Day 2-3, miles 11.4-36.1

















Day 2-3, miles 11.4-36.1

Day 2 (april 8) was when the nerves of starting the trail started to recede, letting me focus on the experience of hiking the trail. The day started with hiking down into Hauser canyon, then immediately hiking back out of it. It is the first decent climb of the trail, and it actually felt pretty good! It was nice not having to carry a ton of water from Hauser creek, because there was a stream at the top of the climb. 

By noon I arrived in Lake Morena, the first town on the trail. I ate Lunch at the Oak shores malt shop with Chris, Alashua, and Elizabeth from the camp the night before. The three hours I spent at Lake Morena was really chill and relaxing, and a group us were resting in the shade at the campground there. 

I set up camp at mile 23.0, eventually joined by 5 other thru hikers: Chris and Elizabeth from the night before; Jinx and two-tone, 2 experienced Appalachian Trail thru hikers; and two-tone’s friend Jamie from new york.

On day three (april 9) I felt like the miles were starting to come easier. I fell into the rhythm of jumping from water source to water source (which hasn’t been a stretch of more than 3 miles so far), while not carrying more water than I need. There are parts coming up that require carrying more water, so I will savor this for now.

The first few miles of the day was a gentle decent toward Boulder Oaks campground. There I found the first trail magic so far! Trail magic is the act of people hanging out near trailheads to hand out free food and drinks to PCT hikers. A man whose trail name is Magnito was responsible for the refreshments, and he hiked the trail in 2018. Several pieces of fresh fruit gave me a much needed boost to begin the climb up to Mt Laguna. 

I came across many day hikers after Boulder Oakes. After a long hot climb I stopped at mile 36.1 where I was eventually joined by most of the previous night’s group: Chris, Jinx, Elizabeth, and Jamie.


I am trying to embrace the take it slow mindset, as it will ease my body into hiking longer distances, and because the longer this first section takes the less snow there will be at the San Jacinto mountains. 

Comments

  1. Grandma KayApril 10, 2023 at 4:14 PM

    Wow! What a great start! What a great writer you are Ian!
    Your scenerios make me almost feel like I’m hiking right along side you!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 10, 2023 at 5:08 PM

    Thx for update

    ReplyDelete
  3. K. LarsenApril 10, 2023 at 5:59 PM

    Sounds like an excellent few days. I hope you continue to savor the scenery and the company! Praying for continued traveling mercies.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousApril 10, 2023 at 7:09 PM

    Go Ian! We’re rooting for you in room 204!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousApril 10, 2023 at 7:48 PM

    Did you hurt your big toe?!? From mom 🤣

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousApril 15, 2023 at 6:59 PM

      I wondered the same thing. ~~ Pr. Tim

      Delete
  6. AnonymousApril 10, 2023 at 8:22 PM

    Oh Ian love the pics,hearing about your experience so far and the people you are meeting. Looking forward to more posts❣️

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lynda ElwoodApril 10, 2023 at 9:24 PM

    Thank you for your vivid comments.
    The weather looks really favorable. Glad you are meeting up with fellow travelers.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousApril 11, 2023 at 12:08 PM

    Thank you for sharing your adventure! Amazing!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousApril 12, 2023 at 5:13 PM

    Enjoy! Prayers go with your steps! Thanks for sharing your journey! 😎

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 20-24 (Aug 26-30) mile 2466.9-2554.5 (+11 hike to Holden Village)

Image
  On day 20 I got back on trail at Stevens Pass loaded with five days of food. I started late and got 12.8 miles in setting up camp at mile 2479.6.   On day 21 I went through some incredible alpine scenery, with the colors just starting to turn to the fall reds and oranges. I stopped for a while at the spectacular Pear Lake and had it all to myself. I passed a very significant milestone of 1000 miles hiked on the pct combined with the desert section. I began to see a big cloud of smoke billowing from one of the fires that is burning just a few miles off the trail. I ran into a forest service ranger who was telling hikers about the upcoming fire closure and to be cautious of the nearby airplane lake fire that is steadily growing. So far that fire hasn’t closed the pct but it might if it grows any further. I set up camp back in the smoke at mile 2502.9 for a 23.3 miles day. On day 22 I awoke to a strong campfire smell- the wind had blown even more thick smoke into my direction from the A
Read more

Day 15-18 (aug 21-24) mile 2395.8-2466.8

Image
  On day 15 I left Snoqualmie Pass, heading back out into smoky air. I felt the air was just fine to breathe and I didn’t notice any irritation all day. It was a 5 mile climb out of the pass gaining almost 3000 feet. Halfway through the climb a man named Karel Sabbe passed me running up the mountain, and I’ve been following his entire hike online. He is attempting the fastest known time on the pct and he left the Mexican border 42 days ago averaging almost 60 miles a day.     The record is 51 days so he’s well on pace. At the top of the climb the trail went across a narrow ledge called the Kendall Catwalk. People make it sound like it’s super scary but I didn’t think it was much worse than a lot of other places on trail. The next 10 miles were through the beautiful Alpine Lakes wilderness, but I didn’t take many pictures because it was hard to see the scenery through the smoke. I set up camp at mile 2414.8 for a 20.7 mile day By the morning of day 16, the smoke had fully cleared, revea
Read more