Day 32; Mon May 28

(Stud) We spent most of the day at Hikertown waiting for it to get cool enough to hiking in th desert. Around 1 in the afternoon, Bob let us borrow the car and 6 hikers stuffed into a small Khia and drove miles to a Western Sizzler. Besides me and Dwight it was Mike, Sophia and Duddley DoRight (late 20's from Ottowa, Canada) and
Achilles (20ish--a PT from Wash, DC--we "met" him when we night hiked right over him when he was sleeping on the trail several night's back).

We left Hiker Heaven around 5--with a plan to hike the 16 miles to the first water cache. The hike was almost entirely flat along dirt roads and on top of the cement covered LA aquaduct. The day cooled downed nicely to the point we all put on wind breakers--and there was a strong and steady wind. The moon was nearly full and we only turned on our headlamps to verify we were headed the right direction when we saw the infrequent PCT signs.

We arrived at our destination without around midnight--exhausted. It was an easy hike--so I could only figure this was due to being up later than usual. There is one other tent set up nearby-but we'e not sure who it is.

(Dr Bug) Hikertown has roosters and chickens. The roosters announced the start of the day at 3:45 am sharp. We are on the edge of the Mojave desert and by 8 am the temperature was 80 degrees in the shade. We plotted our stategy for the up coming desert walk. It is broken down into two sections. First, a 16 mile walk to the only water in middle of the Mojave. A water spigot originating from the Los Angeles Aquiduct. Then a 24 mile section through desert, then chapperal and finally some higher elevation pines.

The idea was to hike the first part in late afternoon and evening, then get up the next day (as early as possible, maybe 4 am ish).

Day 30; Sat May 26

(Stud) We provided additional ammunition for the trail names Dumb and Dumber today--again, a toss-up as to who better deserves which name.

We started the day out great--both getting a good nightKs sleep on the thick blanket of dried holly leaves. We headed down the trail around 6:15 and a few hours and 6 miles later arrived at the first water cache of the day at a ranger station. We just happened to arrive the at the same time as Joe Anderson who was dropping off 6 hikers who'd spent the night at his house last night. Joe is the trail angel who, along with his wife Terry, supplies several water caches in the area and operates a free hiker hostel. He offered to take us to his house for pancakces and waffles. Tough to pass up free food and hospitality--but we'd had breakfast, so we thanked him for all the water caches and went on.

Around noon, we arrived at another Anderson water cache. It was near a road crossing where we could hitch to Lake Elizabeth--about 2 miles away. The first vehicle that came by picked us up. An African Aerican fellow in his early to mid 60's picked us up. He introduced himself as "David Kennedy--David Charles Kennedy. I never pick up hitch hikers, but you looked like honest folks", he told me. I should note that Dwight was riding in the bed of the pickup, and I was in the cab. Dwight was lying down so the gentleman wouldn't get ticketed for having a paaenger in the bed of his pickup. David pointed out various sites to me enroute and went past his planned destination to take us to the lake.

Lake Elizabeth was not exactly what we'd hope for. The water was murky and had lots of algae and other organic stuff floating around. But it was nice and breezy there. I washed out my socks in the lake thinking that in spite of the gunk in the water thinking algea might be preferable to dirt. (Or is it a toss up?)

We didn't want to get back on the trail until after 4 (when it would be cooler), so after eating our lunch, we hitched to the Rock Inn. David had pointed this historic landmark out to me enroute to the lake. We were picked up by a young mom--who was also a falconer. She trains falcons to kill gulls that circle over landfills. She feeds the falcons by capturing rattle snkes in the desert. Seriously, I'm not making this up. She said, "my husband would kill me if he knew I picked up some hitch hikers". But after we told her about the trail-which she was not familiar with--she said she'd fess up to her husband about picking us up because she'd had a positive experience.

At the Rock Inn, a very cool 2 story rock building with a restaurant/bar downstairs, and 7 inn rooms upstairs, I had dessert and Dwight ordered a salad. While we we eating we were joined by the 89 yr old manager, Rosie, who is also the mother of the proprieter. She takes pictures of all the hikers that come in. We must have talked for 2 hrs and found out all about her family (she's very proud of her son son, she lives with her 79 yr old sister and has 5 great, great grand children), the inn (very popular with the biker crowd), and her earlier career (she owned/operated what we'd now call a day care center). I'd be happy to be half as sharp as she is when I get to be her age.

After leaving Rock Inn we got a hith back to the trail with a woman who had a new toilet in her back seat. She was enroute to pick up the guy that was going to install it for her. We had a small problem though: we could not remwmber where the trail was. She drove us up and down the same stretch of highway several times--but we couldn't find the trailhead. She was pretty sure the trailheads were on a different road, and headed that direction, but D and I were convinced the trail was on the same road as the Rock Inn. Eventually we just had her let us out near where we thought the trail should be.

We wandered down the road a bit and saw a fellow out on his front porch. I asked him if he knew where the PCT was. "Sure", he said. "Let me get a map"--and he came back with a map and 2 bottles of water. To make a long story a bit shorter--the woman had been right about where the traiheads were located--and this fellow ended up giving us a lift there, and telling us "the pleasure was mine".

So we made it back to the trail around 5:30, hiked for an hr or so then made dinner (mashed potatoes and beef jerky--not too excting), hiked until 9:30, and are camped under a 3/4 moon.

Day 29: Fri May 25

(Stud) Here we go again--Dumb and Dumber. After packing up, we left the oasis of the Saufley's home around 9:30, then had a late and long breakfast with Stamp Lady and Medicine Man. We started heading out of town around noon--approaching the hottest part of the day. We found out later that someone is serving free Suchi at the Saufley's tonight--yet another reason we should have hung around in addition to my umbrella still being nearly broken beyond use. (My GoLite umbrella is one of my primary sun protectors, but the strong winds have turned it inside out so often, one spoke(?) is broken and the fabric is largely torn away from all the spokes. But I am determined to fix it!).

So, we start heading out of town around noon. I'll note that we have no maps for the next 50 miles of trail. We bought the guide books second hand--and a few sections are missing. So after going a few 10ths of a mile I ask Dwight: "Are you sure we're headed the right direction"? "I think so", he said--"think" being the operative word here. So, back to town we went. I asked the guy behind the counter of the hardware store if he knew which direction the PCT headed out of town--and Dwight had been right--so off we headed for the seond time.

After a mile or so of hot road walk, the trail headed up a 5 mile section of hot, shadeless hill with our packs heavy with resupplies. Emphasis added on "hot", "uphill" and "heavy". In the distance--at the very top of the hill--there appeared to be a single tree (just like a kid's drawing). I said to myself: Lord, please make that tree be on the trail.

When the trail peaked out, there was indeed a small stand of oaks. Two dirt bike riders were hanging out in the shade there--a couple of guys our age. We shared shade and chatted with them for over an hr. One was a "Mr Mom" and handy man from Malibu. "You know, Malibu", he said, "where rich people live and you can charge them whatever you want". The other guy was a movie camera lens technician. He's repaired cameras for the TV shows House and Monk. It was fun talking to them and slightly allieviated the pissy mood I was in for starting our hike in the heat of the day.

