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5/27/17: Tentsite mile 376.9 to Camp Glenwood 400.6

We arose around 6 and hiked the last mile up Baden-Powell. The PCT doesn’t technically go the to summit–it goes within 0.4 miles and then you have to opt to take a side trail to the summit. We of course opted to do so and were rewarded with some beautiful views. It was very peaceful and breathtaking to see mountains all around us and clouds below us. We also saw a tree near the summit with a sign that said it is estimated to be 1500 years old!! Pretty crazy. 


We hiked until our next water source at Little Jimmy Campground (I made Wolf Bird take a photo with the sign since it’s his namesake). There we took quite a long luxurious break where Wolf Bird took advantage of the pit toilets and we ate snacks and also met Dirty B, who hiked the PCT last year and is out hiking a section for a couple of weeks until the snow melts up north and he can begin his thru hike of the Pacific Northwest trail. It was nice chatting with him and relaxing but we had hiking to do!


We set out downhill for a few miles and passed so many day hikers. I guess it shouldn’t have been surprising given the fact it is Memorial Day Weekend, but it was quite the change from our normal day to day to see upwards of 25 day hikers. Wolf Bird didn’t like that I was being courteous and stopping to let the day hikers by so he went ahead for a bit and made them stop for us instead. 

We then hiked another few miles until we reached Eagle’s Roost Picnic Area. This marked the start of a trail closure. The trail is closed for about 3-4 miles as it is the breeding season for a yellow legged frog (or something like that). We have two options–either road walk for a couple miles and then reconnect with the trail later, or walk on trails the whole time but have to go way downhill then way back uphill for an 18 mile detour. We opted for the shorter road walk option but not before taking a break at the picnic area. There was a big Korean hiking group (most of them must have been 50+) having lunch at the picnic area while we were there. They had the most amazing looking Korean lunch with rice and veggies and meats. We looked on desperately but our puppy dog eyes did not win them over and we had to set off without getting a taste!

I was a bit nervous for the road walk as the road was very winding and it looked like cars drove very fast on it. It was also Memorial Day weekend so it was pretty busy. It ended up not being terrible and Wolf Bird walked in front and sacrificed himself. A total of 73 cars passed us in the 2 mile or so road walk but there weren’t any close calls. We then entered a campground off the main road and found a side trail that then led us to the PCT. We later found out that many people got hitches and skipped the road walk portion or even got driven many miles ahead but I was glad we walked it. 

We had a nice lunch break by a stream and then set out to do our final miles of the day. It was pretty hot but cooled off as time went on. We crossed the highway several times and also followed what just have been old forest roads or old logging roads. We didn’t have a set destination and I kept wanting to stop and set up camp but Wolf Bird was interested in a “private cabin” that was just a bit further. I reluctantly relented and was later very glad I did! We passed the 400 mile mark and soon after got to the cabin which was called Camp Glenwood. The way it was listed in our app made it seem like it was someone’s house and off limits to us, but we discovered this was not be case at all when we arrived. 

There was a group of four people out for the weekend who told us we were welcome to camp at the cabin! They had nice tentsites with picnic tables so we claimed one and said hello to Stormtrooper and Energizer Bunny who were already set up. They were the first fellow thru hikers that we saw all day! Energizer Bunny is from Hong Kong and only first heard about the trail in October and decided to do it!

We set up our tent and then cooked some dinner. Soon after, Jen, one of the people staying at the cabin, came over and asked if we wanted to eat dinner with them-they were cooking brats. We of course said yes and headed up the hill to the cabin to hang out with them until dinner was ready. We had a great time chatting with Jen and Kurt and George and ate the most amazing brats with all the fixings as well as watermelon and pickles and beer and even nutter butters for dessert! We found out that the previous evening they’d cooked up enough burgers for over 20 hikers! We were so grateful for their generosity and good company. We went to bed past our bedtime with happy full bellies. 

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5/25/17: Swarthout Canyon 347.2 to Wrightwood 369.3

We woke up early at 430ish in hopes of beating the heat today. We have 22 miles to town (Wrightwood) and at least 15 of them are uphill. As we packed up in the dark we saw the big group of 9 hikers about to set out–we were impressed that such a big group was able to pack up and be ready so early. As we set out a bit after them, we climbed up as the dark predawn turned light. We were in a cloud and it was cool and misty for the first couple hours. 

Most of the morning was more of the same–just climbing up and up. It was really beautiful as eventually we climbed above the cloud and it was sunny with a blanket of clouds below us with only the peaks of surrounding mountains emerging above the clouds. It grew pretty exhausting climbing for so long, especially as we started to feel the altitude. We took a lunch break and set off again only to run into the group of 9 breaking as well. Beave informed us we still had a mile of climbing left to which I replied “SHUT UP BEAVE!” Hopefully he knew I was kidding. The last mile of climbing wasn’t bad except for a short 0.1 mile super steep section that we nearly died on. 

