Part 2

Day 4 5/18
16 miles, total miles 63

It really felt like walking in the desert today, it was hot! I got an early start, around 6:45. My first stop was a water pump about a mile away, I currently had only 1 liter of water left. Once I refilled my bottles I took off. The next section is a little more rugged and has less water, so it took a little planning. The views were spectacular, the trail followed mountain sides all around. It was a little scary at points, because the trail was only a few feet wide, and on one side was the mountain, and the other side was straight down. Did I mention it was windy? One wrong step and I would've went tumbling down the mountain. I went through so much water I had to fill up again, this time at a water tank that poured into a horse trough. Now the water is the trough was gross, but I could stick my bottle under the running faucet and get the clean water. I still filtered it of course. I met one guy today who said he doesn't filter water much. I told him he might regret that decision when he's got the Hershey squirts and nothing but a 6 inch hole in the dirt. When I was filtering water at the horse trough, I saw a coyote saunter on by. He looked at me and just walked on, I didn't phase him at all. He probably thought that I smelled too bad. By the end of the day my feet were killing me. The trail has been covered in these large loose rocks that are just destroying my feet. My last couple miles was basically me hobbling around like an old man. I set up camp in a nice shady spot and cooked my dinner. Instant potatoes and meat sticks, it was delicious! Almost made it to 100 miles!

Day 5 5/19
16 miles 79 total miles

Slept real good last night. When I woke up my feet were still pretty sore. I had about 1 liter of water on me, with 5 miles till the next water source, and it was supposed to be hotter than yesterday so I had to get an early start. I was on trail by 7, and of course had to start my day with an uphill mile on an old dirt road. After that the next 4 miles went pretty quick. Once I hit the junction for the water source, I realized that it was not on trail. I had to hike 1 mile down this old jeep road that was in utter disrepair and went down a very steep hill. Going downhill is not easy or fun as some people think. Going downhill means a lot of weight on your knees and toes, and when your toes have blisters on them it can be very uncomfortable. I make it halfway down this hill and there is this big barb wire gate. It made me stop for a minute because I didn't really want to stumble into some drug house or something. But I eventually decided to take the risk, if I ran into trouble I have 2 hiking poles and I know how to use them. I also run pretty fast. So I crawled under the barn wire fence and continues down the hill. I finally made it to the source, a dirty little pipe with delicious, refreshing water flowing from it. I filtered my 5 liters and started my long ass climb back to the trail. Believe it or not, the uphill was easier than the down hill. It requires more energy, but it hurts less. I had 8 miles until the next water source. It was a hot 8 miles with very little shade. I was trying to keep my neck covered to protect it from sunburn, but my hands ended up getting the most burnt, because they were the only skin exposed since I was holding my trekking poles. The first 5 of those miles were pretty hilly, the last 3 were very flat and very hot. The last 3 miles were a push to route 78, where the trail crossed at a point called scissors crossing. I had different plans however. It was time to change things up a bit. I walked up to route 78 and stuck my thumb out. It was time to hitch a ride into town. Julian, CA was about 12 miles down 78. They were supposed to be really friendly to hikers, a very popular stop. I was looking forward to some hot food and a shower.i wasn't waiting long when a lady pulled to the side of the road and waved for me to get in. She was driving a mini van, and told me I had to sit in the very back, this was more because of my rancid smell than her sense of security. When I crawled in the back I  realized she had a baby in the back seat. She told me to not mind him if he started crying because I smelled bad. He only looked at me with a curious look on his face, trying to figure out what the hell I was doing in the back of the van. That or he was pooping, who knows. Real nice lady though. So she dropped me off in this touristy looking town that had some serious hankering for pie. There were pie shops everywhere, or as I like to call it, heaven. Unfortunately most of them were closed by the time I got there. I mostly wanted a bed and a shower. I walked over to a neat looking bed and breakfast and asked the gentleman at the counter if there were any rooms available. Now people in this town are used to hikers, they understand that we smell awful. The guy at the counter handled that very well, the girl that walked in behind the counter a minute later, not so much. She literally gagged at my smell. What a time to be alive. The guy told me the only room available was a king suite and it was kind of expensive. There were only 3 other lodges in Julian, and one was full already. I just said screw it, give me the king suite. Then he proceeded to give me a speel about not using there white towels to wipe down my gear. I get it! Hikers are dirty, jeez all I wanna do is shower. All in all it was a really nice place! I took 2 showers and washed my clothes in the tub. I made sure I cleaned meticulously, to help the reputation of future hikers. I ate dinner at this amazing little Italian joint, after I showered of course, but before I washed my clothes so there was still 50% stink. I sat at the bar, away from most people, so I didn't disturb their dinner. It must have been a funny sight, a stinky homeless looking guy sipping wine with his pinky up at a fancyish restaurant. The food was delicious! I returned to my king sized bed and hit the sack.

5/20

I am sad to announce that this is the end of my PCT journey for now. While I only completed roughly 1/30th of the entire trail, I am very proud of my accomplishments. The reason is simple. As you can imagine, it gets very lonely on the trail. This was something I thought I was prepared for, but there is a difference between being alone and being isolated. It's not like a vacation where there are a lot of things occupying your mind. You are completely alone with your thoughts as you walk the trail. Sure you meet someone every once in a while, but for the majority of the time you are alone and with no cell service. It's not that I was worried about my safety or anything, it just would have been nice to have someone to share the beauty with.

So instead of talking about what I didn't accomplish, I'd like to talk about what I did. I had an awesome trip with my dad driving across the country. I crossed 2 more states off my list, Nevada and California, bring me to 40 or 41 total states visited. I got to drive through Vegas. I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time. I got to explore San Diego.  I backpacked 80 miles in 5 days through the desert, carrying all my supplies on my back. I hitchhiked for the first time. And finally I will be flying in a plane for the first time on my way home.

That is a pretty good list in my book. I am 100% happy with how this trip turned out. I am not done with the PCT just yet however. Instead of completing it all in one shot, I decided to chip away at it one chunk at a time, and who knows maybe in 26 years I will have completed it! I want to thank everyone who has been following my journey. It has really meant a lot to me. I want to thank Savannah for having patience with me through my journey! I want to thank my mom, who was very supportive of me, and was my supply coordinator. Lastly, I want to thank my dad for instilling in me this sense of adventure that put me on this track in the first place. And let's not forget him driving me all the way to San Diego.  Thank you everyone for your support. Stay tuned for more PCT adventures. ( disclaimer it may be over a year)

Cheers!