Day 10 I slept completely alone in my spot in the middle of the desert under the skies, and when I woke it was completely and utterly silent. Not a single animal sound. That was s very special experience. Started hiking at dawn, but it quickly turned out to be a hot day. In anticipation of getting to Paradise Valley Café and also because of bringing slightly too little food, I postponed lunch. When I…
Day 9 Had pancakes for breakfast at “Mike’s” and set out hiking around seven. While there were frost crystals on the RV home in the early morning, the weather had turned around and there were no sky to be seen. I had my lunch in a shaded area near a creek, which was nice. I should like to add that for some reason lunch breaks have always been one of my favorite things to have…
Day 8 It was misty and cold this morning, and from the start the nature wasn’t vey interesting. At some point it changed to something more interesting with large round boulders in a misty landscape. Stayed at a place called “Mike’s”, which was weird an utterly different from the Warner Springs Resource Center. It was a lone off-grid parcel on a hilltop surrounded by state park. Two men constituting a rather odd couple managed the…
Day 7 Went to sleep at around 8 pm and woke up at around seven, so I guess I was in need. The first part of the day was cold overcast and somewhat boring, but then I got to a meadow area which was interesting and somewhat oddly looking. It was desolate and I only passed two other hikers today. Today I also passed the 100 miles mark. Then I passed it again, again, and…
Day 6 Late last night it started getting really windy and cold and during the night it started raining and got really foggy. Got a ride at 4:30 am from the same guy who brought me to Julian, along with two other hikers. Didn’t get much sleep that night either, but at least the weather was much nicer at the trail than in Julian. I only hiked 13 miles today and set up camp near…
Julian Day 5 Woke up early. Walked 6 easy miles down to an asphalt road, and to my surprise a friendly former thuhiker was waiting there to take people to Julian. Nice! The small town of Julian is famous in the PCT hiking community for the free pies at “Mom’s Pies”. When I got there was a long cue, but at the entrance there was an employee who asked if I was a PCT hiker…
Day 4 It turned out to be a very windy night so I didn’t get a lot of sleep, but I didn’t feel it that much during the day. The day was extraordinarily windy, but the views were amazing, and unlike any I had seen before. I got a lot of miles in and found a nice secluded spot shaded for the wind and cowboy camped (i.e. slept under the skies) for the first time. …
Day 3. Last night we I camped along with a bunch of other hikers at a campground. Unfortunately a couple of nearby regular campers were having loud discussions until very late at night, but I still woke up at 5:30 am and was out hiking half an hour later, without feeling too tired. Got much good walking done in the early hours and before I realized it I had made it to Mount Laguna, which…
Day two: didn’t find anything to put here as as a subtitle. I was a bit nervous about the first day of sleeping in the nature. Heard a lot of animals right outside my tent throughout the night, but luckily no one came for my food, luckily. Woke up early due to the very much still in effect jet lag, but on the plus side I got hiking in the nice morning weather. Soon i…
Day zero and one: a helping hand in San Diego The Pacific Crest Trail meanders it way from Mexico to Canada, more specifically from The small town of Campo to Manning Park. The friendly “Scout” and “Frodo” along with a small army of helpers pick hikers up, host them and take them to the otherwise somewhat hard To reach Campo. All of that completely free and without accepting donations. Their hospitality, friendliness, tips and the…