6/19/16 - Day 9 - Fox Mill Spring to Kennedy Meadows

Day 9

Daily Miles: 19.1

Total Miles: 143.5

I was very glad I pushed on yesterday to Fox Mill Spring.  It would have been quite daunting to wake up and have to climb 2500 ft. first thing in the morning.  Instead because I pushed on it was only a 1500 ft. ascent.  Right after leaving camp I also got to see my first massive cedar tree.

 

After that though it was a long downhill and relatively flat approach into Kennedy Meadows.  The only thing I really didn't account for was that once again I would be hiking the majority of the day through burn areas, completely exposed.  

It heated up real fast as I was at the highest point of 8000 ft. I have been thus far this trip at about 9:15.  Looking down the valley, I knew it was going to be very hot, so I just took my time heading down.  I also got my first view of the still snow-covered sierras about 50 miles away.

 

Every few miles if I found some shade and a comfy spot I would stop for 30-45 minutes and let my body cool down.  At one point we even started to get some clouds in the sky.  Not rain clouds but the big puffy ones that when they passed in front of the sun would instantly drop the temperature 10 degrees (or so it seemed).  Whenever these clouds passed by I would pick up my step and get as many miles as possible.  

Around 2PM I got to the point where I had to make a decision.  I had reached the South Fork of the Kern River.  It is the first fully flowing river I have seen this whole trip and was a perfect place to stop for the day.  There was water to drink, water to soak my blisters in, or even wade into and take a dip.  I knew though that aside from filtering something to drink, if I did any of these other things I would be done for the day and would have to hike into Kennedy Meadows tomorrow.  

This is where I met Ed again.  Ed was one of the hikers I ate with in Lake Isabella 3 days before and like me he wasn't a thruhiker, he was just out for 4-8 weeks doing a long section.  He had just started at Walker Pass and was eager to get back to the idea of real food and a couple beers.  He said he was going to push on the last 3.9 miles to KM and that the store closed at 5PM.  I had just finished filtering my water and my watch said 2:50.  If it had been any later I probably would have stayed, but his talk of food and drinks stirred my drive to go all the way in.  

We hiked together a bit (the first real person I have hiked with since I got out here) before I started to pull away on him.  It was real hot but I knew we were going to be cutting it close, so I took off on him thinking I could get there and get us both something in case he didn't make it in time.  Somewhere around here we also passed the 700 mile marker.  

 

He said he had seen the 1/4 marker the day before signifying 1/4 of the trail completed, but I must have completely missed it.  

The last mile was very hot and very slow going before I finally made it to the road into Kennedy Meadows.  This spot I remembered well as it was where I temporarily picked the trail back up after returning from injury in 2008.  It felt really good to have finally completed the 143 mile stretch of trail I skipped that year.  

 

 

 

I wasn't at Kennedy Meadows yet though as I still had a half mile roadwalk to the general store and it was 4:35.  The time for celebrating was short as I made it up the road with about 10 minutes to spare.

The grill was closed, but I got Ed and myself cold drinks and waited for him to arrive.  The ironic part was in all the rushing, the store didn't wind up closing until about 5:45.  Ed showed up just before that getting out of a car.  Apparently the heat had overwhelmed him and when he got to the road almost passed out from heat exhaustion.  A car had come by and given him a ride into the store

Kennedy Meadows was EXACTLY how I remembered it.  It was a small country store in the absolute middle of nowhere that did about 90% of its yearly business in about 6-8 weeks when all the hikers come through.  This is the last official road crossing for almost 250 miles as hikers enter the high sierras.  If you need to resupply you either have to hike out about 10 miles into Independence (Bishop) at Kearsarge Pass, or send yourself all your supplies in advance to a couple small resorts that are nestled in the high country.  When I had been here in 2008 there had been maybe 20 hikers hanging out taking a day or two off before they entered the Sierras.  Right now there were close to 100.  It was surreal.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I soon found out, even though the store was doing great business, there was a sense that this place could not handle this massive influx of hikers in the last few years.  Many shelves and coolers were empty.  Facilities that are available to hikers such as a shower and port-o-potties were run down and overflowing (7 port-o-potties, all filled to the brim).  It scares me what might happen to places such as this if hiker numbers continue to escalate in future years.

