Journal Entries

May 22nd- Day 31- 14.3 miles from Buckhorn Camp on Endangered Species Detour mile 3.1 (between miles 390.2 and 394) to Sulphur Springs Trail Camp at mile 406.6

I get my food from the bear box and go to the bathroom, and am packed quickly with my new groundsheet. I head through the campground to the trailhead that will take me back to the PCT. I'm hiking by two dayhikers and two other thru-hikers for a while before they drop behind. Soon I'm back on the PCT, along a green mossy stream. My feet ache from walking on asphalt on the road walk yesterday.

The trail has been a steady up with very few stretches of down since Cajon Pass, and today is no different. It's hot and I put my head down for the most part and push through it. I'm walking through sparse, dry pine forest, along the ridges and flanks of endless pine-covered hills. I don't see anyone all morning, which is super nice.

I am startled by a rattlesnake on the side of the trail as it moves away. It's about two and a half feet long, black, with a blonde rattle that sticks into the air as it moves unhurriedly in the shade. I watch it for a while and eat some string cheese, then move on.

I hike around a girl named Kristen as we get close to the 400 mile mark, even though we don't really talk much. I see the marker and take a picture, then move on. I've been hiking for a month today. 400 miles in a month- I'm pretty happy with that. 400 times 5.5 (the months I'll be out here, about) is 2,200. With my faster speed in Oregon and Washington I'll be set to finish on time. We'll see my time through the snow in the Sierra...

I find two girls I met in Wrightwood, Hop-Along and Kyra, at Camp Glenwood a half mile later. It's basically just a locked-up building with some outhouses, picnic tables, and a faucet that sprays everywhere when I try to fill up my dirty water bag. Hop-Along is hilarious, and Kyra is super quiet. They decide to walk to the Highway 2 crossing in another half mile, in the slim, tragic hope that there will be trail magic. At the very least there will be a trash can, an outhouse, some picnic tables, and shade.

I join them and we goof around and talk and crack up. We sit in the shade by the front of the outhouse and eat our food. Kira and I make some ramen. The outhouse vent is right by me and whenever I talk it echoes back at me. We discuss Gatorade and whether it actually tastes good; I don't think it tastes very good at all, but I say I'd definitely go for some right now. I mention that I don't have any earphones, and it turns out Hop Along has an extra pair that she upgraded from, and she gives me her old ones. Yay! I can't wait to listen to music at night, and maybe some podcasts.

There aren't many people driving by. A couple of dayhikers we saw hiking here pass by to use the bathrooms and tell Hop-Along and Kira they won't make it to Canada at the pace they're going, even though they're both recovering from knee injuries so they have to go slow; they also made rude comments about their pack sizes. Rude-jerks.

A car pulls up and a guy hops out. "Would you guys like some Gatorade?" he asks.

"Yes!" we say, and he hands us two big bottles of cold Gatorade. There was trail magic at this parking lot after all! We just had to wait for it.

We eventually head out in the heat, Hop Along and Kira right behind me. We catch up to Swayed, Larry and Amanda as they're filling up their water bottles from a small cache. I hiked with Larry and Amanda coming down from Baden Powell. We hike in front at first, and then they leapfrog us as we stop at yet another outhouse along the trail to pee.

There is a ton of Poodle Dog Bush along the trail here. It looks like such a friendly plant! Hop Along, Kira and I catch up to Swayed, Larry and Amanda again and we form a big hiker train. I hike in front because they designate me as the fastest, even though my legs are sore and tight right now. Kira and Hop Along continue hiking, and I go with Swayed & Co. to a campsite with picnic tables and outhouses along a creek.

I'm fully planning on making some dinner here and then hiking some more, but soon there are people trickling in and I don't have the motivation to leave. I hang out with Swayed, Larry, Amanda and Godongo at a picnic table, with a big group at the picnic table over. They're all hilarious and awesome. Larry and Amanda are from Canada and Larry is always saying "Eh?" At the end of his sentences.

I make a ziploc of chocolate pudding after my dinner and snacking, and I'm too full to finish it, so I trade it for some high chews with Shakedown at the other table.

As we're getting ready for bed, some puffy little cloud cover is coming over the mountain. Swayed teases me about me cowboy camping, saying it's going to rain even though it's obviously not. His 2-person tent is right next to mine, so I tell him I know who I'm crashing if it starts raining. We all crack up. I really enjoy those three. I think I need to find some people like them, who aren't super into drinking and weed and partying and other boring things.