Luckily we survived and then had a much easier last 6-7 miles til town. It was mostly downhill and we walked through a ski resort which was surreal. It was strange to see ski lifts and lodges in the summer. We were texting our friend Amelia as we walked and found out she was leaving Wrightwood today just as we were heading into town. We hoped we would catch her at the road into town!

The last miles breezed by and we arrived at the trailhead to find not only Amelia but also Yote and Nicole and a few other people we’d hiked with at the very beginning! Finally we were making up for the days we took off to rest! We found out that Yote and Nicole had gotten sick and had to take off some days unfortunately, which is why we caught them. The others were surprised to see us as they thought we were far ahead of them! It’s funny how it all evens out in the end.


After chatting with our friends, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Wolf Bird and I went to get a hitch into Wrightwood and were excited when the first car that passed stopped for us! It was an older German brother and sister who drove quite quickly down the winding mountain roads. They dropped us off at Mountain Hardware, which serves as sort of a home base for hikers in Wrightwood. Not only do they sell hiking related items, they also accept hiker packages and have a back porch where they let hikers hang out and provide a charging station, have a hiker box, and have a list of trail Angels willing to host hikers. We immediately looked at this list and Wolf Bird selected a couple Ken and Diana from the list because he liked their names. He called and asked if we could stay with them for the night and they said yes!
With that figured out we headed to get food. We ran into a bunch of other hikers we knew in town including Pebbles–she has been hiking with her boyfriend Bam Bam but hitched to Weightwood early because she was suffering some muscle pain. She joined us for food at Evergreen Cafe and we pigged out as is becoming quite typical these days. 
We then resupplied for our next leg at the grocery store and chatted with other hikers until deciding to head over to Ken and Diana’s. They live about a mile outside of town so we had to walk there (I hate walking off trail miles) but it wasn’t bad and was so worth it. 
A sidenote on this town: we heard before getting here that all the motels were full because the entire town has a big garage sale over Memorial Day weekend every year. We didn’t realize the extent of this until we arrived! There were garage sale signs everywhere even though it was only Thursday and Diana even told us when we called that she needed to do some garage sale prep. Very interesting…


We arrived at Ken and Diana’s and immediately felt at home. Diana was super friendly and welcomed us and immediately offered us water and beer and grapes. Ken was still at work and Diana worked on garage sale prep while Wolf Bird and I showered and got our laundry ready. Ken and Diana had a beautiful home that they completely fixed up over the years and they were one of the few year round residents of Wrightwood. Many of their neighbors live elsewhere and use their homes on the weekends especially in the winter with the ski resort so nearby. 
We showered and started laundry and Wolf Bird changed into a pair of Diana’s pants so he could wash his shorts. He looked hilarious as her pants looked like capris on him and he was shirtless because he had to wash his shirts. We helped Diana put together a clothes rack for the garage sale and hung out talking to her and Ken once he got home as they cooked dinner. We had an amazing meal of grilled chicken breast and corn on the cob and salad. It was sooo tasty and we even had freshly baked cookies and Klondike bars after! It was nice talking to Diana and Ken and learning about them and their lives. We had a great time chatting about our elementary school teachers growing up and laughing about different rumors and quirks. We went to bed later than usual but were very happy with full tummies and a comfy mattress and clean clothes and bodies. We are in awe of the generosity of this town and of the trail Angels we meet!

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5/23/17: Mile 303.3 to Picnic Area at 329.5

We got up our usual time around 5 today and walked about 4 miles until we reached Deep Creek Hot Springs. This area is popular with locals and no camping is technically allowed, although when we arrived we saw at least four tents set up. There are hot springs here and different pools with water of varying degrees of warmth. There were a bunch of locals up and about even though it was before 7AM. One particularly colorful character was a guy who shouted at us “YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!!! IM DOUG!!!” as we walked by. As nice as this area sounds it sort of grossed me out, as we read that the water contains some bacteria that can be fatal so they advised not dunking your head under in the hot springs. Also because so many people come here, there was a lot of trash around and it just felt dirty. I only felt the water and didn’t get in but Wolf Bird was not deterred. He went in the different pools and even walked on a slack line (like a tightrope) that was set up over the water. We spent about 20-30 minutes there and then headed on. 


We walked another hour or two until we came across trail magic! Coppertone, a past PCT thru hiker, had set up his camper van/truck at a road crossing and had chairs for us in the shade and lots of delicious treats. We enjoyed eating apples and doughnuts and then he even made us root beer floats! I believe that was the first root beer float I’ve ever had and it was quite delicious. We spent close to an hour hanging out, which was very relaxing, but also meant that now we’d be walking in the heat of the day since we’d taken a couple longish breaks. 


