Day 2! 20.9 miles!!

Whew!! What a day! I gotta say I’m pretty proud of myself, I just walked almost 41.5 miles in two days!!! It’s funny because, in 2016, I thought it was soooooo ridiculous that some people hiked 20 to Morena and then 20+ to Mt. Laguna the next day! I couldn’t even fathom it! 

The morning started off with a surprise.. it got a little colder overnight than we had planned for, neither Jake or myself put up our the rain flys on our tents, and we both woke up with soaking wet sleeping bags and frozen shoes/backpacks!

Luckily we both have great bags and remained dry and warm inside of them. I didn’t have the best sleep since I’m still getting used to sleeping solely on the closed cell foam mat again. (It requires sleeping on my back but I’ve become a side sleeper at home since 2016) oddly enough I was up at 5am. I heard Jacob rustle in his tent... 

“Jake, you awake?” 

“Yeah.. I kinda feel like starting..”

“Let’s do it!” 

Yup, that’s right, I David Teehee, in my sound and right mind, starting hiking this morning at 5:30 sharp! It was a beautiful morning, we stopped a few miles in to nom down some breakfast and watch the sunrise

I hadn’t slept much at night due to a constant chain of barking dogs, waking each other up for no reason and barking altogether every hour on the hour. Also, wild turkeys, yes turkeys, gobbling at indecent hours! I also felt extra sore and creaky in the cold morning. Because of this and seeing how energetic Jake was, I told him to go ahead without me and to not worry about me catching up. Out here on the trail, you’re bound to see similar paced people more than once! He soon left me in the dust!

I got about 9.5 miles in before 10am, my body slowly un-creaking and feeling smoother and stronger as the day went on. The blisters weren’t bothering me much today. Oh by the way I think the official blister count is now 7! More than last time this early! 

I met some day hikers and their huge goofy poodle, and shortly after that met a new friend named Trout. I had seen him in passing before this, and it was apparent that we are also similar speed. Trout did 800 miles of the trail last year! Also starting at Campo. Pretty soon we saw a nice small river and a shade-providing oak steep down a hill below the trail, one that didn’t exist in 2016. We made the scramble down and took a nice break from the beating sun.

SIESTA!!

The day became hot very quickly, but after dunking my feet in the ice cold water downstream, they felt good to go for more! Lots of climbing today, more than yesterday. The first few miles had been flat but after that it seemed like we were gradually going down 20% of the time, and going up 80%. I met lots of other hikers. A few that I have become friends with include Chris, a young chill guy, Redback, an older lady from Australia who ALSO hiked around 800 miles from Campo last year, and Sarah, a cool girl hiking with her adorable, 5 year old, big hunk of a dog named Porter. Poor guy was POOPED!! 

After meeting/petting the mega loveable pup, I was less than 4 miles from Mt. Laguna (mile 42). I wasn’t planning on going all the way there today but I ran into a couple of trail angels hiking south who gave me some M&M’s and an electrolyte chew, and told me they were providing some more trail magic up at the campground right near Mt. Laguna! When I climbed the last big hill and stumbled deliriously into the campground, it was 6pm.. I had started hiking over 12 hrs ago! What I saw was a beautiful sight!

Trail magic at its finest! Burgers, beer, chips, cookies, and even a small free box from which I scored some powdered milk and granola! I took some time to talk with/thank the hosts who were putting it on. They are called the PCT Wolverines. They had the tent at campsite #42 which I thought was neat since that is the mile marker Mt. Laguna is at. Feeling full and happy, I scoured our an available picnic table to cowboy camp on (only in my sleeping bag on top of my sleeping pad, instead of using the tent.) It’s a clear night tonight and I’m hoping to see some meteors from the Lyrid meteor shower in the wee hours of the morning tomorow. There’s also rumors of the Wolverines making some breakfast tomorow, so I may “sleep in” until 8am, nom some of that and then head to Mt. Laguna’s little store to result before I head out for a few miles.

Let’s see what else? Oh, I have seen ANY snakes yet of ANY variety, which seems crazy to me! By this time in 2016 I’m pretty sure Claire had been trapped by two snakes (one in front of her and one behind) on two separate occasions!

Also, I just want to assure everyone that my body is feeling pretty good. Yes I have blisters, yes I am THOROUGHLY exhausted, but I’m also genuinely ecstatic.. I’m thrilled to be back on trail, and I’m excited that I was able to hike so far in these last two days. I know I could be taking it a little slower, and I’m definitely listening to my body and responding appropriately. Tomorow won’t be as long of a haul!

Thanks for reading everyone!