OK, OK I’m gonna try this voice to text thing again and I’m trying to make my stories more cohesive so they’re easier to read and understand. Hopefully that’ll make reading these less like a puzzle of grammar issues and misspellings you have to put together. I started yesterday later than I wanted to the bike ride was so hard! I got passed by three people on E bikes in the last mile it was pretty funny.
Climbed MT baker this weekend. It was a slow calm climb up and back. good practice at slowly consistanly moving towards the goal. I have to work on stop getting tunnel vision and going the first route that I see. It gets me in trouble in the mountains sometimes and I need to stop, if i can’t I have to stop going into the mountains :( I can do it. We got to the trail head at 9 am saturday started hiking made camp around noon.
Woke up earlier this week to a spider on my face!! It was a way to wake up. I’m getting less and less scared of them so that’s nice
it was a calm week I had enough time to do all the things I wanted and watch most of an episode of better call Saul 10/10 would recommend
cried in therapy it was nice.
the weather is so nice out here!
Packed my lunch this morning. white rice with some tahini sauce on top of spring mix. BORING. Bought a salad to mix with it and make it better.
having trouble waking up these past few days I’ve been snoozing my alarm for an hours ish I don’t know why.
also bought a soda pop coke cause I wantedit
Worked got home and pack up a box to mail to Casey. Then started packing my bag for this weekend. I’m going to learn about a bunch of snow skills really excited. I signed up for this class mostly for the snow things, but the climbing was awesome too! mostly packed I’m skipping yoga tomorrow cause im Going to bed too late
heres a random pct photo. wildflower had the same backpack as me somewhere in the sierras
Casey and I have been fighting carpet Beatles for about a month. We hoped they were flying in through the window but today I saw some larvas on the floor next to our dishwaser!!!!! I’m gonna get some diatemithious earth and boric acid today and go to town.
This weeked was good, sleeping alone will take some getting used to but oh well. Slept on the couch for a bit last night then moved to the bed.
Yesterday I washed my AirPods in my sweatpants pocket lol darn!!! at first the right noise canceling didn’t work it’s been slowly getting better. Hopefully They are fine idk
im still a little sick but doing way better! Glad I could sleep as much as I did before going to vantage this weekend for my first real rock climbing adventure!! Excited to take what I’m learning to some alpine rock climbing 🧗♂️
Happy birthday to one of the stamp sisters!! Don’t have a picture with them so hers a photo with one of the other stamp sis’s and some…… extras….. jkjkjk y’all aren’t extras in my life y’all the main cast!! Love you
Main thing of the post is over.
Oh also I finished ✔️ boom done with the PCT. Going to take a loooooooong break from walking haha was fun but geeze 2600 miles is too many milestones
Yikes mom and dad not going to love this story but it’s what happened! Love you and remember I have an emergency button.
SO
Day started in a warm hotel, woke up late (as usual) so I rushed to make the breakfast bus to an amazing bakery in stihekin wa (spelling is hard)
I should go back a little to add some background to this story, cause my last post was so long ago y’all ain’t got no clue what’s going on with me.
OK here we go. Oh shit I just said the word. And I’m gonna restart I’m trying a new thing where I probably should’ve put a comma in there put a comma in there. Anna. Delete Ha shit OK restart I’m trying a new thing where I am going to use voice to text so I can write these journals while I’m walking and hopefully he’ll write them more consistently because the last one I have actually written it was almost a month ago yeah can we go no here we go.
Boom almost to Washington!! Waiiiiiiiit I thought he wasn’t even done with Cali yet what happened to Oregon??????
Boom just that fast . Jkjkjk ha
Uhhhhh I got way behind on posting so I’m just gonna jump to present day well yester present day
Walked through tunnel falls yesterday (for those keeping track of time that’s two yesterday’s from now today so)
Walked through tunnel falls yesterday getting into town today, it’s a big tourist attraction so there are soooooooooo many day hikers 👋 had to stop to let them pass every few minutes!
Guess what…. it’s hot again and our hotel didn’t have any ac!!!! But other than that the hotel was very cute! If you’re ever in Sierra city stay in the Sierra motel with Robert!! He’s a very interesting character and fun to talk with 🧙
Had to say goodbye to a good friend someone we hiked with for a while smoooooooth he got off trail and is going Europe for a bit!