We set out once again and man was it hot!! In areas where there was a breeze it was at least tolerable, but on parts of the trail with no wind it was unbearably warm. We walked another 5.7 miles to a concrete bridge and it definitely took some concentration to not let the heat get the best of me. We chose the bridge as a break spot because we knew there’d be shade under it. It was crazy when we arrived at the bridge because there was a towering wall of rocks beside it! It was a huge dam! We set up under the bridge like the homeless hikers we are and then we heard noises like a whirring motor. That’s when we realized it was powerboats on the body of water on the other side of the dam! Pretty crazy to imagine as where we were it was extremely hot and dry. We ate lunch under the bridge like little trolls and decided to walk on after an hour and a half. Rather than take a longer break we wanted to go enjoy the lake!


We walked another couple miles and came across some water bottles in a cooler along the way which was such a nice treat. Finally we reached the huge man made lake! It was crazy that we were just on the other side of it! We found a side trail down to a little beach and we took a dip in the cold water. Pilar and Joshua joined us as well. This was a momentous occasion because I am notorious for not swimming in cold water on hikes, or ever, even though Wolf Bird always encourages (and begs) me to. I am glad I went in because I felt very refreshed and clean afterward!


We didn’t stay at the lake too long, as we had about 4.5 miles left to hike. We were heading to a picnic area that we heard had power outlets and running water and flush toilets–all the luxuries! The miles passed pretty quickly and were quite beautiful as we skirted the giant lake. 

We finally arrived at the picnic area and were excited to charge our phones and have fresh water. Unfortunately the bathrooms were locked but we were grateful for the other luxuries. There was a flyer for a pizza place at the picnic area–apparently we could order takeout to be delivered here. We hoped that Pilar and Joshua would hike here so we could meet the $30 order minimum. Right as I was about to give up and start cooking ramen, we heard voices and they showed up! Luckily they wanted to order food as well so each couple called and ordered a large pizza to share. The pizza place said it would take an hour and a half–that would mean it’d arrive at 9pm!! Way past our usual bedtime by 8. We decided it was worth it and hung out chatting and watching a movie on Wolf Bird’s phone. 

The delivery driver called about an hour later clarifying where we were. She had no idea which picnic area we were at and also was not very tech savvy and did not understand the screenshot of GoogleMaps that Wolf bird sent her. There was quite a bit of back and forth between her and Wolf Bird about where we were etc and ultimately the park rangers at the picnic area entrance helped the driver and even offered to get in the car to show her where to go! It was very strange the driver was so unfamiliar with where we were when they had put a flyer at this area themselves! In the end we got our pizza and devoured it (with even some leftover) and headed to bed late (almost 10pm!). 


Uh oh, after writing this I realized all my posts are slowly becoming just about food….

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5/21/17: Big Bear Lake to Delamar Mountain Road

We “slept in” today which meant I got up around 7:30 and Wolf Bird got up at 5:45. One of us clearly excels at sleeping in. We got a delicious breakfast at the Teddy Bear restauarant right next to where we were staying. It was just us and the locals eating so early on a weekend. 

After that we hung out enjoying a last shower and having a nice bed and TV. We packed up our stuff and planned to Uber to the grocery store in town, as it was almost two miles from where we were staying. Two miles isn’t very far to walk, but when they are off-trail miles, I refused to walk more than a half mile or so! No use wasting my energy when it’s not even getting me to Canada. There were no Ubers on the road when we checked around 11AM (other hikers told us there’s only one uber driver in town) so we decided to do the only logical thing, which was eat some more. We got food at the restauarant connected to our hotel and by the time we finished eating there was an Uber driving and we requested it right away.

We had a nice ride to the grocery store and then bought food for our next ~100 mile stretch. Once we were all packed we called Kathy, the woman who gave us a hitch yesterday, as she said she would give us a ride back to the trail. About 15 minutes later her and her husband Mike and cute little dog Rosie showed up and drove us up to the trail. They were such a nice couple and we couldn’t believe how kind they were to go out of their way to drive us back! And they were so casual about it too.


We got to the trail and started hiking around 2:15. We planned to hike about 10-15 miles depending how we felt. It was funny because the trail gets fairly close to town, where we just were, and we could see the lake of Big Bear Lake for quite a while. It felt great to be hiking again especially after being rejuvenated in town. All that food and rest really restores the mind and body. We had a really enjoyable afternoon hiking through beautiful trees. We chatted much of the way and time just flew by. We only passed two hikers right after getting on the trail and didn’t see anyone else the rest of the day. 

