighting. Dani from Oregon caught up with on break and she and I finally got a chance to share life stories. Pasta took off on his fast pace and I think I caught one last glimpse of him on Trail but that was it.

The 5 of us pushed toward Mile 56 which is where I currently am able to write this from. I didn’t feel like “cooking” so I had my first Trail meal of pepperoni, cheese, and flour tortillas. Thankfully Laura had shared a bit of her excess food with me before I left Mt. Laguna this morning. Thanks for the tortillas!

We were eventually joined by the SOS crew, other wise know as Sam, Olivia and Stephanie. I don’t know how Olivia is even standing straight. She’s got some serious blisters.

As far as how I’m feeling, my moral is good. I have some pain in my right knee that I’m hoping to keep at bay. I’ve been stretching at stops and slowing on the descents. It’s nothing I haven’t felt before so I’m just hoping it’ll get better before it gets worse. I know taking most of yesterday off really was a good thing for the muscles so I will plan a “zero” day soon. Zero day is a complete rest day–hopefully in a cool town. But other than that my feet are stellar. My pack feels fine. I’m starting to remember where I’ve put things in my pack as it seems that nothing is ever where I first look. I don’t know how many bags I have of “things” or how many “things” are in those bags… I just know that they are there.

Of course, minutes after sitting down to eat here I broke my cellphone screen protector. It’ll be fine a for few days but that was a bit of a bummer. If that’s the worst of my day, I’d say I’m doing pretty good.

As i close, I just want to say thanks to everyone who has been following me thus far. The messages are ever so thoughtful. Tomorrow could be another 20 mile day. Dani and I may get up early and attempt to make it to Scissors Crossing. From there we would get a ride into Julian. She’s battling some foot/knee problems so we are pretty much happy going a bit slower tomorrow. There’s not much for water after mile 60 in the morning and the weather should be warmer since we’re at a lower altitude again. So we will plan for the 20miler and hope for the best. Until tomorrow… Happy Trails.

Well, it’s already Day 3… but I’m sure you’d all like to hear what has happened in the last 72ish hours.

The Saturday drive from Palm Desert was filled with a few stops. Kel and I popped into the Paradise Cafe (which is just off the PCT a few miles) for lunch. We chatted with 3 hikers there who were well into their journeys as the cafe is at mile 151. From there we drove through the smaller towns, enjoying the beautiful farms and made one more stop in Warner Springs. After chatting with Pillsbury & Charlie Brown at 2 Foot Adventures, we each purchased some new sunglasses. GoodRs they are!!! Kelly didn’t want to show up for dinner empty handed so we stopped in at the Julian Pie Company for an apple pie. There’s a place in Julian that gives free pie to the hikers so I’ll be looking forward to that slice when I am through in a few more days.

Dinner at Judys was perfect. Chicken, burgers, coleslaw, beans, and of course pie for dessert. Her home is lovely and she and her husband John do a wonderful job of helping out the hikers. Kelly was able to stay in the house as well and Sunday morning we all drove to the trailhead.

I stayed with 3 other hikers at Judy’s place. Ben & Billy from Kansas, Deb from Seattle and then we met Alfredo (Pasta) from Texas at the trailhead. Pasta hiked like a mad man and I never saw him until Monday morning. I hiked with the other 3 until about mile 4 where they stopped for water and I carried on. From there I chatted with a few others who I passed while they took breaks and at mile 12 when I finally took break, Emily came and sat down with me. She just finished med school in NY and has 5 weeks to hike before she moves to Seattle to start her residency. We get along really well. I told her my plan was to make Lake Morena (20 miles) she wasn’t sure she’d make it but I was super happy to see her when she did.

So as the story continues, Kelly had wanted to share in the first day experience. After I started hiking from the monument, she spent the next hour following us “like the mom who keeps checking on her kids first day at school.” But we were fine and I was fine so she eventually drove to Julian for lunch. After that she scored us a camp spot at Lake Morena Campground, she put on her backpack of supplies, her matching Nampa, Idaho hat and headed down the trail to find me. (The funny part was to come on Monday when I became the missing link of “have you seen Karen” all day). Kelly eventually found me and we hiked into Lake Morena together. I think she covered a good 6 miles and I hiked my personal best of 20 miles.

My very good friend Cam drove down from Las Vegas, brought us dinner from Olive Garden and packed in a little whiskey and Baileys for dessert. Seriously, I have amazing friends. Cam also brought firewood, so we were warm, fed and had a few laughs before I crashed for the night. Kel and I slept in the tent and Cam slept in his truck. We had leftover pasta for breakfast and then we said our goodbyes. I shed a few tears as I walked away through the campground.

day 2

Before leaving the campground I met Laura in the bathroom. She had hiked 20 miles in shorts and got a pretty good sunburn on her legs. We talked a little bit but I wouldn’t catch up to her until that evening.

I ran into Emily just before getting in the trail. It was 930ish so we were both getting a slow start. My plan was to make it 12 miles to Cibbits campground where we could get water and hopefully have an easy day. We started slow and got to know each other a little bit more. We laughed and chatted with other hikers. I just kept trying to remember everyone’s name. Twice during the day we donned our rain jackets as the skies tried to open up on us. Luckily, the wind blew just enough for the clouds to pass but it left us with a cold night in camp.

Finally feeling like I was truly backpacking and was ready to get into my solo rhythm I rolled into Cibbets CG around 530 PM. Laura was the only other hiker there…. and we have the same tent! So as I set up I asked her for a few pointers as it looked like she had a good pitch on hers already. She was moving on to her dinner by the time I was pitching my tent. I couldn’t wait to be sitting down for a break. Emily rolled up shortly there after and it was just us ladies sharing a few laughs. The aches, the pains, the stupid things we’d done that day all par for the course. The temperature dipped below freezing last night. I slept cold which made me want to rethink some options but I haven’t committed to them yet; maybe a warmer sleeping bag and pad or some down pants, I just can’t decide. Nothing that I can do about it right now except check the forecast for where will we be in the next few days and throw on that extra layer of clothes. I’ll figure it out.

Day 3

Since Emily now had 2 really cold nights she ordered a new sleeping bag from REI. She was having it delivered to Mt. Laguna (hoping for Wednesday) so we planned to make Laguna a stop. Sonia, who we’d met earlier on Monday, was in for a day at the lodge as well. We made reservations at Laguna Mt. Lodge, ate at the Pine Valley Cafe just before closing and stopped for a few supplies at the store. Not a bad setup here at Mt. Laguna. Evidently it snowed here on Sunday night, which is partly why we decided on a room.

As Laura catches up with her husband who works at the same company as my brother Glen, I’m here catching up with “you all”. We’ve each had the longest hot shower we could handle, we’ve done our laundry in a bucket and we’ve talked about gear. Now we are onto laughs about how we’ve decided to dry our clothing. The heat is cranked, the fan is on, the door is open and paracord is hanging like a limbo stick held onto the oldest lamp ever made and the dresser drawer held shut with my trekking pole. Sometimes you have to be creative!!!