Views of where I have been

"Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the Mountaineer" 

       - John Muir

Day 2 hiking into Lake Morena

Day 4 between Boulder Oaks and Cibbets Flats

Day 5 Mt Laguna

Day 9 near Sunrise Trailhead

Day 10 near Rodriguez water tank

Day 11 approaching Scissors Crossing

Day 16 approaching Warner Springs

My feet are on the mend and I am on the move again. The immensity of this journey is starting to sink in. Trail life is feeling like real life and not a vacation. 

Mountain Valley Retreat

The heat of the Colorado desert has been a challenge for my feet. I have spent all of yesterday and today resting and healing my feet.

The family that runs the Mountain Valley Retreat has been wonderful. Their kindness has overwhelmed me. I have been sleeping in a tipi that was painted by Chery. 

I got to clean both myself and my clothes. I have had kitty cats keeping me company. Tonight I will be fed a delicious home cooked meal. Tomorrow morning they will drop me off at the trail head where I left the PCT to walk to their oasis. 

It has been a very quiet 2 days. I have spent my time organizing my gear and reading. I am ready to start walking again. I have completed 101.1 miles of the PCT, 3.8% of the total trail distance. I look forward to what the next 100 miles has to offer. 

Afternoon Siesta

Sunday April 20th. Easter 

I am taking a mid day break at mile 64. Hiding in shade durring the hottest part of the day is an effective way of dealing with the heat. Adjusting to desert hiking is s challenge for me. I have long stretches between water sources and struggle with deciding how much to carry. 

Things I have learned thus far:

- I feel strongest hiking in the late afternoon and early evening.

- it is best to stop and change my socks every hour BEFORE they feel hot and bothered.

- if you want to star hiking at sunrise, don't camp with large groups who like to sleep in and will distract you in the morning.

There is a woodpecker here that only lives in mixed evergreen and deciduous forests who puts holes in the pine trees and then fills them with acorns.

There is a person out here hiking barefoot! 

I am fascinated by these fuzzy red insects I saw all through the recent burn areas just after Mt Laguna

Where on the trail is Terra?

For my own personal safety and the peace of mind of my family, I am carrying a personal locator beacon. This allows me to contact search and rescue should I find myself in an emergency situation along the trail and my life depends on help arriving immediately. One of the bonus features is that I can send out a signal every night that puts a little dot on a map showing where I am. You can view that map here: 

https://share.delorme.com/TerraJohnson

I do not have a lot of data points on the map yet as I am still learning how to use my device. I am choosing to send only one data point each day due to cost. I hope this map gives a good visual of my progress. Let me know what you think! 

  

Blisters galore

I arrived in Mt Laguna this afternoon. I have hiked 42 PCT miles so far, plus a few off the trail to get ro campgrounds and grocery stores.

My blisters were far worse than i thought when I stopped in Hauser Creek. By the time I hiked the 5 miles to Lake Morena on Saturday, I was hurting. I decided tostay  the rest of the day and then re-evaluate in the morning. In the morning I was disapointed to find that my feet were still very tender and my blisters still actively filling. I decided that even though my legs and heart were ready to keep going, my feet were not and the smart thing to do was to stay put and heal.

Sitting still for an entire day was tough. In city life I can easily spend a day in my pajamas reading books and watching movies. In trail life I want to be moving. There is so much beauty. I have seen more types of lizards than ever before, incredible wild flowers, hummingbirds, blooming agave, amazing views. I managed to sit still on Sunday. 

On Monday I left Lake Morena and hiked 6 miles to Boulder Oaks campground where I met up with some of the guys I had hung out with at the lake. I spent 4 hours resting my feet and than got restless and pushed on another 7 miles to another campground, Cibbits. I found some friends there, put up my tent, ate some food quickly and fell asleep quickly. I had thought of staying up for the lunar eclipse, but was tired from my 13+ mile day in heat with bad blisters. I had the best sleep in weeks!

When I got up into the higher hills today I felt at home. I walked around a corner and could smell the pine trees and was in heaven. I stopped to focus on the smell of the pine trees before walking on. I have been enjoying the wonders of new plants and animals, it was amazing how comforting a familiar smell was.

