First Stretch!

Day 1 5/15
15 miles

I didn't sleep very well that night so I was pretty tired in the morning. Admittedly, dad and I did a tour of the local breweries on Sunday so I was feeling pretty hungover. Was I starting a 2650 mile trail hungover? Yes. Do I regret anything? Not until about mile 4.  Dad and I made it to the trail head around 9:30. It actually rained on our drive to the trail, the car said it was 45 degrees outside! We took a few obligatory picture at the southern terminus and talked to terminus Tom who is a volunteer that stayed at the trailhead to answer anyone's questions and make sure everyone is knowledgeable about LNT (leave no trace). We hit the first official mile marker of the PCT. It was all very surreal, a year's worth of planning and it is finally happening. The trail was so quiet, we were the only people within shouting distance. Dad hiked with me until the 3 mile mark, then we shared some emotional goodbyes and headed our separate ways. Once dad left, this feeling of true isolation and loneliness hit me. The expected thoughts of "holy shit what are you doing?" and "you're never gonna make it" started to hit me. They did not last long, if I don't make it to Canada, bummer, but I damn sure will try my hardest. Anyways, I didn't run into another hiker until afternoon, then I ran into about 6 or 7 more. Passing them all up I might add. The goal for the day was to make it to Lake Morena at mile 20. I started to feel really drained around mile 7, so I sat down and munched on a few things and it perked me right up. I also plugged my headphones into my phone and listened to an audio book. It really helps you take your mind off of the pain. The trail was beautiful, most of the day I walked along the top of the ridges with a grand view all around. I walked through some sections of trail that were recovering from previous forest fires. I saw a few critters, some rabbits, a squirrel, a bunch of lizards, 8.5 million fire ants, but no snakes yet. I ended up stopping at mile 15 to set up camp, my legs were dead and I could make the last 4.5 mile uphill climb to Lake Morena. There was about 5 other people set up in this nice little Grove. I'm going to bed early tonight!

Day 2 5/16
17 miles, total miles 32

Today started out like the day from he'll. First of all, let's not gorges about the four mile climb I have to do right away. I wake up around 5:45 to the sound of rain battering my tent. All I could think of was seriously, this is southern California, I didn't think it rIned here! Anyways, I roll back over and go to sleep, hoping it would quit soon. It didn't. I got up a little after 7 and started packing up. The hill was a pretty intese way to start the day, it wasn't so steep, just long. By this time the rain had turned into a mist, but I was soaked anyways. I met up with my first trail friend, Tim, and we pushed on to the top. I finally got to the top, and just like that there was lake Morena! It was like a beacon of hope. So Tim and I went down to the lake and took a little detour to a small diner just down the road. I had a coffee, OJ, and a big ole breakfast burrito. It was well deserved. After that the day went great, the trail was flat and the rain stopped. My plan was to go 17 miles and camp at a small spot in Fred canyon. I stopped at a campground at mile 26 because they had cell service so I could call home, but I still had 6 miles of ground to cover. Those last 2 miles were beautiful, I spent most of the time walking along a ridge with, what looked like, all of southern California before me. The last 2 miles were tough because I was beat. I hit my camp spot cooked a little dinner, let my tent dry and went to bed. There is a creek a few feet from my tent, I think it's babbling will put me to sleep real quick.

Day 3 5/17
16 miles, total miles 46

Woke up at six to a beautiful morning. Took my time getting ready, because I only had to do 15 miles today. I want to take it easy and not over work myself for the first couple days. Not to mention my planned stop for the night was Mt laguna campground, and they have ... wait for it... showers! That's right I said it! My first shower since Monday morning. I gotta be honest with you, I smell like a homeless man holding a used baby diaper. Back to it then, the day did not start out great. I hiked about a half mile down the trail when I ran into a fellow hiker named Jake walking the opposite way, but I had made it farther than Jake yesterday so I was confused why I was crossing paths with him. Yep. I was walking the wrong way like an idiot. I would have found out eventually, but I'm glad I ran into Jake as soon as I did. Now that I was going the right direction, I found out that Jake had hiked the PCT in 2006 and was going for round 2, thus I dubbed him with the trail name of Two Timer. Although it was quickly changed to Old School because he has a bunch of old gear and is always reminiscent of his 06 hike. We hiked about 10 miles to Mt laguna, where I stopped at nice little tavern for lunch. I wandered around the little town for about an hour and then took off. My feet were killing me, I was about ready to call I quits. I hiked another 6 miles, mostly on an exposed ridge and the wind was crazy. 50 to 60 mph gusts. I found a little notch under some trees and anchored my tent down and prayed I didn't blow away. Tim and a guy named Payton caught up and camped with me, so it was nice to know someone will witness me blow away, hopefully they will video it. And I did not make it to the campground with showers.