Cold, Hungry and Lost

Miles: 12.4 Start time: 6:55am End time: 3:15pm High / Avg / Low temp: 65.1F / 56.2F / 47.1F Relative Humidity Avg: 61.5% Injuries: none to report This morning was foggy, so very foggy, we could see well enough to walk, but nothing much past the edge of the cliffs we were walking on, so we could have been walking past the best view on the planet and wouldn't have known, it was very quiet though, the wind was soft (thanks weather liars for another stellar prediction), the animals sedate, and not another hiker was to be seen We were basically walking past and through clouds, the trees were being saturated in droplets, as were we, our faces had little water beads on them, and our clothes got a lil damp It was this way for most of the morning, come around 11am when we reached the water resupply the sun and wind had cleared away a lot of the fog, leaving darker looking clouds behind that threatened rain.  It remained cool and cloudy the rest of the day though, w...

Miles: 8.02 Start time: 6:38am End time: 12:35pm High / Avg / Low temp: 70.3F / 55.5F / 40.0F Relative Humidity Avg: 56.9% Injuries: none to report Today started early with a chorus of coyotes in competition for who could be the best alarm clock, was a tough competition and all put in a great effort but coyote #23 was the judge favorite We had a goal today to get early tomorrow morning arrival at the next water source, and we are within 8 miles of it, yay not dying in the desert of thirst.  We picked up this afternoons and tomorrow's water at about 10am after 5 miles from camp, we had to haul over a gallon each, fun times ontop of fat food bags, but so necessary,  we'll be out of water most likely by the source tomorrow, where we'll do the same thing and haul a day and a night of water with leftovers to take us to the next water source, definately a theme in this desert stretch.  Interestingly the US Army in ww2 attempted to train their troops to do wit...

Miles: 9.85 Start time: 9:28am End time: 2:35pm High / Avg / Low temp: 74.1F / 72.5F / 70.1F Relative Humidity Avg: 24.7% Injuries: none to report Today saw us leave camp awesome after an excellent breakfast that included bacon, toast, potato, and scrambled eggs, it was all delicious, and then Chery drove us up to the trail where we got a ride on Thursday. It was a little sad to leave but we have many miles to do, and I suspect we'll come back to visit with Chery again The first five miles of today flew by, and before we knew it we'd found ourselves at eagle rock. Named for its resemblance to an eagle with its wings spread. We were the only pct hikers there but certainly not alone, is a popular spot and troop of kids on an adventure hike were there partying around for a while, was good to see on a Saturday folk enjoying the mild weather and great outdoors, thankfully they departed before we did so we got some photos that weren't crawling with people ...

Today finds us resting at mountain valley retreat, a sweet little spot of the trail with a delightful host, Chery. Technically it's kind of a yoga retreat in function, with other services in line with that, massage, a water therapy called watsu, that kinda thing, her website has all the details of course, if your ever in the region it's a wonderful escape from life, she cooks excellent good food for you, the most amazing salads, even a smoothie with our breakfast today that has so much goodness in it We could have stayed here for ages, and we are also the only ones here so it was so cozy and private, there are a range of wildlife here, wild turkeys, birds, and three lovely cats that Chery rescued, miss mouse was even friendly enough to let us pat her belly before she headed off to chase something So this water thing, watsu, totally amazing, is an indoor (in a yurt!) inground pool, heated to body temp, so you can sit in their for the hour without being hot...

Miles: 6.51 Start time: 6:12am End time: 9:05am High / Avg / Low temp: 65.5F / 61.2F / 53.4F Relative Humidity Avg: 33.7% Injuries: none to report Last night was a wind fest, but we did get to wake up to an excellent view, the wind interrupted our sleep significantly though, note to self, cliff edge camping bad.. We were told though that this area (closer to mt Laguna) is popular for hangliders, given the updrafts from the desert floor hitting the mountain ridges So that we hit our first hundred miles, what an adventure so far, complete with daring tales of being menaced by birds at campgrounds, we are in good spirits and health and looking forward to the next hundred, possibly even the 2450 miles after that In perspective though, this is 1/26th of our goal, and many more steps are ahead of us. We decided to spend the night, and the next, at this excellent little retreat called, mountain valley retreat, the lady who runs it is awesome and we'd highl...

Miles: 14.28 Start time: 5:58am End time: 6:50pm High / Avg / Low temp: 89.5F / 77.8F / 58.3F Relative Humidity Avg: 18.5% Injuries: none to report Today was our first really early morning, on our feet by five, on the trail by six, and eleven miles deep by 10am, which put us at our daily mileage goal of the next water cache, so we are currently crushing it and should arrive at Warner springs earlier than planned as we left Julian, still later than our original timeline, but that was only a guideline anyways We've seen a few lizards, bugs, nothing much else today The water source is a maintained cache by awesome people, who bring gallons/pallets of water to a very dry stretch of trail, without caches like this, or hitching of the trail, there'd be zero dependable water between mile 59 to mile 101, so we can't be grateful enough to the fine trail angels keeping our dreams afloat We caught up with a few people we've seen before, one from Julian who had, ...