Woke up walked down hill to town… swam in a nice river blah blah blah let’s get to the important part of the day RAMBLIN with no g rose!!!! She’s back! We met back up in Sierra city!!!!!! SHES BACK!!!!!! Wooooooooo sorry meant to do that in capitals WOOOOOOOOO
The three backpacks of three best friends…. yeah hear that Ohio best friends??? Step up your game you get replaced………. jk jk jk I have enough love for all you even you reader love you
Walked today (writing this post almost one month later…. one month minus a day so it’s not quite a month but it’s close haaaaa) woke up left the rest stop. Took a poo in a real bathroom that’s always nice. Hiked out….. not sure what happened but saw our first fire? Maybe it was the first idk if I’ve talked about a fire before sorry you know at Keith granola dot come we don’t edit (I really need to come up with new gags I keep using the same old stuff yup) old stuff is good though that’s why it’s the old stuff.
Walked up a place called tinkers knob in r something like that on the way to it there was no one else but other pct-ers. At the top and on the way back down was FULL of day hikers. Nothing against them but you know. Got some trail magic once I got close to the trailhead/parking lot. Also got more in the parking lot. Day hikers love giving out trail magic.
The fourth!! Woop woop imma celebrate by WALKING my favorite activity. Walked with sand witch most of the day which is always fun 🤪
🧙🏻♂️🧝♀️
Saw Lake Tahoe like a thousand times and split from the Tahoe time trail so BYE all y’all TRT-ers hope you have a wonderful hike 👩🌾
Was hoping the mosquitoes would stay in the Sierras but nooooooooooo they just HAD to follow me!! Guess I got the good good 🩸 blood. That’s a creepy emoji, like the way they shAdow the bottom yikes. But seriously fuck these mosquitoes they are the worst all god fam day.
It rain for a solid couple hours today. Was hoping that would make the mosquitoes run and hid home boy but noooooooooooooooo.
Started the day in Lake Tahoe pretty city buuuuut gotta get out of here before the fourth things start happening. Staying here another night is twice as expensive as it was last night.
Did chores
Went to a bagels shop and was recognized by some people as PCT hikers chatted for a minute then sat down to eat. When they were leaving the offered us a ride back to the trail head (SCORE!
6/27/21
Spotify decided to delete all my downloaded things again so more self reflection! I should probably do that more as a activity out here and not just when I have nothing to listen to(besides nature YUK … lolol jkjk kinda but the fuck Spotify) if anyone reading this works for Spotify please reach out ASAP. How are you gonna reach out? Idk you’re the genius at Spotify you figure that out.
6/26/21
Oh I did 1000 miles yesterday ha got em or is that today I think it was yesterday but not sure. My BROTHER put a character limit to my titles cause I keep ramblin in these titles Left Kennedy Meadows north today, that place is way better than k meds south and anyone who thinks otherwise we throwing hands. Got a ride back to the trail by Ron! We met him like 600 miles ago he was volunteering at a ranger station!
Was gonna start this entry the same way I start many “woke up late” but I’m doing what makes me happy so am I really late? Late for what? There no rules out here about start time haha k
Hiked up a looooooooong climb it wasn’t steep but was over like ten miles. Definitely rather the steep and short climbs
At the tail end I started to see some sketchy clouds… sure those will just go away…
Stayed at the best lake we’ve seen yet!! Was so beautiful and had a sandy beach around it perfect for some on trail relaxation!!! (Most of the trail is relaxing so that doesn’t mean that much but it is amazing. I guess actually the Sierras are real hard so that relaxation is important!!! It’s always up or down out here never easy flat know what I’m saying? Also fucking miscitos not how you spell that oh well.
