Category: 2019 Pacific Crest Trail

We were lulled to sleep by frogs and woken up by a wide variety of birds. The most obnoxious of which were some roosters crowing before sunrise. I was not the least bit sad when we passed a partially eaten rooster on the trail later in the morning. It seemed like there was a murder of crows and a flock of turkeys competing for morning honors, though. It was too cold for me to stick my head out of the tent, but there had to be well over a dozen turkeys between our tent and Jeff’s. 

I usually mention porcelain as one of the losses I feel the most. I’m not a hole digger by nature. Lake Mareno had the next best option to porcelain. No, not a pit latrine—stainless steel. It’s greatest fault is it takes way too much body heat to warm the seat, but it does have a streakless advantage. It felt so nice that Bunny and I both pulled a Sassy double barrel. 

We continued to increase our mileage output today reaching 12 while still having a relaxing start at just after 8:30 and finishing comfortably by 5. We had several stops along the way including an extended rest break around 3 to prepare our breakfast for tomorrow and cook our supper for later. The meal preparations were necessary because we were headed to another dry camp for the night. 

We only encountered one new thru-hiker today. We met Danimal at our first stream crossing. We were feeling good that we already had 4.2 miles under our feet when Danimal stopped to talk to us. This is his second day on the trail and he already had almost 13 in so far today. He’s set a goal to complete this 700 mile section in a little over a month. Now the sad news, he’s retired and older than us. I think it’s safe to consider him a “red-shirted crew member” as we’ll never see him again. He was shooting for 30 miles today. 

I did see a sign outside of the stainless steel adorned bathroom at Lake Mareno. It said that the mountain lion population in California’s has increased from a low of just 70 to between 4000 and 6000 today. I am very happy that Bunny is seeing so many rabbits on the trail. I’m hoping that rabbit is the preferred food source. Just to be safe, I am keeping a watchful eye on MY Bunny. 

It was a beautiful, cloudless day. The temperature topped out above 75 deg F today. I honestly don’t see why anyone would want to hike this section any time after mid-April. Even by early April, I’m sure this would be way too hot for me. As it is, I’m about ready to break out the umbrella to get a break from the sun. If it gets much hotter, there will be another chrome dome on the trail. 

Bunny did a little research and she’s leaning toward continuing straight on through the Sierras rather than flipping up to the Oregon border. My biggest fear is swollen river crossings from heavy snow melt. If we continue on before the snow melts, we only have to deal with the cold. We could get some snowshoes in Kennedy Meadows and keep going if: 1) someone has already broken trail, and 2) we can find some other people willing to go with us. I wouldn’t feel safe with a group smaller than 4. We have plenty of time to decide. 

I can notice a few advantages that the AT has over the PCT (since I was praising the PCT so much yesterday). The shelters on the AT are great. They almost all have reliable water sources, latrines, and picnic tables. Sitting in the desert can be a little prickly. Since Bunny was dealing with diabetics for decades at work, I adopted a saying (that I stole from George Carlin)—“It’s ok to prick your finger, but never finger your prick.” It’s strange how the mind wonders in the desert. 

When we got to camp, Bucky was waiting. He was already set up. We immediately set up our tent and then ate our hot supper. Bucky has leftover pizza from last night. I felt sure that our hot ramen with lentils, beans, spinach, and chicken was better for us, but, he had pizza. It’s only been 3 days (one of which we had pizza) and I’m craving junk. 

We are still on for renting a room in Mt Laguna tomorrow night. That means we only have around 9 1/2 miles to go. The desert is funny. It really magnifies the sun. When it’s out, it feels blistering. When it’s gone, it immediately gets cold. We’re camping next to a huge patch of snow tonight and there’s no water around. I’m too lazy to melt the snow but it doesn’t matter. We carried enough extra water with us that we can still have coffee for breakfast. Priorities!

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The helicopters kept flying all night long. At one point, I thought one was going to land on us because it was flying so close. I was woke up about 4a with a bright light shining in the tent but it turned out to just be the moon. 

I used to think all the foods I ate when backpacking gave me gas. Even water. I’ve now decided it’s not the food, it’s the activity of backpacking. Bunny has also been producing enough gas to fill a Macy’s balloon for the Thanksgiving parade—Pepe La Pue would be my recommendation. 

