HI from mile 456! 5 Rattlesnakes, 1 bee-‐sting, sore feet, 7 Blisters, trips but NO falls.
I walked into Aqua Dolce on Thursday afternoon after camping the night at Soledad Canyon. The KOA was not far off the trail and we all caught sight of a pool. Great stay for $5. Soaked in the Jacuzzi and swam in the pool. The trail comes under Hwy 14, such a long drainage tunnel that by the middle you can’t see anything. You come through Vazquez Rocks State Park. Quite nice. Taking a few “zero” days at our friends ranch. The MJF Ranch. My own personal “trail angels.”
The official “trail angels” in Aqua Dolce are the Saufley’s.
Saw people eat more food than I ever thought possible. Maureen was able to be a
“trail angel” shuttling hikers and backpacks from Vazquez Rocks to the Saufley’s. She
loved to meet and chat with all them. I know this made her feel more comfortable
knowing that I am among all of them. We may not hike together every day, may not
see each other for a few days, may hike together for 10 miles, or we may all sleep in
the same area, but either way, we all look out for each other. We all go by our given
trail names. Maureen called my name in the grocery store and everyone turned to
see. “Chief” is that your name??? Trail names have to be accepted and some won’t
get their names until a few more weeks. But, they are given on the trail by other
hikers. Kevin was given Chief by our friend, Paul, who is a section hiker.
Some highlights of my 465 miles.
The coldest day – North of Big Bear Lake above Cougar Crest. Wind was blowing, light rain. Only got 15 miles in until I had to set up tent among the sugar pines. Cooked Spring Onion soup in my vestibule and pulled my spirits up and got inside my really expensive bag that I didn’t feel quilt about any longer. Woke up to 25 degrees. Condensation had frozen solid on the inside of the tent. No breakfast, no coffee...just started walking to get warm. At the end of 22 miles, I went to put up my tent and still had ice inside!
The hottest day – too many to decide from! One that was memorable was walking out of Cabazon (Ziggy and the Bear) climbed about 5000 ft – low desert, NO shade and you just keep walking alllllll day long. There was one stunted sycamore tree
I walked into Aqua Dolce on Thursday afternoon after camping the night at Soledad Canyon. The KOA was not far off the trail and we all caught sight of a pool. Great stay for $5. Soaked in the Jacuzzi and swam in the pool. The trail comes under Hwy 14, such a long drainage tunnel that by the middle you can’t see anything. You come through Vazquez Rocks State Park. Quite nice. Taking a few “zero” days at our friends ranch. The MJF Ranch. My own personal “trail angels.”
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| Martin and Jackie's Ranch in Aqua Dulce |
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| Welcome to the Saufley's |
I took Maureen by their
house so she could both meet all the thru hikers I have been telling her about for a
month now, and just to first hand see what a trail angel house is all about. She took
a lot of pictures. It was pretty amazing. This trail has so much more to offer than I
ever knew about. This is why Shane had such a hard time leaving the trail. This is
what is making this trail so special for me in so many ways. The Soufley’s are such
nice people and when you check out the pictures, you will understand what I mean.
To walk every day, 20 plus miles/day and then to arrive at the Soufley’s...wow. The
hikers. OMG. All ages and from all different walks of life. Iceman and Kattywampus,
Tumbleweed, Craig, Ducky, Tank, the Wild Boys, Smooth Operator, Buzz, Yoga girl,
Happy, Yard Sale (the youngest so far, 18 year old from Washington, DC) and so, so
many more.
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| The Resupply Boxes |
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| Info Board |
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| Laundry |
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| Katywompus and IceMan |
Some highlights of my 465 miles.
The coldest day – North of Big Bear Lake above Cougar Crest. Wind was blowing, light rain. Only got 15 miles in until I had to set up tent among the sugar pines. Cooked Spring Onion soup in my vestibule and pulled my spirits up and got inside my really expensive bag that I didn’t feel quilt about any longer. Woke up to 25 degrees. Condensation had frozen solid on the inside of the tent. No breakfast, no coffee...just started walking to get warm. At the end of 22 miles, I went to put up my tent and still had ice inside!
The hottest day – too many to decide from! One that was memorable was walking out of Cabazon (Ziggy and the Bear) climbed about 5000 ft – low desert, NO shade and you just keep walking alllllll day long. There was one stunted sycamore tree
along Mission Creek. Arrived to find Lion King and other hikers all hunkering down
under this pathetic bit of shade.
