Today was an amazing day. I woke up around 6 a.m. and Sherpa was still sound asleep so I got dressed and headed to the coffee shop to grab my morning joe. When I got back she was still sleeping so I started consolidating my gear and cleaning the apartment. Before long she was up and I made eggs and beets for us. We did the dishes, finished packing, dropped the key off, and we were on our way. It has been tough resting while all the people we started with were out hiking and now days ahead.
Our plan was to climb Mt San Jacinto, a 10,833 ft snowcapped mountain. We hitched from just outside the inn to the trailhead of Devil’s Slide, an alternate but more direct approach to the summit trailhead. We were picked up almost immediately by a climber couple on their way to hike another trail. At first they hesitated and said they could only take us a mile but then said they would take us the whole way.
The trail to the summit was beautiful and covered with large twisted pines. It felt like walking through the pages of a Dr. Seuss book. Some of the trees had large trunks and a common Christmas tree like shape a the bottom only to stop abruptly and turned horizontally, as if they were growing against an imaginary celing.
Sherpa led the way and tempered our pace so as to not worsen our injuries. This was a really pleasant change for me and a significant milestone. If I told AT Sherpa that she would one day let me hike behind her, she would have slapped me.
On the ascent we passed a couple people along the way, Mom, Rebecca from the UK, and a local. Other than that the hike was fairly uneventful. We filled our water bottles from a spring about 2 miles from the summit and made the final push through patchy snow.
When we had nearly reached the summit, the trail split off to the summit trail, and the trail that headed back to the PCT. We met a few folks and dropped our bags because the last bit was an out and back. Within a few minutes we were passing an emergency shelter and nearing the top. The last few hundred feet was covered in snow and boulders.
The summit was spectacular and there were lots of hikers enjoying the view. On the northern side you could see the wind farms below that we would approach in the coming days. On the southern side, the valley was covered in clouds far below. It didn’t feel like that we hiked up a 10,000 foot mountain, but now that we were at the top the views did not disappoint.
We didn’t doddle long and soon we were heading back to our bags for lunch. I stopped off at the shelter and stepped inside. It was a small stone cabin with a heavy wooden door, and an iron, sliding, latch. Inside there were four wooden bunk beds, a few wooden litters, and an emergency supply box. I imagine the whole cabin gets pretty well covered with snow in the winter. I also noticed a lot book so I signed in and saw a few other hikers we knew had signed in. Notably Honey Buns, and Knock on Wood came though on the 14th. After I drew my signature Wolf Bird with a Gatorade and a hiking pole in his talons, I headed down to the junction to meet Sherpa. We ate lunch in the sun which I was super excited about because I had packed hummus, garlic naan, and pesto. It was delicious! Sherpa had cream cheese and bagel thins, gross! She likes nasty things precious.
When we finished we started the trek down. It was a bit difficult to follow the trail because of the patchy snow. Sherpa was in the lead and I started getting annoyed that she kept leading us off the trail. Then I finally took the lead and sure enough we got off trail in only a few minutes.
After a while we got the hang of it and wandered through a funny campground where all the campsites had oddly sexual names. Our favorite was Owl’s Hooch!
Soon after we hit the PCT junction and decided to fill up at the next river ford, then camp just before or on Fuller Ridge.
The ford was very cool as it flowed over steps carved for the trail. We filled up a solid 3 liters and I decided not to treat mine since the water seemed so fresh. Then we hiked the last couple miles to a campsite at mile 187.8. It was a beautiful spot but the wind had picked up so we hurried through dinner as fast as possible. As we were wrapping up a guy that was camping on the opposite side of the trail came over and said we needed to go look at the view before crashing. So just before shivering our way into the tent we made a quick visit to the other side of the narrow ridge and it was remarkable. We also noticed that the three tents there were in the worst slopey sites you can imagine. Good luck sleeping in those fellas!
We scampered back to our tents jumped inside and cuddled til we warmed up. As soon as we were laying on our own pads our feet were cold again. It was of because my torso and head was hot but my feet were cold. I am not sure how but I fell asleep in spite of the odd temperature distribution. When I woke up a couple hours later my body had found equilibrium and after a quick windy per, we slept like little hiker babies.