It got cooler and shadier as the day went on. We stopped and made dinner just before dusk, then resumed hiking. In less the a half a mile, we reached the Anderson's crazy "Oasis Water Cashe". This couple has carved out an area underneath several manzanita (?) trees. In addition to leaving several gallon jugs of water (in an otherwise waterless area) they have left some plastic lawn chairs, skeletons hanging in the trees, a cooler of cokes and a pink plastic flamingo. Just a few feet down the trail we found another open area under some manzanita trees--so we grabbed a coke and set up camp under a growing moon. Nothing like trail angels to brighten a day.

Day 28; Thur. May 24

(Dr Bug) We hiked through a small National Park enroute to Auga Dulce this morning. This park was great because it had labels on may of the local tree and shrub species. We got some education.

In this land of shrubs and relentless sun, Auga Dulce is a village of shade trees. I liked it. The trail went straight through town. Main street had a grocery store, hardware store and resturant. We had breakfast first thing. The TV was on at the bar and it was a reminder of how much useless information it bombards us with. I don't miss it.

We walk up to Hiker Heaven after eating. This is five star hiker hostal run by Donna and Jeff Saufly. We found open cots in one of several screen tents and took showers while Donna did our laundry. It was a beautiful yard filled with all types of activities. Dogs were all over the place, hikers flowed in and horses hid from the sun in the shade of the back yard.

We borrowed their Bronco and drove to an REI to buy new shoes and socks. For the evenings meal we had chicken, rice and salad which was cooked by the mom of a 2005 thru-hiker. It was undeserved kindness from very generous people.

We hiked about 3 miles into town today.

Day 31; Sun May 27

(Stud) Today was a long hiking day--about 28 miles into Hikertown-which I'll get back to in a minute.

We got started around 6--after a not so great night's sleep on hard packed sand. The early part of the day was through dense chapparel, and we saw lots of hummingbirds--with no clear idea of what was attracting them to the trees they seemed to be interested in.

Our first water came from what the water report called a "guzzler"--a large underground cement holding tank with a heavy steel cover. We think this water is generally used to fight back country fires. Dwight dropped his water filter hose down into it the cement holding tank and pumped out pretty decent tasting water.

We stopped for lunch under a stand of oak trees--and met a hiker named Dozen--a guy in his mid to late 20's from So Cal, but now living in Maui (sp?) because he thought it would be a neat place to live. His trail name came from having dropped 12 lbs of weight from his pack.

My lunches are getting better: a bagel with cream cheese and genoa salami. The cream cheese looks a bit nasty after a couple of days in a hot backpack, but still tastes fine.

After lunch we walked though a beautiful area a rye grass and oaks and fairly level trail. The rye grass was a combination of green pruple snd golds, gently swaying in the afternoon breeze. We spent the rest of the day descending to desert on a oddly meandering trail--apparently skirting a large private ranch. Our timing was good here because hikers that came through this section earilier in the day said it was miserably hot. We had a nice breeze--and I thought the section was actually enjoyable with lots a fragrant wildflower in bloom.
We arrived at Hikertown around 6pm. It is a private residence at the side of a rural highway. Since the property is adjacent to the PCT, the caretaker convinced the absentee owner to allow hikers to camp in the yard, get water, use an outdoor shower and internet and just get oput of the sun. Along one side of the property the owner has created a old western looking town--with a bunkhouse (where hikers can hang out), feed store, a few other buldings and some chickens running around. One end of the bunkhouse is a private room where Dwight and I stayed. Everything--including use of the caretaker's car--is done by donation only. The caretaker--Bob--is a super nice guy.

Tommorow we will begin hiking across the Mojave-not leaving until late in the afternoon to avoid the heat of the day. That should give my swollen feet some time to recover.

Day 27: Wed, May 23

(Stud) It was cool and windy this morning when we started out; it reminded us of a fall day with the wind blowing leaves from the trees. Around 8:30 we ran into Stamp Lady--she and Messanger Man were just breaking camp. He was staying behind for a while so the 3 of us hiked on together to the next ranger station-our next possible water stop. Stamp Lady is probably 50ish and is the Post Master of a one post-person town just a ferry's ride from Seatle, WA. We arrived at the Ranger Station around 11am and the caretaker there told us where to get water and gave us directions to Saufley's--a hiker hostel in Agua Dulce--our next resupply town. The Ranger Station has been closed for 8 years due to lack of federal funding and difficulty finding workers--according to the caretker who lives there for free and gets a small stipend to watch over the place. We left the Ranger station at the hottest part of the day as we headed back into desert-man was it hot! We took some relief !
under a large bush for a while, then toughed it out to get down to a highway where there was supposed to be a restaurant at an RV park. The RV park was pretty sad--it had definitely seen it's better days. The restaurant was no longer in operation there because the couple running it "up and left". A young guy that seemed to be the manager told us "the lady sitting next to the red truck will call a local piza place that will deliver out here if you want". We asked if there was a Coke machine and he told us it was broken, but that he had 2 Pepsi's in his frig if we wnated them. I thought that was pretty nice.

We found the lady next to the red pick up-where she was sitting around a barrel of burning trash with her significant other...seriously. And it had to be in at least the high 90's. But she nicely called the pizza shop for us--and 1/2 hr later they arrived with a pizza and two 32 oz cokes. Stamp Lady, who'd been behind us on this leg, arrived just before our pizza did--so she joined us for a few slices.

It was much cooler when we resumed hiking, and we ran into Stamp Lady's husband down the trail a bit. They decided to stop for the night, and we hiked on toward Agua Dulce--stopping around 9:00 or so. We came through a canyon after dark and saw several of the Arroyo frogs they're trying to protect. We also saw a lot of horse poop--so we labeled this our "Toads and Turds" section.

We are cowboy camped in a large open area near an interstate and not far from a sign the says "You're in Cougar County"...and it's not referring to a school mascot. Hopefully we're not camped in a commuter parking lot!

Day 26: Tues, May 22

(Stud) After yesterday's off-trail experience I knew today had to be better day--and it was. We had to watch our water more closely today because it was scarce along the trail and we both ended yesterday with no water for dinner due to my oversight. The first water of the day came from a small seapage at the side of the trail. Dwight took a stick and made a hole about 5 inches wide and deep to pool the water, then pumped from this small hole. The water tasted organic, but fine when you haven't had any in a while. The next source came from a small pool at the base of a rock. We tanked up here because this was followed by a 10 mile stretch without water which we would be doing during the heat of the day. The last water came from a spigot at a Ranger Station. We were lucky to get this because the ranger there estimated their well would be dry by early June.

We had an exiting wildlife siting today. We had been following hoof prints down the trail for a while and came around a curve to startle what we think was a long horned sheep. It quickly jumped into the brush. We only got a fleeting look at it so we can't be sure-but they graze somewhere in this area.