Woke up late hiked till late that’s the way I role, I guess. Started at a pretty beautiful View from my lunch rock this is my rock!! You know the pioneers would ride these puppies for miles 🧽🧽
Soccer mom said he was told by a ranger that the campground we stayed at was closed huh people said backpackers had been staying there for week Woops. He camped like four miles back cause of that info
Hung out at the general store for some possible random off trail shinanigans that never happened oh well we can never turn down possible off trail shinanigans. Hiked five miles to a water fall was beautiful k bye goodnight Got attacked by the moscitos at the water fall dude these bugs are the absolute WORST
Zeroed at toluene Meadows definitely not how you spell that also auto correct put it as something else but there’s no editing here so we move on! Took a bus down to Yosemite valley and just walked around the paths was really nice even took a “swim” in the river we couldn’t do our laundry’s and take a hiker bath because of all the people. We had to keep it non hiker trash
Woke up at a beautiful lake called thousand island lakes or something woke up around 630 and hung for a couple hours. So I’m getting “better” at waking up early just not at leaving early lol oh well I’m loving it 🥰. Had a quick five mile climb then both out down hill. There are so many people on this Trail!! John Muir trail hikers pct hikers and day hikers! It’s hard to keep up with who’s who!
Posts incoming, I’m gonna try to post one an hour till I’m caught up! In the meanwhile enjoy possibly the best photo I took in the Sierras!!!
Isn’t that beautiful!!! Looks like a photoshopped thing but it’s not!!!! Ha 🐣
No updates to Keith granola dot come. It’s late and I’m tired. I’ll be back in like nine ish days with updates sorry love y’all enjoy this photo of me realizing how high Whitney is. Oh I climbed Whitney the tallest mountain in the lower 48 k goodnight
Back to trail…… with two bear cans! Cause of the rules You have to carry a bear can through the Sierras (a bear can is a plastic tub that bears can’t open and holds your food, Google it) people complain about and hate carrying them cause they’re two pounds of dead weight you have to carry…….. so I got two of them lol I’m a dummy but it’s a funny flex (unless my knees explode that’d be bad) also I carry a bunch of food and to follow the rules I need to carry two… That’s not totally true everyone else does the trail with one so could I 😑 meh
Saw this amazing tree that looked like a Van Gogh painting ran over to it and said “ I’m gonna take a picture of it for my mom she’ll love that!!!”
Ramblin later asked me how did I get such a strong relationship with my parents? Idk but I love them!!
Climbed to like 10600 feet!! I thinks it’s the highest we’ve been! I also went number two up there tallest poo 💩I’ve taken yet. Hiked down through beautiful trees and things almost cried it was so perfect. Camped, smoked some clove cigs again then bed slow day but another great day I love it
Woke up covered in ICE aight more like frost buuuuuuuuut was really cold non the less (what does that even mean? Sounds like it should fit right there) had to de ice and dry my stuff all morning good thing we have like ten miles to do today so we can chill in the AM. started hiking and Spotify decided that I didn’t download any of the music that I downloaded cool.
Our plan was to do ten miles lol we never follow through. But we do what we want so cool! Also was my idea to stop early Lol Since we were doing small miles we hung out at camp till like noon!!! Wooooooo late start is a Keith approved start. Hiked through gorgeous trees mountains rocks all of it was beautiful fuck the desert ! Hiked till we got to the first water source theeeeeeeen stopped for the day woops haha oh well we gotta go slow so we can go to Vegas on the 28th from lone pine a town like 30 miles away.
Went back to Kennedy Meadows to pick up asthma things and get back to trail!!
Got a ride from TyeDye probably not how you spell that but you know. We talked cars and things was fun! I say that a lot in here my trail fam says I drop nouns and things from sentences I see it. Uhhhh yeah cars I downloaded car talk cause.
Had my first bad conversation out here well first bad conversation that I was the main talker
Ramblin wasn’t feeling well after the second shot so she stayed in the hotel while me and Casey wandered around town doing chores and going to museums! Was a lotta fun 👩🔬💁♂️ well not for ramblin probably Town days are slow days back to trail tomorrow and up to the Sierras woooooo
Town day, sand and rose (ramblins full name is ramblin rose not sure I’ve said that on here but there it is, and obvi sand is sand Witch I should not have to explain that) They got their second vaccinations sweet we resupplied and got out stuff going don’t know what that means haha idk it was a fine day nothing special
much more chill day, wish I could’ve slept more cause i was hungover! I didn’t drink too much but it was close I definitely could have gone without the last three drinks. Which definitely means I drank too much, something to think about next time.
Hung out with the trimly all day was nice 👍 shadow Thumbs up
Oh this is an edit cause I forgot to add it but it was a truly amazing part of the day so here it is.