I'm sitting in my sleeping bag in the dark, putting my new earphones from Hop Along in, when the plug snaps in half. I stare at it for a few seconds and then resign myself to another couple of days without music. I'll finally stop being lazy and get some in Agua Dulce.

May 21st- Day 30- 23 miles from Grassy Hollow Visitor Center at mile 370.3 to Buckhorn Camp on Endangered Species Detour mile 3.1 (between miles 390.2 and 394).

I wake up early of my own volition. I'm fully awake and it's warm out. I eventually decide I should just get up even though I don't know what time it is, and pack up super quickly. I fold up my fresh Tyvek groundsheet as quietly as I can, as it crinkles loudly. It's so much faster with a groundsheet for cowboying and not just using my tent!

I eat random things and fill a water bottle up at the faucet. The water is cloudy and I filter it, as suggested by the rangers here. Then I'm out, the sun rising and casting long shadows on the forest floor. The trail switchbacks down to the Highway, and I pause to use the bathroom and empty my trash and eat before starting the switchbacks up to Baden Powell.

I hike behind a guy named Bill for a while, as I'm always faster when I'm matching someone else's pace. That way I'm not lazy and fighting the urge to take breaks every ten minutes. The switchbacks are challenging but good, my pack not feeling too horrible, I'm sweating and focused on the trail above me, trekking poles pumping back and forth to keep up my momentum and pull myself upwards.

Near the top, we start hitting snow banks, and I and the other hikers head straight upwards, getting back on the trail where it switchbacks again. Catch 'Em is here, playing rap and Disney movie soundtracks from his phone out loud. It's kind of annoying so I hike ahead.

We pass a tree along the side of the trail that has a memorial sign for a guy named Walley Waldron, with the PCT heading off on the right.

I continue straight ahead and I'm at the top and I set my pack down against a squat little obelisk memorial for Lord Baden Powell, who founded the Boy Scouts. I walk up the last hundred feet to the proper top, and look at the LA sprawl for a while before heading back to eat lunch. I sit with Catch Em and a thruhiking couple, listening to the Lion King soundtrack on Catch Em's phone. I think it's one of the only Disney animated classic movies I've actually seen.

We head down, navigating around and over even more snow banks. They're not bad at all. Julian and Anika are down camping off the side of the trail. Apparently Julian is pretty sick. I remember that I have a probiotic drink powder and give it to Anika.

I hike behind a Canadian couple, Larry and Amanda, as they slackpack. If I can match someone else's pace I'll go much faster and I manage to keep up with them until Little Jimmy spring. There is cold spring water flowing out of a pipe into a trough, and someone has made flat-top log benches to sit on. We talk with two day hikers who are super excited to get to talk with us; one of them wants to hike the PCT sometime soon. They're doing the JMT this summer and they have the same start date as I did! It feels weird to have hikers come up to us and be in awe of us; we're just walking. But, then, I was the exact same way.

After drinking the cold, delicious water, and eating some more bagels with cream cheese, I head out. We all stop again at Islip Pass. From here, you can either do a 20 mile trail walk around an endangered frog detour, or go further along the PCT and do a short 2.7 mile road walk around. I elect to do the road walk with a bunch of other people.

The PCT goes straight up for 4 miles, along the tops of ridges with views of LA. Even though we've been above LA all day, I haven't had service at all. I cross the highway again and do another short section of climbing, then rest at a picnic area. I boil water for the Mountain House sticky rice and mango I got in Wrightwood, because it's one of my favorite foods. Then I let it sit in my mesh while I start the road walk.

I decide to play music as I walk, and I sing loudly as I pick my way down the road on the shoulder. I switch from each side of the road several times to get a better shoulder. It's not that dangerous; there aren't that many cars, and there's always at least 3 feet on the side of the road to walk on. It's the first time I've been able to listen to music, since my earphones died and I haven't replaced them, and I thoroughly enjoy myself. The sun gets closer to the horizon and bugs zip through the air, glowing like dust motes in the late-afternoon light.

I get to the turnoff and am hiking into the campground when I see a man jogging back and forth in a small clearing, and turn my music off. He's blowing air out of his mouth as he runs. He isn't wearing a shirt and car keys dangle from a loop around his neck.

"Hi!!" He says, and asks whether I actually need my trekking poles for stabilization when I'm walking. I say no, but that I like them.

"Where did you come from?"

"Mexico," I say.

"Habla Espanol?" He asks, cocking his head to the side.

"No," I say, and explain that I'm hiking from Mexico to Canada on the PCT.

"You're surely not alone?"

"Yes."

