Day 0, Thursday, February 21. San Diego, CA—Zero Day

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?

EFG