Day 22!! 25.64 miles!!!

Last night I didn’t sleep very well. It was tough because the night was warm in general but there was a cold strong wind that would whip by every once in awhile, waking me up if my face was outside of the sleeping bag. If I decided to zip my bag all the way up so that my face was covered too, I’d inevitably become way too warm and wake up in a sweat. I’d open the bag until I got cold again and the cycle went on all night. I woke up for the 20th time at around 4:30, and decided it was time to get a move on! 

Remember that ant hill I stepped on yesterday while trying to claim a tent site?

Those buggers got me!

Unrelated: I got a mosquito bite at Deep Creek and must’ve itches it in my sleep, because today it’s really big! 

My thigh is growing a kneecap!

Anyways, I quickly packed up and hit the trail with my headlamp. It was a cold windy morning, but after a couple hours I was grateful that it wasn’t going to be a super hot day.

If you can’t tell, I absolutely love the morning hours between 4 and 7am. The pictures don’t quite do this particular morning justice, but you can kinda get the picture! The morning was so cool and the grade so nice and easy, I broke my record and did my first 10 miles by 8:30am this morning! 10x10 has a better ring to it but I’m super proud of my accomplishment.

Silverwood Lake

I stopped at Silverwood Lake to fill up water, throw away some trash, and use actual flush toilets! I was hanging out with Happy at the day use area. When approaching the lake a bit earlier, Happy emerged from a little spur trail leading down to the beach, where he had had himself a nice morning bath!

Also there at the day use area was Piglet, Aaron, and Shadow!!

Aaron and Shadow

I know the above picture has those irritating lines in them. I didn’t notice at the time with the phone screen brightness down. I’ve had to delete so many photos because of this stinking glitch on my camera. 

I spent about an hour and a half there stretching and eating, and at around 10am I took off again. I knew there was only 13ish miles to the next water source st the McDonalds at Cajon Pass. I took some Motrin IB from Aaron to help with my shin and was fast-food bound! 

Now, I rarely eat fast food. In fact, the last time I had McDonalds (besides maybe a McFlurry this last summer), was probably in 2016 when Claire and stopped at the same one on our PCT hike! It’s funny, when the trail crosses under a freeway after 5 days of no civilization, people really start to look forward to it! McDonalds was the talk of the town for the last 80 miles...

But first, I had a mountain to climb and then a long brutal downhill among some super windy cliffs!

This is the only picture I got of the last 5 miles going into Cajon Pass, as there were semi-constant 50-75 mph wind gusts. It was soooooo windy guys, way crazier than last time! I got completely blown off balance and off the trail twice! Other times I had to lean in hard on my trekking poles just to keep from going down.

Somehow, my body still felt pretty darn good after all those miles, and I reached this sign at the bottom of the windy cliffs by 2:15pm!! I had gone 24 miles, that’s almost 3mph all day! And I even took a big break at the day use area at Silverwood Lake. 

As I walked in I saw a bunch of other hikers cruising around the McDonalds, conversing, charging their phones, and working on their food comas. After about $20 worth of food, I was doing the same thing! 

The wind was super super bad outside, many hikers were opting for a nearby Best Western at $79 a night instead of hitting the old trail again. You see, at Cajon Pass you go under the interstate. It’s not the nicest place to camp, as you’re directly underneath cars zooming at 80mph all night and a few feet away from a major train route, (I’m talking trains going by and blaring their horns every 20-30 minutes...) Also, there’s a 30% chance of rain tonight in the area, and you don’t want to be in the tunnel drainage when all the water comes down of the mountain..

Because of this, I decided to head back out onto the trail at around 4:30pm. I knew I wasn’t planning on going far, and I ended up going just over a mile and a half. 

Beautiful wind-sculpted rock formations..

I managed to find a sweet flat area hiding behind a bunch of trees and Poodle Dog Bush. The wind is still whipping through super violently, tonight’s going to be a true test for my tent and rainfly. I used to guy lines to get it extra taught, and I feel pretty good about the setup. I can still hear the trains blaring pretty loudly, but not as bad as if I were right next to the tracks. Besides, I have a feeling that I’m about to pass out pretty hard.

I can’t believe I hiked over 25 miles today! (Well, over 26 if you were to count the .68 miles it took to walk to the McDonalds and back), but for the sake of simplicity, I always just post the official PCT mileage I hike each day. To make things even better,my feet and legs are feeling great! Even after such a huge day! My feet and toes and callousing up nicely, and hopefully in a week or two, all the new skin will be hardened enough that the blisters have no where to form!

Left foot has been through the ringer! 

Well, I beat my record today for longest day walked.. I think EVER!! On that note, and the picture of my gross foot lingering in your minds, I’m headed to bed as it’s past 7:30pm! :)

Thanks for reading!!!