"Please tell me you're carrying pepper spray."

"Nope." I say. At this point I'm walking on, and he asks if he can jog with me into the campground for a while. He jogs in circles as he continues to talk to me.

"But, bears, cougars, and rattlesnakes come out at night and attack you," he says. At this point we're in the middle of the campground and he points to the information board. "It says on that sign." I just shake my head. He points out a poster with a bunch of events listed for Memorial Day weekend. "Look, there's a talk about snake risk," he says.

I look at the poster. Biologist with snakes, it says. Huh.

He says he'll make some dinner soon and I can join him after he's finished running, and then he starts jogging around the campground. I set my pack down and open my sticky rice with mango. It's absolutely disgusting so I throw it away; slimy, liquid mango cubes, dehydrated rice, sesame seeds and some sugary water.

I fill up my water bottles at the faucet; the running man points it out for me on one of his lackadaisical jogging loops. I reluctantly agree to join him for dinner, since we're in the middle of the campground with a ton of other people around, so it's not like he can do anything too weird, and I can't turn down real food.

I sit down at his table and he pulls a paper bag out of his car. He starts pulling out peanut butter jars, baby food that he got on clearance for 10 cents, and muffins that he got for free at his college reunion. I eat a muffin and talk with him for a while, which is super weird. I realize suddenly that he's autistic... I awkwardly explain that I need to hike on and find a campsite further up the trail for the night before the sun sets. He offers me a spot in his campsite, but I say no, and he asks if he can hike with me up the trail for a bit, and I say no thanks, I'm good. I say goodbye, and he's super sad and says he'll be lonely. He's definitely on the autistic spectrum so he doesn't mean it in a creepy way because he thinks I'm his friend, but that doesn't make it much less creepy. I'm glad to walk away.

I walk up through the campground and see a bunch of hikers. They invite me to camp, and I quickly change my clothes and put on a hat so the guy won't recognize me from afar, which would be awkward and unwanted. I eat the rest of my bagels and cream cheese for dinner, and we make a fire and hang out around it. Runner guy, now in a shirt, continues jogging around the campground.

The couple I met on the top of Baden Powell and Godongo are super fun to talk with, and we talk very late, standing around the campfire even after we've put it out. Our senses of humor jive, and for once I seem to be on the same pop-culture bandwidth as someone else.

We realize how late it is (10:30) and we crawl into our beds. I'm cowboy camping and a huge spider keeps on scuttling up and trying to get in my sleeping bag, which freaks me out.

Hikers taking advantage of the shade and tables and free wifi outside of the bakery. We are professional loiterers.

Resupply. I try to be healthy... Twinkle Toes gave me a gigantic bag of peanut m&ms from her resupply box. Bagels and cream cheese are the bomb!!

May 20th- Day 29- 1 mile from Highway 2 and Wrightwood at mile 369.3 to Grassy Hollow Visitor Center at mile 370.3

I sleep in until 7 in the gorgeous bed. Michelle pokes her head in to wake us up. Heath has made a big breakfast- fried eggs, pancakes, hash browns, and bacon for the meat-eaters. Michelle bakes bread so there are also slices of toasted homemade bread. Heath introduces me to the concept of peanut butter on pancakes- as well as a healthy amount of butter and syrup. It's all delicious. Then we pack up quickly and they drop us off in front of the gas station in town. Twinkle Toes and I look at each other and just say, "Wow!" The world is awesome. Thank you Heath and Michelle!

Twinkle and I head over to the Mountain Hardware store to pick up packages. I get a package with a sheet of Tyvek since my polycryo groundsheet ripped down the middle. They sell it here, though, and there's already a Tyvek groundsheet in the hiker box. Oh, well. I spread out the crinkly white sheet on the asphalt and cut it down to the size I need, then put my old ground sheet and the remaining Tyvek in the hiker box. It's so loud, but I hear it gets softer if you put it in a washing machine or as you use it.

I leave my pack in the back patio of the hardware store and go to resupply at Jensen's, a building down. They have a hiker-food section and "Hiker" logo labels in the aisles to point out popular hiking foods. This town is so friendly and cute! Everyone knows about hikers.

I repackage my food back at the Mountain Hardware. Catch 'Em is here, after being evacuated out of Mission Creek due to his heart problem. Apparently a guy named Nightcrawler wearing Levi's and blue Nikes stole his heart medication and wallet at Deep Creek Hot Springs. He also stole the donation jars at both the Warner Springs Community Center and at Mike's Place. If any sees him, watch out... It really sucks that there are people like that on the trail, let alone in this world.