We didn’t see a single hiker all day. We didn’t see anyone all day. With 30,000 crossing the border illegally every month, we at least expect to see someone. Bunny kept mentioning how quiet and peaceful it was except for the occasional bird call and the frequent helicopters. 

I realize it’s only our second day on the trail, but I feel confident in making a comparison between the AT and the PCT. The PCT is not at all afraid of using switchbacks. It’s been a year since we started the AT and the southern states were much better at using switchbacks, but not to the extent that the PCT does. We climbed almost 1200’ in one go and barely even noticed that we were climbing during the three miles it took to gain the elevation. If that had been in the Whites in NH, we would have climbed the 1200’ in a half mile. 

I’m sure that the extensive switchbacks are why we have already gotten a double digit day of miles under our belts. We didn’t break 10 miles on the AT until near the end of our second week. Something else that we noticed today while we were hiking…we were looking at the views WHILE we were hiking. On the AT, we had to stop walking if we wanted to look around much. The track was so rocky that we had to keep our eyes on our feet at all times. It wasn’t until Shenandoah that we could walk AND look around. 

The track itself is also very different. The first 700 miles on the PCT are in desert so the track is sandy and easy on your feet. I’m very appreciative of this because my right heel still is not back to normal after all the rocks on the AT. I do miss the forests of the AT. So far, trees are occasional rather than a green tunnel. I’m not a fan of full sun. I couldn’t imagine hiking this section later in the year when temperatures get above 100. I still haven’t quite forgiven New Jersey for the bake fest last year when we hit 107. 

Regarding wildlife, it seems like we might have more encounters out here. Bunny has seen several rabbits along the trail, so she has already decided this is her favorite of the two long trails. We were woke up to birdsong this morning and we have seen plenty of animal tracks in the trail, including some suspiciously large ones which might be cougar. As always, vultures tend to follow us as we hike. I wish they’d stop that because it’s not a confidence builder. 

We stopped for a break to snack and soak our feet in a stream. Naturally, I left my camera in my pack on the other side of the stream when a humming bird nearly flew into my head. He actually hung around us for a bit while we were having our snack. 

We made it to Moreno Lake before 5. We are thru-hikers, so we headed to the liquor store/grocery store/pizza parlor before we worried about setting up camp. It’s hard to believe this was only our second day on the trail because our hiker appetites were in full bloom. Maybe we never lost them from last year. Possibly, that’s why we gained almost all of the weight we lost on the AT over winter. 

I’m pulling a late night tonight. Bunny has self medicated with Benadryl and is breathing heavy. We did set our tent up next to Jeff (Bucky) and heard him as he was returning from supper. We talked a bit and will probably be hiking with him for the next couple of days. He’s 69 and usually knocks out 20 mile days so he won’t have the patience to hang back with the “old at heart” hikers he has run into. 

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Magic started before we even got to the trailhead. Street Max and Jay Walker are going to start the PCT on April 11. They had just flown into LAX from Vietnam, rented a car, and drove down to check out the southern terminus. They saw us walking the road from where the bus dropped us off in Campo and offered us a ride. We gladly accepted. I have no problem with being transported for non-official miles. 

We had awoke at 6:30 so we could eat breakfast, pack, and walk to the bus station with plenty of time to catch the 8 o’clock bus. Sadly, there was not an 8:00 bus. The first bus was at 8:30. We could have slept another half hour. We did meet 2 other hikers at the bus stop that were starting today: Jeff (a.k.a. Bucky) who is starting for the 7th time; and Bobby who pretty much lives on the trail. This is his 22nd year of hiking the PCT. He’s thru-hiked the trail 7 times in the last 22 years. 

There were a bunch of border patrol agents congregated about 100 yards from the monument. As we walked past them, a couple of man-lifts on a trailer showed up. They must be going to place razor blade wire on top of the existing wall. The wall is maybe 10’ tall along this area and consists of 8’ sections of corrugated tin. It seems pretty stupid to have a wall without electronic surveillance. No matter what kind of barrier is eventually put up, people will climb over, break through, or tunnel under if no one is watching. On the bright side, because the border patrol was installing the razor wire, we did not have to carry bricks down to the border. 

