Day 12 Wed April 30th

Woke up to a cold wind, blowing fog and chilly temps! Packed up and got moving to stay warm by 0630. We made it to the road by 0930 and started walking the 1 mile to the Paradise Cafe (famous for their Jose burger) The cafe opens at 11am and by that time, there were 15 other hikers waiting patiently for FOOD! It was at the cafe that we found out that there is a wildfire burning out of control over the next 35 miles of trail and by the time we left the cafe......the PCT was closed over that area! Good thing we went for the Jose burger! So, we are now in town (Idlywild) for the night at a campground, going to check with the fire dept tomorrow and see if the trail will re-open or if we have to skip it for now and come back to it later. Just did laundry and got our mail (thanks, gram&grampa, gram&papa, Fam and Tina for the letters!!) fun stuff! We were not supposed to be here for 3 more days, so I'll check the mail again tomorrow and then put the forward in for Big Bear City.
Did I tell you?! We saw poison oak the very first day on the trail?!! And a mountain quail!

Day 11 Tues April 29th

0630 start from trail angel mike's house. Sun was up and bright by 0645! Today was nicer than yesterday...there was a breeze! Watched gypsy and her 17 year old brother jarrow hike together in the morning sun, what a great experience for them both. Took breaks where ever we could find shade. Came to a large water cache at the end of the day that was much appreciated. Ended up walking about 16 miles and camped among some large boulders with mountain lion tracks all over the place..... Delicious dinner of tortellini, dehydrated spaghetti sauce and brocolli! yummmm!

Day 10 Mon April 28th

The bed, the pillow, clean clothes, man it was hard to get up this morning. Back on the trail for 7am, walking past the gas station selling regular gas for $4.25 and realizing that it is a good summer to go for a walk! Hot day with very little breeze, maybe it's because we took 2 days off, but today was a rough one. Neighbor's watch read 91 degrees! Made it 17 miles to a trail angel's house (mike's) and crashed there for the night. Neighbor is very happy with his Leki poles, at the kickoff, he asked the leki guy to clean them and they ended up replacing 2/3 of the whole pole for free! Walked through a large burn area today, made for some creative beautiful pictures. Camping with asaf, sly, wasa, tailwind, cuppa joe, southern man, ursa minor, jellybean, medicare pastor, gyspy, jarrow, patch and low bridge tonight.

asaf/hungry hiker's website

www.flickr.com/asafantman

our friend's website (he's a great photographer) and has taken tons of great photos!

Day 9 April 27th

My dad's b-day and I was able to call home and chat! yeah!
We got up early, had breakfast and then Oakey Girl gave us a ride back north to Warner Springs! We checked in at the Warner Springs Ranch (http://www.warnerspringsranch.com/) and showered and did laundry (really needed the laundry to be done) caught up on computer stuff (where I am right now) downloaded my pictures to this site and to my flashdrive (I did it!!) and now we are off to check out the hot springs! Yeah! My aching legs need the hot springs! So, that's it for now, heading out in the morning. Idyllwild is about 75 miles from here and we should be there in 4 days time! Over and out!! :)

Day 8 April 26, 2008

No trail miles hiked today, which is called a "zero day". We had breakfast, hung around the campground, visited with friends and I (don't laugh priscilla) bought a pair of Crocs! I've had a blister on my left heel since the first 4 miles of the trail, it doesn't hurt, it's just a nuisance, but I can't let my feet dry out in my trailrunners, so I needed camp shoes. I bought the cute Mary jane's in brown and I really like them! The blister is all dry now and a thing of the past! Neighbor met Nimblewill Nomad and we chatted with Billygoat (two older hikers that have some amazing miles under their feet) Got to see Frodo and Scout again, it's nice seeing all these great hikers in one spot.

Day 7 April 25th 2008

Slept great with the tent fly off! Hiked the 8 miles to Warner Springs. Passed Eagle rock on the way there (huge rock formation that looks like an eagle) Got to town and picked up our maildrop, sorted through some stuff then got a ride down to Lake Morena with Oakey Girl. Weird going south over the terrain that we've already hiked. Lots of hikers everywhere at this big PCT party. Present, past and wanna be hikers! ULA (my backpack company) was there and so was Leki (neighbor's hiking pole company) I finally got to take a shower!!! A cold one, but it was great anyway! It's amazing how DIRTY you get with all the dust around, it goes through your shoes and socks and makes your feet just filthy. And my pants are a bit wide at the bottom, so the dirt goes all the way up my legs. Yuck.

Day 6 April 24, 2008

Survived the night in the tent! It almost came down on us a couple times! Hiking by 6am, the morning hours are just wonderful to hike in. Chilly, but wonderful! I put SPF on my hand right away once the sun came up (I now have sun blisters on both of my hands due to forgetting the sunscreen just one day) Saw a silver/gray snake today (I don't know my snakes) but it was cool looking. The hike down to Barrel Spring was a long hot one. The switchbacks on the PCT are insane! We meandered atleast 5 miles to go somewhere 2 miles away! Once we reached the spring, we found that Yogi (a PCT hiker from a couple yrs ago) had left us some gatorade! YEAH! Lots of hikers camped here this night.....all excited for the big PCT kickoff party happening this weekend, only 8 miles to Warner Springs where we will catch a ride back down south to Lake Morena where the party is.