The entire back patio is set up for hikers, with hiker boxes for food and gear, a register, and a trash can. Twinkle and I head our separate ways- I hang out at the tables in front of the bakery and edit my journal posts and post them up on my blog.

I'm almost done and am thinking about finding a place to fill up my water bottles and hitching back to the trail, when Twerk walks up. He hiked through the night to get here from Cajon, only stopping to sleep for 4 hours. It's really awesome to see him. I tell him the bakery's closed and give him a hug, then we head over to a restaurant and order food. I get a veggie burger again, but this one is 100% better than the one last night: avocado, sprouts, soft bun, thousand island dressing, and hot, salty fries. Twerk has a small appetite as usual and takes forever to finish his BLT.

Sam from England, aka Tallboy, comes in and joins us. The pull of wanting to stay in town and wait for my friends is strong, but so is my antsiness to get out of town and save money, especially when I'm all ready to go. Tarantino comes and says he might have fractured his foot in this last section, and might be having to get off trail for a while. Karmel and Ram are getting off, too, because of Karmel's Plantar Fascitis. Is this the part of trail where people start getting off due to injuries? It's scary to think about having to stop, and sad to see people get off.

I head over to the Mexican food place with them. When I'm walking a car pulls up, and it's Craig, a guy who found me through Sounds of the Trail and always leaves me super-sweet messages asking how my hike is going through Instagram. He's in town after hiking up around Baden-Powell, and recognized me from a distance because of my poofy hair. Wow!! He says to get in touch if I need anything in the next hour because he'll be in town.

I sit with my friends at the Mexican place. I feel really torn about wanting to get hiking again vs. staying. There's no point in staying though, because I'm ready to leave and would be wasting around 60 dollars on splitting a cabin and meals... I call my dad, and decide to head out. I ask someone at the bar inside if they can fill my water bottles, and then start walking to the road to hitch.

Then I remember Craig and decide to see if he'd give me a ride back to the trailhead; it'd be nice to talk to him some more. He says yes, after he and his friend finish eating, so I walk back and sit at the table with Twerk, Rawhide, Tarantino, and Tallboy. The group I hiked with just a week or two ago has changed and morphed so much, and I feel outside of the group mindset. Craig texts me and says he's finished, so I say goodbye and walk out front.

It's awesome to talk to Craig and his friend as he drives me back to the trail. I tell him the story of how I got interviewed for Sounds of the Trail. So freaking weird and cool that we met! He asks me how I'm doing and I reply that I'm doing great and taking it slow and enjoying myself.

I meet an older hiker named Ninja Tortoise who has done All The Trails and I walk with him the mile to Grassy Hollow Visitor Center. He's almost done a triple crown, except for the last 150 miles of the CDT because they were closed when he came through. He's done the AZT, Florida Trail, and a bunch of obscure ones I've never heard of.

We get to the picnic area, and I set up my cowboy camp. I see Twinkle Toes coming from a different part of the campground and wave. "Picnic!" she shouts. It feels nice to have someone welcome me into camp. There are a ton of other hikers here. Marble, Soulshine and Sprite and Roadshow... I don't have the time to catch all their names. I make the mac n cheese I've been carrying forever with refried beans, which tastes just OK. I'm not too hungry after my late lunch.

We all joke around, and stand around the fire someone has made in one of the picnic barbecues. A couple who's been taking their time and started almost a month before me has made melted spam and cheese sandwiches. I listen to Ninja Tortoise and another hiker compare the merits of different actors in Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

Then bed!

Snow cat.

Mt. San Jacinto in the far distance.

May 19th- Day 28- 22.1 miles from Swarthout Canyon at mile 347.2 to Highway 2 and Wrightwood at mile 369.3

I relied on the sound of other campers waking up early to wake me up, but when I open my eyes the sky is brightening and there are only two other people here, almost packed up. Dang it. I really need to get a cheap watch with an alarm.

I pack up and grab a water bottle from the cache to top off my bottles and I drink the rest of it with my breakfast, and filter the liter I carried in my dirty water bag. Then off I go, crushing the early miles up the base of the mountain with my early-morning energy. I-15 is still busy in the distance, reminding me of those video games where you need to dodge cars to get across an endless series of roads.

I feel like I'm the only hiker on the trail; that everyone is either ahead of me or vortexing at Cajon. It feels nice. I take plenty of breaks to eat snacks and pee, making my way up gentle switchbacks. It's all up today, but if it's all gradual like this I'll be a happy camper. The desert is like a crumpled piece of old parchment below, the trail rising slowly above it all through burnt areas slowly turning green with new life. Tall dried grasses line the side of the trail at points, yellow seed cases swaying like so many stars around me in the early, golden light.