Our hike to Paradise Valley Cafe ended with in an oasis of delicious beer, salad, burgers, and shade. We started out our hike early around 5:45 a.m. and we felt rusty but the miles started trickling by even though we were climbing a couple of thousand feet. Before we knew it we were halfway to our siesta spot, Paradise Valley Cafe.
When we left in the morning Coyote, Nicole, and Patrick all had already left and White Spot was packing his bag. When we reached our halfway mark to the siesta point, also the only point with reliable water, they were all there. The spot, known as Walden, was really pretty neat and cozy. There was a water cache, a water tank, a mini library with printed poems, and some good shade. Patrick, thanks to my poor information, took off because I told him that I heard that there wasn’t reliable water. Oops… Sorry Patrick! Sherpa said she wanted to stop and of course it was amazing. Coyote and Nicole were propped up under the shade reading to each other and we sat down next to them for a minute.
After chatting them up we hit the road again and killed the next 6 or 7 miles to the road, where we planned to hitch to Paradise Valley Cafe. About 2.5 miles to go I stumbled on a large bag of food that, in retrospect, I think someone ditched on the trail because of how extremely heavy it was.
I felt bad knowing that if it wasn’t an accident, someone might have to buy a whole new resupply, so I picked up the bag and strapped it to my back and carried it all the way to the road. I asked everyone I saw if it was their bag and everyone said no. When we arrived at the road, my feet were really hurting and I could tell I was getting the beginnings of Plantar Fasciitis. The bag moving side to side really added to the bruising of my right foot tendons. Poor Sherpa was also developing some serious blisters along the way so reaching the road was a welcome site.
I dropped off the bag at the trail head, hoping that it’s owner would go there first if they were looking for it. Later I found on Facebook that a lot of people were mad that someone left a bag at the trail head. I only recently added myself to the Facebook group and it is hilarious at times but probably not worth the time of day. It’s just more hiker babble which is often wrong and sometimes ridiculous. I include my own hiker babble in that.
We were tired of walking and are not fans of walking off trail miles when we can help it, we attempted to hitch. Within minutes we were picked up by a lovely couple. The guy in the passenger’s seat jumped out and he surprisingly resembled a hiker. Once we got in we realized why when he told us he had just finished the AZT.
They dropped us off and wished us well and we entered Paradise. This place was amazing. It had all you could ever want, burgers, beer, power, shade, and bathrooms. So exciting! The food was outstanding and all of our hiker friends started trickling in. We sat at the table with Patrick, Coyote, Nicole, and White Spot. We only had one beer but we were laughing a lot. Sherpa and I got burgers and fries, and we shared a large salad.
We finished eating and promptly sprawled our pads and gear out under the shade of a beautiful pine tree with soft bark. A few of us napped, including myself, and then we started talking about what to do next. Originally Sherpa and I planned on taking the PCT alternate to avoid a trail closure due to a fire. We were discussing it with Coyote and Nicole and we stated hearing roomers of poodle dog bush covering the alternate and we began thinking we were making a mistake. Soon we were planning all kinds of different paths around the infamous bush that can inflict pain and blisters more severe than Poison Oak, or Poison Ivy. We heard from one of the hikers, who said he hiked the AT, that his friend and fellow experienced AT hiker told him: “don’t go on the alternate, you will run into a wall to poodle dog bush”. That almsot had us all convinced. We were going to hitch to a campground 7 miles away that would take us 24 miles on the PCT and the PCT alternate.
We know better than to listen to hiker hype. Hikers, myself sometimes included, often inflate the danger or intensity of their experiences. I have learned this lesson time and time again that the only person that can tell you what you will face is you, when you face it. We finally started to doubt the roomers when Sherpa read some blogs of people that did it only a few days ago and there was no mention of a lack of water or excessive poodle dog bush. Coyote, Nicole, Amelia, and Luis all decided that we were going to see it for ourselves.
When we finally got the motivation to get moving, Coyote, Nicole, Sherpa, and I went to get a hitch. Within moments Cayote and Nicole were able to get picked up and were whisked away. We stayed for another 20 minutes with no luck so we began walking. Sherpa was in a lot of pain because her blisters were very large now, but we didn’t have much of a choice.