We got to a campsite at the 12 mile mark around 6 or 630 and debated whether or not to stay. There weren’t marked campsites up ahead so there was no guarantee we’d find a flat place to sleep. But we both felt really good and decided to chance it and hope for the best. We walked another three miles to a forest road and were excited to discover flat ground right next to the dirt road. 


We are sharing a fuel canister for this section so we switched off cooking dinner and setting up our tent and enjoyed a fancy new (and very spicy) ramen brand for dinner. What a great day!

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Want to mail us something?

We have had some friends and family ask us where they can send us packages or letters. Our next planned stop is in Wrightwood. We expect to be there probably Friday (5/26) or so. If you want to mail us anything, the address is below. Priority mail is best!

James Puckett and Julie Blouin
c/o Mountain Hardware
PO Box 398
Wrightwood, CA 92397
Hold for PCT hikers, ETA 5/26

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5/19/17: Mile 230.2 to Mile 253.6

We awoke at 5 and set out on a gradual uphill climb all morning. It started out pretty easy and nice, especially while the sun was still below the mountains surrounding us–this meant we were walking in the cool shade. However, soon the grade seemed to increase a bit and we were walking in the sun and it grew hotter. We rose to about 8000 feet by mornings end and we were definitely feeling the elevation. We were breathing more heavily and our leg muscles were burning. At some points I had to stop after each switchback to catch my breath! It wasn’t actually that bad or difficult in the larger scheme of things, but the PCT is such easy and gradual walking that this felt tough in comparison.

We entered the San Bernardino mountains and also entered an area where there had been a wildfire in years past. It was crazy to see some huge trees fallen or charred black.

We finally reached the water source we had been aiming for all morning around 10:15. There were nice picnic tables in the sun and we met Justin, who is from New Zealand and had broken his pinky toe the previous day!!! It sounded super painful to walk on but he was in surprisingly high spirits and also grateful for painkillers. Wolf Bird and I took a longer break than usual to cook up some ramen. I had extra and wanted to get rid of the extra weight and also of course wanted an excuse to pig out. We had a nice long break and filled up on water as well. 

For the next 6.5 miles I listened to music, which I haven’t been doing too much so as to save phone battery. It was a nice change and the miles really flew by. It was really beautiful scenery with some snow covered mountains not too far away and huge trees surrounding us. It is so refreshing to walk amongst trees after long treeless desert sections. We passed the same couple of groups throughout the day–Gourmet and Sonya and Flame and a French guy Protein, as well as a bigger group of about 6, three of whom we later discovered were sisters hiking together. Two of the sisters hiked the AT together as well, same year as we did in 2013!

We took our next break at a forest service cabin. This is a cabin you have to reserve to stay overnight at, so there were a few families there. The cabin had a roof and four walls but open doors and windows (no glass)… But the families were all tenting right next to the cabin and even on the cabin porch, rather than staying on the floor of the cabin which we found a bit strange. We ate some snacks at the picnic tables there and took advantage of the very clean outhouse at the cabin. We ran into a group of four guys who were PCT hikers at the cabin. We’d seen them the last few days, they are younger, probably 22 or so I’d guess. One of them was complaining to Wolf Bird about the lack of trail magic so far and how he’d been hoping there would be some at this cabin. He then said he hoped there was some about 6 miles up the trail as he’d heard sometimes there are sodas there. We were really surprised and put off by such an attitude. To expect people to bring you sodas or snacks on the trail is just ridiculous! The whole reason it is called trail magic is because it feels so magical and unexpected when it happens! It is a humbling experience when someone goes out of their way to help hikers and this hiker’s the entitled attitude really made us sad. I think he is also just setting himself up for disappointment. 

Anyway, we then hiked about 4 more miles to get water at a faucet in the woods. A pct hiker from 2003 owns a ranch and installed a faucet on his property for hikers–so incredibly nice. We chatted with the big group with the three sisters and a few others, Land Mammal, Fat and Sassy, Cedar, and Beave. Right after we got water we passed by a private zoo right next to the trail! They keep animals that are trained and used in movies I guess. We saw a tiger (we think), a bear and a mountain lion in tiny cages. It was crazy and also sad to see them caged up. The mountain lion was pacing frantically which was kind of scary. 

We then walked a nice leisurely three miles (although I was carrying a lot of water so it was heavy) to a random couch in the woods. A hostel puts it there with some pamphlets And info to advertise hikers to stay with them in the upcoming town. The group of four guys we’d seen at the cabin were there and looked sooo dejected and depressed. We later joked that it was probably because they had expected trail magic and there was none. There were remnants of old soda cans and snacks by the couch so they had probably seen those and gotten upset that it was gone by the time they got there. 