Our hike today was mostly through a mixed forest of oak, pine and chaparrel. The only other hikers we saw thoughout the day were Tony, Ronnie and a couple we had briefly met in Big Bear City: Oats and Moon Shadow. They ere all at the Rander Station when were stopped to get water there in the late afternoon.
Late in the day I came across a coulter pine cone that was sitting on the trail, perfectly teed up like a football and nearly the same size. I took the bait hook, line and sinker and ran up, gave it my best kick. Holy crap!!! It was like kicking a glob of cement! Dwight thought I was exagerating until he kicked it some more to get it off the trail. Luckily, no lasting physical damage though.

We spent the night on a thick bed of pine staw at Big Buck Trail Camp. Slightly off the trail, it had intermittant fire rings and benches as it's only amenities. It was in a beautiful grove of pine trees and we had the entire place to ourselves as we went to sleep with the setting sun.

Day 25: Mon, May 22

(Dr Bug) In early morning we came apon nicely built Little Jimmy Spring. It had benches, a view and clear piped water. Tony was there doing his laundry. We filled our water bladders and headed on.

This was the kind of day where I didn't want to do much thinking. The weather was warm and clear and I was happy to hike behind Susan and get lost in my thoughts. And that is exactly what I do, never more than 3 feet from her backpack I followe her like a lost dog. Done it a million times. Only this time STUD was also lost in her own thoughts and we wandered off trail and got lost. The trail (we thought we were still on the PCT) became more difficult and steep. We were were climbing up and down an 8,000 ft mountain,and at one point straight down a rock slide--a hillside of gravel. That's when STUD yelled, "this can't be @#$%& PCT".

The view was tremendous! We pondered maps, walked up and down, then, in the most democratic way you can in a marriage (let the wife decide), we turned around to retrace our steps and find the real PCT.

Ultimately we decided that we had taken the Mt Williamson Peak trail. We lost about 2 hrs of hking time and a half day of energy. This was the most challenging trail we had been on this hike. (Stud did some freaking out on the rock slides).

For the rest of the day we never got back on track. Both of us were hiper sensitive to the trail - 'have we gotten off he trail again'. We talked ourselves out of stopping for water near the end of the day and ultimately we spent the night without water, no dinner and so tired we were asleep by 7pm. We walked 16 trail miles today. No idea how many total miles.

Day 24: Sun, May 20

(Stud) We took our time getting out of Wrightwood today. We had a big breakfast at Mountain View cafe, came back and organized our food and readied up our packs. Dwight tried to get in touch with his mom and brother--but no luck there. I got in touch with my mom for a few minutes from a pay phone until it said to deposit a quarter which I didn't have.

Billy Goat and Captain American arrived around noon. Billy Goat is PCT trail legend--having done the trail at least 7 times. He's also done the AT, but calls this PCT "home". When I first asked him where he was from, he said "I live on the PCT". We talked a lot about trail logitics. He is skipping over the Sierras and jumping ahead to northern CA. This will put him in WA in August when there is no rain. He will do the Sierras in Sept when all the snow will be gone, and the water so low that he won't be fording any rivers. When you hike straight through, you'll have to deal with bugs, some snow and ford up to seven rivers a day in the Sierras.

We finally hitched out of Wrightwood around 2pm getting a ride from a couple from Palmdale. We got back on the trail at Inspiration Point were we got off yesterday. Just a few minutes down the trail we arrived at the Grassy ? Visitors center. There was an exhibit on pine cones that we attempted to memorize--so I can say with reasonable certainty that the predonant conifers on our hike today were Jeffery, Sugar and Sequoia. I also learned that the black and white banded snake I saw sunning itself by the side of the trail the other day was a King Snake.

We were a slow movng train today. We ran into lots of day hikers--and talked to most of them including a Boy Scout troop training for Philmont. Most of our day was spent climbing Mt Baden Powell--named after the founder of the Boy Scouts. It was a 4 1/2 mile hike up to the peak that took us to 9300 ft. Even though the grade was not particularly difficult, we did a lot of huffing and puffing on the way up--particularly since we just resupplied for 5 days. I think we both felt like a couple of pack mules.

Due to our late start, we only hiked about 11-12 miles. I expect it will be a pretty cold night as we are camped at over 8000 ft.

Day 21

(Stud) We seem to be selecting our campsites better. The past two nights have been comfortable sleeping weather when we stayed at a higher elevation--above water. In both cases, our 1 to 2 mile hike down to water first thing in the morning brought temperatures cooler by 20 degrees.

We arrived a natural hot springs around 8 in the morning. The 3 guys we met yesterday--Mike, Tony and Ronnie--were still asleep in their bags on a sandy beach area. This place could rival any resort. In this beutifull wilderness canyon, someome has used river stones to pool the warmest water in a large outdoor hot tub. This cascades to a lower pool with walls made out of sand bags. Water in this pool is a combination of the hot springs and the cooler canyon stream. This pool ajoins the pooled water of the canyon's creek. Cottonwood and willow trees shade the bank.

There seems to be an unwritten protocal here--which we witnessed after our visits to the pools: you strip down naked and get in the hotest of pools, then you move to the the lower pool and then the cool canyon water. People seem to limit themselves to a reasonable amount of time (~10 minutes). When one party is finished, robed and out of the way, the next party will take their turn. The willow trees provide both shade and privacy to the pools.

I met a couple of interesting folks here: a late middle aged Asian American named Kwan, and a native american whose name I didn't get. Neither were PCT hikers. When D and I first went down to the pools, there was a necklace of sorts hanging from the nearby willow tree. It consisted of a string of seeds or dried berries from which hung a small leather bag that had a large crystal tied to it. I watched a guy with a Mexican poncho pick it up and put it around his neck. He was wearing some type of woven cap that had feathers hanging from it. Kwan told me this fellow was Native American and had previously lived in the canyon for 2 years and was an animal vet in a nearby village. I spoke with the native american guy and he confirmed what Kwan said. "I had stuff stashed all over this canyon", he told me, "my tent...you name it. But after a while, living this way gets tiring". He had a couple of dingos with him--both abandoned dogs he'd adopted.

Kwan said he'd quit his job as a pool maintenance guy 6 years earlier and had been treking, fishing and the like since. He said, for the first time in 6 years his wife had asked him "when you gonna come home". He laughed and repeated it and said it made him happy. "First time she asked me that in 6 years!"
I wondered, does a whole subculture exist around this oasis in the desert? We were only there a few hours and met such unique folks. I think in al my years of backpacking, it may be the coolest areas I've come across.

Before we left, the native american guy had taken his turn in the pools. While he was in, he played a flute-like instrument--mostly native american sounding tunes. But he ended with Amazing Grace.

