PCT – Section D, Cajon Pass to Lake Hughes
Map update. You will notice the map looks a bit different. It is coming directly from Kevin’s DeLorme site. Unfortunately, it defaults to the ROAD filter. So if you click road and then click TOPO...you will see him better. The dots are his tracking points, which I have set for every 2 hours (to conserve his battery). If you want to check out the elevation gains, etc. just click on the dots. If you see him in the Indian Ocean or in Africa, his GPS didn’t get a good satellite reading and it will default to the ocean. He’s not drowning. He will come back to the PCT, once the GPS picks up the satellite again.
Kevin (aka...Chief) is at mile 342! Trail Angel is the Best Western on the I-‐15 at Cajon Pass. It’s really all that is there, other than a Circle K Mini-‐mart, McDonalds, Del Taco, Subway and the hotel! And he couldn’t find one darn Twinkie or Susie-‐Q anywhere! (a blessing in disguise) His resupply box arrived in good shape.
Despite his disappearance from the map, he is alive and well! Thanks for all your emails, phone calls and concerns! Just some map issues. Some of you ‘mappy’ geeks have asked why he ventures off the PCT at times...well, few reasons.
Map update. You will notice the map looks a bit different. It is coming directly from Kevin’s DeLorme site. Unfortunately, it defaults to the ROAD filter. So if you click road and then click TOPO...you will see him better. The dots are his tracking points, which I have set for every 2 hours (to conserve his battery). If you want to check out the elevation gains, etc. just click on the dots. If you see him in the Indian Ocean or in Africa, his GPS didn’t get a good satellite reading and it will default to the ocean. He’s not drowning. He will come back to the PCT, once the GPS picks up the satellite again.
Kevin (aka...Chief) is at mile 342! Trail Angel is the Best Western on the I-‐15 at Cajon Pass. It’s really all that is there, other than a Circle K Mini-‐mart, McDonalds, Del Taco, Subway and the hotel! And he couldn’t find one darn Twinkie or Susie-‐Q anywhere! (a blessing in disguise) His resupply box arrived in good shape.
Despite his disappearance from the map, he is alive and well! Thanks for all your emails, phone calls and concerns! Just some map issues. Some of you ‘mappy’ geeks have asked why he ventures off the PCT at times...well, few reasons.
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Trail re-‐routes, due to slides, rocks, trees down, etc.
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Endangered species (i.e.; frogs, etc) got to walk around them!
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Upcoming “Poodle Brush”. Google it. ICKY.
He is going to take a zero day tomorrow to rest his weary body. Was favoring a left foot for about 40 miles and now has some ouchy hips on the right side. Just normal wear and tear on the body after the trail conditions so far and the big miles he is doing day after day. Nothing a little Advil and hot water won’t help.
Our daughter has asked him what he thinks about all day walking 20 + miles. He put it this way. “What do you think about when you are driving in traffic or just on the road for hours?” I would hope you focus on the cars and road conditions, etc. around you and ahead of you. That’s what he’s doing. In the last 2 days he has run into 3 rattlesnakes, ice, death-‐defying trails, rockslides and trail re-‐routes. So there you go Erin.
The pictures he has been sending look so much better to me than that desert. I did read in one of his many PCT books a little blurb about Section A-‐C. “If you look at the desert as an obstacle before the High Sierra’s you’ll likely hate it!” That’s sort of where my focus was going. I like trees and lakes and that great high Sierra smell. But, it’s all part of the PCT. You have to take all 2, 668 miles just they way they are.
I think he may be a bit homesick, but has a great PCT community surrounding him. Today he had breakfast in Cajon with 15 other thru-‐hikers. They chatted for 2 hours, which if you know Kevin, is a lot of talking! He feels better about the water issues for then next 7 days as it seems the Trail Angels are really keeping the water cache’s stocked (this news came from a hiker coming North to South). Makes a huge difference in your weight as you don’t need to carry 6 ltrs of water if you know the caches’ will be there.
Thanks again for all your well wishes and support. Maureen
