Just wanted to check in and let you know I've completed 42.8 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail thus far. My feet hurt, shoulders are a little sore and pride is definitely going to need to be checked soon.
Lessons are learned the hard way, and fairly quickly when you are embarking on a 2660 miles journey. I decided to test out the first miles of the trail without the proper shoes, ouch. I made really good time the first day and got to Lake Morena a lot faster than anticipated. Unfortunately some hot spots had formed on the running shoes I'd decided to bring given my other shoes were in the mail still. Also, hiking in the heat of the day is brutal, though you can counteract that with an umbrella (which a lot of folks had) and proper clothing.
Side Note: The desert is beautiful and full of life. The amount of colors you see at this time of year is unreal. I've seen more wildlife in the dessert than I've seen in a lot of forests.
I met about 20 people that day, some more energetic than others. Turns out there was an unofficial kick off party being held by some past thru-hikers at Lake Morena. Usually the last weekend of April is the weekend of the annual PCT - Kick Off Event. However due to logistics and other circumstance it didn't happen this year, well not a sanctioned one anyways. I however had this goal in mind to make it to mile 32 so that I could pull another long day tomorrow. Pride got in the way and I left Lake Morena, where the party was just getting started.
To keep it short, I pulled 27.7 miles on Day 1...not the smartest idea. The original goal was to do 3 of those days to get to Scissors Crossing to meet a friend before going back up the coast to see my parents who were returning from a cruise. Well lets just say your body tells you when you aren't ready for trips in obvious ways. I did catch a good sunset (photos below), but was it worth it? Lesson learned.
But before we get back to that lets go back to the night of Day 1...where I lost my maps!!! I was hiking after the sun had set and forgot to zip up the hip belt pocket. The maps fell out and I was at that point looking for a cowboy camp spot. 10 minutes after I realized I'd dropped my maps I heard voices, then saw 2 headlamps coming up the trail. I had my own head lamp on (red light/tactical mode) to conserve energy. The two guys who rolled up asked if I'd lost some maps?! If the world is trying to tell you something well it has funny ways of doing it sometimes. I thanked them profusely as the second of the two men handed me the maps. These happened to be 2 ultra runners, starting their run at 9:30pm in at night to beat the heat!
Well after half heartedly finding a camp spot or more like a flat-ish and bare piece of ground off the trail (LNT = 200 ft off trail), I set up my tent, sort of. Everything was aching and I fell asleep without blowing up the sleeping pad I'd decided to bring. Needless to say I can understand now how some people do not bring books on the trail because once camp is set up you are in bed.
Day 2 saw the rain come in. If you aren't walking you get cold, if you don't eat enough you get cold, if you aren't hydrated you get cold. I did ok on those three fronts though there is a lot of room for improvement. My feet started to blister and I pushed through the pain until I got to Mt. Laguna. At that point I called my friend in San Diego and said the plans had changed, I was not going to make it to Scissors Crossing without seriously hurting myself 2 days into the hike. I hung out at the Pine House Cafe and Tavern, met some other thru-hikers or "Hiker Trash" as we get to be known, had a BIG Breakfast before heading over to the Laguna Mountain Outfitters.
It was here that I learned of the Altra (Ultra Running Shoes) that were designed to fit your feet anatomically. Once I put one on I realized what a big mistake I'd done with my normal running shoes. Even though I'd ordered some trail runners via mail I had to get a pair of the Olympus Altras. I will let you all know how they work out in a few days.
So here I sit resting the feet, getting gear cleaned and readying myself for the real start to the journey north. I'll do my best to update this blog and keep entries shorter. Oh and if you didn't know I'm putting on a fundraising campaign for YWCA Missoula and NCBI Missoula, two nonprofits that I had the opportunity to work with in Montana.
Here's the link:
https://www.gofundme.com/2660forYWCAandNCBI
Hope everyone is well,
Cheers,
Tyler (no trail name yet)
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| Northbound |
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| 1 Mile down! |
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| Wave Rock |
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| Rock Arch |
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| Sunset 1 |
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| The feet, the poor feet |
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