By the time we hit the trail head it was probably 6:30 p.m. and we started a mad dash to hit a campsite 4 miles today to make the next day an easy 17… or so we thought. It turned out be 20. A story for another post. The hike turned out to be pretty breathtaking. We were immediately so glad that we didn’t give into the fear mongering. This was some of the most gorgeous hiking on the trail thus far. Rolling hills, beautiful pines, granite boulders, the sunset. Priceless. Sherpa and I got in a bit of a spat over having to walk instead of waiting for a hitch but we soon made up in the presence of all this beautiful hiking.
We hit 4 miles and Coyote, and Nicole were there and already had their tent set up. We pitched our tent, ate dinner together family style, and went to bed on the forest floor.
Before we could slide into our sleeping bags, Sherpa took off her socks to reveal the most gruesome blisters I have ever seen. Half her foot was now a giant flapper and she also had some serious shin splints developing. She was in tears from pain and fearing walking on them tomorrow. She did her best to patch them up and I offered to do whatever I could to make it easier on her. She is so strong and I am so proud of her. She endures tough situations with determination like I have never witnessed.
Inside our tent, the moon looked like a spotlight and Sherpa woke me up just as I was falling asleep and said “what is that flashlight?” LOL. To be fair, it did look like someone had a floodlight pointed at our tent. It was that bright.
We finally fell asleep and slept like little injured hiker babies.
This was one of my favorite sections of hiking. We had a really hot day yesterday and so we decided to try a siesta strategy to keep from walking in the hottest part of the day so we woke up at 4:30 a.m.
We were at the top of a ridge at 4,908 ft but it was still very warm out and beautiful. The stars were beautiful and still bright since the moon had set. We packed up and I ate a quick breakfast of bars and Sherpa wasn’t feeling great so she didn’t eat much. We started walking around 5:15 a.m. and were making amazing time.
As the sun started coming up we started hearing a lot of mountain lion chirping. They seem to be calling each other from different slopes. Sherpa went ahead at one point because I have been taking pictures of as many flowers as I can find, and she promptly waited for me when we heard some chirping nearby. We had heard that this section had some stalking reported. I have since done some googling on how to prevent an attack if you encounter one. Basically you stare them down, make yourself larger than life, and shout.
Fortunately we didn’t have to fight a cougar. After a couple miles we climbed into this forest wonderland. Pretty wild seeing such an environment change.
After a couple miles we encountered a sign to Mt. Laguna. We decided in Lake Morena that we would skip this town and go into Julian. After that came Burnt Rancheria Campground where we stopped and took a quick break and I took advantage of their privy! Sherpa was still feeling weird but tried to eat something without much success.
When we finally got water and got going, we hiked out of the forest and passed some striking views!
The desert is hot and unbelievable! It’s definitely easier for me to enjoy the scenery because the heat doesn’t affect me like it does Sherpa. She is constantly having to manage her system to stay at a reasonable temperature. Today was more manageable than the last two because we were hiking earlier and there was a breeze.
We hiked until mile 48.7 at Penny Pines Point Faucet and planned to siesta there. We met a few thru-hikers there: Sara, GG, and Shannon. We chatted them up for a few minutes then found an out of the way, shaded place to take a nap and eat lunch.
I made one of my dinners for lunch and passed out. When I woke up I was super grumpy and had to take a second to chill out. We decided that we hadn’t done enough to meet other hikers so we were going back to the faucet to find people to meet. There where two hikers at the pump, Bryant and Evan?? They were from Caly somewhere and pretty friendly.
We then saddled up for the final push and had a really pleasant last couple miles. We saw lots of wildlife and amazing views.
Our final destination was technically a picnic area called Pioneer Mail Picnic Area not a campsite. We were apprehensive about camping here because you aren’t allowed but when we arrived there were already 4 tents up. We found a flat spot and out up our tent then when to get water.