Hung out at the general store making friends saw smooth again!! Was nice to see him again lol it’s nice to see everyone again
Headed to grumpies bar to drink. There’s a fude between the two stores that kinda sucks but oh well I’m just passing on through. Sand Witch ramblin puppets and train wreck caught up!!!!! Yus!! Also saw a new guy named Stilts’s, we met him at the cabin but he heard of the noro virus so he kept his distance.
Woke up late. No surprise from anyone there lol Got hiking around 830?
Hiked fast to get to k meds before dark. Took a couple breaks to eat and filter water feeling great till the end of the last climb! Then I felt sluggish lol only 15 miles to go!!
At the bottom of the descent I took a dinner break to reset my mood and let my body rest. Was well worth the time I hiked the last 10 miles quickly with a dude named poppa JR he’s good people, so is everyone I talk about on this website and most of the people out here.
Our plan was to do 20 together. Ramblin and sandy witchy decided to head to town to try to get their second RNA changing shots. I decided to try to get to Kennedy Meadows the next day cause idk why not? Sounds fun? Yup means I should do my first thirty mile day!! Wooo
Plan was to do 27 ish then 31 tomorrow, the camp I was going to stay at was full when I got there at 10 pm (oh well I’ll just hike two miles to the next spot and get some sleepyhead time…….
Woke up at a water cache with soap and signs saying wash your hands cause of the second current pandemic the norovirus pandemic doesn’t sound as good as Covid, novid? Norvu?norus? Idk I’ll work shop it. Apparently it’s spread far and wide, according to word of mouth sooo idk could be wrong (was gonna say fake news but that’s way over used by) Hike through some evergreen trees! With a gray sky!
Tim and Amy gave us a ride AGAIN!!! They amazing people, was nice to actually talk to them haha and not just vomit near them. Rode with Tim again, he told me all about the town was like getting a tour!!
Was feeling pretty good today did this climb quickly and my asthma was like yo wat up I’m back….. shiiiiit. Spent the next hour or so having a itch/pain in my throat/lungs sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet good thing I’ll be in the hard cold Sierras soon!
Hitched into town, was an interesting hitch this is an interesting town for sure has a vibe. We resupplied and cleaned our water cleaner and carriers.
Heard a funny convo at the grocery between a grandson and grandmother Gs why are we going down this lane
Gm I’m getting Pepsi Gs you know momma said no Pepsi I laughed it might not translate as well to text but there it is
Yikes this day fucking sucked. Day started like any other day….. lol that’s too mysterious of an opening We woke up said goodbye to Doug and rich as they speed away on their bikes. We got a late start… I mean I got a normal start while sandwich and ramblin got a late start. We hiked together for the morning was really nice and peaceful, I enjoyed the company….. then we got to the Joshua tree for snack/lunch time.
Woke up to do a 16 mile day not to bad! Took an amazing break on a wild rock train wreck had found.
Hiked along to a stream where we ran into goodwill again!!! Woop woop how did we catch up with the speed master himself…. he was sick……FOREsSHAWOD you know the rest him roadrunner and fluff weren’t feeling too well. Luckily they were able to get a ride off trail from someone hiking the trail on a horse.
Woke up later than I wanted to, oh well I’m on vacation! Buuuuuuut there were the ants that for sure woke up before me woops. My things were covered luckily they hadn’t made it to me yet. Passed smooth pretty early on now I just gotta catch up to the rest of them!
Caught up with the rest of the trail fam at the end of the day! Was so nice to see them all 🐣 now we just gotta have smooth catch up!
Woke up feeling extra tired! So I slept more LOL imma genius
Tim once again gave me a ride so I didn’t have to take the bus!! Thank you so much Tim 🐸
Got to trail around 3 ish had huge plans of hiking 30 miles!!!! Made it like 15 and the wind was kicking my ass so I stopped LOL
As I laid there cow camping I looked at the comments for this tent site.
Got a ride to Bakersfield got my second vaccine! I’m like a moving cell tower with superior DNA now!!! Was soooooooo bored in Bakersfield! There was a hiker party in tehachapi that sounded fun but you’re not supposed to drink after the shot so I ordered sushi and watched TV BOREING!!
Woke up to a beautiful rendition of the world famous cardi b song if it’s up it’s stuck. Better than coffee at getting you going on the road.
