DAY 1: April 8, 2025

*these posts are coming straight from trail, I apologize in advance for typos!*

Location: The Desert
Start: CLEF/Mexico – 0.0
End: Campsite – 11.4
Miles: 11.4
Ascent: 1581 | Descent: 1100
Sleep: Tent

First official day in the PCT! I woke up in a good mood thanks to a good nights sleep. It got down into the 30s last night but I was comfortable and didn’t have to sleep in my liner. CLEEF was a busy place this morning- Papa Bear made pancakes and hikers milled about socializing and preparing for the big day. I spent breakfast chatting with our tramily as well as Josh from Indiana, Shake and Bake, and several international hikers who I didn’t catch their names. Breakfast was delicious and I was so thankful for hope coffee and a picnic table, it was truly a luxurious was to start the trail!

After breakfast the Crest Runner, Abby, showed up to give a brief LNT talk before handing out hang tags. It’s official now! I weighed my pack and with 4 days of food and 4L of water she weighs 33lbs. We took our time packing up and chit chatting before finally beginning the short hike south to the terminus.

I’ve seen so many pictures of the southern terminus that actually being there in person felt surreal. We took a while posing for photos and walking along the boarder wall before beginning our long walk to Canada.

We departed from the terminus around 10:30 and we all hiked in our little conga line the whole day. I was worried that starting in such a large group would make us seem unapproachable, but we’ve chatted with a lot of different hikers and everyone has been nice so far. It’s amazing how few people we saw today. Thinking back to the first days on the AT there were people everywhere, but I guess that just shows that this trial is less crowded.

I broke out my Sunbrella pretty early on and I think k finally figured out how to attach it to my pack without it driving me crazy. I used it almost the entire day and it helped keep me cool and comfortable. Truffle’s thermometer said the high was 86 today and I’d believe it, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was hot!

On FarOut the elevation profile for the day looked basically flat, and it was pretty easy hiking all day. There was enough uphill to keep in interesting, but I never felt like I was sucking wind or working that hard. We also went at a comfortable pace because we knew we had all day to get to camp.

We stopped for lunch at a beautiful shady creek around mile 4 and hung out with several other hikers. We stayed there for close to an hour and I enjoyed the second half of my sandwich from The Green Store in Campo. We started hiking again around 1:30 and kept on cruising.

The second half of the day was definitely more uphill, but there were SO MANY switch backs! I had heard about all the switch backs (especially compared to the AT) but this is already crazy. The AT would just go up and over a ridge, but the PCT wants to hug the side of it for miles. I’m not complaining, I certainly don’t miss the PUDS.

We all seemed to be in good spirits and stopped for an hour long siesta not long after lunch. We hung out in the shade close to the trail and cheered for other hikers as they came along. Luke, a younger guy from London, stopped and sat with us for a while.

Feeling rejuvenated after a long break, we pressed on to the top of the ridge. We had seen on FarOut that there was an ATV road that connected to the trail, and several comments saying there was a pond about a half mile off trail. We decided to venture down to the pond. Off trail and blue blazing on day one!

The area surrounding the pond was super green and lush. We filtered water and decided to carry extra since we would be dry camping. I carried 5L and my pack felt very heavy but manageable. It was a short 2ish miles from the pond to the campsite once we got back on trail.

We made it to camp around 6:30. The campsite is large and flat, what a blessing! 2 other hikers, Micky and Luke, were already set up but seemed happy for extra company. We all sat around making dinner and learning more about one another. This was their first thru hike and they had a lot of questions about our time on the AT.

We all hung out until it started getting dark, then we made our way to our tents. This felt like the perfect first day! It was eventful, fun, and I’m tired but not killed. Very thankful we chose to keep our mileage low, k think our bodies will be grateful tomorrow. Can’t wait to see what the next day brings!

 

DAY 2: April 9, 2025

Location: The Desert
Start: Campsite – 11.4
End: Tent Site – 22.3
Miles: 10.9
Ascent: 1883 | Descent: 1897
Sleep: Tent

This was another wonderful day! I still feel like this isn’t actually happening; it hasn’t settled in that this is my life again for the next 5+ months. It just feels so fun and exciting and more like a short backpacking trip. Maybe after a month or so it will settle in that this is my new normal and the routine will start getting old. I guess I felt the same way on the AT, it didn’t start to feel like a chore until somewhere in VA. There is so much variety of terrain on the PCT, hopefully just as it’s starting to feel monotonous the scenery will change and I’ll be energized the continue pressing on.

We woke up in the dark this morning to try and get an early start before the sun was out in full force. It was comfortable over night, probably in the 40s. I ate breakfast in the tent while Cade slept a little longer and then got to dig my first cat hole. We packed up the tent and rejoined the rest of our group while they were breaking down their tents. Our goal was to get on trail around 7 and we started hiking around 7:30am.

