Two Goodbyes

I had to say goodbye to my Dad today. He didn't sleep well and was still sick this morning. We were discussing options when Yogi stopped at the Mt Laguna store and said she was headed to the San Diego airport. Yogi is a legendary triple crown hiker, meaning she has hiked the three long US trails--the Appalachian, Continental Divide, and Pacific Crest. She also publishes the very popular Handbook and Guide for the PCT. Moose, a fellow thru hiker knew we were looking into the possibility of trying to find a ride for Dad and he hooked us up. Within minutes Dad was on the road with three strangers, no cell phone, and no reservations to get home. It was really tough to see him go, but I really don't think it was much of a decision. If he had been marginal he could have pushed on. But, the longer he was sick, the weaker he was getting, and the longer his recovery was going to be. He's taking a train and bus and should be home at midnight. It was great to have him here with me at the start of the hike and now I can look forward to hiking with him on a different section than we originally planned. Get well soon, Dad!

I also said goodbye to Mt Laguna when i hiked out at 1:00. Others were waiting for it to cool a bit but I was anxious to get back on the trail. I started out alone, but shortly ran into a group of guys and hiked with them until they pulled away from me. It was a sort of United Nations hike--a guy from Australia, one from England, an American, and an Asian.

Before I left Mt Laguna, I bought a can if Coke and hid it in the middle of my pack. Hiking in the heat of the afternoon makes me crave a cold Coke so I planned ahead today. (By the way, Dad, you owe me one!)

Saw my first, and second, snakes on the trail. The first was just a little one, the second was a large rattler...but it was dead.

Walked over a ridge with trees on one side and the Anza Borrega Desert on the other. It was pretty wild.

Hiked 10 miles with the intent to go a little further, but a group was gathering at this large picnic/park area and I decided to stay. I'm glad I did as it was a fun evening. Billygoat, another PCT legend showed up too!

Mt Laguna

The good news today is that there was no condensation on the inside of my tent. I've never experienced that. Made it so much easier to pack up. The other good news, and this one is even better, is that I woke up with no pain or stiffness! Hike on!

Unfortunately the good news of the day is overshadowed by the one piece of bad news. Dad's sick. This morning he said he felt like crap. Shortly after he said he was dying. This is not good! He's a pretty tough cookie so I know it's bad. He sucked it up and we made it six miles to Mt Laguna. Mt Laguna is a little mountain town with a general store, restaurant, and outdoor outfitters. It's also a hang out among hikers. They have some cabins available and dad got one for the night, hoping to sleep off whatever he has. I benefit by getting to shower :) (The picture shows a day and a half of trail dirt. Be thankful it doesn't come with smell!) Dad was asleep by the time I got out of the shower so I'm hanging out on the front porch of the general store waiting for him to wake up to go eat. I decided an A&W rootbeer and an ice cream sandwich wouldn't spoil my lunch too much :)

ADZPCTKO and Beyond

Dad and I spent one full day at Kick Off. We took lots of classes and learned about trail conditions, water availability, hiking thru snow and water, and about how awesome bears are. We met lots of people, including Helicopter, a thru-hiker from my hometown of Dallas, OR whose blog we followed last year. There's a picture below of the feed line for dinner.

Dad saw "Dr Sole" who treated his feet without any outward appearance of shock. He used a gel made for horses on his feet and they seem to be doing well today...other than the fact that they are filthy!

We've had a decent amount of climbing today and it's been pretty warm. There was a short side trail down to a creek where we saw a hiker strip down to his shorts to lay in the water. We were debating joining him, and then the shorts came off. I didn't figure he would want to share the creek with someone who might remind him of his mother so we hiked on.

At a rest break with water and shade (ahhhhhhhh), we discovered that dad's water bladder in his pack was leaking. Everything appeared dry. It wasn't until we made camp later in the day we found out his sleeping bag had taken on water. That's the worst thing that can happen to a down bag. Thankfully it was mostly on the outside of the bag and it was a very warm night.