A bad moment – arrived in Warner Springs. A great feel of hikers. Felt good. My first off trail experience with Trail Angels and showers and food. Now I had to say goodbye to Shane and Maureen and go back to the trail. I did two full circles around before I could find the northbound trail ...it was a hard day emotionally.
My biggest surprise about the PCT – Trail Magic and the people. Trail Magic is just an act of kindness, an unexpected gift. Shepherd is a trail angel. Walking through Deep Creek, coming down into Palmdale/Victorville. Mojave River overflow, looking very parched and sad. Coming around the corner in the sand. There is Shepherd with a camp stove. She cooks hotdogs, makes root beer floats, crackers, fruit and candy bars. Trail Magic.
Recliners with soda on the trail. Ice chests on the trail with fruit, veggies and cold sodas. Trail Magic.
Cajon pass over a 600 ft climb up to Mt. Gregonia. 19 miles. HOT, exposed and waterless section. Come around a corner and there is a wooden cabinet with doors. Open the doors and there are gallon jugs of cool water and a sports illustrated with Kate Upton on the cover. 2 chairs in the shade. Sit and read Sports Illustrated with a cool cup of water. Trail Magic.
Picnic Table at Guffy camp. Dinner party with 8 PCT hikers. Sitting on a bench was so nice. No rock sitting. We talked about other hikers and strange things we’ve seen on the trail. Purple Haze had his tent set up with a WELCOME mat and a porch light (aka, head lamp strapped to his pole!). Amazing people.
The Trail –The intent in designing and planning of this trail was to keep it primarily on Public Lands to avoid easement conflict and private land owners, so, often it will wind around instead of a direct line. The trail may end up being i12 miles when it could have been a 2-‐mile direct hike. Maintenance and upkeep is dependent on each land management agency. The condition of the majority of the trail in the Angeles Nat’l’ Forest is dismal to poor. (Makes the 40-‐mile wall off of the Santa Cruz trail in the Los Padres look good!)
Trying to be Alone-‐ Believe it or NOT, Its hard to walk and camp alone on this trail. Although I like to walk and chat with people, I do enjoy some private time. One day, I stayed on the trail instead of going down to a trail angel. I camped by myself. Met up with Catawampus a couple of days later. She was upset. She looked for me, was worried about me. When she and Ice Man finally found me, they were so happy. I just told her, “it’s okay Catymompus, I just needed bit of alone time, I will never do it again!” Nice to know everyone is looking out for one another. Maureen would be happy about this.
Zero Days = Zero Miles -‐ This might be a campground, a resupply town, just a place to be with no miles. It might be a, much needed, mental health day. I had a sanity check on the trail a few days back. Some days are very long and you begin to
A bad moment – arrived in Warner Springs. A great feel of hikers. Felt good. My first off trail experience with Trail Angels and showers and food. Now I had to say goodbye to Shane and Maureen and go back to the trail. I did two full circles around before I could find the northbound trail ...it was a hard day emotionally.
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| The wonderful people at Warner Springs Community Ctr |
My biggest surprise about the PCT – Trail Magic and the people. Trail Magic is just an act of kindness, an unexpected gift. Shepherd is a trail angel. Walking through Deep Creek, coming down into Palmdale/Victorville. Mojave River overflow, looking very parched and sad. Coming around the corner in the sand. There is Shepherd with a camp stove. She cooks hotdogs, makes root beer floats, crackers, fruit and candy bars. Trail Magic.
Recliners with soda on the trail. Ice chests on the trail with fruit, veggies and cold sodas. Trail Magic.
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| The Party under the Scissors Crossing |
Cajon pass over a 600 ft climb up to Mt. Gregonia. 19 miles. HOT, exposed and waterless section. Come around a corner and there is a wooden cabinet with doors. Open the doors and there are gallon jugs of cool water and a sports illustrated with Kate Upton on the cover. 2 chairs in the shade. Sit and read Sports Illustrated with a cool cup of water. Trail Magic.
Picnic Table at Guffy camp. Dinner party with 8 PCT hikers. Sitting on a bench was so nice. No rock sitting. We talked about other hikers and strange things we’ve seen on the trail. Purple Haze had his tent set up with a WELCOME mat and a porch light (aka, head lamp strapped to his pole!). Amazing people.