However, even though I had seen the light in all the hikers eyes 8 years ago as the sierras loomed, this was a completely different feel.  Everybody was celebrating and reveling like they had already finished the trail.  Everytime another hiker came up the road, all 100 people would cheer and clap at full volume.  The comraderie amongst hikers is still alive and going strong out here on the PCT.  

The coolest part of the evening was that out here in the middle of nowhere they had a tv set up and about 30 of us sat around drank some beers and watched game 7 of the NBA finals on the deck.  Different factions of people from all over the country and world rooting back and forth through one of the greatest NBA games in a generation.

After the game was over I found my way into the back woods lot they use as a "tent city", found a flat spot, and pitched my tent amongst dozens of others.  I have made it back to Kennedy Meadows, and in doing so have finished the desert section of Southern California.  Up next is a return to the sierras, and I can't wait!!!!

Patch

6/18/16 - Day 8 - Joshua Tree Spring to Fox Mill Spring

Day 8

Daily Miles: 19.2

Total Miles: 124.4

 

I knew there was a heat wave coming today. I was pretty lucky to have cooler temperatures thus far through the desert.  Even though I am moving towards higher altitudes, it is supposed to get back to upper 90 and over 100 degree temperatures down in the valley and I knew we would still feel the effect of it even at higher altitudes.

There were three big ups in this section.  I had soldiered through the first 2000 ft. climb yesterday after leaving town.  Today there was water at about 6 miles in which I would need to power up the second climb of about 1700 ft.

By the time I hit the water source there were about 12 hikers waiting in line to filter out of a very small trickle of water.  I was able to get 5 liters after a while though the process was slow going.  The bag that I use to catch my water before filtering with my Sawyer Squeeze Filter is only 16 ounces.  So to fill up 5 liters I had to go through the catch and filter process 10 times.  Once I get to any sort of decent outfitter I'm going to try to get at least a liter sized bag instead.  

Once hydrated and filled I started the climb.  It was 11AM and the sun was blazing.  I don't have any way of telling the temperature but even at 7000 ft., it had to be 90+ degrees.

Once at the top of the ridge it was a long walk back down.  The wind picked up again to help but we were walking through a lot of burn areas from previous forest fires, so there was full exposure and not many places to hide in the shade.

By the time I reached the bottom, it felt like my feet were on fire from the heat and the friction on the dirt/sand as I shuffled along.  I drank all 5 liters in 11 miles to Chimney Creek.  This is where the most recent forest fire had occured 2 weeks prior.  It had started at Chimney Creek Campground which was a mile off the trail. I tried to keep looking for signs of the fire but I never saw any as the fire had moved away from the trail (thankfully) and had scortched over 1800 acres.  The only reason this section of trail was open was because the fire never had actually touched trail.

The water at Chimney Creek was probably the best I had seen so far.  The last big climb started right there.  It was 2500 ft. up to an elevation of 8000 ft.  There was another spring about 2.5 miles up the climb so I hoped to get there for the night and divide the climb into 2 days.  The only trick was I knew there wasn't supposed to be a lot of camping near it and there was a large group of 8 people hiking together that were headed there too.  

Once I got to Fox Mill Spring I started searching for a good tent site before anything else.  Another hiker there told me about some spots hidden on the far side of the spring and low and behold there were actually a plethora of good spots.  The large group showed up and I directed them there too.  It was good getting where I was going by 6PM and being able to hang out and talk to people all night as well. The group of people saw a fire ring and decided they were going to have a fire.  Personally, I thought it was a bad idea because there had just been a fire 3 miles from here two weeks ago.  Plus, even though it cools down at night, I was still completely wiped from the heat of the day, and a fire and more heat were not very appealing to me.  They managed it well though, and did the right thing and completely doused it out at night.  When I am thruhiking I have never really wanted or needed a campfire.  If I am doing a small trip, I love them, just probably not in the desert.  This group of people seem to be doing well though, and have obviously made it almost 700 miles so I'm sure they know what they are doing.   More power to them.