We pushed on a little further than our 12-mile goal because we reached it so early in the day. The new goal we set was a dry campsite (no water source) we read about near an oak tree. Some people had passed us on the trail and we hoped they weren't all planning the same thing as us. We were pretty happy when we saw the oak tree...and even happier when we saw no one had set up a tent! Shortly after we arrived we were joined by five others. It's a small site so were crammed in pretty tight.

Not a good night of sleep for either of us. I'm hoping that all but guarantees a good one tonite. We're just six miles from the small town of Mt Laguna. There's a cold Coke there with my name on it!

Go!!!

We left the house of trail angels Scout and Frodo at 6 am and headed for the border. There were 30 of us! We had a great breakfast before we left. They had a scale so we could weigh our packs. Mine was 36 pounds. I was feeling bad until I saw some of the other weights. One was 74--yikes!

The sky was pretty dark when we left and it got worse. Then it started to rain. Than I noticed the temperature was 42 degrees. By the time we or to the border it was 47. We took a few minutes for pictures but then were anxious to leave the crowd and start hiking. We were excited, but mostly we just wanted to get warm.

We started hiking at 7:35. The terrain and scenery was not what we expected. It much was greener and with more hills than the brown desert we had anticipated.

Twenty miles was the plan for today, to get us to ADZPCTKO (Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Kick Off). The first 19 were great. The last one was about as tough as the first 19! We had seen Lake Morena (our destination) for quite awhile but the trail kept meandering around for what seemed like miles!

We finally arrived at 5:30. The events get underway tomorrow. Looking forward to a good night's sleep between now and then.

San Diego Trail Angels

Greyhound was right on time delivering Dad and me to San Diego. Our ride showed up shortly and 20 minutes later we were in La Jolla at the home of famous PCT angels Scout and Frodo. Dad and I got one of the bedrooms inside which will make packing up in the morning much quicker.

Chicken enchiladas, chili relleno, rice, beans, chips, salsa, and salad was dinner for the 30+ hikers here tonite. I hear there are brownies in the oven.

Breakfast is at 5:20 and we leave for the 1 hr 15 min drive to the trailhead at 6. There's a 20% chance of rain until 11 am, with a predicted high in the 60s. Weather for Kick Off this weekend should be clear with highs in the high 70s. Nice!

Pictures show dinner and some of the tents in the backyard. It's pretty awesome. It'll be an early nite tonite and hopefully some sleep.

Get Set!

It's 7 am and we're waiting at the Greyhound station in downtown Fresno. We packed our backpacks yesterday. Mine weighed in right around 15 lbs, which was my goal. Shortly before I left Houston I became concerned about the weight of my Osprey pack (3# 1 oz). I ordered a Gossamer Gear Mariposa pack (about 1# 12 oz) and had it shipped to my parents'. It turned out to be a very good decision as there was no way my gear would have fit in the smaller Osprey pack. Whew! Hard to believe how much space 15 lbs can occupy!

Mom and I packed another resupply box last night. We were able to scrunch everything into a medium flat rate box. We started with a bigger box and were happy to move it into a smaller one. Of course the weight is the same, but the smaller volume leads to less space in the pack which is a good thing!

Beautiful weather in Fresno this morning. The forecast for SoCal looks very promising at this point, except for the 20% chance of rain Thursday morning. I'll take that over too much heat any day! Nights could be in the 30s, but once again, better than too much heat! More heat means more water which means more weight... You get the idea.

Crunch Time

Each day is getting busier and lists are only marginally getting shorter. Tomorrow is the last full day of prep and then it's "ready or not, here I come"!

Meals are packed for the first five days. I was surprised at the volume, but pleased with the weight...just 7-1/2 pounds.

Dad and I are still looking for warm hats that are an improvement over what we already have. At this point I think we'll just figure it out as we go. However, we are covered quite nicely with our sun hats, as shown below :)

The second picture shows a meal being put together. Mom is very organized and all parts of each meal are weighed for consistency.