It was another super easy start to the day and our conga line stayed strong all day. The trail wound its way around the ridge before intersecting a dirt road. We walked on that for a bit before the trail veered down into Hauser Creek Canyon. It was a short but steep decent ending at a shady and flowing creek.

We hung out there for a big with Luke, Dow, and David before hiking out of the canyon. This was the first “big climb” and I was impressed by how strong I felt. We cruised up to the top and decided to push to Lake Morena for a siesta.

We made it to the campground with the PCT area around noon and decided we would hide there through the heat of the day. We all laid around playing on our phones and watching a humongous rattle snack slither around. It also must have come to Lake Morena for a siesta because once it got settled it didn’t move for hours. Mikenlee and I took advantage of the 4 minute shower for 50 cents. I didn’t have any soap but it felt so good to get the grit and sunscreen off me.

We chatted with other hikers and they came and went. We met Dow from Chicago and 2 ladies from Canada. Jen came along later in the day and we all talked on and off for a while. A local trail angel named Scot stopped by to visit and brought us some tangerines. We hung out under the pavilion until around 4:30 and finally found the motivation to finish out the day.

We filled up on water for another dry campsite 2ish miles up the trail from the lake. The only downside to a siesta is that it’s hard to get hiking again afterwards. Even with it being later in the day it was still scorching and I was grateful for my sunbrella’s shade.

We made it to camp around 5:30 and discovered plenty of tent sites and an awesome view! We set up and started cooking as other biker began filtering in. We met Quinn and Barbra, plus were joined again my Micky, Dave, and Luke (who we now are calling Bill Guy). We had a lively dinner filled with conversation and soaking in the sunset. It feels so good to be part of the trail community again! Looking forward to another great day tomorrow.

 

DAY 3: April 10, 2025

Location: The Desert
Start: Tent Site – 22.3
End: Tent Site – 34.3
Miles: 12.0
Ascent: 2387 | Descent: 914
Sleep: Tent

Another great day on the trail! The sun was out in full force today. So much of what we do now is based on the sun. Truffles and I talked about how the hiking isn’t as hard as on the AT, but trying to figure out how to survive in the heat is what’s challenging. The sun just zaps the strength from you, plus you’re carrying tons of water. I carried 3-5L all day just because I’m worried about going without. I don’t like dry camping but so far that’s all we’ve done because there hasn’t been an alternative to line up with the mileage we’re wanting to do.

We go on trail around 6:45am this morning. Our goal has been 7 and we’re getting closer each morning. I didn’t sleep great last night but it felt so good out when we started that I felt energized. Covering more miles early in the morning is definitely the way to go. I didn’t even need my Sunbrella until after 10ish!

There had been a lot of other people at our campsite but they were all out ahead of us this morning. Once our conga line got going we were cruising until we hit the water source. We filtered water and hung out in the shade before pressing on to Bolder Oaks campground to use their spigot and pit toilets.

From there the trail started to climb and kept climbing gradually throughout the day. It got hot quickly and we began walking from shady spot to shady spot and taking small breaks out of the sun. We kept climbing away from the interstate and up into the mountains. There were lots of pretty views along the way and cool rock formations.

The highlight of the day was easily Kitchen Creek! The creek was down a short but steep bank and the scenery felt almost like a canyon. The water was surprisingly cold but felt so good in the heat! There was a pool deep enough to fully submerge in and we all took turns going in. We washed the dirt and sunscreen out of our clothes and proceeded the dry off in the sun.

We should have left from there, but decided to make that our siesta spot. Being close to water was a plus, but the rocks just seemed to get hotter and hotter as the hours went by. There was absolutely no shade to be found. Sitting there for hours made me firm believe in the Sunbrella because I was the only one with any shade. Truffles and Hangman concocted a covering with their Tyvek, trekking poles, and some rocks. Our entertainment for the afternoon was watching them fight with the wind when their Tyvek would take flight. I laid under my sit pad and used my Sunbrella to keep the sun out of my face. I discovered I could use my water bladder as a pillow, and proceeded to take a little nap in my shady cocoon.

We finally decided we had to leave Kitchen Creek or we would burn alive. We set off around 2:30pm and made our way to Fred Canyon tent sites. This was a flat and shady spot and would have been perfect for a siesta had we know. The only problem was that there was no water. We still hung out in the shade for a while before making the final push towards our intended campsite.

We finally arrived to find less than ideal spots, but good company. Barbra, Luke (Bill Guy), and Mickie had already set up and were eating dinner. We joined the group and began making plans to venture into Mount Laguna together tomorrow. As the sun went down it grew chilly, so we all turned in for the night. As Truffles and I were brushing our teeth, he spotted an owl flying around! We think it was a small species of grown nesting owl, it was tiny but so fun to watch fly around. We are both tired and sunburned. Looking forward to our biggest mileage day yet tomorrow and some town food!