We hiked on without a definite plan of where we would camp. Many people were planning on camping about 3 miles up the trail so as to make a shorter day into town tomorrow. If we also headed to that campsite that would be a 26 plus mile day for us, which would be our longest yet. We were both feeling good but I was hesitant about walking so far so soon after having shin splints. They have been feeling so much better lately (only sore in the morning and better the rest of the day, and same for Wolf Bird’s heel) so I didn’t want to risk making them worse. We decided to camp somewhere in the next mile or two. There were any tent sites listed on the PCT app we use to navigate the trail so we just had to hope we’d find a flat spot that wasn’t listed. We found some flattish spots after about 0.6 miles, but they were far from perfect. It’s not much fun sleeping on sloped ground, but we were worried there wouldn’t be anything better further down the trail since it looked to be all downhill from the elevation profile. We went back and forth about whether to stay and then once we decided to camp in that area I was incredibly indecisive about which specific area was least sloped. Wolf Bird helped to convince me it didn’t matter that much and also was very sweet and got out my sleeping bag and pad for me. We cooked some dinner and set up camp and enjoyed a little extra time than usual to lounge before bed. We went to bed excited for town tomorrow!

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5/17/17: Mile 187.8 to Hillbilly’s

It was tough getting out of bed at 5AM this morning with the cold and wind there to greet us. We finally mustered the courage and were up and walking by about 6AM. We had a beautiful walk along Fuller Ridge first thing this morning and it did not disappoint. We had beautiful views into the valley below as the sun rose. It was a truly stunning landscape and helped make the cold windy morning bearable. 

Our walk today would be about 20 miles of relentless downhill. The PCT is crazy about switchbacks, so our climb down the mountain felt extremely drawn out. We had pretty fantastic views all day. The houses and roads in the valley below looked so far down underneath us. It was hard to imagine we’d end up there by day’s end. 


It was warm but not too hot today, mostly because of the intense wind all day. There were some intense gusts, I imagine up to 45 miles per hour, possibly more. At times the wind nearly blew me over–its force was so strong I could lean into it. 

We broke up our day with breaks every 2ish hours or every 6 or so miles, which was nice. We passed mile 200 today!!! And had a photoshoot where it took quite a while to fit both of us and the “200” in the frame. 


About two thirds of the way down the mountain we passed a dad and son hiking the opposite direction, who were on a three week trip. They told us they’d stayed with a Trail Angel named Hillbilly the previous evening and told us he would host us for free or even just give us rides to In N Out Burger if we wanted. Well, after hearing that we were fantasizing about burgers for the next couple hours. We were on the fence about if it’d be a good idea to try to get a ride to In N Out because that meant we’d have a bigger than intended day at about 22ish miles. This wasn’t a huge day but we have been trying to take it easy due to our previous injuries. We decided to stop at our next water source and decide. 


We arrived at the water source, which was actually a water fountain in the middle of the desert, around 1PM. We took a lunch break and ate sitting in the intense sun, as the wind made it too cold to sit in the shade. During our hour break, many other hikers caught up to us and also took a break. There was a group of two guys walking from together and then a group of about five guys and girls walking together. We briefly chatted with them before deciding that we felt good and wanted to head to In N Out! No big surprise there–we like our food. 


I called Hillbilly and he said he could give us a ride no problem, just give him a call when we got to the road 4.8 miles from where we had lunch. He also said we were welcome to stay with him–he’d be cooking spaghetti and sausage for dinner. I told him we’d talk it over and give him a call when we got to the road. 

The walk to the road was a nice change in that it was flat as opposed to the 18 miles of downhill we’d just walked. However, part of the walk to the road was on pavement which was hard on my shin splints. Then after the pavement ended the trail changed to loose sand–it was like walking on a beach for miles! It really gave our calves a workout. To top it all off, the wind was more intense than itd been all day! We later found out that there had been a wind advisory for gusts over 50mph! I was growing extremely frustrated by the time we neared the road, as most of the 4.8 miles had been walking directly into the wind which was a lot of work, especially in loose sand.

We finally reached the road and went under the underpass below the highway. There were some coolers with water bottles and even beer! But we had very little time to check them out because we saw an SUV at the far end of the underpass with a bunch of hikers piling in. We booked it over there to see if we might be able to finagle a ride to In N Out rather than make Hillbilly come get us. 

We met Mama Bear, as she calls herself, who had checked the underpass for hikers to see if anyone needed a ride. Four hikers that we hadn’t met before were piling in the car and she was going to drive them to Hillbilly’s to stay. She asked if we wanted to join. We had planned to just get a burger then come back to the trail and find a camp spot after. We had to discuss it but finally decided that we would just stay with Hillbilly after all, but not without asking Mama Bear if we could stop at In N Out first. She very kindly said yes and we hopped in the car all squeezed in and sitting in each others’ laps. The reason we had to discuss whether to stay at Hillbilly’s was that often it is the case that you get a late start the next day, as you are relying on the trail angel to get you back to the trail and typically that doesn’t happen super early. It was supposed to be really hot the next day so we were concerned we wouldn’t be able to start hiking in time to beat the heat. We ultimately decided to suck it up for the chance to have our burgers!

