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.
EFG
Wish I were there…so of…for a week maybe.
See ya!
Then come on out for a week. We’re slow. You’d have no problem.