Day 10 – 5/1/16
Idyllwild 179.39
I finally got to sleep in for the first time since I started. I went to sleep around 9:30 pm and didn’t get up until around 7:30 am. I got up and laid on the couch still sleepy and watched some minions movie with the boys. My other cousin Chad came by around 9 to take me back to Idyllwild for the rest of my Zero (a zero day is when no miles are hiked). We stopped to get breakfast on the way and I got a giant breakfast burrito with fresh fruit.
Day 9 – 4/30/16
Paradise Valley cafe 151.5 to Idyllwild 179.39
Total miles: 0 PCT miles, about 17 miles on alternate
I woke up at 5 and looked over and saw Jim getting ready. This is one of the first days I really didn’t want to get up. I was comfy sleeping on the porch of Paradise but I needed to get up to do a road walk before highway 74 became super busy. I packed up all my stuff, shoved a breakfast fiber bar, poptarts, and an energy bar into my hip pocket and took off down the road with Jim. Continue reading
Day – 4/29/16
Campsite at 131.5 to highway 74 151.5
Total miles 20 + 1 to Paradise Valley cafe
I woke up at 5 am to the sounds of Jim and Tami rustling in their tents getting ready for the day. So I decided to join in with the noise making. Justice likes to sleep in and get going by 7:30 so he didn’t get to sleep in uninterrupted. We got going by 5:30 and said bye to Justice. Continue reading
Day 7 – 4/28/16
Warner Springs 109.45 to campsite at 131.5
Total miles: 22.05 miles plus 0.6 miles to Mike’s
Woke up pretty early and it was just starting to drizzle. I packed up as quick as possible and got some water. By 5:45 Jim, a guy I’ll be hiking with for awhile, and I took off into a cloud of rain. For 17ish miles it was nothing but walking through a cloud and getting rained on. So unfortunately I was not able to take a lot of pictures since it was so wet and there really was nothing to see. I could maybe see 50 feet. I’m kinda sad cause it looked like there were amazing views.
Day 6 – 4/27/16
Barrel Springs 101.15 to Warner Springs 109.45
Total miles: 8.35 + 1.5 side trail to Post Office
Today is a short day or a NERO. I woke up at 5 am and got on the trail at 5:45. The plan was to get to mile 106.25 to get pictures at Eagle Rock while the light was still good. The Hike in the morning was beautiful. Some of the best scenery I’ve seen so far. The pictures just don’t do it justice.
Day 5 – 4/26/16
Mile 77.3 Scissors Crossing to 101.15
Total miles: 23.85
Last night was exactly what I needed. Being able to ice and elevate my knee helped so much. I didn’t have a single twinge of knee pain today. Also got do some minor work on my feet. Spending the evening with Tyler, Rusty, and Neema was great. Just wish I could spend more time with them more but they don’t go as far as me and Tyler is spending a few days in San Diego with a friend to rest his knees. Continue reading
Day 4 – 4/25/16
Mile 59.5 Sunrise trailhead to Scissors crossing 76.96
Total miles: 17.46 + 0.5 (fromcampsite back to trail)
Last night sucked! It was so damn windy. All night long my tent was flapping. And because it was such a small place to stick my tent and on a decline the material wasn’t as tight as it could be. So part of it was drooping and would flap on my face/head. Needless to say I didn’t get much sleep. If at all. Continue reading
Day 3 – 4/24/16
Mile 38.8 Lower Morris Meadow to 59.5 Sunrise trail head
Total miles: 20.7+0.5 (to camp site)
Last night was pretty cold. My watch said 39° but I think it was colder than that. Some tents had frost on them. I some up around 5am and got going by 6. It was only about 3 miles to mount laguna.
Day 2 – 4/23/16
Mile 20 Lake Morena to 38.8 Lower Morris Meadow
Total miles: 18.8 miles
I forgot to mention yesterday that I have wicked inner thigh chaffe. As we were walking to get burgers someone behind me asked if I had chaffe. Apparently it’s easy to tell when you are walking down the street all bow legged like you just rode a horse all day. So right before I went to bed last night I did a little clothing alterations and cut out my inner liner. I still had some chaffing but not like yesterday.
Today I woke up at 4:30 am, packed up, and was on the trail at 5:45 just as the sun was starting to rise. It was only 6 miles to the water source so I only carried three liters. It was a pretty nice hike in the morning slightly overcast and about 52°.
The first 6 miles was pretty nice. Most of it was in a grassy Meadow.
Although right at the start my left knee was acting up and it would twinge with pain whenever I would go up or down. By the time I reached the water source six miles in my knee was better but my right foot had started to develop a blister. I tapped up my blister with leuko tape but apparently the blister was lonely and wanted a friend and another one formed right next it right between my big toe and second toe. After a couple hours the pain either went away or I just stopped noticing.
My nasty feet after day 2.
The rest of the day was mostly just a long and exposed ridge with basically no shade except for around mile 32 where there was a patch of trees. I stopped there where a guy I hiked with yesterday was resting and an Australian. After a few minutes Ze Germans showed up. Two guys and a girl who I leap frog with most of the day. Then a few others showed up. During this break I learned from the Australian about a seasoning they put on things like fries called chicken salt. He kept saying is the best thing ever. Of course he didn’t bring any. Although Aussies think vegimite tastes good so they can’t be trusted.
After about an hour I finally got up and started making another long and hot hike up along a ridge. It was about 79° by 1pm. By this time I felt it was time for some music and that definitely helped to keep a somewhat decent pace. After about 2 hours I was definitely starting to feel fatigued and ready to stop for the day but I still had about a mile and a half to go and of course it was about a 300ish feet climb. I felt like I was walking through molasses.
I was pretty happy getting to the camp site for the day but I still had a .3 mile walk to get water from a pipe flowing into a trough. And when I say flowing I mean like maybe 1 liter a minute. The good thing was that there was some good entertainment. In the trough was about 5 gold fish. How the hell did goldfish get into this thing in the middle of nowhere?
Over a couple hours several people trickled in and right now there is I think 12 people. One of the guys wanted a group photo and we used another guys trekking pole plus a heavy duty rubber band to strap it in place so that we could all be in the picture.
A few people have seen rattle snakes but so far I’ve been lucky. One guy got a good video of one slowly going across the trail with its rattle going. Other than the snakes the trail is pretty safe.
Well relatively safe.
Southern Terminus 0 to Lake Morena 20
Mileage: 20
Today was the big day. The night before was a little rough. I finally started to feel nervous and my stomach felt like it was in a vice. I didn’t sleep well at all and felt like I was going to puke all night. Morning wasn’t any better and I wasn’t in the best of moods because of the crappy night and because I was really nervous. Continue reading
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