April 2022

April 21-24; Mile 151-193 Day 17 I arrived back at the trail at 9am after getting a ride from Grumpy again. He had talked about how climate change was actually just the Earth’s tilt increasing and how he didn’t believe most scientists because they’re “just trying to make a name for themselves.” I made some kind of noncommittal noise; a ride is a ride after all. It was a long, hard day spent battling the wind. Plus I realized soon after starting that I’d left my block of aged cheddar in

April 19-20; Mile 146-151 Day 15 A beautiful birthday trek I woke up to a beautiful day. I hiked along in the shade and the miles came easily. Christine and I decided to walk the mile to Paradise Valley Cafe instead of trying to hitch, and when I walked inside I was greeted by a chorus of cheers and calls of “Happy Birthday!” Everyone I’d met at Mary’s Place the night before was gathered around eating and chatting. It was barely after 9, but what the heck I ordered a peanut

April 17-18; Mile 119-146 Day 13 I’d reached the section of trail where water sources were either tiny springs at least 1/4 mile off trail or metal tanks maintained by people living nearby. I had 8 miles until I reached Mike’s place – the first of the water tanks – and so I started hiking by 6:15 to get there before the lunchtime heat. The trail wove past several stubby summits rising like turrets of a great stone fortress. The hillsides were strewn with pale boulders and California lilac bushes, and

April 15-16; Mile 109-119 There is a measurement used to describe the height difference between the heel and toe areas of a shoe called the “heel drop.” I’d only learned about it a few years ago when buying trail runner shoes for the first time, because certain shoes are known for being zero drop: having a 0mm heel drop. Altra shoes are one of those. Before switching I’d been using shoes with 6mm of heel drop. It doesn’t sound like much, but I found myself naturally walking on my toes since my heels were used to having

April 12-14; Mile 77-109 Day 8 We left Julian around 10 to begin a long, dry climb. The next reliable water source was Barrel Springs 24 miles ahead. There was a water cache after ‘only’ 14 miles, but PCT wisdom dictates that you should never rely on a water cache, so we each lugged 5-7 liters of water up the mountain. Thankfully it was cold and sunny, with just enough of a breeze to keep us cool on the climb. The trail had finally begun to feel like the PCT to

April 9-11; Mile 59-77 Day 5 As luck would have it we had camped 0.2 miles from a viewpoint turnout on the highway leading to Julian. I figured that someone was bound to stop that could give me a ride. I tried sticking my thumb out: first with my dorky sun hat on to look non-threatening, and when that didn’t work I tried no hat + hair down so people would see I was a woman because, well, it helps in the hitching world. The cars just zoomed past. Someone going

April 7-8; Mile 23-48 Day 3 When people say the desert is windy, they mean the serious, knock-you-over type of wind that halts a grown adult in their tracks. Sleeping on a ridge line in a thin single-walled tent amidst the wind was awe-inspiring. And incredibly loud. At 6:30 I started walking through verdant slopes with sweeping views of Lake Morena behind and the Laguna Mountains looming in the distance. We passed through a sea of grass under the Highway 94 bridge, walking headfirst into near-constant gusts.

I left San Diego with my stomach full of butterflies. As we approached the border wall, hikers passed us on the road, 20 minutes into their own thru attempts. The monument sat atop a small hill, while behind it the slats of the border wall continued in either direction. Besides the PCTA volunteer, we were the only people there. It was only 8:40 am, but the sun beat down relentlessly from a cloudless, azure sky. After a few photos I started to walk north. The nervous excitement from the past few weeks melted away amidst the steady