50 people were supposed to be starting the trail today, but we only saw 3 people other than us. A lot of people just sign up for permits because PCT thru-hikers get a pass on the John Muir Trail and avoid the quota system. Rat bastards always find a way to cheat. 

We were hoping to get in at least 6.6 miles today. That was the last reliable water source for another 10 miles. We didn’t get started until 10:45 with the bus ride and getting to the trailhead from town so we knew we wouldn’t be able to get 15 miles in today. That was strictly a time issue and didn’t even consider that we knew we had overpacked (again) which would slow our rate down even more. After talking with Bobby on the bus, we had hoped to maybe make it 11.4 miles, but I just gave out. 

The water at 6.6 miles was flowing well. We stopped, filtered enough water for two meals and 10 miles of walking with the intentions of getting another 5 miles in. We took our time filtering and even prepped our breakfast for tomorrow and cooked our supper for tonight. We didn’t eat supper but carried it so it would have more time to rehydrate. 

When I couldn’t go on any further, we set up the tent and ate. I had tried making some ramen meals with Harmony House dehydrated veggies and beans added. The extra soak time worked fantastic. It’s the first time I’ve had beans on the trail that didn’t still crunch. 

We got in the tent as quickly as possible because the minute the sun dropped, so did the temperature. It had been in the mid 70s while we were hiking. Our bus had been cancelled Friday because of snow on the roads but it was nearly 7 miles in before we even saw a trace of snow. 

As Bunny was getting ready for bed, a helicopter flew overhead. She quickly popped up out of the bushes so she wouldn’t show a full moon. We hear coyotes in the distance and we’re hoping that no mules pass through our camp tonight. 

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I’m having a horrible flashback to Gatlinburg, TN just about a year ago. We were forced off the trail into the hellish, nightmare town for a staggering 5 days until the road to Newfound Gap opened back up. I mention this because when we got to the El Cahon Transit Center, all of the buses to Campo, CA had been cancelled because of snow in the mountains above San Diego. 

Days 1 – 3 of our PCT experience have been spent in a cheap hotel in a town with even more limited options for entertainment than Gatlinburg. We don’t have the option of spending time with trail friends because we haven’t met anyone yet. We have eaten copious amounts of food to continue fattening ourselves up for the trail ahead. 

The time has not been twiddled away without gaining new knowledge and skills. Bunny has spent the time working on developing vlogging skills. She developed an introduction video for our new YouTube channel. We have also learned how to control and tame dragons for that time when they decide to make themselves known to us once again. 

Before we even hit the trail, we are going to have to do laundry. Bunny has already worked on her trail look by sporting crocs in the nearest Walmart. The hiker trash look has returned to us with very little effort. On the bright side, we are getting to watch the Oscars and one more episode of Victoria before we hit the trail. Whether it’s to Lady Gaga or Victoria is up to the reader to decide, but “Long live the Queen.”

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Welcome to the world premiere of Bunny Tracks and Easily Forgotten’s YouTube channel:

https://youtu.be/7EVx3xA3WmM

We were overcome with offers from everyone willing to drive us to the airport. It seemed like everyone we have spent time with over our break was so encouraging of us getting back on the trail that they were willing to take the time to make sure we actually left. To not hurt anyone’s feelings, we decided to have a random drawing to select our driver. Bunny’s son ultimately won the honor. It worked out for the best since he is scheduled to join the army in about a month and has some free time to kill until then. 

As soon as we arrived in San Diego, we were met by Paul. We first met Paul nearly 2 years ago on the Camino de Santiago. He was on the pilgrimage with Chris and Bob. Chris and Bob met us in Shenandoah last year when we were hiking the Appalachian Trail. Paul chose to spend his time, then, distributing eye glasses to poor people in Central America rather than visit us. This year, he and his brother, Bill, took us out to dinner our first night in town. Paul has been chosen as “instructor of the year” 4 of the last 5 years at San Diego State where he teaches part time. I’m not surprised since Paul is so gregarious. He is also patient and generous. I was most amazed that he seemed to remember us. Bob must have given him a heads up that we were on the way. 