Mama Bear drove us to In N Out and we ordered our food to go (2 burgers and fries and Dr Pepper for wolf bird and a burger fries and a chocolate milkshake for me). We met the other hikers, Flame, Beav (as in Beaver), Gourmet, and Sonia. Flame and Beav had each hiked the AT before. Beav hiked Southbound like us! He hiked in 2012 but started on the same date (July 1) that we did in 2013!

We got our food to go and were off to Hillbilly’s! Mama Bear started describing Hillbilly to us and said things like “he doesn’t have a lot of teeth” and “he’s different…but harmless” and then finally said “I guess what I’m trying to say is he drinks a lot”. Well this would be interesting. 

We got to Hillbilly’s and discovered six other hikers already there, so that made 11 of us with us five joining. Hillbilly was quite a character right off the bat. He is in his 60s with white hair and off color jokes. Wolf bird and I were sitting eating our burgers when Hillbilly came up behind wolf bird and tickled his ribs and yelled “gotcha! I knew you were ticklish” and then told me he’d get me too later. His house was full of knickknacks with a lot of tiger things–rugs and paintings and statues.., even a panther table! Hillbilly had clearly been drinking all day and offered everyone beers and shots. We did not partake. All this being said, he was incredibly generous. He allowed us all to take showers and do laundry and then made us all dinner as well. It felt so nice to shower even though I almost felt guilty showering the day after I was in town!

We met and chatted with some of the other hikers but were already getting tired by 7ish! We usually go to bed by 8! The atmosphere was pretty loud and chaotic and social. Wolf bird and I hadn’t noticed that many of the others had already claimed floor space to sleep on so we got stuck with space right in front of the loud tv in the living room while everyone else were more tucked away. 

A group of hikers called Hillbilly asking for a ride so a whole new group of four hikers arrived around 830 or so. We had turned down the lights but couldn’t figure out how to turn off the volume on the tv so we were just laying on our pads frustrated. Then when this new group of hikers came in, they were very loud and moving all over the place and turning on lights etc. I was really frustrated as I am a light sleeper and knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep until everyone was quiet and it was dark. Wolf bird was frustrated too but not nearly as much as I was. Finally everyone calmed down and the lights were out, but then hillbilly turned on the tv in his bedroom. His bedroom was right beside the living room and he left his door open so the Noise from his tv was pretty loud where we were laying–I could hear even through earplugs. Wolf bird luckily fell asleep but I didn’t fall asleep until hillbilly turned off his tv at midnight. I was very grateful for a place to sleep and food and shower and laundry… But it did come at a price. Sometimes sleeping out in the woods is just easier and more simple! Nonetheless it was a strange yet memorable experience… And we did get our In N Out after all so all was good in the world. 

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5/12/17: Mile 155 Tentsite to Hurkey Creek Park Campground

We woke up at 5:00AM and got going about 30 minutes after Yote and Nicole. The walking all morning was incredibly beautiful! It was such a different landscape than what we’ve been walking in. Rather than it feeling like desert, it felt like we were in the mountains! I loved seeing some big trees and big mountains surrounding us. An hour or so into our day, I heard Wolf Bird, who was walking behind me (a very rare occurrence that I only allowed because my shin hurt and I wanted to set the pace) shout “There he is!”. I turned around to discover Crash! He had made up the miles and finally caught us! I shouldn’t say ‘finally’ because he caught us quite quickly.  It was great to see him again. We even found out that the trail angels had dropped him off at the wrong road crossing (he said they were arguing when they passed the correct crossing and didn’t hear him say ‘here!’) so he had to re-walk about 8 or so miles he’d already done!


We walked with Crash for the rest of the day. Him and Wolf Bird mostly walked together talking and I lagged a bit behind because my shin was bothering me. However, it was a beautiful day, amazing scenery, and also not too hot, so I was pretty happy. I was SO glad we didn’t skip this section due to believing other people’s fear mongering. This was probably my favorite section of trail so far! The desert is beautiful and different, but I think mountain landscapes are what really capture my heart.

We had 10 miles to hike until we reached the part of the trail that is closed due to the wildfire damage. We started seeing charred trees about a couple of miles before the closure. It was pretty incredible to see the shiny black coating on tree trunks, but also impressive to see all the new growth that has occurred since the fire–there were flowers and grasses all around. We reached the closure around 10:30AM or so and also caught Nicole and Yote right around then. The five of us took a break together in some shade–it was actually a bit chilly in the shade with the wind blowing, as we were up around 7,000 feet!