We headed out around 9 or so and started making a progressively hot walk on a trail that continued north along the wall of the canyon. Ever since seeing the prayer flags for the guy that fell to his death up here last year, I'm walking more cautiously--doing less gauking around--or at least am stopping before gauking around.

We arrived at a huge dam around 11:30 am. This must be one of the biggest govt boondoggles ever! There is hardly any water in site--and yet there is a big monolyth here in the beyond unlikely chance it is ever needed. Dwight commented: "Too bad they can't move it to New Orleans".

From 11:30-2:30 we hung out under the shade of a downed cottonwood tree near the dam. I wished we had stayed at the hot springs--it was pretty hot and unpleasant there. We made it about another mile down the trail, found some more shady trees, and took another nap. It was just too hot for hiking.

When we got going again around 4:30, the hiking and trail was much more pleasant. The trail got progressively greener and less desert like. We stopped to make dinner around 7--then hiked til well after dark. We got a bit lost ina road walk section as the guide book had an east/west direction inversed. This would have been obvious during daylight.

We ran into some trail magic around 9:45--a cooler of fruit left by "Team Turtle". We heard they are a 70+ yr old couple who have been doing this for years.

At 10pm we stopped for the night at Arrowhead Lake-threw down at a flatish spot on a small side trail off the PCT.

Day 23, Sat May 19

(Stud) On tne trail around 6, we finished the ascent we started last night--just up, up, up through the chaparrel. We ran into Mike taking a nap by the side of the trail--he didn't get a restful night's sleep due to the slant he was on, so he was already trying to catch up on lost sleep. We hiked with him on and off throughout the day.

It was really a beautiful hiking day once we emerged from the chaparrel to a pine forest. It was sunny, not too hot, shady on and off, and a good breeze. A nice pine scet in the air.

Part way through the day we met a couple sectioniong the PCT little by little--Liela and Max. They had woken up at 3 in the morning, and driven up from San Diego to do this one 16 mile section. Max was quite the trail ambassidor, and even talked a couple of cyclists we ran into when the trail crossed a road into starting a PCT hike. They gave us a ride into Wrightwood when we reached Highway 6 at Inspiration Point.

The last several miles of hiking today was by a ski resort--of course buttoned up at this time of year. There were a couple of man made lakes for making snow. I noticed some hikers taking a break on an empty chair lift.

We arrived in Wrightwood around 1--With Liela and Max driving us around until we found the recommended Pines Hotel--campy, clean but with a shower long overdue for replacing. The manager let us use the washer and dryer here for free.

We resupplyed at the small local grocery where we ran into Mike who was heading back out to the trail. Food seemed very expensive--or is it because we're eating so much more?

I got some new socks at the Hardware Store that also carries camping supplies. This sandy soil is eating through our socks like crazy. And as much as I love my Smartwool socks--the thickness of the seems to retain a ton of dirt and sand. I pre-rince them for 10 minutes before every wash and dirt is still coming out.

No way to check email because the library was closed when we got here and will be closed tomorrow.

We had a nice dinner at a Mexican Restaurant before heading to bed.
This is a good hiker town--nice and compact.

Day 18

(Dr Bug) Yesterday we saw some bear skat on the trail so when we camped we hung our food fr the first time.

When we awoke it was 38 degrees. Very cold. Hard to sleep. STUD wore all the clothes in her bag plus some of mine and was still cold.

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Day 22, Fri May 18

(Dr Bug) We spent the night on a small penisula in the Arrow Head Lake. A quick inspection reveiled evidence of teen party activity, it looked great at 10pm last night. At the mile mark we ran into Mike and hiked with him till the influence into the lake. We ate breakfast and pumped h2o. The original plan for the day was to take a 3 hr lunch in the heat of the day, but couldn't stop and hiked 17 miles strait to rt 15. You see, the streach was dry, hot and desert like, and there was a McDonalds on rt 15. There was more chaparrel and sage. a desolate ranch, many rocks.

McDonalds was an oasis. We sat in a booth and ate for 2hrs. Then we walked over to some shaded lawn and talked to Billy Goat and Captain America, two hiking ledgends. We ended the day by hiking another 10 miles and finding a flat spot at 10pm on the accent up the San Gabrial Mountains. This was stupid and dangerous because we were tired and one side of the trail was always a shape drop off on one side. There was a hiker sleeping in the trail and we tripped over him. It was on a shape curve with a drop off. That was a bonehead place to camp on his part. Everything turned out OK. We found a side path in a relatively flat area and made a quick cowboy camp. We were 7000 ft up with the open stars of the night above us and streaming lights of the interstate highway below. This was a 27 mile day, our longest yet.

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Day 19

(Stud) We had thought about taking a zero day in Big Bear City, but since all our in-town chores were done we decided to get back on the trail. Just as we were leaving Motel 6--I saw Freebird, a hiker we'd met in Warner Springs, out in front of one of the rooms. I'd heard he'd found the bandana I'd dropped on the trail that sucko day we'd left Cabazon--a snot covered bandana I wouldn't have touched with a 10 ft pole if I'd found it. Sure enough, he not only had it, but he'd washed it. He had no idea it was mine and was getting ready to put it in the Hiker Box at the hotel. A Hiker Box is a place where you put things you don't need, and other hikers can take from it freely. I was happy to have my purple bandana back--funny that something so insignificant can make one happy.

Freebird was not doing so well. He'd suffered heat exhaustion in the section between Cabazon and Little Bear City and was planning to call it quits. I tried to give him some encouragement--as I'm sure others had as well--but he needed some
time to mend. He said he stay
in Big Bear City at least a week before considering getting back on.

We also ran into Allegheny--a hiker from Va who'd been missing for a few days when he mistakenly took a side trail off the PCT north of Idllwild. His hiking partner had sent word down the trail asking if anyone had seen him. No one had seen him so the general consensus was that he'd taken a wrong side trail--which is exactly what he did. He said he
realized his mistake when he came to a town that wasn't on the trail. Within a few days he was back on track.

Our little hiking pod is temporarily beaking up! We had to bid GottaHike! (Leslie) adieu today as she is leaving the trail for several weeks to attend her husband's family reunion in Germany--plans that had been in the works but not finalized until recently. The three of us have been hiking together since Lake Mareno-and really have had a good time. We'll miss the leavity she brougth to our group. Now who will we tease everday about their not so lightweight hiking gear? Hopefully we'll reconnect when she returns to the trail next month.

Before parting Leslie endowed me with lots of yummy food she wouldn't be needing--her homemade granola, dried oranges, dried tomatoes, sesame sticks, taffy, pre-cooked bacon, hummas--basically whatever I wanted that she had left. Dwight and I have gotten a lot of new food ideas from Leslie.

We hitched out of town in late morning-getting a lift from Trail Angel David Schmidt, who happened to be headed to work when he saw us trying to get back to the trail. He frequently gives hikers lifts to the trail--and sometimes keeps in touch with them for years after. Before parting he gave us part of his lunch--his home made beer can chicken. We had it on totillas for dinner tonite. It was delicious!