It was raining outside when we woke up this morning. Rain, as a rule, doesn’t frighten us, but when it’s rainy and cold in San Diego, it’s got to be pretty crappy in the mountains higher up. We checked the weather at Campo, CA (where the PCT starts) and decided we would spend another night in town to avoid the snow. Since I hadn’t made a two night reservation at the Holiday Inn we were staying at, I couldn’t use my points for another free night. I found a hostel a few blocks away. Upon checking in, we were told the hostel started out as a brothel. When the brothel shut down, it was reopened as a children’s school. Since it’s now a hostel, this building has been involved in the total life cycle—conception to early education to day care. 

First order of business was to get a few more items since we were able to pick up our packs and not pass out. Clearly, we haven’t over packed quite enough. We needed fuel and micro-spikes. With snow reported in Campo, there’s no question that we are going to running into the white crap so we might as well be ready. We were hoping we wouldn’t need them until San Jacinto but we’re not going to take any chances. 

Paul and Bill has given us several ideas of things to do today. We started off by walking the few blocks down to the bay. We narrowed our choices down to visiting the Midway Museum and taking a harbor cruise. We signed up for a three hour tour, a three hour tour. The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed, if not for the beer on tap, the widow would be lost. 

We just wanted to get a good view of the city skyline, get a feel for how big the Midway was, and maybe catch a glimpse of Grace and Frankie’s beach house. We were not prepared for the amount of military fortifications around the bay. Millions of marines have been trained here. There’s a huge naval air station the north island. But most impressive of all is that this is home to 1/3 of the Pacific Naval Fleet. 

The navy has developed stealth technology for ships. They are triple hulled monstrosities but are amazing to see. They are made from aluminum and look alien. Also in bay we’re ships for hauling the ocean cleanup rigs out to sea as well as a floating hospital which we use for humanitarian purposes around the world. The floating hospital is not a military ship. 

After the cruise, we opted to just walk along the bay and admire some of the sights we had just seen from the water. Even though we’ll probably not have another chance to get on an aircraft carrier, we decided to skip it because we wouldn’t have enough time to really explore it. We did discover a huge statue based upon the famous photo from Times Square with the sailor kissing the woman when the war ended. That sailor just died this past Sunday. 

I’m really starting to get a bit concerned about pack weight and weather on the PCT. To allay my fears, we decided to stop in at a bar on the pier to have a drink. If we can’t actually get rid of the weight, we can get rid of my fear. After a supercharged margarita my fears were eased for at least a day. 

Avoid it as long as possible, but not forever. We finally headed back to the brothel to get rid of clothes. Maybe it’s a better idea to state it as heading back to the hostel to perform a final packing and send a bounce box up the trail with some of our excess gear and food. It’s often said that you pack your fears. From our experience this evening, it’s apparent that we are afraid of being cold and not having enough to eat. We sent 8 pounds of food and extras about a week ahead and our packs are still heavier than they were on the AT last year. Will we never learn?

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It seems like I just finished the AT blog entries and we’re all ready to start the Pacific Crest Trail. Last year, we only had 2 months between our European adventures and the start of the Appalachian Trail. This year we had 4 months. We had originally planned to head to South America during this time, but plans change. That’s actually one aspect of myself that I’m working on—not being uptight about changes and accepting things as they come. Most people assume (correctly) that I am probably the easiest going person in the world.

So what did we do during the 4 months no one has heard from us? Many things including visiting friends and family that we hadn’t seen for many months (or in some cases, decades). We went to Florida to visit my brother, my roommate from college, and my aunt stopping to see Bear and Sassy along the way.  We’ve been from Columbia to Chicago with a mini-vacation in Nawlings along the way.

We’ve had happy times to the worst of times. We celebrated our son’s 21st birthday in New Orleans, visited an old friend of mine that I haven’t seen in 30 years, and got to meet our trail angel, Auntie Flammatory (a.k.a. Alice). We’ve also had terrible times…my Aunt Margaret whom we visited in Florida lost her battle with lung and brain cancer. My youngest, and last, child, Ilana finally got to the point that I had to have her killed. She was just 4 days shy of being 13 which is an incredibly long life for a Great Pyrenees. She has been my best friend for nearly a quarter of my life. 