Day 5 April 23rd 2008

What a fun day! Woke up early in a dust storm and hiked the 8 miles to Scissors crossing and hitched into the town of Julian. Neighbor, Asaf and I were picked up by a nice couple that knew many of the desert flowers. Once in town, we found Dandy, Low bridge, Jarrow, Patch and Gypsy and all had breakfast together. I rested my legs (knees are a bit sore) while Asaf and Neighbor ran a few errands and Neighbor brought me back a piece of apple crumb pie and ice cream (Julian is FAMOUS for their apple pie) and boy was it good! Then we walked to the libary and found internet access and e-mailed home for the first time on the trip. Hitched back to the trail (with a nice mountain biker from L.A out for the day) and hiked another 5-6 miles to a good campspot. The wind on the hike in was CRAZY, blowing me all over the place! We put up the tent and soon it almost blew in! We were in for one heck of a night! But the view was amazing! :)

Day 4 April 22nd

Camped with Asaf, bigfoot, razor, gene, potiential 178, sweetfish and one other last night, moon was full, neighbor got a picture. Started hiking early, saw Mt. San Jacinto in the far distance today, still snow covered! Saw cacti with beautiful pink flowers, forgot to put on sunscreen (which I would pay for later). Put in 15.7 miles. Camped by the water source at Rodriguez Truck Spur trail with the "crew" (cuppa joe, gypsy lulu, jarrow, dandy, low bridge, asaf, and a few others) Had chicken alfredo pasta for dinner which was great (from freezerbagcooking.com) Windy night, dirt kept blowing in the tent all night long and we woke to beach sand covering our sleeping bags! It is amazing just how windy it really is out here. I almost left my $15 Target windbreaker at home and boy am I glad I didn't! It's worth every cent!

Day 3 Mon April 21st 2008

Woke up to Sarong asking for assistance....pulling a tick from his side. It was really "in there" too. We warmed up a knife and held it close, the tick started backing out, then I pulled at it with tweezers for a bit, it looked really painful but Sarong didn't feel a thing! That excitement over, we walked the 5 miles to the Mt. Laguna store through the most beautiful section of trail yet! Tall Jeffery pines and shade, it was wonderful! At the store we split a pint of ice cream and got our resupply box, filled out some postcards and rested a bit then moved on and ended up hiking about 17 miles. Have to say that I LOVE my Mtn. Hardware canyon shirt. I got it on clearance because the color was discontinued (I love the color) but the mesh sides really let the air in. I'm impressed!

Day 2 Sunday April 20th

Slept great, moon almost full, calves are sore but we had a good day. Stopped at Boulder Oaks campground for a nice break in the shade around mid-day. Saw lots of buttercups. Thought Neighbor was joking around with me and throwing sticks into the woods, but come to find out, it was the lizards and geckos running into the bushes. Ate spaghetti with dehydrated sauce and brocolli for dinner and it was great! Managed 17.4 miles today and I drank almost 5L of water!

Day 1 Sat April 19th 2008

Up early. 3 truck loads of us headed to the Mexican border! On the way, I realized that I forgot my large camera memory card back home, ahhhh! Must have been 15 of us for the group photo (Cuppa Joe, Jarrow, Gyspsy lulu, Bigfoot, Dandy, Low Bridge, Asaf, Gene, Wasa, Detour, Tailwind, Tahoe Mike, me, Neighbor, Patch) We started walking north at 0747! Interesting desert plants, dry dusty trail and lots of discarded socks from the illegals trying to get across the border (they put socks over their shoes to hide their tracks). We took lots of breaks but eventually made it all 20.6 miles to Lake Morena Campground (all 15 of us)!

Day 0 April 18th 2008

We went to REI and picked up a platypus 2L water bag with a hose because all "the talk" is about how much water everyone is carrying. Some are starting with 6L and I only had capacity for.....ummmm, 3L! So, now I can carry 5L (not that I want to). 24 people for dinner at the Mann's! And we had salmon, salad, homeade artichoke dip, hummus and for desert....fruit with chocolate fondue! Wow!

Day -1 Thurs. April 17th

We drove to the Manchester airport and caught our flight to San Diego, CA! Scout picked us out of the crowd before we even got our backpacks and brought us back to their house. We started meeting other hikers right away and talking gear. Dinner was amazing! Grilled shrimp alfredo, salad, veggies, rolls! Scout and Frodo go above and beyond for the hikers!

Well on our way!

We are well on our way into our hike! I have come to realize that I won't be able to keep up with this blog and am searching for a volunteer to type for us! So, stay tuned, we'll have some good day by day play of our hike coming up!
(by the way, things are good and we are over 100 miles north of the border!!)