It's 19 miles to Kennedy Meadows tomorrow and I am debating whether I am going to go all the way in or take a shorter day and an easy hike into there on Monday.  

Patch

6/17/16 - Day 7 - Lake Isabella, CA to Joshua Tree Spring

Day 7

Daily Miles: 11.7

Total Miles: 105.2

As I suspected the allure of an actual bed let me sleep until 8AM today and I missed the first bus back up to Walker Pass.  Not a problem though as I was able to take my time and not be rushed.  

 

After 3 cups of coffee and a breakfast sandwich at the local coffee house I was at the bus stop with about 6 other hikers (none of which I hung out last night at Nelda's with) at 12:35 for the second bus.  When it showed up there were actually two half mini buses.  I thought it was funny that they put all the hikers on one and stuck the 3 or 4 locals on the other.  Better to save them the smell I guess.  And we were off back up the valley.

About halfway up the bus started to slow down and pull to the side of the road.  I hadn't even thought about it but we were making a stop in Onyx to pick up the hikers that went into the KOA Campground there instead of Lake Isabella.  It wasn't until this moment when I truly realized how many damn people are out here hiking this year.  There were over 20 more hikers waiting at the bus stop there!!! I don't think there was enough room on both buses for everyone.  They had to have sent a bus back to get more people because we were fully crammed in on our bus.  $3 to go 33 miles though.  Pretty good deal.  

When we pulled into Walker Campground there were at least 10 more hikers there as well who were hiking on.  This meant at least a total of 35 people heading north mid day out of the pass.  Plus however many people had left on the early bus from both places as well.  There could have been potentially 50+ hikers leaving Walker Pass headed north today.  What scares me is that we are supposed to be BEHIND the pack.  On the bus I even heard somebody say that there were 300 hikers camped out at Kennedy Meadows.  That number is mind boggling to me.  I think in 2008 we had about 600 total people attempt the trail.  I have heard estimates this year of 3000 to 5000.  Dear Lord Baby Jesus!!!!

 

 

 

 

Once off the bus I had to retrace the .8 miles I did yesterday and then headed on up the hill once again with 6 liters in tow.  It was the middle of the day and our cool streak is starting to come to an end.  In the next few days it will be over 100 degrees in the desert again.  The wind had calmed down but there was just enough to make the long climb somewhat bearable.  Aside from 15 to 30 second breaks I hiked all the way up the hill without any major pack off breaks.  Once we hit the highest point for the day I stopped and ate and realized I had covered 8.7 miles already.  My goal today was 10 out of town.  

 

 

 

After that break it was 3 more miles to Joshua Tree Spring, which even though it was dry, still had a bunch of places to camp.  As I was setting up my tent I was treated to my first southern sierras sunset.  

 

6.8 miles to water tomorrow and hopefully about 16 to 18 total miles.  2 more days to fill in my gap and I get to Kennedy Meadows.

Patch

6/16/16 - Day 6 - Walker Pass Campground to Lake Isabella, CA - NERO

Day 6

Daily Miles: 0.8

Total Miles: 93.5

Town today!!!  I don't feel as removed from society as I will a few weeks from now, but the anticipation of getting into town was running high.  I was gonna sleep in a bit, but I was up by about 7:30 (the hiker alarm clock is kicking in already) and out by the road to start trying to hitch into town.  I made sure to hike the .8 miles of trail from the campground to the road even though though there was access to the road from the campground.  This way I can call today a Nero (near zero miles hiked) instead of a Zero (zero miles hiked).  There were 3 other hikers out by the road with me everybody thumbs out ready to go.  