The water source was a horse trough that had two faucets. One on top and one on the trough itself. Sherpa, nearly a genius, started filling her bottle from the trough faucet which supplied life giving green algae, mosquito water. I quickly mansplained that the top faucet was clear so she dumped out her water but, to my consternation, left at least a cup of green water in the bottom. I convinced her to dump it out, saint that I am. We are working on her standards.
We went to bed and slept like little hiker babies.
A lot has happened since we left Portland 21 days ago. Too much to capture every detail but we wanted to share a couple highlights from our road trip. We are so grateful for all our friends and family we visited along the way.
We are sitting on a Delta plane in Detroit watching a ridiculous safety video so it seems like a good time to do a post. Also Julie did the last one so I feel guilty.
Portland to RPH Shelter in NY
We left Portland on Monday, April 10th and drive about 4ish hours to a shelter on the AT famous for being able to order pizza from the shelter. We didn’t want pizza, but we did want to camp for free. This turned out to be a great spot though Julie said it gave her the creeps when she stayed here on her thru hike.
I was excited about it because it was so close to the road and I had heard about it. I had no idea that it was so close to the road but it’s right off a little back road of the Taconic Parkway. You can you see it from the road and it looks like a little cinderblock house.
We were a little nervous about parking because there were no parking signs everywhere near the trail and we read online that the local community was cracking down for fear of drugs. After some driving around I found a spot about a half mile away in between two properties with some high grass. No one bothered us so I think we chose well.
Highlight moment for me was using the privy with the door open and a full moon. Pun intended. We slept well and it was a great first night.
RPH Shelter to Frederick & Hagerstown, MD
I got up early and made coffee and prepped to make breakfast while Julie slept in a little longer. That is our standard routine, I get up and mill about aimlessly and she sleeps as long as she can. Usually she can’t sleep that long because I am so loud.
We had a great breakfast of eggs, avocado, and I added some leftover beans and hamburger from the night before, then we hit the road to go visit Matt, Olalla, and my family.
It was the first time that Julie met a lot of them and it has been a whirlwind social tour for her meeting as many of my friends and family that we could fit in. She handled it like a champ and probably liked at least one or two of them.
We got to Frederick around 4 and met Matt for drinks. It was great to see the area where he is opening a new Rockwell Construction office.
During our visit to the area we got to see Matt’s family, both my sisters and their families, Gramps, and my mom. We had a blast visiting and a highlight was running 3 miles with my sister Steph before her race on Saturday, which she got 2nd place! It was probably because of my positive influence.
Hagerstown to Comers Rock on Jefferson National Forest
Jefferson National Forest was one of our favorite stops on our trip. Again we were seeking some free camping and a cool spot. Julie is really good at researching and finding hidden gems. We got there around 7 and the sun was about to set, so we set up our tent and grabbed some food to cook up at the summit of Comers Rock. It was beautiful and we had the summit to ourselves.
After dinner we headed back to camp and we got ready for bed. An SUV showed up and we thought they were going to be a rowdy bunch, which was true, but they were a quiet, rowdy bunch and didn’t impact our sleep. I did wake up at 4am and they were still awake chopping wood for the fire.
The next morning when they left I told Julie I wanted to see the campsite because I knew it was going to be interesting so we walked over and we were pretty shocked at what we found. They had strewn trash everywhere. It was really sad and an eye opener for us. We spend a solid 15 minutes picking up empty booze bottles.
After seeing this scene we started noticing litter all around us and it was making us feel pretty indignant. Everywhere we turned someone had deliberately just discarded garbage into one of the most pretty pieces of public land.
It is shocking to see how little people appreciate access to such a wonderful place. It’s no wonder we are letting this access be called into question by the current administration. We tried to do our part by collecting every piece of litter we saw.
Highlights of this part if the trip:
Cooking dinner at the summit of Comers Rock
Picking up litter
Free primitive, dispersed camping
Skinny dipping in a pond (just me)
Spending the day by the pond drinking beer, eating cheezits, and swimming
Seeing a bobcat, deer, and a lot of turkeys
Sherpa screaming and running out of the privy because a bat attacked her (turned out to be a bird)
Finding garlic mustard
Jefferson National Forest to Charlotte
We left Jefferson National Forest to head to Blufton, SC to have Easter dinner with my Grandma and some family. We noticed that our route was taking us right through Charlotte, where Sherpa’s friend Ashley lives. We stopped in to visit her and saw her amazing apartment and had lunch at a delicious taco place. We also went for a really nice walk in a park that Ashley showed us. Mabel loved getting in the water and she got a lot of attention from the children nearby.
