Author: Courtney

Start: 2281.2(skipped Baden-Powell)

Stop: 2314

Today’s miles: 32.8

Total PCT miles: 2030.6

I was so warm and cozy in that motel bed that I did not want to get up, but the small breakfast buffet was calling my name.. food is always a motivator these days..

Marquis and I went to eat and then came back to our room to pack up. We walked outside to start our hitching attempts to get back to trail. It was cloudy and cool, but not actually raining. I debated putting my fleece on, but didn’t want to dig it out. I made a sign with computer paper in the lobby, and it definitely helped. The guy that stopped for us said it was the PCT hikers part that made him stop, because of a recent podcast he had listened to.

He took us up the mountain road, and as he made his way, sprinkles started. When we got to the drop off spot, I asked if he’d be willing to drive us just a bit further down this hwy 2 road, because with the rain and clouds, I didn’t want to be going up Mount Baden-Powell. I made sure Marquis was ok with my idea before asking, and he seemed as happy to jump around an unnecessary climb as I was. I don’t know if I’m just over it all, but even though these mountains have pretty moments, they all basically look the exact same and none of it is pretty in frigid rain.

He took us down the road to the crossing after Baden-Powell and we got out to cold and clouds, but no actual precipitation. I can do that! We thanked him, then started walking. The views were non-existent and pretty quickly the only motivation to walk at all was knowing we’d get to the Cajon Pass McDonalds tonight. Sounds silly, but again-food is pretty much the main motivator these days.

I was so full from breakfast, I didn’t stop for lunch. Marquis and I talked and ate snacks at regular intervals. The trail overall went uphill then mostly soft and rolling hills, then uphill, then a long descent that had my feet hurting by the time we got to the side road to McDonald’s and a gas station. I ended up putting on my crocs at McDonald’s, for a rest break. We ate and relaxed a bit, got our resupply stuff at the well stocked gas station, then hiked the mile out of “town” to the first campsite we saw. I accidentally ended up doing that mile in my crocs.

We set up camp and it was dark by 7:10! It’s chilly and I’m cozied up in my quilt. I’m hoping tomorrow is rain free and smoother than the last two days have been. I’ve enjoyed not seeing snakes, but I think I’m ok with no more rain.. I don’t want to take a zero until I have to for my sister’s wedding, so the smoother this thing can go.. the better! I know it’s a short one, I’m just too cold to think and write.. sorry! Ok, time to tuck these arms in! Goodnight!

Start: 2215

Stop: 2252.7

Today’s miles: 37.7

Total PCT miles: 1969.3

I woke to condensation on my tent, in the desert! And when I got out of my tent and looked at the sky-there were some major storm clouds rolling in. They made for an absolutely epic sunrise: cotton candy pinks and neon oranges.. but I was concerned for what was to come. I had good reason..

We left by 6:30, and immediately hit a climb. This type of trail, the cirques I think-where the trail doesn’t really switchback, it just winds up around the sides of the mountains and you get to see the whole valley around, is my favorite. It was so pretty, but the trail was in rough condition-very eroded and loose feeling under foot. And let us not forget about all of the stupid bushes that have 92,764 million ways to stab, poke, or pinch me.

Around 8 something, we made it to the top of the first part of the climb, to a campground that was closed, with a ranger’s station that was also closed, and a house where Ranger Todd lives-but appeared empty. Dammit, Ranger Todd! The whole way up that hill, Marquis and I were fantasizing about all the great treats the ranger might have for us when we got there. At least the day dreaming got us up that climb I guess, and the pit toilets were open with TP, plus there were two jugs of water for us to use to fill up our bottles.. so we were happy, and took advantage of both the water and the toilet. That’s one hell of a run on sentence, but I’m too tired to figure out how to shorten it. Sorry, guys.

It was here that the wind really started to blow and the sky started to drizzle. It was the rest of the way up that climb when it started to really rain and then we stayed in the clouds the rest of the day! The wind was blowing so hard you could see it whipping the rain across the trail. We saw a dirt road a little lower in elevation than where we were on trail, so we bushwhacked down to it. It felt safer to have a wider trail to walk on, not to mention to not get attacked by the now very wet and prickly bushes.

When we ate lunch at 11:30, we got drenched. We both looked defeated, laid out on a dirt road soaking wet eating wet bagel sandwiches. It’s a good thing I have Marquis with me, because this would have had me in a tizzy of anger and frustration, but even in this mess, he had me laughing at our situation.. to the point of almost enjoying it.

We passed some guys doing road clearing and wished they’d let us warm up in their trucks or give us a ride to literally anywhere, but no dice, we hardly got a wave out of them. They were probably annoyed we were on the closed road and not the trail, but hell-it’s treacherous out there! We did pass another hiker going northbound, also on the road, who confirmed the trail sucked for him so he got on the road.. ok, so we’ll stick to the road as long as we can, too.

