Category Archives: #PCT

Day 3 and 4 on the PCT

Well we are not hiking at the moment, we stayed in Lake Morena at the campground in a cabin we are sharing with an older gentleman. We are dry and the trail angels here are keeping us fed with breakfast and dinner every night!

I’ve been asked what is trail magic, trail magic is giving a hiker a ride, or when a hiker gets to a road crossing and there is a cooler with drinks and snacks inside, or supplying a water cache for hikers. Trail Angels are the ones who do these kind supportive things for hikers. It can be a lot of different generous acts of kindness.

It continues to rain and at the higher elevations we are hiking into its snow and big wind. We are not alone, all the cabins are full, some hikers are even having to sleep on the floor.

We have been advised to just stay put. the trail angels here, Legend, B, and Mark have all hiked the PCT before and certainly have the experience to judge the situation better than us.

At first I told Al, “I cant stay cooped up in a cabin for 2 days, I will go stir crazy!” But sitting with these people at night around food and the rain is falling and we are cold , but laughing and hearing about why they are hiking is amazing.

Then again in the mornings hearing their stories during breakfast of pancakes and coffee. About some of their life experiences . These people are from all over the World we are all different ages and sexes and cultures. Getting to know them a little bit. It’s already a high light of this trip.

I realize that we are all the same, we are all here to have an adventure, to be free from the things we left behind. To find a part of ourselves that we somehow lost. To enjoy the solitude of nature. The peace that beauty and quiet bring to your heart. And with me, to spend time alone with the man that I love.

There is also No more hitting the alarm clock for work. No more driving in traffic. No more constant dings from our phones.

We are all hiking the PCT apart but together. I won’t ever forget this time we spent here when I previously thought I was stuck here. It’s been a blessing to me. These trail angels are so giving and genuine. They have hiked before and now want to give back.

Our plan is to head out tomorrow, still in the rain but it will be ending and then clear weather ahead.

Until then, be well.

Day 2 on the PCT

Well it started raining during the night. We had no water for breakfast so we didn’t hang around. We broke camp around 7 am and started hiking. It continued to rain and we were told later that it was an inch of rain and there were flash flood warnings. it was certainly muddy and slippery in places.

We hiked about 4 miles until we got to a water source. We made some hot chocolate and ate some oatmeal there. The rain had paused to a mist so we spent about an hour there sheltered under some trees.

Then we started hiking up. We just came down about a thousand feet and now we are going back up to about 3500 ft.

A little like yesterday. The trail is overgrown and there’s barely any room to hike single file.

We have to hike about 5 miles more before we get to Lake Morena.

It continues to rain and it’s a little cold out, but the views are beautiful and there’s a lot to see.

We rest at rocks we can sit on for a few minutes and then continue on.

We should have done a few practice hikes or at least a few walks but we just didn’t have the time. Its been slow going for us but in time we hope to speed up a little bit.

A cool birds nest in there

The rain lets up for a little bit then it comes back and it’s mixes with hail. Not pleasant.

We are almost there, we managed 9 miles today, and got into Lake Morena around 3:30 and headed to the Malt Shop. a typical stop for a PCT hiker. There was a little heater going in there and it was lovely. The person put on a fresh pot of coffee for me and it was just what I needed!

This big rock was pretty cool.

One of the other hikers reached out to me and said that they were going to get a cabin for the night and another hiker had room in his cabin for us if we were interested. She also said there would be trail magic that night in the park camp ground we would be at.

It had been raining pretty much all day, we were soaked to the bone and cold. It sounded marvelous to us.

We met with our cabin mate and dropped our gear and headed right back out for the trail magic dinner.

We met Legend, a former PCT hiker and a Trail Angel, he shook my hand and couldn’t believe how cold I was. He then immediately took off his coat and had me remove my soaking wet rain jacket and zipped me up into his.

They had made pasta and it was Hot and delicious! Most of the other hikers were there and it was a fun time. We were told to come back for Breakfast the next morning.

These Trail Angels are marvelous!

So breakfast back at the campground pavilion,

Until then, be well.

Arrived and departed San Diego

We stayed at a fabulous place in the Gas Lamp district, HI USA International hostel. We had a private room with a shower, last one for awhile. We ate breakfast there and left our backpacks and walked around San Diego for a bit. We tried to find a taco place Joslyn recommended but it was not opened on Sundays. She has been to San Diego a few times for Comic Con.

We spent a couple of hours exploring near by. We ran into a street festival thing going on that we walked thru. We made it down to the convention center area and then headed back for our things.

After we got our things we made our way back downtown to the trolley station. We needed to get to the Old Town section of San Diego for our shuttle to Camp Lockett. There is a PCT shuttle that runs twice a day to Southern Terminus and we had reservations. We chose the afternoon shuttle so we would have some time to wander around. We had a two hour window in the Old Town section before our ride.

We arrived around five that night and couldn’t wait to head up to the terminus.

The wall just goes on and on.

Tomorrow we head from Mexico to Canada!

After taking a bunch of pictures we went back to Camp and after we ate the Trail Angels gave a talk about trail safety and things to expect on the trail ahead.

Tomorrow we begin,

until then be well.