I start seeing some other hikers, passing them as they lazily enjoy camp and the view, or as they take second breakfast. I'm feeling good today. Whatever knee issue I had around Big Bear is gone after Deep Creek Hot Springs; I think it was just complaining and acclimatizing to the miles. The hot springs probably loosened all of the tight muscles up and helped fix it.

I have service and look at my phone; my friends are posting group pictures of each other and it makes me a bit sad even though I love the freedom of being solo. A older guy named Minion sits with me, who says he carries one liter of water for ten miles. Im sure I look at him like he's crazy, which he is. When I get up again, the chafe on my inner thighs starts hurting, like it always does before I start walking again.

I come up on Sprite, Soulshine, Roadshow and Dr. Feelgood as they're taking a break. I plop down by them, my thigh chafe burning. I put on some Glide, which makes it sting worse. They suggest I get some men's spandex boxers for under my shorts so my thighs can't rub at all. I'll look in Wrightwood. It's good to see them all again; I started with Sprite and Soulshine and cowboyed next to them at Hauser, and probably haven't seen them since sitting with them under Sprite's tarp with Karma and Nirvana on day 5. I crush out some more miles, stopping to eat and drink often in short 5-minute breaks.

I pass Twinkle Toes, who is having a slow off-day with frequent breaks, and is not having fun. I take a sun break with Roadshow, Sprite, Soulshine and Dr. Feelgood again, and lick my chips bag clean of the last of the chip crumbs. I'm hungry pretty much all day now, and have to eat constantly so I don't hit a wall. Twinkle passes and says she's going down Acorn Trail to get to Wrightwood earlier, and I say I'll get in with her on a cheap hotel room if there are any.

Up, up, up!

Just before Guffy Camp and Springs, the trail turns very steep for a hundred yards, and I power up it, leaving Soulshine and Co. behind for a bit. A guy says the trail down to the water is very steep and it takes 8 minutes to collect a liter. I decide to move on, and text my friends behind me about the water situation. They're at Cajon Pass stuffing themselves right now.

I have enough water to make it to the Highway, so I book it there as best I can after my long day. The trail winds along the top of the mountains, snow banks crouching in the shade. There are ski lifts here, and signs marking different routes. I pass a campground where people are making campfires, the smoke washing over me and making me hungry. But I'm out of things I want to eat. A dog barks at me.

When I'm a mile out from the highway and first glimpse it, Twinkle texts me and says she's going to stay at a couple's place in town and they're picking her up in an hour. "They have a dog and a cat! Can you make it here in time?" she asks.

"Yep!" I say, and renew my pace. I hobble down into the trailhead parking area as a car is coming up. I half-heartedly stick out my thumb, not expecting anything, but they turn around and drive back. It's a couple from LA out for the weekend to hike Baden Powell and go camping. They have two dogs and a baby and I squeeze into their front seat, thankful that my pack is light and small right now, before resupply. I don't catch their names, but the guy went to UNR, the university in Reno, for a football scholarship! So cool.

They drop me off at Pine Street by the school, and I head off to the Yodeler to find Twinkle. She's at the bar with a hiker named Bug Juice. I ask the bartender if I can get a black-bean burger in less than 10 minutes, and when I get it I scarf it down. Heath and Michelle, the people who are picking us up and letting us stay at their house, show up and get a beer after going jeeping out in the desert all day.

They drive us the mile to their house, and we get to meet Thor, their pit bull and bull dog mix. He's not sure about us at all at first, but after Twinkle and I shower we meet him properly and he falls in love with me in particular. I realize I'm wearing my wind pants that I haven't washed since I wore them at the Nobody's place in Big Bear, so they probably smell like chihuahua.

We sit out on the porch and talk, while I rub Thor's tummy. He complains whenever I stop, lying on the deck with a big smile on his face.

It's a gorgeous house, which Heath and Michelle bought when it was a dump and have slowly been restoring. We look at pictures of the house when they first got it. The room we are sleeping in was pink and neon green, with a big asymmetrical blue star painted on the ceiling and Hannah Montana posters on the walls.

Eventually we go to bed. The bed is so soft, and I'm in my pajamas fresh from the dryer. They're dropping us off back in town tomorrow early and I'll get out without taking a zero. Life is good.

On the road again.

Hungry hungry hikers. The McDonald's is officially listed as the last water source for 20+ miles.