The hike today was easy and pleasant. Much of the trail went through a heavily shaded pine forest--at one point providing expansive views of the town of Big Bear Lake.

In late afternoon a cyclist skidded to a halt behide Dwight. This after we'd seen signs that read "No bicycles or motorized vehicles of any kind" at every trail and road crossing. He told us he was a trail maintainer but we found this hard to believe. Why would anyone who loved the trail enough to maintain it break the rules of the trail?

We are cowboying on a small knob about 15 miles from where we got back on the trail today. As I am finishing this up, the sun has slipped over a distant mountain and left a orange glow behind.

Day 20

(Dr Bug) The morning began at 5am. The red glow over the mountains to the east anounced the sun. We were camped on a peninsula in a sea of mountains. It was the best camp site on the PCT so far. We were at mile 282, the morning temperature was in the 50ies. The altitude was above 7000 ft. Started hiking at 5:45 and got in 10 miles before 10:30. We had discussions earlier in the week above cold air sinking into the valleys at night. This was true last night. As we hiked into a valley we noticed the temp had dropped a good 10 degrees.

We stopped to pump water around 10:30 from Holcombe Creek. later we hiked through an area which had burned 8 years ago and still was dominated by charred remains. At Holcombe camp we may to hikers, Tony and Ronnie. Tony we trail maintainer who had worked on trails we had hiked in the east. Ronnie was the unusual little fellow with a foriegn accent who was lying on the ground, begging us to take his cheader cheese-literally. He had purchased 2 lbs of cheese an decided to eat it all before it melted in the heat. He was so pathetic, we took his cheese. We cut around the teeth marks and added it to our tortillos at lunch. At the bridge over Deep Creek we wash, and washed some clothes. Then layed on the warm rock. We walked through the Deep Creek Gorge till mile 300. Found another awsome camp site in the open high chapparral.

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Day 17

(Stud) Today we hiked from 1 mile south of Mission Creek Trail Camp to just north of Arrastre Trail Camp--about 18 miles. Both of the camps are simple are horse camps with minimal amenities--basically a place to tie up and water your horse and some spots to camp.

It was a near perfect hiking day today. After our late night hiking yesterday, we threw down right next to the trail near a small stream crossing. It was pretty chilly when we woke up (40ish) but it warmed up quickly and we shed or extra layers within 1/2 hr after starting.

We walked among pinion pines, cedars, and chapparel in a mixed forest. It was fairly hot in the afternoon, but much tree shade was available today where it always felt 20 degrees cooler. We hiked about 18 or so miles today.

Day 16

(Stud) After our not-so-great trip to Cabazon yesterday, I knew today would be a better day, and so far it has been. Maybe it is just bad attitude yesteday.

I just have a few highlights for today: 1) I saw 2 road runners fairly close up. Dwight had just rounded a corner of the trail about 15 ft in front of me, and out form under a lw bush came aone road runner folowed closely by another. They were simlar in size to a cow egrit, but blue-gray in color, shorter legs,and that characteristic thingy on the top of their head. Sorry to report that there was no "beep, beep, zoom". 2) When we got down to Mission Creek today, D and I just plopped down in the middle of it fully clothed. It was a beautiful thing!

(Dr Bug) We ate breakfast at the
river, pumped drinking water and cleaned clothes. It is so hot here we cleaned our clothes by lying in the river, with clothes on. Later we removed them and finished the wash cycle by hand. They dry so fast you just put them back on wet. We left this spot at 8:10. This was one of the more refreshing moments on the trail. We then followed the trail and climbed a mt. ridge in a westerly direction. After walking for two hours - with some great views of white water river to the north, San Jacinto Peak south and West Palm Springs to the west - we decended to a creek. The trail the followed this creek and is where the confusion started. The maps and guide books indicate that we should have crossed a wider section of the White Water river again, but we did not. We were in a canyon where mission creek was flowing. This was creek we were not to reach for another 4 miles up the trail. We were still on the PCT, but all our documentation had gotten it wrong. Our location became a topi!
c of debate for the remainder of the day. The good was, we were walking up a valley with a flowing creek, water was never far away. We hiked till 1pm, found a big shady tree and slept, read and ate till 4:50. We decided to night hike at least 10 miles. The night hike was slow. A young hiker named April joined us. I enjoyed talking to her. I am amazed when a hiker can talk non stop when hiking up hill at a strong pace. This was the longest night hike I was ever on. Slower than normal, as would be expected. We were spooked when we flushed some bats from a tree. April was freaked when she saw reflections in the distance. "Is that a pair of eyes". It was later uncovered as a sign announcing we had crossed from the San Gorgonio Wilderness into the San Bernadino National Forest.

Day 15

(Stud) I wanted to start out today's journal entry be writing: "Today was a totally sucko day", but then we met a couple a trail angels that brought some illumination to it.

We got a pretty early start today--around 5:45am. In a landscape more inhospitable than yesterday's, we crossed a 4 mile flat desert section in heavy wind. Due to my laziness (I didn't want to carry 5 days worth of food), we had a planned resupply in Cabazon. So when we reached Tamarack Rd at mile 4, and found no traffic there, we walked up to I-10 and hitched form the on-ramp. We got a ride fairly quickly from a guy named Pete driving a very clean mini van. Dwight had him let us off at the outlet mall in spite of e saying repeatedly that I'd never been to an outlet mall that had a grocery store. We lucked out though and found Hadley's--a store that sold mostly dried friut and nuts, but also had other health and gormet food items. A much better alternative to resupplying at a gas station convienience store which was our other option.

Now the sucko part: we had to walk the 6 miles back to the trail. We tried to hitch back from the interstate on-ramp but a cop pulled up and asked us if we needed help. Since hitching is illegal here, Dwight told her we were waiting for a friend to pick us up there (because your friends always have you wait for them next to the interstate, right?). Anyway, she suggested we find a safer place to wait--like the casino. We were actually tempted to go there because my bother-in-law's girlfriend Brittney works there--but Dwight said you needed to put down a $100K deposit just to walk into the room she works in. So, on to Plan B, or is it C?

Plan C (executed by Dwight) was asking all the trucker's at a nearby truckstop if they were headed that direction--but they were all headed west. Oddly coincidental that none were going our way?

So then we tried to hitch from a frontage road that wasn't actually a frontage rd at all...and the only option left was to walk back in the dusty, dry, hot, shadeless desert. To be fair we did have a light tail wind.

We eventually made it back to the trail, and not long after came across a large cooler filled with ice cold bottled water left by trail angel's Olivia and Art Garcia. Their home is visible from the trail. While we were drinking the water, they walked up to us bearing appples and oranges, and introduced themselves. They are recently retired and are a very youthful lookig 56 and 67 years old. They were very enthusiastic about hiking and seemed genuinely excited about meeting hikers. Art encouraged us to have a second bottle of water and I must have been thristy because I just remember it being gone in no time. I'll never stop being amazed at the folks that reach out to hikers.