We’re all set to fly to San Diego tomorrow and start hiking the PCT on Friday. We are more than ready. It was great to spend the time with both sets of our parents and with Bunny’s children, but it’s time for us to go. I’ve had enough news that I either hit the back country or slit my wrists…there is no middle choice. One thing we have discovered is that trail life restores your faith in humanity and the nightly news destroys it. 

I’ve reached out to Scout and Frodo hoping to get the opportunity to meet them in San Diego even though we are outside of their hosting window. For those who don’t know who they are, they are a retired couple living in San Diego that host hikers for almost 3 months a year picking them up when they get in town, letting them stay over night, feeding them supper and breakfast, driving them to the trail head south of Campo, CA and even shuttling them around getting ready for the trail. Last year, they did all this for over 1100 hikers but that’s not all…they don’t charge anything or even accept donations. This is what I mean about having my faith in humanity restored. I want to meet them, but I’m afraid to push it because they probably think I’m trying to scam some help outside of their availability window. 

With the help of Patrice and Justin La Vigne, we will get the opportunity to test more gear for Backpacker Magazine. Because of the testing we did last year on the AT, we are going to have a small blurb and picture in the spring gear guide of Backpacker. We owe all this to Patrice and Justin who I met at the St Louis REI nearly 4 years ago at their presentation of the Te Araroa in New Zealand (a trail that is still on our list). They have also been extremely generous in helping our hiking dreams come to fruition.

This is the start of our third year of hiking, and, still, no regrets (other than the weight yo-yo). I’m about 10 pounds lighter this year returning to the trail than I was last year. Having said that, I’m still easily 30# too heavy. Bunny gained back some weight as well but not nearly as much as she imagines or berates herself for. I will have food battles with her, once again, during the early stages of this hike.

I do have a few fears about this trail. First, and foremost, I’m afraid of the weather. There’s even snow predicted on the day we start the trail. I know we have a mountain, Mt Baden Powell (shout out to all the Boy Scouts) where we WILL encounter our first snow. That’s only 100 miles into the trail. Secondly, I’m worried about my heel which hasn’t entirely stopped hurting even though we haven’t been seriously hiking for 4 months. On the bright side, Bunny has not complained any about her hips during that time.

Water is also on the list of concerns. We’ve never really hiked in a desert before. There are already some people on the trail ahead of us so I’m hoping they comment in Guthook about locations. 

Another huge fear for me is the social aspect of the PCT. This is going to be a younger crowd than the AT and I’m afraid that we won’t have the same luck we had in regard to finding people to hike with. Bear, Sassy, and Good Chip Norris spoiled us.  I’m just glad that Bunny and I didn’t let them carry our gear, like they offered, or we wouldn’t even be willing to hike another trail without them. 

Because of our early start and all the fear mongering about the Sierras before mid-June, it looks like we will probably flip-flop up to Oregon when we get to Kennedy Meadows or Bishop. This will probably be the biggest shock to anyone that hiked with us on the AT because I was such a purist. This is what happens when you start slack packing…

As usual, we have packed too much to start. Food sources are plentiful in the first 700 miles of trail so no one needs to carry more than 3 days of food. We’re carrying close to 10 and Bunny says she’s going to eat less. From past experience, the trail will be much easier after the 5th day. It looks like I’m going to start with a bad case of “resupply flu.”

I don’t want everyone to think we are afraid of the PCT. We aren’t. We are ready to be hiking again. We’re looking forward to a trail that is supposed to be less difficult than the AT. We’re looking forward to not listening to the news every day. We’re looking forward to possibly meeting up with people we know on the trail. We’re looking forward to the amazing views and varied terrain. And we’re hopeful for meeting new friends.

All that’s left for us is to catch our flight tomorrow and to make it out to Campo on Friday. Lots of people aren’t aware of the impact the recent shutdown has had on the permitting system. When we get to Campo, we are required to carry a pallet of bricks to the “wall” before we can actually begin our hike. We’re doing our part so all you scaredy cats can sleep well at night. And to any drug smugglers we meet at the border, I’m sorry. I can’t be your mule. I’m already overloaded but thanks for the offer.

EFG