The highlight for me, besides seeing Ashley, was my carnitas taco! I love carnitas.
Charlotte to Bluffton, D.C.
After the park we drove to my Grandma’s house. We had an amazing time and we were so lucky that our trip took us by her house right on Easter. This was the first time I had seen her home in Bluffton and Sherpa’s first time meeting everyone except my dad. We were able to see Grandma, Dave, Kathy, Bill, Dad, and Beth! We were laughing hysterically within minutes. Such a great crew to visit.
Before we arrived I told Julie that Grandma and Dave have a way of decorating their house so that it feels like a place you just want to sit and read for hours. Rarely have I felt so content to simply be as in their home.
Highlights
Dinner on both nights
Lots of beautiful birds and wildlife
Seeing Grandma and Dave beautiful place
Dave showing us downtown Bluffton
Bluffton, SC to Little Talbot State Park
We were sad to go but excited to see the beach. We took off around 11 after saying goodbye to Grandma. We first headed to Savannah, GA where we spent some time walking around the downtown. We got some delicious ice cream (Mabel included) and went for a walk in a park and by the river. We then headed south to the Jacksonville area without a specific plan. We had an eye on a campsite at Little Talbot State Park but they don’t allow same day reservations so we had to drive there and cross our fingers that there would be an open spot. We were in luck! There were two spots open. We set up our tent and then headed to a restaurant at nearby Amelia Island/Ferdinanda Beach. We sat in adirondack chairs and ate seafood and drank beers. We were chatted up by a woman from Delaware and Mabel also growled at some children and was put in time out. After dinner we went to South End Beach for the sunset and Julie wouldn’t let Mabel get near the water because she was afraid of sharks! She had spent a lot of her good Googling time looking up shark attacks and scaring herself to pieces. We headed back to our campsite and went to bed.
Highlights
Lucking out on finding a campsite
Putting Mabel in timeout
Julie making us walk in circles looking for the bathroom when all along I knew it was right next to the campsite
Little Talbot State Park to Fort Clinch State Park
After breakfast we went for a 4 mile walk along the beach in Little Talbot State Park. We were amazed at how such a beautiful beach had so few people. Who passed the turn in the trail and we went to the end of the beach and at the mouth of the river or Bay of some kind, there were Rangers taking pictures or observing a flock of birds that looked very diverse.
Just passed them there was a pool of water that was teeming with schools of fish and jumping fish. On the way back we found the trail that headed into the woods and within 50 yards we spotted a large turtle in the shade.
There was no other Wildlife to speak of though Julie was scared of panthers. When we finished hiking, we stopped at the ranger station to see if we could camp another night. They said they were full but gave us a list of other campgrounds. I started calling them and found that Fort Clinch had a spot open. I got off the phone and just as a van pulled up and an older man jumped out and asked if they had any spots. They of course said no but Julie and I looked at each other and started a brisk walk back to the car.. We started sprinting to the car after we are just out of sight. LOL!
Julie speaking now. We sped to the other State Park and luckily secured a spot. This state park was right at the mouth of a river and our campsite was a 15-second walk to a small beach with hammocks. We spent the rest of the day at an awesome bar slash restaurant right on the beach near the state park. We got tropical drinks and tasty food and Mabel enjoyed our lazy lifestyle. Wolf bird went for a little swim in the ocean and we later made some dinner and ate it while watching the sunset over the water by the hammocks. We went to bed and I couldn’t fall asleep because there was a consistent rustling in the woods rightness are tent. Wolf bird was of course asleep after 30 seconds so I had to listen to the sounds and wonder / worry what they were all alone. I had phone service so I looked up Florida Panthers and read some very frightening stories about the Resurgence of the Panther population. Usually rustling noises won’t freak me out too much if it gies5 away but this rustling lasted for nearly an hour. I really had to pee but I didn’t want to get attacked by a panther so I had to wake up wolf bird. He was not too happy but like the true gentleman he is, he shined the light in the woods and reassured me that it was probably only a gator. How comforting. He was kind enough to accompany me to the bathroom where we heard more rustling right in the woods outside of the restroom building. As he was shining the light he figured out what it was. And right at that moment I turned to see a little silver and gray rat looking reptile scurrying by the bathrooms. It was an armadillo! Apparently armadillos are nearly blind and deaf so it really was not that scary after all. And reading about them later we found out that armadillos jump about four feet into the air when frightened which leads to them often being Roadkill when they jump into the undercarriage of cars.