For my friends who are non-long distance hikers, the idea of hitch-hiking is a scary concept.  I have now hitched probably about 50 times in my life and can say I have never had a bad experience.  There were 1-2 times I got out of the vehicle at the end and I felt a little uneasy, but the best idea is to listen to your gut when somebody pulls over to give you a ride.  If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.  The other rule is to make sure you have anything of value on you and not in your pack,  and to make sure you get in with your pack, don't put your pack in first.  For me, hitch-hiking can be a really rewarding experience because you get to meet so many different kinds of people with so many stories to tell.  Also, you need to be ready to talk and listen.  These people picking you up all have a story, and they all want to hear about your story and what you are doing.  The good thing about hitching around these long distance hiking trails is that everybody who lives in the neighboring towns know the season that hikers come through and are generally interested in what you are doing and want to help you as much as they can.  I have never waited more than about a half hour for a hitch into any town as a result.

We knew with 4 of us we might not all go together, so the rule of thumb is whoever was there first took the first ride in.  I was third, so I figured I might have to wait a bit.  About 20 cars in though an SUV pulled over and said he could fit all 4 of us in!!! The driver's name was Victor, and he was a firefighter who had previously been a forest firefighter.  He made the commute from Ridgecrest to Bakersfield a couple times a week.  He crammed us all in (moving child car seats into the trunk) and we got to listen to some amazing stories from him about the Hot Shot firefighting crew he had been on and how he travelled all around the country fighting forest fires.  The 33 miles into Lake Isabella is one of the longest hitches I have ever had but it went by so fast talking with Victor.  

 

We got into town about 9:30 and he dropped us off at the Vons Supermarket.  There was no way to get a hotel till later, so I figured I would get my resupply done first, and grab some lunch then head over to the Lake Isabella Motel.  Groceries were easy as I expect only 3 days of hiking to Kennedy Meadows, and lunch was at the Pizza Factory - $9 All you can eat pizza, salad, soup, and drink!!!  Bam!!!

With all that taken care of I headed to the Lake Isabella Motel and got a room for $75, and for an extra $6 paid for them to do all my laundry for me (very worth it).  Farther up the trail I expect to share some rooms with other hikers, but I hadn't really made those connections yet, so decided to get a room all to myself.  One of the cool things about this motel was that I was in room #14, and a lot of these small older motels don't have a room #13 as it is considered unlucky.

 

So by dinnertime I had gotten all the essentials down - shower, laundry, and resupply.  I also stopped by true value and got 2 extra tent stakes in case the wind was still kicking when I went back out and a new pair of cheap sunglasses.  I have a bad history of breaking sunglasses or losing them and the pair I started with lasted 2 days before breaking.  I think I went through 8 pairs on the Appalachian Trail.

For dinner I headed down to the most reccommended eatery in Lake Isabella: Nelda's Diner.  They had almost 100 different combinations of shakes and a 2/3 lb. burger.  They were both Amazing!!!  I can't remember the name of it, but the shake I got was a combination of strawberry cheesecake, cookies and cream, and black cherry.  As a bartender I hate making shakes, but thats what this place was famous for so I had to try one.

 

 

As I was finishing a group of about 7 hikers showed up and I went over and sat with them and had a great conversation about hiking.  There were two gentlemen getting on the trail the next day - one from Switzerland, one Canadian young lady, and four other americans - three of which were related and were hiking together.  Midway through their meal, the owner came over and checked on us to make sure everything was great, and he sat down and chatted with us for about 15 minutes.  It's great to see owners of these small businesses taking time to talk to his clientel, especially those of us that are coming through for only a small stay and most likely will never be back in the area.  I can't reccommend Nelda's enough if you are ever in this area.  

By this time it was getting dark (hiker midnight), so we headed back to the Motel.  Ideally I would like to get out to the trail as early as possible tomorrow.  There are buses that will run back up to Walker Pass, and they only run on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  The first one is at 5:15AM which would mean being up by 4:30.  The next one is at 12:45, so that might be the more likely option and still get about 10 miles in tomorrow.  Great town visit though, Lake Isabella rocks!!!!