Miles: 4.3 Start time: 5:29pm End time: 8:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 78.7F / 64.8F / 71.2F Relative Humidity Avg: 30.8% Injuries: none to report Today we got back to our purpose, and left the pretty little town of Julian, and put boots on trail Julian itself was a much needed rest stop, and the hotel beds were deliciously comfortable, we ate, slept, hydrated, it was great and it was nice to hit the trail fresh and clean, even if it's only going to last 7 minutes Before we left town we ate BLTs and then we went to the library and stuck our thumb out for a ride back to the trail, and I timed it, 5:40 was all it took for some kind soul to pull over and help us hobos out, his name was otto and he had a jeep, and dreams to hike the trail himself so he is banking good karma helping who he can when he can, we wished him the best and he dropped us where ghost picked us up, no miles missed, a few hikers were actually dropped off by ghost and slack packed the half mile ba...

We are camped out in the hotel again, getting our thoughts together, gear and bodies too, mostly mine, these old bones... We've decided that is best to care for small injuries early and we are strengthening our muscles so they need healing time to reap those benefits. They have great Apple pie here, moms bakery gives free pie to hikers.. Update: Incidentally anyone looking to buy a house here could score some free tea..

No miles today, nursing weary bones and hydrating in a cute little tourist spot

Miles: 13.5 + 1.2 off trail Start time: 7:32am End time: 3:35pm High / Avg / Low temp: 95.3F / 85.3F / 58.2F Relative Humidity Avg: 16.5% Injuries: new blisters for Matt Today started off with a wrong turn at albequerky, costing us 30 minutes and 1.2 miles, as well as some good spirits and shade, the sun started beating on us really early today. Overall it was a hot one, but not without respite, after 5 miles a pct hiker from last year, had setup trail magic, such for the uninitiated is a happy surprise when you desperately want something, in this case it was cold drinks, fruit, beer for the brave, shade, it was awesome, I just snuck some water and a cold powerade, Jocelyn sunk a beer and a banana, and after some talking with the other folk caught in this hiker trap we carried on. We had nine miles to do after all. All on we went, into the heat of the day which given our water rations wasn't an easy thing, but we made it to our end point, weary and th...

Miles: 11.01 Start time: 10:02am End time: 4:25pm High / Avg / Low temp: 84.5F / 68.3F / 53.9F Relative Humidity Avg: 32.5% Injuries: none to report Today started off much as yesterday was, so cold, it was 35F in our tent at 6am, but it got warmer quickly thankfully and turned into another lovely day.  We camped last night at a day use only area, we didn't really plan it though, fighting off hypothermia led to our choice, but we weren't alone... We woke up to about five tents in this area, and a truck load of hikers were delivered, by truck, before we headed out, though we didn't see much of them along the day, cept Gandalf, staff with a quartz crystal and all, he's camped in the area with us tonight, and a British guy, and a guy from California we played leap frog with during the day. We started the day out with chores, and drying our stuff which attracted condensation and frost the previous night, the condensation was largely increased due to our ...

Miles: 5.07 + 1 mile from campground Start time: 8:47am End time: 11:45am High / Avg / Low temp: 39.2F / 37.1F / 36.1F Relative Humidity Avg: 75.3% Injuries: none to report, blisters are mostly healed Today is one of those kite flying days, cept we are the kite and it's blowing hard enough to rip said kite of any string we have, crazy windy, and it started last night after we crashed. It picked up to the point it was carrying all the surrounding dust and dirt into the tent via the ventilation channels, so tonight's shelter it all hands on deck and baton down the hatches ye worthless land lubbers.. Yarrr.. Needless to say we expect less dirt in the tent tonight, we'll see how that works out We only did five of our planned 12 miles today, it was near freezing when we left camp, tolerable when we have all our clothes on, but then it started to pelt us with sleet at 30-40mph winds, kinda like being sandblasted in the face with ice, then started the beloved wi...

Miles:4.59 miles + 1mile to campground Start time: 11:34am End time: 3:14pm High / Avg / Low temp: 78.F / 69.8F / 60.3F Relative Humidity Avg: 28.3% Injuries: no new blisters, managing sun burn with aloe Today was an easy and awesome day, easy in that the miles were low, we started from our cabin of comfort, fed and hydrated, and the elevation changes didn't feel significant It was awesome because of the views to the desert floor we started to see at after leaving Mt Laguna, I'll add a few below for you.. Totally alien landscape from our usual lives, and at least from afar very captivating, the photos won't do it justice of course, but what else can we offer our readership given we aren't poets So we hiked our miles today after enjoying a delicious breakfast (anything we don't have to make ourselves is delicious) at the cafe, which is run by lovely people who open the cafe during hiker season on their off days at discounted prices to of...

