Day 1: (May 3) I arrived in San Diego last night and a nice gentleman I met on the train helped me out by splitting a cab with me, drawing me a map and explaining the layout of the neighborhood. I caught a bus to the trail head at Campo with three other hikers. One of them has hiked the PCT and the AT before. His name is Grasshopper. He's a cool dude. Very positive and excited to be hiking! I hiked with him for the most part that first day. It was a relief to hike with someone who knew what they were doing because I was very nervous. I was very tired after hiking 15 miles in the desert heat, so while he went on at Hauser Creek, I stopped and set up camp. My tarp worked out pretty well. The Moon was so bright that it woke me up several times during the night.
Day 2: (May 4) Woke up at six with my sleeping bag and tarp soaked. Grasshopper was totally right about it getting wet at night by the creek. I got up, ate breakfast and packed up camp. I got to use my little alcohol stove for the first time. It works pretty well for a little thing made out of a tin can! And it's so light! I attached my down sleeping bag to the back of my pack and headed down the trail towards Lake Morena. I got there around ten or eleven and indulged in a free shower. My sleeping bag was still wet despite being in the sun for three or four hours, and after scratching my head over it for a sec, I realized that while I was "drying" it out in the sun, I was also dragging it through the dewy brush and re-wetting it. Ha. I walked up to the little store in Morena and spent ten bucks on cheese, a small pack of Oreos, and a Gatorade. (Ouch! Trailway robbery!) On my way out I met Stone and Pika, two hikers from Michigan/ Portland. While hiking with them, I realized that I had to be in Mt. Laguna to pick up my re-supply box by 11am the next day (Saturday) to hit the PO before it closed. They helped me book it down the trail. We ended up camping on a windy ridge with the lovely Moon shining as bright as she could. I think that was an 18 mile day.
Day 3: Ok, so you know how I'm good at finding things for other people like keys, lighters, markers, and ladders? Today I found a dog and a hat, and for myself I found an absolutely perfect dry sack for my sleeping bag! (It's really important to keep down dry. If it gets wet, it's no good for keeping you warm.) Pika, Stone and I found a dog when we stopped to have breakfast at a camp ground before Mt. Laguna. I had a bit of a "Tortoise and Hare" situation when I looked at the clock during my hour of leisure, and realized I had 45 minutes to reach the post office. Fortunately I made it with 15 minutes to spare! While there I found a hat that someone left and facilitated it's return. Afterwards I was talking to a man named Texas Chill and told him about the dog. He said that a woman had been around looking for her dog, putting flyers up and such. I found a flyer and called her, directing her to the campground that Pika and Stone where at with the dog.
To be continued...
Out of time!
Oh, some photos:
Lake Morena
Rattle snake!
You make my heart swell, sweetpea!
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