Today I thoroughly enjoyed a last hamburger meal before hitting the trail. Oh how I miss In-N-Out. Rumor says they are coming to Houston. I say it can't happen soon enough! Maybe I'll go back one more time tomorrow...

On Your Mark...

After saying goodbye yesterday at the airport, I'm convinced that if decisions to hike the PCT for 5 months were made at airports there would be far fewer hikers showing up at the border!

My parents picked me up late last night. My backpack survived the journey nestled in a cardboard box and surrounded with lots of little stuff that will be used at some point during the hike.

This morning started with a 7+ mile walk with both my mom and dad. My mom taught me the motivational power of gummi bears :) The temperature was in the high 50s and dry. So nice! A little different from the Houston weather this week.

My mom and I went right to work on the first resupply box that needed to be sent to the trail. We had to put a box together for four days of food for my dad and me. It didn't take long to realize the first box I made was too small. It also didn't take me long after my dad brought the full bigger box to the post office to remember we forgot to include toilet paper! That's what rocks and moss are for, right?

My parents have turned a bedroom in their home into PCT Command Central. With such great organization, it didn't take long to pull from the supplies and prepare the resupply box. Mom even has a scale and notes so each package is consistent. My job this week is to spend some quality time with my mom in this room getting started on the remaining 27 resupply boxes.

Why I Hate Sewing

There are three reasons why I hate sewing clothing: buttonholes, zippers, and poor fit. The project I've been plodding through this week was a parcho--half parka, half poncho--and had all three sewing evils. The goal of this garment is to keep me and my pack dry. I waited too long to order the kit and by then color options were limited, so I went with bright orange. I figure it will keep me from bring shot if I venture out in hunting season, and it is nice and bright to attract the attention of search and rescue people in case I become in need of their services. The fabric is silnylon which is a silicone impregnated ripstop nylon. It is slipperier than snot is what is really is. And as if buttonholes and zippers aren't bad enough when using normal fabric, they are nearly impossible on this stuff. That leaves me with the 3rd thing I hate and that's a poorly fitting garment at the end of hours of sewing. Well, as you can see from the picture, the fit is not really important in this case. There is an interior pocket that can be accessed while wearing the parcho, and an attached stuff sack. All in all a good project and especially good to get to cross another thing off my to do list!

Hiker Hair

This morning had one of those no-turning-back moments. I got my hair cut. Now, this is something I do every couple of months, so that in itself is not a big deal. However, today was different because it wasn't just a trim or even a subtle style change. This was a cut with the hike in mind. It even involved clippers! Gotta admit it, I kinda like it :) Thanks, Elizabeth!

A Walk with a Surprise

I had a 12-miler planned for this morning, with my pack at around 28 pounds.  It's getting boring walking in my neighborhood, so I took advantage of Pandora on my phone and listened to some music along the way.  I was just cranking out the miles not realizing I was in for a surprise at about mile 6.  A friend drove by and saw me.  He pulled his car over, got out, and walked with me for about a mile.  I mean really, how many people would do this?!?!  Best mile of the day...and not just because he carried my pack for me ;)  This guy is so thoughtful and happy that it lifts your spirits just being around him.  I'm serious--you cannot be unhappy around this guy.  He's on a journey to improve his health and is well on his way to a 100-lb weight loss.  Talk about inspiration!

Time is moving quickly now.  I leave for California THIS MONTH!  That is not an April Fools' joke!  With a to-do list a mile long, quite a few things on my schedule, and a visit from my daughter and son-in-law this weekend, there is no time to waste.

Apparently my mind is keenly aware of this lack of time because it doesn't want to let me sleep too much.  At night I'm concerned about leaving and wondering what in the world I've gotten myself into.  Early in the morning I'm stressing about every little detail on my to do list...and usually coming up with more to add.

I think I need a nap...