Around 1pm we took respite from the sun in the shade of an empty water tank--staying until around 4:30. as the sun was setting we were walking through a narow canyon. The light on the canyon walls was beautiful--I see why artists enjoy painting the desert.

The walk down to the Whitewater River, in the San Gorginio (sp?) Wilderness Area was quite nice. We are camped at the nearly waterless Whitewater River, so named because it is apparently a torrent of water after the initial snowmelt. It is now down to a 5 ft widestream, but we are thankful for that.

Day 14

(Stud) Strawberry Cienaga to Snow Canyon: 24 miles. Today was a loooonnggg day. We started hiking around 6:30am and didn't get finished until around 8:15 pm--a schedule largely dictated by water--which was only available 4.5 miles in, then not again for 20 miles. Up until noon we were hiking in the old growth pine--it was beautiful. After lunch we started the descent into Snow Canyon--a dry, open, hot area consisting mostly of rocks, dirt and dead grass. Dwight likened the difference in the two environs to working in the exective suite vs. the trenches. In the executive suite it is air conditioned(cool temperature), well appointed (old growth pines) and has nice carpeting (pine needle covered trail). In the trenches it is hot, dusty, god forsaken.

All told, we lost about 6500 feet in elevation.

Leslie is sleeping cowboy style for the first time tonite. She was too pooped to put up her tent. It's a great night for it: lots of stars in a clear sky and our warmest night on the trail so far.

Day 13

(Dr Bug) Today we head back to the trail. The morning started another awsome juice combination from Tim's magic juicer. (I'm going to buy one when I finish this hike). It always amazes me how time we can consume when preparing for a hike. We spent all morning buying food and preparing our drop box for the High Sierras. We had nice big lazagna lunch compliments of Brittney, and then Tim drove us to the trail head. Without Tim it would be very difficult to plan this hike. He is the best little brother a guy could have.

There was a 2.5 mile, up hill climb on the Devils Slide Trail to the PCT. Very slow, I could feel civilization, like gravity, trying to pull me from the trail, or was it the three helpings of lazagna? We started at 2:20 pm, it was sunny and warm. It took 1 hr and 40 minutes to complete the 1,700 ft accent of the spur trail.

The PCT traveled through the large Jefferson pine forest. Part of the San Jacinto wilderness. Even the bolders were big, the vistas wide and breath taking. The max. alt. was 8613 ft. This is highest of my life. We walked only 8 miles to beautiful campsite of pine needles - past a place called rasberry caliagua. One of the prettiest walks of the hike.

Day 12: Tues, May 8

(Stud) Today was our first official "zero day"--our first day off the trail. My brother-in-law leant us his car and we spent the day doing errands. Dwight bought a closed cell foam pad to replace his thermarest mattress which was at risk of being punctured from all the prickly things on the ground in this part of the country. We did laundry (it took 2 washings to get the dirt out), bought food for the next stretch of trail, and went to the library to print out the current water report for the PCT. We also put together our additional gear and food for Kennedy Meadows-which is the start of the high Sierra's. For that section we'll take warmer sleeping bags, ice axes & crampons, bug netting, and warmer clothing. We'll also be renting bear canisters for food storage--although after packing up our food for the first 6 days of the Sierras, I'm not sure it will all fit in the canisters even if we both carry one...so there will still be some logistics to figure out once we get t!
here.

Day 11: Monday, May 7

(Stud) Today's hike started much in the same way as yesterday's ended--hiking along a narrow path that hugged the side of the mountain with a steep, long drop and expansive views. It seems that this is desciptive of much of the PCT so I guess it doesn't bare repeating every day. One thing we were seeing for the first time today though were massive pines. Dwight says the guide book refers to this species as the big cone pine. What impressed me the most about them was the bark. It has such depth and dimension--it seems with each passing year the tree becomes more of a sculptural masterpiece.

The trail was mostly downhill today. That was a wlcome change from yesterday. We accidentally took a detour off the PCT for a while--which we never would have known until it rejoined the PCT and some other hikers pointed out our error.

We took the 4 1/2 mile Devil's Slide Junction Trail to Idyllwild. We had planned to get off the trail here to resupply--and visit with Dwight's bother who lives in nearby Hemet. Dwight, who was hiking ahead of Leslie and I, chased down a couple of locals--Ken and Jan Steel--who had been day hiking. When we got to the trail head they kindly offered to give us a ride into town. Enroute they pointed out all the important places to hikers--the outfitter, motels, restaurants and post office. We couldn't have met friendlier town ambassadors.

While Leslie collected her mail and checked into the hotel, Dwight and I headed to a local pizza joint to eat. After that we hitched on to Hemet. It took us about 40 minutes to get a ride, but eventually 2 hispanic ladies--Maria and Marianna--gave us a lift. They were headed home from work at a local cable mfg plant. Maria, who was driving actually turned around and circled back to pick us up since we hadn't noticed her car when she first beeped at us. It was a 40 mile drive and she wouldn't accept any gas money.

Ater we arrived at Maria's house, Marianna gave us a lift to Walmart--which she thought might be near Tim's house based on Dwight's description of where he lives. Turns out we were only about a mile away.
At Walmart, I got a $12.95 haircut because my hair was quickly becoming one big dreadlock. Now I'm back to super sort hair and more gray than I like to believe that I have. Nice that there are no mirrors on trail.

Dwight and I wandered around Hemet trying to find Tim's house until a security guard kicked us out of a gated neighborhood. I guess we looked liked a couple of homeless folk and turns out we were not in the right place. So back to Walmart we went until Tim's girlfriend Brittney picked us up when she got home from work.

At Tim's we had much needed showers, a good meal and a nice soft bed waiting for us. Beautiful.

Day 10: Sunday, May 6

(Stud) More tarp issues last night--our stakes just don't have staying power in this loosely compacted soil and gusting wind. Around 3am, one corner came loose, and I just tucked it under my sleeping bag and went back to sleep.

Leslie, Dwight and I headed down the trail around 6:15. Many of the other hikers camped in the area were up and about as well. Seems like we all had the same idea yesterday--eat dinner at the Paradise cafe--then camp near the juntion of the PCT and Hwy 74.

It was a day of ups and downs in elevations and dramatic vistas. At Hwy 74, we were at an elevation of 5800. By mid day or so we had climbed to an elevation of 6800, then dropped down several 100, and by late in the afternoon were up to 7200-the highest elevation at which either Dwight or I have ever been. That last climb was the challenging for all of us.

We went through varied terrain as well. At the spot we stopped for breakfast, I half expected Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to come around the bend. But at the higher elevations were pine, live oak, and the above treeline mostly low scrub.

The sky was clear all day and cool (low 60's?) and generally breezy. A perfect hiking day.

We are cowboy camping just next to the trail. We grabbed the first flat spot we could find heading down off the mountain--at about 6500 ft. Leslie's tent is tucked betn some smallish live oak trees a few feet away--she can fit that thing into the smallest of spaces!