From this point, we started the alternate section of the PCT that follows a side trail down to some forest service roads. This was the part we’d heard so many negative things about and were curious to see what it was actually like. We’d heard the 1.9 mile trail down to the forest service road was overgrown and hard to follow. Not true at all! It was a very clear trail and quite nice and went by super quickly. It even had a nice stream running alongside it. Next came the forest service roads, where we heard poisonous poodle dog bush was unavoidable. Also not true at all!!! We only saw 4 poodle dog bush all right near each other, two on each side of the road. But they were off the road and completely avoidable. It was hilarious to think someone would describe them as unavoidable. We later found out half the people hiking behind us didn’t even notice them!

We enjoyed walking the forest road downhill–it was easy and quick hiking, although Wolf Bird’s heel and my shin were both aching. We soon came across White Spot. He was slack packing (hiking without his full pack, just supplies for the day) the 30 mile alternate in the opposite direction. We’d joked yesterday that he should bring us trail magic so when we pass him he could bring us goodies from town, since he’d gone into town the previous day. Come to find out, he took that joke seriously!! He pulled out mini snickers bars, clementines, and Coke!!! We were so excited and grateful. How hilarious to be given trail magic by a fellow thru hiker. We enjoyed our delicious treats and continued down the trail after wishing him good luck.

We passed some cows in a pasture which made me very nervous (if you’re wondering why, read about my Cow Incident of 2k13), but luckily Crash and Wolf Bird protected me, although Wolf Bird was whistling to them in a way that sounded like he was trying to call them over…

Scary and ‘unavoidable’ poodle dog bush

Scary cows

As we were walking Wolf Bird also said “I would love to have a camper like that one day” to which Crash and I responded…. “uhhh that is a horse trailer” and laughed and made fun of Wolf Bird incessantly for wanting a horse trailer as his camper. He later claimed that he was talking about a camper he saw drive by on the main road up ahead, but we all know it was pretty clear he was referring to the trailer right in front of us at the time.

Wolf Bird’s ideal camper

We got down to the main highway into town and crossed over to a dirt path that then parallelled the highway for about 4 miles. After a bit more walking we finally arrived at Lake Hemet market, where Wolf Bird, Crash, and I stocked up on snacks and beer (the most expensive 6 pack we’ve ever bought, at $19.71!!!!!). We wandered into the campground that we weren’t even staying at (the market was at the entrance to this campground) and found a picnic table in the shade by the lake and drank our beers and hung out for a couple hours.

Eventually Yote and Nicole, as well as Amelia and Louie, arrived at the market and we all sat around on the porch of the market for a while eating more snacks and drinking more beer. We finally decided we should stop loitering and head the to actual campsite we were planning to stay at, 0.7 miles up the road. I hobbled there with the group and we all got to camp for free at site 18–a site they reserve for PCT hikers. We were grateful for the free site and also took advantage of the campground showers. I had to have Wolf Bird help me with the shower, as I have really huge blisters on the soles of my feet and was trying to hop around and avoid my raw skin touching the shower floor. It was as graceful as it sounds. We had a late bedtime for us, around 830 or 9.

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5/10/17: Mile 115 Tentsite to Tule Spring

It rained/misted overnight and we awoke to a soggy, overcast day. We packed up our wet tent and set out into the surprisingly chilly morning. We had our sights set on ‘Mike’s Place’ as our midday break. Other hikers had been talking about Mike’s Place for the past couple of days, really building up just how great it would be there–burgers and beer and all that a hiker could want. I didn’t get my hopes up too much about it, but Wolf Bird decided to mock all the hype about it by spontaneously shouting ‘Mike’s Place!! Mike’s Place!! Yeah!!!’ all morning. I soon banned this cheer since it was driving me crazy.


We were walking in a cloud all morning, so we had no views. It seemed like pretty cool landscape all around us–we walked through some boulderfields and ridgelines that seemed like they’d have amazing views on a clear day. While disappointing that we didn’t get views, it was a treat to not have to worry about the heat for once!

Such excitement over the sign to Mike’s Place
Wolf Bird showing off his new hairdo

We arrived at Mike’s Place around 11AM. He has a couple huge water tanks up the hill from his property where he allows hikers to refill their water bottles. We took advantage of this and then continued on to his actual house and yard. Yote and Nicole were already there, as were two other hikers we hadn’t met yet–a guy hiking with his two dogs and a girl Rebecca from the UK who was resting her ankle injury. Mike’s Place was quite interesting–it was a small-ish house with a pretty cluttered yard off a dirt road in the high desert of California. It didn’t appear too welcoming at first, but it turned out to be a nice oasis for us hikers.

