Learning Lessons, Living, and Loving The PCT: Week 1

Day 1 Southern Terminus to Hauser Creek

I am so glad to be out here. I didn’t realize how much I missed the community and the people. My life back home has been incredibly isolating. I have struggled with trying to find a place to fit and build friendships. Outside of work, my life has been pretty dull. But, it is so amazing to be back out here in a community of strangers that feels so familiar. It feels good to have joy take root in a place that has felt so empty inside me.

Now let’s get past the heart felt sappy shit and talk about the (mostly) gritty parts of the trail.

First off, I packed way to much fucking food. I knew my pack was going to be on the heavier end, so I made the lucrative decision to bring a tablet as a luxury item on trail for writing purposes. If you didn’t think Lucky wasn’t going to be an overachiever… you were very wrong. I girl bossed far too close to the sun and decided that I should try to grant write, write for the trek, and manage a substack all while thru hiking. So I am spending my nights in Camp writing and trying to catch up with clients and my most wonderful and amazing boss.

While the PCT is notorious for long water carries, I quite chuffed at how well I managed my water carries. I managed to run out of my water as I was walking up to a water source. I’m going to give myself an A+ for effort on water management and not dying of thirst in the desert.

However, I am giving myself a C- for heat tolerance and forgetting to eat. I keep struggling with the thru hiking tightrope act of hiking big miles, eating enough, and drinking enough water! I made the mistake of hiking through the heat. I was so excited to get back on trail and bag miles, that I walked through the hottest part of the day.

I feel that that is going to be a learning curve for me. I am far too competitive and ambitious. I really need to let myself rest during the hot afternoons and give myself the grace my body needs. While I am a strong and capable hiker, it just isn’t good for me. I would rather walk early in the morning and in the afternoon. 

Tomorrow, I have a zoom call and some phone calls to make for work. While I plan to sit out the heat of the day in Lake Morena and be there ready and prepared. I am still a little worried about small things going wrong with balancing work while thru hiking. I am hoping I am capable or smooth enough to pull off this endeavor. I think I am and my boss thinks so! So that’s promising?? Right?

While thru hiking isn’t as straightforward as you would expect… So too is grant writing. Both require a sort of balancing act to pull off. I am terrified I am going to fuck it up. However, I am finding that there is so much opportunity to help so many amazing trail related nonprofits and businesses. I am excited to see what opportunities present themselves to me.

Day 2 Hauser Creek – Kitchen Creek Falls

The thing that is shocking me this time around is not the difficulty of transitioning to a nomadic lifestyle, but rather that I am the authority. I am no longer the sweet blundering beginner. I am the one who knows better. While it is a great way to kick your imposter syndrome, it is wild to see the mess that some get themselves into.

Maybe it is the naivety of being a beginner; just lacking the skill sets and knowledge. Some of the mistakes I have seen made are wild. Like, I had to explain to a new hiker that you cannot add your electrolytes to dirty water and then filter it, because that is a great way to really fuck up a filter. In another instance, you can carry dirty water in a bladder and filter it at your dry camp.

I understand that we all start from a place of ignorance, but some of the advice I have given is mind blowing to the novices that surround me. I know most of us received our exposure from youtube or social media and that somehow convinced us that we were capable and damn near unstoppable. 

Don’t get me wrong, I was a Grade A imbecile when I was on the AT and I learned so much throughout the duration of my thru hike. Perhaps it is a difference in background or personality. I was raised by two military officers who made certain I was prepared (perhaps overprepared) for every new endeavor I took on. I feel incredibly prepared for the challenges ahead of me on my walk to Canada.

The fear mongering on this trail has been bonkers. That is something that has blown my mind with the PCT. While thru hiking is riddled with fear mongering, the trail angels on the PCT have been particularly full of doom and gloom. Especially towards me as a solo female hiker.

Due to the previous day’s heat tolerance issues, I made the plan to hike at night hike. I have wanted to push bigger miles due to the incredibly cruisy trails, but I also want to minimize my heat and sun exposure during the middle of the day. So night hiking is the natural solution to accomplish said goals.

So when I proudly announced this plan to a trail angel, she did her best to spook me into staying at her campground. She told me to expect rattlesnakes! And Mountain Lions! And Bobcats!

Unfortunately, I am a cat person and encountering a big kitty sounds like a good time to me. So I pushed on and had reasoned to push into the night. I began to cruise out of her campground and north bound into the hot afternoon.

I am so glad my plans ultimately failed.

I happened to find a bunch of my friends and fellow thru hikers at a small campsite off trail and they managed to vote me into one of the best nights that I have ever had thru hiking. I never thought I would ever encounter such a picturesque campsite and perfect end to a day. Instead of pushing into the night and making friends with an extra large cat, I got to go skinny dipping in a waterfall and watch one of the most beautiful sunsets.

While the Appalachian Trail taught me to move through my grief and live again, the Pacific Crest Trail is teaching me to find the joy in the small simple things of life. Getting out to spend the evening at a gorgeous waterfall and enjoy a beautiful sunset with my friends has been one of the most joyful and fulfilling experiences I have had in a long time. I am excited to learn the lessons this trail has to teach me.