Patch

6/15/16 - Day 5 - North of Dove Spring Canyon Rd. To Walker Pass Campground

Day 5

Daily Miles: 27.0

Total Miles: 92.7

Well, this day just kind of got away from me a little bit.  After pulling 20+ miles yesterday I had absolutely no intention of coming anywhere near that today.  Best laid plans though.  The wind did not let up at all last night, and I probably had some of the worst sleep so far on the trail.  When I rolled over and saw that it was light out I felt glad that I had actually at some point been able to get some sleep but I was afraid to roll over and look down at my feet for the inevitable.  As I feared my tarp tent had collapsed on my feet.  I knew there was no way it was going to stand up to the wind and I began to slowly claw myself and my stuff out of the tent.

 

It was 27 miles to Walker Pass, where I would eventually work my way into Lake Isabella for my first small resupply.  I figured that if I could make it about 15 or 16 miles today then I could have a relatively easy 11 or 12 miles to get to the pass and hitch in tomorrow.  

I was still able to get my stuff together and moving by about 7:15.  It was about 6 miles to the second resported cache at Bird Spring Pass and I was down to about 3 liters.  I was trying not to drink really anything until I got there because I didn't want to take a chance that it was empty.  It was a slow slog through more wind ravaged sandy hills.  

 

At some point, a female hiker came up behind me and we talked for a minute.  She apparently had gotten to the prior cache after me yesterday and had been there when Devilfish, the trail angel that helps stock the caches had showed up and said the second cache was full.  I immediately proceeded to chug a liter and a half of water.  

Coming down to Bird Spring Pass, her story was validated and there was 100+ gallons of water there again waiting for us.  In addition was a cooler with a whole bunch of hiker food staples in it - snack bars, pop tarts, tortillas with peanut butter and nutella, and gummy bears.  Absolutely amazing.  I took a couple tortillas and filled up water but I knew I had enough food to make it to Walker Pass so I left the rest for other hikers who might be in greater need.

Having hiked 6 miles already and it was only 11AM I knew that I had about 9 miles left to some reported campsites and I had all day to get there.  Just one big up (about 1500+ feet) out of Bird Spring Pass and the rest of the way to Walker Pass would be very small ups and downs and then one big down.  I intended to sit there at the cache for about 3-4 hours to rest and take my time, but the wind just would not let up.  Almost 24 hours now of non-relenting wind.  After about an hour of laying there I just started to get antsy and figured that if I could get up the big hill I had all afternoon to try to find a spot out of the wind to camp and that way I wouldn't be rushing and running out of light like the previous night.  

So I started up the hill and I actually kept a great pace with minimal rest breaks once I got to the top.  

 

I just somehow got in a zone and would hike for about 2 hours straight and stop for about 15-20 min, then repeat the cycle again.  Somewhere around 3PM I realized I was at my goal of about 15 miles.  It was still damn windy though.  The trick with these desert ridge walking is that the trail doesn't really walk over flat terrain where you can just throw your tent down anywhere.  The trail more or less cuts along the sides of the hills sloping up and down from the trail at all times.    

The campsites I was looking for came and went as once again they were fully exposed.  There were more about 5 more miles away and the trail was very easy to there so I continued on.  

 

 

About 4:45 I came to those campsites precariously close to having done 20 miles again.  These were much better but the wind was still there.  I knew the last 7 miles were basically downhill all the way to Walker Pass, and that without a doubt the wind would be easier to handle down there.  I still felt good, the blisters had kind of gone numb on my feet so I knew I could make it down.  I decided if it was a bad decision then I could take some extra time in Lake Isabella, but the prospect of spending another night camped in 30-40 mph winds scared me more.  So I pulled out my last dinner - 2 ramen packets - and ate them like candy bars without cooking them for extra energy, and on I went.  