Day 9: Saturday, May 5

(Dr Bug) We woke to calm blue. Susan was feeling better. The sun returned. Everything is alawys better in the morning.

We had many breaks, yesterday's wind wore everybody down. Got water at Tule Spring, a tank filled weekly. Susan and I did not treate the h2o, bad move, let's see if we get sick in a week or so. Hiked at alt. of 3800 to 4900 ft. This day had the most up hill hiking so far. Trail was very sandy, like walking on the beach. Walked over Table Mountain and got a good view of the small town Anza. Saw a few solitary homes on the ridges, all had their own water tank. People around here must be very self sufficient. Ended this 17 mile day by walking off the trail to a resteraunt called the Paradise Cafe. Ate burgers and salmon. Met a local that had a Russian Wolf. It was huge. I petted the thing, but all he was interested in was somebody's hamburger.

Day 8: Friday, May

(Stud) I woke up on the wrong side of the sleeping bag this morning. My cold kicked in and I was mentally foggy and moody all day. My nose was running like a sieve.

Not long after we got on the trail Dwight noticed that my pack was wet on the bottom. That could pretty much mean only one thing: I hadn't tightened the drinking tube on my water bladder tight enough. I pulled off my pack and started throwing the contents all over the trail like a mad woman. Crap! Among other things, my sleeping bag was wet. I hung several things to dry off the back of my pack and when we stoped to take breaks I pulled out my sleeping bag to dry. It was fine by day's end.

The wind gusted heavily ALL day--enough to physically move me when it caught me just right. A day hiker estimated it at up to 40 mph. It was really tiring to hike in.

At a water cache we met a hiker named Slim with a heavy southern accent. Turns out he was originally fom Aiken, SC--now living in Johnson City, TN. He said he'd heard there was a couple from Blythewood, SC on the trail this year. "That would be us", we told him.

Late in the afternoon we started looking for a place to camp that was a least somewhat sheltered from the wind. Dwight found a low area in a wash--but since it looked like it might rain, neither Leslie or I wanted to tent there. We hiked on and settled on a small open space under some dense shrubby trees just off the trail. It took some work to get our tarp tied down and we had rocks reinforcing every stake.

It seemed within a few minutes of laying out our sleeping bags, everything was covered in dirt including what seemed like a whole cup INSIDE my sleeping bag, but I guess we'll just dust things off in the morning.

As we were getting ready for dinner the ladies from Montana arrived and set up camp nearby. We met them on our first day at Lake Morena and they are so much fun. They all work for the Montana Forest Service--Glacier as a Soil Conservationist, Jukebox Lucy as an Environmental Biologist and Fuzzy Bee as an Ecologist. The 3 of them have backpacked together a lot. Only Glacier is going all the way to Canada--Fuzzy and Jutebox leave us in a few days at Idyllwild. They don't mind going back to work because this time of year they start their field work. We'll miss them because they're always laughing and cutting up.

Day 7: Thur, May 4

(Stud) We spent most of the day at the Warner Springs Resort. What a great trail stop. The resort is a complex of small adobe structures--some of which date back to the 1830's. Most of the building are small abobe duplexes that serve as the guest rooms. Our room wasn't fancy, but it was charming.

we spent the day eating, then sitting in the mineral springs pool. When I arrived at the pools, it was just me and and a handfull of Japanese tourists. The sound system was playing soothing Asian music. Since I didn't have a bathing suit I was improvising--and I had a feeling the Japenese folks were saying amongst themselves, "What is that white lady doing out here in her underwear?". Well, it was worth it.

While sitting in the pool, I finished sewing a small ditty bag for my toileties. Then it was off to eat again. Later Dwight and I walked around the beautful grounds taking pictures of various buildings, then more eating... We also visited the small adobe St Francis Catholic Church built in 1830. They still have one mass here on Sundays.

We finally mosied back to the trail around 5pm, and hiked about 5 miles to Agua Caliente Creek. I have a cold but Lesslie has fixed me up with a Benedryl, 1000 mg of vitamin C and some tea tree oil for my nose to help clear my sinuses. Moral of the story: if you're going light weight with you gear et al, be sure and travel with someone who isn't.

Day 6: Wed, May 3

(Stud) We awoke this morning at 4:25am when the front end of the tarp came loose. A big gust of wind pulled out the stake. This really pissed Dwight off and he began packing up immediately. How dare the tarp collapse when he spent so much time putting it up! So we were off to an early start.

It was a nice hike into Warner Springs. A steady breeze kept it from getting too hot--something we really appreciated when we hiked across some large expanses of dried grassland.

When we got near Barrel Springs, we noticed that there were a lot of tape flags in the bushes. At first Leslie thought they might be marking where they planned to widen the trail. Then I noticed that they were all on the same type of bush--and wasn't that poison oak? Sure enough--further down the trail they were identified with plant markers.

We stopped for lunch alongside a creek shaded by large California live oak. Just as we were getting ready to leave, a group of folks on horseback came through--maybe 10 or so--followed by a small border collie. One of the men said, "That's Mudflap. He likes staying in the back". They were beautiful horses--nicely groomed and well tacked. Maybe from a local dude ranch? We saw them again at Eagle Rock--a very cool rock outcropping that looks dead on like an eagle.

We arrived at Warner Springs Resort in late afternoon dusty and dirty and ready for a shower. This was our first planned resupply--so our first stop was the Post Office located in a small single wide trailer. It was stacked floor to ceiling with hiker resupply boxes-a fact that seemed to irritate the local postal worker.

Then we got a room at the resort. I jumped in the shower and scrubbed every inch of my body--and still found dirt on my legs when I got out. Geez, will I ever get used to being this dirty?

Leslie kindly did all of our laundry while I waited around the room in my translucent plastic Myrtle Beach Marathon rain poncho. It was my only remaining clothing item. Hmmm. I might have to rethink this rain gear thing--since it's the only the I have to wear when doing laundry.

Lots of other hikers arrived here doing the day--and the hotel grill was nearly all hikers when we went there for dinner. We had a nice meal, met a number of new folks and headed off to bed.

Day 5: Monday, May 2

(Stud): We woke up to rolling thunder at 4:30 am and broke camp quickly. Headed down the trail in the dark with Dwight in the lead heading the wrong direction. A barely visible figure told us we were headed the wrong way and we found out later we interupted someone taking a dump. Cooler and windy today, did not get above 70 until around noon. Lots of water at Scissors Crossing water cashe. Met 3 guys taking bird inventory at bridge near Scissors. There was a cow birdtrap there.

The Anzo Borrego Desert was somewhat desolate yet filled with interesting cactus. Several were flowering. Found a nice place to have lunch around 11:30. The Mountain House Pro Pac Spagetti we had was pretty tasty.

Arrived at the next water cache around 6:30. Only about 10 gallons of water was left. Between the 3 of us we took about 3/4 gallons hopefully leaving enough for the hikers behind us until the cashe is resupplied tomorrow.

