Chapter 1: Mexico to Idyllwild
The day before I started I, like many hundreds before me, made my way through San Diego to the house of Scout and Frodo’s: trail angels who have graciously allowed hikers to stay at their place and prepare for the journey ahead.
There, I met Ant Man, Black Widow, Giggles, and Mug, along with many more hikers who I’d meet again on my northbound hike.
On May 1st, we quietly packed our bags well before the sun rose and made our way into the cars of volunteers who drove us down to the Mexican border, where we began. On the first major climb out, the charming and vivacious Flamingo Kid overtook me and quickly out-hiked me.
Carrying an excessive amount of food made this first day one of the most physically demanding for me. After a hot and tiring hike, I finally reached the cool and sheltered Hauser Creek at the base of the ascent to Lake Morena. My shoulders doubted this entire endeavor, and I could barely sit up straight.
Here, I camped with Ant Man, Black Widow, her friend Willow, Giggles, Tiny Dancer, B&E, Flamingo Kid, and Misplaced. Just the day before we were strangers, but that night we started our trail family.
After a quick stop in Lake Morena for hot food, despite still having too much in my pack, I met Dobby, and the rest of the group met Adventure Time. Adventure Time advised us to meet up with him later in the day at Kitchen Creek. After a long day of hiking, we cooled off in the creek, set up camp next to the waters, and slept to the sound of croaking frogs.
We left the desert floor to enter the beautiful pine forests of Mount Laguna where Black Widow, Giggles, and I shared a tiny home, cramming our sleeping pads next to each other, waking with each crinkle as we tossed and turned.
The next day, we stepped north of town and watched the sun rise over the Anza-Borrego desert, where we were about to enter.
Seventeen miles later, we filled up on water at a questionable cistern and ate a quick dinner. As I left, a truck that was zooming by screeched to a halt, where a man poked his head out. Noticing my hiking attire, he asked me if I wanted an extremely cold beer. I declined, but he then tried offering an orange, which I happily agreed to as he got out and opened a cooler full of ice.
This was my first on-trail “trail magic” - an act of selfless giving from someone who just wanted to help hikers on the PCT.
We had one more day to Scissor’s Crossing, where we were to attempt our first hitchhike into the town of Julian. The group got a bit mixed up, however, as several members took the wrong route in the dark of the early morning. We reunited under the bridge at Scissor’s Crossing, where hikers sprawled around a water cache maintained by the locals, and slept off the heat of the day.
Eventually, we all got rides into Julian from local trail angels. One trail angel in particular, named Ghost, stood out to me. Once in Julian, we immediately stopped by Mom’s, who provided all hikers carrying a PCT permit a free slice of pie, where I grabbed a table with Adventure Time, White Stripe, Little Hamster, and Butters. Little Hamster, whom I had met under the bridge, and I convinced each other that we both had deserved a nice place in town to stay. We grabbed separate rooms at a local AirBnB, while the rest of my gang stayed at the lodge. We all met up later for Cinco de Mayo margaritas and dinner.
A local gear outfitter, Two Foot Adventures, arranged rides for us back to Scissor’s Crossing, and unlike the rest of my group, I waited until the sun set to hike. I passed my group setting up camp a few miles later, but as the climb to Third Gate water cache was notably exposed, I hiked well past sunset, almost tripping over Dobby’s campsite in the dark. As the wind picked up, my nerves got the best of me and I called my friend from work, Elleen. Eventually, I camped just before the water cache, which was immaculately maintained by local volunteers, including Ghost.
The next day, we passed the mile 100 marker and a mile past that we celebrated with a trip to Montezuma Market. There, we snacked and drank outside the shop to our heart’s content, meeting AKA.
Past the cow fields, we set up camp at a dried out creek bed and agreed to do a quick out and back to Eagle Rock, where we watched the sun sink into the fields and the stars come out.
I’d be remiss to not mention that my stomach was treating me poorly, and I could not eat more than a thousand calories each day. The next few days were painful, as cramps wracked me with every step.
Over the next two days we met Dylan - a wildland firefighter carrying a full-size chainsaw to raise awareness for mental health among firefighters, gratefully got water from caches at Mike’s and Mary’s, received trail magic from Lifeguard and Zelda, and saw an abundance of rattlesnakes.
After crawling into Paradise Valley Cafe, I ate the largest salad I could stomach, and we received a very kind hitch into the town of Idyllwild, where we reunited with Flamingo Kid. Ant Man, AKA, Black Widow, Willow, Giggles, Little Hamster, and I rented a beautiful cabin in town and planned for our first full rest day.