Long and winding was the way down Walker Pass, but I pulled into Walker Campground at about 7:15.  27 miles in exactly 12 hours with a few breaks.  Pretty solid pace.  I was tired but I was where I needed to be to hitch into town tomorrow.  There was still some wind but not as much as on the ridge and even though I didn't want to do that many miles I knew I had made the right decision.  No dinner to cook, I was set up and in my tent with a half hour.  Sleep came easy with dreams of Mountain Dew and a cushy bed to sleep in tomorrow night

Patch

6/14/16 - Day 4 - Robin Bird Spring to north of Dove Spring Canyon Rd.

Day 4

Daily Miles: 22.2

Total Miles 65.7

This day started off quite amazing and then became quite frustrating by the end.  I was proud of myself because once again I was awake early and out of camp by 7 AM.  Today should have been a little easier as I didn't have to carry as much water the first 6+ miles to Lander's Camp and firetank where I could fill up.  In fact I only left this morning with 2 liters and I could have made it with one.  After a small climb the trail spent those first 6 miles wandering through a pretty well shaded forest of pines and hemlocks.  A lot different that the constant exposure I have been dealing with the last couple days.  

Landers Camp had by far the strongest running water I have seen thus far.  When I got there about 6 hikers were laying around relaxing, by the time I left there were close to 20.  This was technically the last "guaranteed" water source for 42 miles.  There are 2 water caches between here and Walker Pass that locals have been stocking for us, but they can only guess at how many hikers are coming through and how fast it will be depleted.  Some of these caches have been known to go through 50-70 gallons a day.  That's a lot of water to keep carting up to a dirt road in the middle of nowhere to make sure that complete strangers don't dehydrate.  

The Pacific Crest Trail Association is in the process of trying to eliminate these caches entirely from the trail.  The focus for them is on trail preservation and the environment.  The problem comes when somebody has good intentions by leaving water, or a cooler of food or drinks at a road crossing, but never goes back to pick up the remnants.  Unfortunately this has been happening more and more in recent years.  The problem is sections like this.  I can tell you that if both or possibly even if only one of these caches in this section had been empty, I would have been in serious trouble.  They say not to rely on the caches but I carted out six liters from the first one and was down to two before I hit the second one with almost 21 more miles to do before another water source if that had been empty.  Certain desert sections down by the border, here, and in northern California by the Hat Creek Rim should all have a specific management system in place to allow for these caches - thats just my opinion.

So, after filling up at Landers, I decided to head on despite the heat.  I had a long 5 miles down to the first water cache and if it had been uphill I might have waited through the heat of the day, but downhill I figured was fine.  Little did I know I would be heading right back into the real hardcore desert for the next 20+ miles.  

 

 

 

I made it to the cache fine (stocked with I would guess over 150 liters).  I found some shade under a Joshua Tree for about an hour.

 

 

 

 

I also got to talk to a father and son who drove up to the cache.  They had been at Landers Camp dirtbiking and had talked to the other hikers there (after I left) who told them about the cache.  They decided to come down and check it out.  The entire time I was there only 1 hiker showed up as I was leaving.  They all must have had the right idea, and waited out the heat of the day.

I had to go a little farther down before I started a long climb up again. I knew I was going to have to dry camp tonight (camp without a water source) so when I got to the lowest point and out of the wind I decided to cook dinner (around 4:15).  At about 4:45 I was ready to go and figured I would try to push to where the guides said there were a few tentsites another 6+ miles away.  This would put me at over 20 miles today, something I had no interest in doing this early in the hike.  

Once I started making elevation I realized the true beast of the desert - the wind.  Oh my god, the wind!!!  It was brutal from all angles and in all directions.  Combine that with what now had become literally sand beneath my feet.  It felt like for every 2 steps forward I would take 1 step back.  I soon realized that I needed to find a place to camp out of this wind, but I didn't know if it was even realistic to believe such a place existed right now.  