It was pretty chilly once we stopped walking, so we cooked up some warm food and Wolf Bird made some instant coffee. Many other hikers showed up over the 3ish hours we were there. Eventually the sun even started peeking through the clouds and we all hung up our wet gear to dry. Other highlights of Mike’s Place included Wolf Bird drinking some Coors, Wolf Bird painting my toenails (the colors were his choice), and Wolf Bird being dared to eat a tortilla wrap with peanut butter and pepperoni in under 5 minutes (he failed).

We finally mustered the strength to leave the comforts of Mike’s Place and set out to hike another 10 miles to complete our day. We’d been hiking uphill all morning to Mike’s Place and continued uphill another couple of miles after leaving, only to then descend for the next 8 or so miles. We planned to camp at Tule Spring, the next water source after Mike’s Place–we tend to plan our days around water sources and like to try to camp by them so we have plenty of water to drink and cook with.

The first 7 or so miles out of Mike’s Place flew by, and the day had cleared up so it was beautiful and sunny out. I started getting a bit tired and asked Wolf Bird how much further to the spring and he told me it was only 2.2 miles. We soon found out he told me the distance to a different spot that was before the spring, and it was actually 3 point something miles to the spring. I definitely felt that extra mile and was really dragging by the time we arrived at the spring.


We had to walk downhill about a quarter mile to the spring. There was actually a cistern that apparently sometimes has water, but was empty when we got there. We had to fill from the creek below. Wolf Bird very kindly got my water for me and reported that the creek was really gross, with oil skins on the top of the water and weird colored algae. Yum! I wasn’t too worried, since on the AT I had drank out of some questionable water sources. However, once I tasted the water, I was shocked! It was SO gross. It was the worst tasting water I have ever had even after treating it with our Aquamira drops. We all joked that we felt like we were getting actively poisoned by it as we drank it…. hopefully that does not turn out to be true.

Yote and Nicole, as well as White Spot and Patrick camped near the spring in the same area as us. It was an early 7:30PM for us!

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5/8/17: Julian to Tentsite at Mile 101

We had a great evening staying with trail angels Mary Poppins and Roar last night. They live about a mile outside of town so we headed in their direction mid afternoon and met Yote and Nicole at Nickel Beer Brewery which was conveniently right on the way. The brewery was super cool, great beer and all locals except for us and a new hiker friend, Crash, from Australia. He is doing an 8 month trip where he is hiking the PCT as well as a couple of other long trails. Yote invited him to stay at the trail Angels as well so the five of us headed over there around 530. We enjoyed delicious baked spaghetti for dinner and relaxed talking and watching a movie. In the morning we had cereal and toast and coffee (I got to have my much-adored Cheerios) and chatted with Mary Poppins before heading out around 830 to hitch back to the trail. 
Most cars were heading into town rather than in the direction of the trail, but after about 30 minutes, Yote, Nicole, Wolf Bird and I scored a ride with a woman named Kim (Crash had gotten off at a different point on the trail and was headed back there himself). The two back seats in Kim’s van had booster seats for her kids so I enjoyed sitting on one while we cruised around hairpin turns down the mountain. 

We arrived at the trail at Scissors Crossing around 10am. We were a bit nervous and curious how crowded the trail would be with so many people having stayed in Julian to wait out the storm. We had 14 miles to go for the day until our first water source. Wolf Bird and I set out and had a good pace all morning, passing many groups of hikers. It was fun to see everyone and chat briefly. We were in cruise mode–it was sunny but much cooler than other days and with a nice breeze so it was easy to get a good pace going. We went uphill for nearly the entire morning and ended up getting to the water source around 2ish with only a brief 5-10 minute break! 

There were many hikers hanging out around where the water was. This particular source was a water cache–volunteers drive in gallon jugs of water for hikers. We walked downhill and off trail about 0.4 miles to reach the cache. It was crazy the amount of water there for hikers! It is truly humbling and awe inspiring to know that complete strangers will spend their time and money making sure we have water here (otherwise it would be 20 mile plus waterless section). 

After we loaded up with water and enjoyed a long break and lunch we set out for our afternoon miles. We were still feeling great–it must have been that two days of rest! I allowed myself a special treat and put in my headphones to listen to music, something I hadn’t done yet on this trail but did often on the AT. It was amazing how motivated and energized listening to music made me feel! The miles were flying by and when we got to a campsite we’d thought about stopping at a few miles out, we both agreed we wanted to keep walking!
We committed to another 10 miles and ended up passing the 100 mile mark! We pulled a 24 mile day and surprisingly felt pretty great when we arrived at camp.

There were about 15 other hikers already set up in the area we were camping. It was crazy because we hadn’t met any of them before–I guess we broke into a new bubble. We cooked dinner –wolf bird cooked a double dinner and ended up eating it on a log alone well into dusk after everyone else went to bed.