Bout time im sure you're thinking, but data is hard to come by here

Hey a just a quick note that we are fine and holed up in a cabin for the day, doing laundry and catching up on naps, will write more later

Miles: 0.8 mile approach trail + 9.98 miles Start time: 7:47am End time: 2:15pm High / Avg / Low temp: 67.1F / 57.6F / 51.6F Relative Humidity Avg: 38.7% Injuries: few more blisters and scuff marks, par for the course, matt has sunburn..such a mystery This morning was lovely, big clear skies, cool breeze, warming sun beams, and zero hikers left in the camp ground.. We clearly are back of the bus when it comes to start times and this morning was like a personal best for us being on our way by 7:30ish, it is what we planned though, knowing we are only enduring 11 miles and have a cozy bed waiting for us at the end. Our hiking started with that lovely 0.8 mile approach trail exiting the campground, which was worth it, never pass up a toilet seat.. We then continued the path north and followed it for five miles where we took a break, I found a way to tuck under a shurb and get a bit of a lay down in the shade, and it did feel a lil cold, today's temps were like 30 ...

Miles: 13.01 miles + 0.8 miles of side trail Start time: 8:25am End time: 5:45 pm High / Avg / Low temp: 82.5F / 75.4F / 62.1F Relative Humidity Avg: 14.3% Injuries: small blisters for matt and jocelyn Today we left lake morena and it's chicken tender basket goodness for fresh lands.. About 13 miles away Our first six miles was pretty uneventful, not too many ups and downs, and before long we arrived at our mid point, boulder Oaks campground, for water, food eating, and foot resting.. And all those things we did, we drank about two liters of water, ate and got off our feet for longer than we should have, but it was a nice spot, we left here at 1:30pm The campground seems primarily equine in focus with each site having a horse pen attached, the first of its kind that we've seen so far, the pct is accessible to horse riders as well as hikers, needless to say we've seen plenty of "road apples".. And later on also a pile of not buried human poop, wa...

Miles: 9.32 Start time: 8:32am End time: 2:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 85.9F / 79.8F / 71.2F Relative Humidity Avg: 11.2% Injuries: none to report Today started out so nice, had the camp ground to ourselves, no rodents or animals messing with us, easy peasy.. Even the first 5 miles seemed a treat, nice views, some shade, not too steep..until we descended to the beginning of the last five miles, which was mostly up, steep, scorching, and unsheltered.  Today's MVP was totally the Sun umbrellas, we'd have died in the midday sun without them, we burnt thru our water faster than we'd planned so arrived at camp down to our last  mouthful of water each, so thirsty, and the low humidity just sucks the water from you, there is a store nearby so I'm going to buy all their cold liquids and drink them Currently however I'm at our shaded picnic table at our camp site, so life isn't so bad, we finished up our hiking at 2pm today and only needed 9.32 miles t...

Miles: 10.89 Start time: 11:38am End time: 5:24pm High / Avg / Low temp: 81F / 71F / 59F Relative Humidity Avg: 28.3% Injuries: none to report Hey blog, keeper of words, that sometimes tells readers things, fair tidings We started around noon today and walked till we were tired, achieving our goal of over 10 miles today It was a good walk, Jocelyn came close to a nope rope today, but it slithered away without incident, no rattle so likely not poisoness, sissy... Otherwise just little lizards, a grasshopper, a rodent that looked like a marmot, birds, ants, and maybe four other hikers. We started a lil late in the day, intentionally, to avoid too many other people, and it worked, we had the trail to ourselves most of the day One other fun part of the day, windy enough to blow a dog off a chain, we got sand blasted at the southern terminus, and overall coated with a light spatter of dirt and dust through out the day We had a wonderful view the whole...

And we are off, just to mark the occasion, a picture of the southern terminus So long and thanks for all the fish

So here we are, heading to our drop zone at the southern terminus of the pct, a flutter of anticipation in our bellies and awe at the thought of what we are about to undertake. I mean how often does ones traverse on foot the length of a city, let alone state, yet alone country, but that's what we are here to do, walk north, for half a year.. give or take We've posted our gear overview, better late than never? and will add more commentary as we use and abuse the items, but now we are going to see what best laid plans are worth. We'll endeavor to write every night, even if it's just enough to let you know we haven't been eaten by mountain lion, and when we get signal we'll upload them, with pictures if we get good signal. Don't be alarmed if there's isn't a blog update every day, signal might be hard to come by is all. We've appreciated all the encouragement, support and love from our friends and family and we look forward to shar...

Hey blog thing, Jocelyn and I have made it safely to San Diego, yay, and are on our way to find luggage, fingers crossed it had an easy flight too, we actually looked at our GPS maps as we passed over the trail, the excitement was palpable Update: bags arrived, and it's actually spring here Matt