 

 

After passing multiple 1000K markers (for our Canadian and European friends) I finally came to a couple spots that were not in my guide that seemed to get less wind.  That made me think though that if this area is prone to wind, that the spots in the guide would probably be more established and out of the wind than ones not in the guides.  So I rolled the dice and headed on to the other spot in the guide.  Some times when you roll the dice, you lose.  I finally got to the spot and though it was somewhat out of the wind it was still going to be a factor.  Especially for me with a lightweight tarp tent and virtual sand to put my tent stakes in.  I got the tent up and somewhat secure, but I give it until 2AM before it is blown over with me in it.

On one last note - I spoke too soon yesterday.  All the miles today have given me about 2 and 1/2 blisters.  I am cleaning them as best I can, but hoping they can hold out 2 more days until I get to town for the first time, get them cleaned up and can reassess them.

Patch

6/13/16 - Day 3 - Golden Oaks Spring to Robin Bird Spring

Day 3

Daily Miles: 18.8

Total Miles: 43.5

This was my second day of hiking with the full pack and was a much harder and longer day.  Not just because of the mileage, but because of the culture shock I am putting my body through.  The good news: No blisters so far!!!!  The hot spot I felt last night turned out to be nothing this morning. The bad news is my shoulders and my hips both hurt like hell.  This is my third time attempting a long distance hike and the second day (with full pack) is always the worst.  It takes about a week or two for those muscles you dont use just walking or running to get themselves accustomed to the beating us hikers put them through.

I was actually quite shocked that I was able to get moving around 5:20 this morning.  I had the tent and everything packed and ready to go by 6:00AM.  I ust had to filter some more water from the spring.  Here is what a typical water source out here in the desert looks like.  Usually it is a piped spring that drops into a holding area of some kind.  If the flow stops and the source dries out you are pretty much screwed if you depended on it.  Some people would probably filter right out of the trough, but in this instance I would rather be dehydrated.

 

 

 

Yes those are hundreds of tadpoles in the trough.  Glad I wasn't desperate and the pipe was still flowing.

So, even though I was sore and fully loaded with 6 liters of water again, I was actually able to cruise through the first 5 miles.  The trail wound again around a bunch of wind turbines and through a burn area from a forest fire a few years ago.  It sucks to hike through a burn area because there is no shade, but it is pretty cool to see all sorts of small plants and grasses trying to fill the void of the understory.

 

After the burn area began the first of three major ascents today.  Whereas a lot of the altitude gained and lost on this trail is more gradual, these 3 climbs today could have been transplanted from the Appalachian Trail where the trail is known to bomb right up and down the hills.  I feel like it was hotter today too but have no way of telling.  Needless to say I took a LOT of breaks.  I also was able to time my water perfectly as well having only a 1/4 liter left of the original 6 when I walked into the spring tonight.

The other notable highlight today was passing the 600 mile mark on the trail.  

 

For me it wasn't a big deal but for all the people I am around who have walked from the mexican border it is.

I'm starting to get to know some of the people out here that are in the same area as me thruhiking.  It's hard being the new guy trying to join a group of people who have known each other for 6-8 weeks already on trail.  Some people have been very friendly though, and hopefully by the time I hit my first planned resupply later in the week, I might find somebody willing to split a hotel room with me.  

 

Arriving at Robin Bird Spring was by far the best feeling I have had the last few days.  I hit a wall about 2-3 miles before the end of the day and had to force myself to just keep going and get there.  I knew there weren't going to be too many good tentsites to camp at there, and I was nervous when I must have been passed by 15-20 people today.  I was scared I might have to filter water and hike on out trying to find a tentsite further up the trail.  I didn't feel like tacking on more miles when my body already felt wiped.  

Luckily, most of the people who had passed me had either already moved on or planned to move on so I was able to get a great spot.  

Tomorrow, I should actually have multiple water sources, so at least for part of the day I won't have to lug out 6 liters.  That's about it for tonight....