We got water at a fire station area and kept pushing. The rest of the day was much of the same, except the rain did quit eventually. It stayed cold though. I couldn’t warm up for the life of me, even with my fleece on under my rain jacket. I was shaking and trying to walk fast to warm up, even though all that seemed to do was make me sweat and then stay even more cold.

When we got to where we wanted to camp it was only 5:30, so there’s no way we actually hiked a 37 mile day, the dirt roads must have been cutting off more miles than we realized. I was so cold that I talked Marquis into getting to the next road crossing to try to hitch to town.. I wanted a shower and a bed. Ridiculous, I know, but thankfully he obliged.

We got to the road and got a hitch within 30 minutes. Two women, looked like mom and daughter picked us up and took us to a motel. I didn’t care the cost, I would have paid anything for that room, but it wasn’t bad. Marquis let me shower first, I took a L O N G one, then he showered and we did laundry. We had to set alarms because we both dozed off between the cycles.

He was asleep when I went to get our clothes out of the dryer, and once back in the room, I got in my bed and was knocked out, too (I’m writing this the next day at breakfast, no way I was doing any writing yesterday!). Thank you Lord for motels, hot showers, and laundry! I feel revived!

Start: 2192.4

Stop: 2215

Today’s miles: 22.6

Total PCT miles: 1931.6

Today was-overall-a good day! The laughing with Marquis in our misery is really what my soul needed to finish this thing out. We didn’t make it as far as we planned, but we did get breakfast in town and take several long breaks.. so, who cares. I’ll get to Mexico when I get to Mexico. Even if I am on a “deadline” I created for myself. Ha!

We woke up at 5:45 again and left just before 6:30. Apparently, when I get out of my tent to pee first thing, before packing, I end up packing slower than when I force myself to hold it until my stuff is all packed.. but this morning there was no waiting until my stuff was packed.

The moon was still full and bright in the sky as we got up and got our stuff together. The first light starting to creep up from the opposite horizon by 6:15. The valley below, where we could see the lights of town before bed last night were blanketed by clouds that didn’t quite reach us up on the high above hillside. It looked incredible. As we started hiking, the trail wound its way down into those clouds, as the sun was lifting into the sky, creating the most beautiful of sunrises.

We switchbacked down into the valley and the clouds covering it.. my hair got damp by misty rain drops that never really fell. It was a really cool experience, and really nice to not be already sweating. It was chilly and there were no bugs. I was happy! The trail had some overgrown bushes to contend with, but I made myself push through without too much complaining.

We hit the main road and started our trail walk through the town of Agua Dolce. I loved it. It looks like a wealthier town than the previous one we walked through, with each home on a lot more land, and more like ranches with the big gates and horses everywhere. It felt like a western cowboy town with modern homes. Really beautiful homes, and plenty of horses.

The “downtown” was a bit sad though. They didn’t have much. Only a liquor/convenient store, that Marquis resupplied his snacks from, a hardware store, that I got my fuel canister from, and 3 small restaurants. Two were open for breakfast, and the pizza place didn’t open until 11am. It was only 9:30, so we settled on second breakfast, since we both had already eaten our trail breakfast.. aka: a Poptart.

There’s no humanly possible way to pass up restaurant food on trail when you are literally walking right past it.. seriously impossible. Plus I make it my personal mission to boost whatever local economy I’m in.. my budget be damned. After breakfast we continued the road walk the rest of the way through town. The trail turned off the road and in through Vasques Rocks State Park. This place was seriously neat. The rocks jutted out of the ground in odd angles that were really fascinating to see. I wish they showed up on camera better.. you know I have a trillion pictures of them.

The trail went through the main parts of the park and then continued on through the backside, around a nasty looking creek and through a tunnel under a main highway-Antelope Valley Freeway. I was happy we weren’t playing chicken trying to cross that thing. Coming out of the other side was gross and overgrown, requiring a bit of phone navigation to find the trail again.

Then, the trail seemed well maintained and twisted and winded up and through many smaller mountains. We crossed a train track and a very nasty creek that smelled of raw sewage-and even looked a little like it too, and came up to another two lane highway with the road going down to a KOA.. that I almost convinced Marquis to go to. We could have done laundry, ate ice cream, showered.. but thankfully he has his head on straight and even when he isn’t loving the trail, he knew we needed to push on.

We crossed that road and immediately got to an area with a pit toilet, that we both happily took advantage of. Then, we pushed the last 4 miles to camp. We were going to continue on, but there wouldn’t be water for awhile, so it made sense to camp here with a clean and flowing creek so we could adequately fill up and not have to tote a ton of extra water farther up this big climb we’ll have first thing in the morning.

We set up camp, one on either side of the small creek. We can talk to and see each other, but the water is flowing between us. After we unpacked I went to his side to eat dinner with him before coming to lay down. I saw a tiny mouse, so we made sure our food is well tucked away, and we’re both a little nervous they might chew through our tents during the night. I really hope not!

The water sounds nice and it’s a little chilly, so something tells me I’ll probably still sleep pretty good tonight, with or without tiny mice coming to visit. And with that, I think I’ll get to it. Goodnight!