People I met today: Pygmy and Noel (from Hawaii); Jeremy and Sunshine, Ready to Hike and Feet of Fire from Asheville NC, Easy, EasyDoesIt (not the same one as we met on the AT), Marshmallow/City Girl, (she can't decide on which one to go with).

(Dr Bug) ...At 4am thunder claps twice and there is lightning strike on a distant mountain. We are sleeping under the open sky and Susan freeks! She's afraid her sleeping bag will get wet. I'm too tired to care and besides, we're in the desert, the average annual rain fall is a mere 6 inches, or so. Anyway, we husstle ourselves up and break camp. We ended yesterday at 9pm. It was dark when we arrived, dark when we departed and the light was not on between my ears. I urgently and confidently lead us down the dark trail in the wrong direction.

No significant rain actually hit the ground. In the mornings light we saw distant rains evaporate before reaching the ground. This was the day we walked the Anza Borrego Desert. We were expecting 100 degree temperatures. The cloud cover from the 'storm that never was', lasted most of the day. The temp. in the desert was 70. It was a gift.

Day 4: Monday, May 1

Before we left the Shriner Campgroud this morning, Leslie and I collected the laundry we left hanging in the ladies room the previous night. We'd attempted to clean our hiking clothes with the shampoo the campground hostess gave us--but there seems to be no end to the dirt that comes out of your clothes. We headed out around 7 when it was still cool enough to wear a jacket--at least for the first 5 minutes we were on the trail.

The early hiking was breezy and not too hot; lots of wildflowers and expansive views. For the first time since the beginning of the hike there are a few clouds.

By 10 we were hiking in an area that had extensive forest fires in 2001. There was a lot of new srubby growth, and the skeletal remains of the burned out oaks made a sculptural contrast to the emerging plants. The downside of the burn area was that there was absolutely zero shade and it was starting to warm up.

Around lunch time we stopped at the roadside corral at Sunset Hwy(?) to get water from the well there and some reprieve from the sun. A number of hikers had snatched up the limited shade availble in the shadows of the roadside john and from the small water tank next to the well. We hung a tarp from one of the coral hitching posts in an awning type arrangement and baked under there for the next few hrs--it really wasn't very comfortable.

We headed out around 3:30 as it was starting to cool down, and stopped to make dinner at Chariot Canyon. We met a hiker who was just moving on named Wounded Knee.

We finished dinner around 6:3O and arrived at Rodriguez Rd (a dusty, dirt road xing in the middle of nowhere) around 8:30 where a whole gaggle of hikers are tenting. A nearly full moon accompanied us for the last hour of hiking along with a nice breeze and mild climate. Early morning and late evening are deinitely the best times to hike here.

Day 3: Sunday, April 30

(Stud) We bushwacked our way back out of our campsite around 7am--even more amazed that Dwight actually found this place once we got a look at it in the daylight. From the trail, the site was totally obsured behind the dense chapparal.

It was a beautiful day for hiking--clear blue skys, breezy and the temperature never seemed to get above the high 80's. The first part of the day was along sunny, high ridgelines in the rocky terraine of the chapparel. Lots of wildflowers in this section. By noon we were hiking along a grassy creek with large live oaks. we stopped in a grove of oaks for lunch, set up our tarp as a sun shade a took a nice nap.

The hike to Mt Laguna in the afternoon was even more pleasant. It cooled down a bit and the terrain changed to large white pines and a gentle uphill to Mount Laguna.
We rached the small grocery store there just before it closed and resupplied our food. The parents of one of the hikers pulled in not long after we arrived and were givng out pizza, cokes and home made fruit bars. That's the beauty of hiking--nice people seem to show up from nowhere.

From there, Leslie, Sober Joe (a hiker we met when we stopped for dinner last night) hiked on past dark--intending to stop at the Mt Laguna Campground. We apparently overshot it and ended up at the Shriners Campground where the manager is letting us stay for free. We were able to take hot showers and wash our clothes out with the shampoo she gave us. I think it will be cooler tonite since the wind is chilly. Hope it's not too cold because we convinced Leslie to send her down jacket ahead.

Day 1: Friday, April 28

(Stud) Our first day of hiking on the PCT and we have much to tell-but are totally drained of all energy. We got a lift to the trailhead from Tattoo Joe with several other hikers, and after the prerequisite picture taking at the marker for the southern terminous--started hiking around 7am. Several other thru hikers started today as well--maybe as many as 30. The temperature was 62 at 7--and was 94 by 9:30. The high was around 96--and surprisingly there was some breeze most of the day.

The desert had much more plant diversity than I expected with wild flowers of numerous types in colors in peak bloom. I drained one camera battery taking pictures.

We leaped frogged other hikers all day--as we each took turns taking breaks wherever we could snatch a bit of shade.

Around mile 15 we managed to miss the only signed turn in the section. Luckily, with the openess of the terrain, we spotted hikers in the distance obviously on another trail--and retraced our steps back to the missed turn.

The uphill section from Hawser creek around mile 16 was definitely the most challenging part of the day with an elevation gain of 1000 feet in 1/2 ml. We did this at the hottest part of the day with no shade to be found. When we reached the top I sat down on a rock to rest--then nearly passed out. I noticed there were 2 buzzards circling low. They probably hang out there waiting for fallen hikers. Elevating my feet, resting 20 minutes, drinking some water and eating a snack got me back on track and rest of hike went fine.

We arrived back at Lake Morena around 5--just in time to cop a free meal from 2005 thru hikers. Then on to the showers. I do believe my feet and legs have never been dirtier. (The trail was so dusty, everyone looked like Pig Pen going down the trail.)

All in all, a good start...oh, and no blisters for either one of us.

Day 2: Saturday, April 29

(Stud) We spent most of the today at the Kickoff--starting off with a breakfast hosted by the Kickoff committee. we also attended lectures on flaura and fauna of the PCT where I found out that the tree I thought was mesquire was actually manzanite and that we are not hiking in the desert, but rather the chemise chaparral. We also took in a lecture on wilderness first aide and learned about how to deal with snake bites, fractures, heat exhaustion and hypothermia.

Around 4pm, just as the heat of the day was beginning to abate, Dwight, Leslie (GottaHike!) and I headed on down the trail. Leslie and I met a few years ago when we were part of a study on long distance woman hikers. We stopped and made dinner at Boulder Oak Campground which is currently closed to overnight camping beause a protected species of frogs are in mating season there. Ironically enough, it is the Horny Toads species.

We resumed hiking under a nearly full moon. Around 9pm we started looking for spots to camp and the middle of the trail was starting to look like the best possibility. But on a hunch Dwigth decides to do the human bush hog through the sage brush and low and behold finds a campfire ring and an open patch of sand just yards from the trail. There was enogh space for Leslie to set up her tent and we are sleepig cowboy style under the stars. The temperature is about 70 with a nice light breeze--perfect sleeping weather. Ithink I could really warm up to night hiking.