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| Shane on Eagle Rock |
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| Water Cache - Trail Magic |
The Trail –The intent in designing and planning of this trail was to keep it primarily on Public Lands to avoid easement conflict and private land owners, so, often it will wind around instead of a direct line. The trail may end up being i12 miles when it could have been a 2-‐mile direct hike. Maintenance and upkeep is dependent on each land management agency. The condition of the majority of the trail in the Angeles Nat’l’ Forest is dismal to poor. (Makes the 40-‐mile wall off of the Santa Cruz trail in the Los Padres look good!)
Trying to be Alone-‐ Believe it or NOT, Its hard to walk and camp alone on this trail. Although I like to walk and chat with people, I do enjoy some private time. One day, I stayed on the trail instead of going down to a trail angel. I camped by myself. Met up with Catawampus a couple of days later. She was upset. She looked for me, was worried about me. When she and Ice Man finally found me, they were so happy. I just told her, “it’s okay Catymompus, I just needed bit of alone time, I will never do it again!” Nice to know everyone is looking out for one another. Maureen would be happy about this.
Zero Days = Zero Miles -‐ This might be a campground, a resupply town, just a place to be with no miles. It might be a, much needed, mental health day. I had a sanity check on the trail a few days back. Some days are very long and you begin to
question your sanity. This happened to me coming out of Cajon Pass. I saw 2 guys
walking in white cotton thermal underwear (the old kind). So at the “dinner party”,
I did a survey and out of 10 people, only 2 of us saw them. So I figured I was 20%
sane? It was a strange site.
Zero days may be needed for sanity, sore feet, blisters, mental, sunburns, or you just might come across a cold creek and decide this is the place to rest. Feet and water are huge in the desert. You have no idea. Feet aren’t meant for this much pounding, day after day. No water to wash or soak in. Hot, rocky, trails. Everyone learns to deal with his or her feet through these early sections.
Things I thought I would never do -‐ Walk into somebody’s backyard that you never met. Some 81-‐year-‐old man (Bear) brings you a hot, Epson salt bath for your stinky, dirty feet. You take a shower in their shed/shower room, eat a big bowl of wonderful, green, crisp salad provided by Ziggy. Then at night you lay down on a carpet in their backyard wedged in with 20 other hikers, like you did during preschool naptime. Meet Ziggy and the Bear – Cabazon, California.
The Best Graphic – please check out the elevation profile (picture) that includes the San Bernadino and the Angeles Forest. I never expected this in the Southern Calif. Mtns. I know about the Sierra’s, but this was a shock. Hot and up and down and up and down. A bit discouraging. You just keep looking down, not ahead. I have learned NOT to look at my elevation maps.
I miss Maureen and Erin and Shane. I don’t miss Bodie! I’m surprised that I don’t miss my home, the beaches, my trails, my life. I am having a great time. I’m off to Canada! Thanks for all the support at home. Maureen tells me about all the emails that she gets, concerns, diligent map followers and phone calls. I am so grateful for all your support both for myself and for her.
This is what friends and a community are all about. Thank you.
Chief
Zero days may be needed for sanity, sore feet, blisters, mental, sunburns, or you just might come across a cold creek and decide this is the place to rest. Feet and water are huge in the desert. You have no idea. Feet aren’t meant for this much pounding, day after day. No water to wash or soak in. Hot, rocky, trails. Everyone learns to deal with his or her feet through these early sections.
Things I thought I would never do -‐ Walk into somebody’s backyard that you never met. Some 81-‐year-‐old man (Bear) brings you a hot, Epson salt bath for your stinky, dirty feet. You take a shower in their shed/shower room, eat a big bowl of wonderful, green, crisp salad provided by Ziggy. Then at night you lay down on a carpet in their backyard wedged in with 20 other hikers, like you did during preschool naptime. Meet Ziggy and the Bear – Cabazon, California.
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| Sleeping in the backyard! |
The Best Graphic – please check out the elevation profile (picture) that includes the San Bernadino and the Angeles Forest. I never expected this in the Southern Calif. Mtns. I know about the Sierra’s, but this was a shock. Hot and up and down and up and down. A bit discouraging. You just keep looking down, not ahead. I have learned NOT to look at my elevation maps.
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| Up and Down and Up and Down |
I miss Maureen and Erin and Shane. I don’t miss Bodie! I’m surprised that I don’t miss my home, the beaches, my trails, my life. I am having a great time. I’m off to Canada! Thanks for all the support at home. Maureen tells me about all the emails that she gets, concerns, diligent map followers and phone calls. I am so grateful for all your support both for myself and for her.
This is what friends and a community are all about. Thank you.
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| Ouch. |