After Armadillo SightingsHighlights
Finding an awesome beach bar
Sunset at the mouth of the river next to our campsite
Armadillo sightings in the middle of the night ( really it was only 10:30 p.m.)
Fort Clinch State Park to The Villages
We spent a good chunk of the day at the beach. We set up the tent fly and made an awesome Shelter From the Sun where Mabel and I could not get sunburnt. We eventually headed south to The Villages to see my mom and dad. We arrived around 9 p.m. I was excited for them to spend some quality time with Mabel as I knew they would love her and her perfect behavior.
The Villages
We spent about five or six days in The Villages. It was so great to see my parents before setting off on our hike. They of course were won over by Mabel and she clearly enjoyed the Florida retired lifestyle. We spent a decent portion of our time doing some last-minute Trail prep but we also got to do some fun activities as well. I am so grateful to have such a supportive parents. They even are taking on the task of mailing us our food drops along the Trail which we can’t thank them enough for.
Highlights
Watching Mabel and my parents fall in love
Getting lunch at cool spot on a lake with my parents
Spending some time at the pool
Talking to our waiter /future murderer
My mom describing in Vivid detail her trashy, creepy murder novel
Watching my dad’s expression when he looked at the PCT map we gave him
The Villages to Lake Alfred, FL to The Villages
(Wolf Bird) Almost forgot one of the best parts! We made a quick visit to see Grandpa and Pam. It was so nice seeing their winter home finally. They seem to have built such a beautiful life and it was nice to be a part of it for a moment.
Highlights
Seeing Grandpa and Pam for the first time in years
Amazing Mexican food
The Villages to Athens, GA
(Wolf Bird) We said goodbye to Julie’s parents Amber attempting to drive all the way to Knoxville Tennessee. On the way I posted that we were headed to Knoxville and Shuffle posted that we should stop and see her in Athens. I really wanted to see her however I was really tired so we talked about it for a little while but then finally decided we definitely needed to see her and her boyfriend Josh. They just got a new cabin and it is amazing. We were both so glad that we decided to visit that because it’s been so long.
We drove to their cabin and as soon as we got out of the car Mabel and kabu got in a fight. Poor cow who had to be put away for the evening. And we stayed up late chatting the next morning we walk their property and took a look at the amazing 10 acres that their land sits on surrounded by water and a reservoir. We are both so excited for their new place and can’t wait to see how it evolves.
At about 11 o’clock we went into Athens and stop by clocked and had Burgers which were amazing. After that we said goodbye and headed to Knoxville.
Highlights
Reunion with Shuffle
Learning about their new cabin Adventure
Walking the property
Athens, GA to Knoxville, TN
After lunch we got in the car and drove to Knoxville Tennessee. The trip was short and with only if within a few hours we were already hanging out with friends. It was so good to see everyone and we had many fun nights while we did last minute prep.
We were very sad to leave Mabel behind but we know she’s in really good care has she has an entire Village to take care of her.
Highlights
Having dinner every night at Kevin’s house with some of my closest friends
Seeing Brendan for the first time in a long time
Bushwackers
Knoxville, TN to San Diego
This morning we got up around 4 a.m. and got ready to leave for a flight. Erin Emory was nice enough to drive us to the airport and our trip went off without a hitch. We are now sitting in a tree house at a trail angels home about to eat free dinner and get a free ride to the southern terminus to begin our PCT Adventure. Thank you to everyone who has helped us make this possible including a generous hosts Scout and Frodo!