Patch

6/12/16 - Day 2 - Highway 58 to Golden Oaks Spring

Day 2

Daily Miles: 16.9

Total Miles: 24.7

The day I have been waiting so long for finally arrived.  I wish I had gotten to bed earlier last night, but I was able to sleep soundly despite the loud people in the next room and the trains that ran by our hotel blaring their horns at all hours.  As soon as my alarm went off there was no snooze button (for the first time since I can remember).  I had packed my pack for the most part last night and taken a shower so there wasn't much to do.  We were out of the door of the hotel at 5:30 sharp.  One quick stop at the gas station for coffee and gas for Scott and we were on our way.

Planning to leave early was a good decision.  We made it back to the Highway 58 crossing at about 5:45.  It was nice and chilly out, which I knew would not last too long.  My goal was to just get up the initial 2000 ft. climb before the sun and heat came out in full force.  Another quick picture and lots of thank you's and I was on my way.

 

I can not thank Scott and Sara enough for not only opening their house to me the last 3 days, but also carting me around town to buy supplies and see family and friends.  Not to mention driving me almost 100 miles away to start the trail as well.  

And with that, I was off.  The first 2 miles were pretty much flat, and even though it was relatively easy, the amount of weight I was carrying pretty much negated that.  The weight would get better throughout the day as I drank water and ate some of the food, but it was a culture shock at first. This first section of trail wasn't really trail at this point.  It was all reconsrtructed dirt that bulldozers had put into place in the last year after a mudslide took out the trail and covered part of Highway 58 as well.  It was actually pretty amazing because you really couldnt tell what had happened even though I had seen pictures all over tv the summer before.  After following next to the road for a couple miles the trail finally turned up the side of the mountain right next to a collection of beehives that had been placed there to collect honey.

 

The trail up the mountain in retrospect was not that bad it just went on forever.  At least the PCT believes in switchbacks.  On the Appalachian Trail it seems as though every trail bombs right up and down every hill.  At about 9:30 I reached the crest of the hill and though I had other climbs today the big one was over.  

 

The trail actually climbed out of the desert and into tree cover, so I was able to find some shady rest spots especially for lunch.

I sat down for lunch at 10:45 AM and I had already gone 10.2 miles.  

 

I had always said the goal on the PCT was 10 by 10AM, though I had never accomplished it before.  The trick is to get as many miles early while its cool, then find a good shady rest stop and just chill for 2-4 hours during the heat of the day, then hike until dark stopping somewhere for dinner.  

I didn't want to take a long break because today for me getting to camp early was a goal so I could start to get my routine down.  This did mean hiking up another 800 ft. hill right when it was the hottest.  

In addition to the heat I had another unexpected issue to contend with today.  Cicadas. 

 

 I have no internet as I write this offline, but when I do I am getting reaquainted with the cicada life cycle.  I was hiking through an area today with what seemed like tens of thousands of cicadas and they were all chirping away completely deafening me all day long.  In addition, every now and then they would move between shrubs and trees and fly into me and my pack.  First day on my own again and I was trying to keep an eye on the ground for snakes and I was getting smacked in the head instead.  Referring to their lifecycle I'm not sure the details, but every tree and shrub were covered with dead cicada shells (carcassas).  It was a little unnerving.  

 

 

After another few breaks in the heat of the day, I finally made it to Golden Oaks Spring.  It was a trickle but it was a welcome sight.  The next water source is 18.8 miles away, and I will need to get to that tomorrow.  I debated going 4 or 5 more miles to shorten the hike tomorrow, but after considering it for a little bit I decided I didn't need to do a 20+ mile day the first day back.  I will just take my time tomorrow and get there when I do.  

 

There are probably about 12 people camped with me at the spring tonight, and though I have talked to a few, it's gonna take a little while as a LASH (Long Ass Section Hiker) to start fitting into this tight knit group on thruhikers.  I just need to hike my own hike and take care of my body.

Speaking of which, the last few miles I was starting to feel a hotspot on my right big toe.  This means blister #1 is on its way.  After being forced off trail last time with an infected blister, I was quick to wash my feet and put fresh socks on as soon as I got to camp.  Gonna see how it feels tomorrow morning and decide if it needs a blister bandage (i brought plenty).

Patch