Today was a shorter day, but still with hurting feet. I was happy to arrive in Mt Laguna without too many more blisters. I plan to rest here a day to heal more. Fortunately I have extra days built into my schedule for healing wounds and I know that once my skin on my feet heal, I will be able to hike longer miles I will be ahead of schedule.

"The wilderness holds answers more questions then we have yet learned to ask". - Nancy Wynne Newhall

In the beginning

Day One.  15.4 miles hikes

I love trail life! Already I am feeling more at peace. I am finding that without the distractions of work and other social pressures, I feel calm and have more endurance.

A few definitions before telling the story of my first day as a PCT thru hiker.

Thru hiker: a person attempting to hike an entire long trail such as the PCT in one season

Trail Angle: a person who donates their time or resources to help hikers be successful in their journey.

Trail Name: a nickname used while hiking a long trail, often given to a person by others on the trail. Typically trail names seem nonsensical but will have a story. 

Last night I stayed with the PCT Trail Angels Scout and Frodo. They have opened their home up to hikers starting at the southern terminus of the PCT. They help arrange for transportation from the airport to their home, feed all of the guest hikers dinner and breakfast, and arrange for transportation to the trail head early in the morning. The amount of time these two put into helping strangers is impreasive. On Thursday night there were 14 hikers staying in their home and at 5:30 am we were fed fresh muffins for breakfast and shuffled into 3 vehicles that left San Diego at 6 am. At the boarder they collected our cameras and took a slew of group photos. Not everyone who hikes the PCT northbound (nobo) stays with the Trail Angels. I started hiking north at 7:30 am and over the coarse of the day met an additional 8 people who were not in the initial group. 21 people started hiking the PCT northbound with me today. 

I have not had as much time to train for hiking as i wanted. One of my motivations for doing a thru hike of the PCT is that there will be nothing to distract me from getting some much needed fresh air and exercise. I took a camping trip to Guadalupe Mountains National Park in February to test out my new gear and get some practice hiking in thw desert. I wanted to know how my body would handle the heat. The answer was, not very well. In Guadalupe Mountains I drank 5 liters of water on an 8 mile hike carrying a 22 pound pack over 7 hours in temperatures in the mid 80s. Not a good pace and high rate of water consumption.

This morning my pack weighed 11.4 lbs of basic gear + 6.5 lbs of food and 12 liters of water. The southern California section of the PCT is known for long stretches between water sources. The first reliable water source after leaving the  boarder is 20 miles later at Lake Morena. I knew I was not going to be able to hike that far in the warm weather (82 degrees) in one day. I was expecting to be pushing hard to complete 10 miles, hence the extra water. 

I surprised myself with what I was capable of. I found that with a clear mind, I was fully in thw moment all day and while the hike was physically taxing, the lack of emotional stress made it easier to push through the physical challenge and keep going. I do have a few blisters and some very soar muscles, but feel fabulous! I have just over 4 liters if water left to get me the 5 miles to lake Morena tomorrow where I will celebrate with a shower and ice cream. 

Life is a journey, not a destination. 

                   - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Leavin on a jet plane

My flight from Seattle to San Diego took 2.5 hours and it will take me 6 months to walk home. I enjoyed trying to pick out mountains and lakes I have been reading about. I was on the wrong side of the plane to see Crater Lake, but did spot Yosemite Falls and Half Dome

The last few days have been busy ones. Being an expert pricrastinator I had more to get done than time allowed. Fortunately I have a generous and patient mother who helped me pack my apartment and offered to move the last boxes out to a friends house. She is also taking on the burden of filling my resupply boxes for me and taking them to the post office. This trip would be a lot more challenging without her help.

I have finally joined the majority in purchasing a smart phone. I like the idea of unplugging from my electronics for days at a time, but want to be able to stay in touch with the people I love electronically when I am in towns every 4-7 days. 

Yes, this trip will be a crazy adventure that I know is not going to be anything like I imagine it will be. I expect to be challenged in new ways. I am excited to head out into the unknown. I will miss all of you terribly, I already do. 

See you all in 6 months!