Day 3 – kitchen creek to windy hell hole 

Day 4 – Windy Hell 1 – Slightly Less Windy Hell Hole 2

Well, it appears I have formed a crew for the time being!

We call ourselves the Commonwealth. We are composed of a Brit, a Canadian, and myself. We are currently hunting down a permanent Kiwi and an Aussie to round us out, but in the meantime it is the three of us.

So far, I have given our resident Canadian a name. He has been dubbed Toque, the Canadian name for a beanie because he spent 20 minutes correcting us on the proper terminology for winter head apparel (Apparently beanies have pompoms and toques don’t?). So Toque it is!!!

We are still working on naming our resident Brit, but nothing has stuck. However, we have all had a fun time hiking together and running a mock. We have pulled our two biggest days since starting, a 17.8 mile day from Mt. Laguna to Windy hell hole 1 and then a 20.8 mile from Windy Hell Hole 1 to Slightly Less Windy Hell Hole 2.

No one told me the desert is this windy. I come from a state where the wind drove pioneers insane! But my prairie winds from home have nothing on the desert winds. My face is constantly dry and chapped from the wind and sun. There is no amount of Sunscreen, lotion, or salve that is cutting the wind burn.

Despite the longer mileage days. We are all in chipper spirits and we are having a blast. Despite the PCT’s notorious long water carries, we have been getting a hang of everything. I have been able to dial in my water needs for long sections of trail and dry camping.

I guess the trail is not done teaching me lessons. During the night of Day Three, we camped in God forsaken Windy Hell Hole 1 and while my tent made it through the night, she took some damage. The crazy wind managed to cut two guy lines in the middle of the night. This could have all been prevented if I had just walked 3 minutes down trail. However, I was stubborn and determined to make that campsite work. i was tired and had already spent 20 minutes wrestling my tent up and it felt to tedious to tear it all down.

Thank god the tent didn’t collapse on Toque and I, but now I have a busted tent that I need to repair and cant get to stand properly in the wind. If I wasn’t so stubborn, I could have avoided the minor damage that is causing me to cowboy camp. 

I don’t want to be a “Know-it-all”. I don’t pretend to know everything, but I do know a lot of things and sometimes I am frustrated about the things I don’t know or forget. I am glad I was humbled by The Trail last night and I am glad it wasn’t a life or death situation, but a “this lesson is going to suck to learn” situation. I am a day out from town and I can fix the small damages to my tent.

I am glad I am not doing this alone and I have the company of Toque and George. It has been absolutely stellar have companionship and a crew to laugh and enjoy the trail with. 

Town Day!! 14.3 miles

Maybe it’s the trail! Maybe it’s because I am a fucking beast. I managed to hike 14 ish miles in 4 ish hours (apparently a year of personal training and running coaching does work). I didn’t realize how motivating the siren song of town could be. 

It was really fun and an excellent day. I was the last hiker for the day to receive trail magic from Legend and Bee. It was great hearing them talk about their PCT thru hikes and their mission to support hikers.

I chatted with them about grant services and the mission of my company to help small business and nonprofit organizations fulfill their missions and serve their communities. We had an excellent chat about thru hiking and how it changes your way of life by helping you to truly enjoy the simple things.

Everytime I chat with a prospective client, I am so excited and intrigued to hear their story. What drove them to serve their community? How do they balance their passion for service with the demands of life? I love hearing the stories and the drives of these amazing people and their goal to serve. Even if they chose to not go with my company’s services, I still love to listen to their mission.

Julian is a cute little town. Nothing incredibly special, besides its history of gold mining and apple growing. Besides the free pie for PCT hikers and excellent outfitter (Two Foot Adventures), it’s a cute touristy mountain town and I got free pie (always a massive win!)

We unfortunately got into town during the weekend and this makes it hard for hikers to find accommodations. The Commonwealth and I managed to get one of the last rooms at the Julian Inn. I was in desperate need of a shower and many locals advised me to get a room due to poor incoming weather. So, Lucky did what Lucky does best and preemptively called around, turned on the charm to get one of the last rooms in town.

Originally, I really didn’t want to spend the money for a hotel and wanted to try and be a cheap dirtbag for a town stay. I am glad I caved. Three people, in a dry warm room, with a bed and shower! It was an excellent choice on my part. I really needed to take care of my body and sometimes that means spending a little money for the luxury.

Besides, I am supporting the local economy and voting with my dollar? Right? I feel better during town days when I can support small and local businesses over large corporations. I know that my dollars are more likely to stay in the local ecosystem and support the communities that I am walking through. That is something I am trying to emphasize on this hike, shopping small and supporting local where and when I can.

While I do keep an amazon prime membership for shipping last minute emergency equipment, I do my best not to rely on it solely. I try to be as ethical as possible as someone who works in fundraising for small businesses and nonprofits. If I spend my day campaigning to support underserved communities and help small businesses establish themselves in said communities, then I might as well do my best to take my hard earned dollars and support them. It makes no sense if I am not putting my money where I put my efforts.

Music for the week

Last time I wrote while trail, I kept an “Earworm Of The Day” list. As someone with ADHD, it can be hard for me to keep focused and sometimes that means listening to the one song that scratches that itch in my brain as many time as possible. So here is a link to the songs that powered me through my first week of hiking.