Made it up a climb to a “snack bar” more like five chairs covered in ants!!!! But there was a water cache soooooo it’s cool. Got the Keith granola dot com approval.
We made it into town to tttchhchchhheeppsss! Me puppets ramblin sandwich and Trainwrek!
Last night we didn’t quite make it to the bridge we wanted to go to so we had a couple miles to do in the am. Then sleep in the shade and night hike again!!
Buuuuuut before any of that when I woke up there were a bunch of ants on my food bag. I gave it a good toss to get the ants off. After the toss I noticed the bottom of the bag was wet.
Night hiked along the LA aqueduct! It was an experience for sure haha we brought glow sticks and techno music had a little personal rave! My old bosses Jeremy and Aaron would tease me for going to raves and I imagine this personal rave is they were making fun of, like six people spinning glow sticks for hours. It was nice to BS with my Honda people I miss those days, was fun
So happy we are traveling together!! Honestly this is the happiest time of my life and I’m so glad I’m sharing it with such amazing people 🤗
Might seem like a quarter life crisis but I swear it amazing and I’m doing so well LOL
Also shout out to Keith gramila.com marketing and hair director!! Without THE Sand Witch my hair dye probably wouldn’t have happened so thank you 🕴
Got breakfast from an amazing place. Don’t remember the name so sorry restaurant the keithgramila dot com fans won’t know how amazing you were. Also got mimosa and an Irish coffee was everything I wanted. Left the restaurant and immediately started a 12 ish mile road walk!!! Wooooooo CARS!!! Yeah! I listened to Rasputin and danced like a dummy was fun. I wonder if I was over compensating cause I was worried about the mental tole of the road walk?
Woke up late! Didn’t start hiking till 930 oh well. Was a long slow day I was getting passed by so many people meh fuck it. Tomorrow has more road walking…… ah chips!! Sleep time goodnight 😴 Totd this scarlet bugler I found on the trail 😕 sad cause it’s such a beautiful flower! Thanks ramblin for showing me what it’s called
Also a lot of beautiful flowering flowers today 💐
Checked out of the hotel leaving ita little more pink than normal woops. Got sushi for lunch ish then Ubered to trail. Started hiking around four ish and hiked till midnight!!!! Wooo my first honest night hiking ,was really tiring.
Look at this beautiful red barked tree!!! Reminds me of the first time I saw them in the beginning! How far I’ve come 😍
Totd: saw my old friend molly
Jordan drove us around to resupply and things. All the driving was a lot, more thinking about my accident? I wonder why? I wasn’t thinking about it while I was driving as much before I left Columbus, maybe I’m not used to going so fast! Vroom vroom
We went to a Sally’s beauty for hair things. THE one THE only THE Sand Witch bleached and dyed my hair pink!!! Was a lot of fun and some burning getting it dyed.
Woke up a lil hung over, started the day with a climb! Hang over was gone after the climb, best way to cure a hang over is to work out 🏋️♀️ woop woop. Made it to big Agnes today at some Mexican with other hikers. SAW RICHARD AGAIN!! His NAME IS NOW CRUISE CONTROL !!! LOVED SEEING HIM AGAIN!! Woop woop ubered into Santa Clarita time for a zero.
Totd: my hair is boring
Planned on hiking close to big Agnes the town that I pronounce in the most wrong way possible. We meet near the Akton KOA decided to go in to re up on some water. That quickly turned into camping there. There were a bunch of other hikers there. We drank a bit, I think I drank too much would like to work on self control while I’m out here. I have very little self control?
Walked. Had phone service part of the day got to call my parents was nice 🧸 ( talk about my emoji choices way too much I gotta keep them on point, will actually thinking about them now instead of randomly choosing the first one I think fits change that? Oh Jerez! ) slept at a ranger station and hung out till after dark. Was nice to hang out with my trail fam 🎉
Hiked past 420 today woop woop that’s a fun number!
Totd: Had Italian dinner music at sand witches dinner party was fancy pants
I look wild in this photo
Got a trail name!! It’s little spoon I love it!! Wooooo ramblin says I have little spoon energy in a big spoon body seems to check out.
More road walk ugh same shit as yesterday but not as bad mentally ? I don’t know why maybe cause
the pit toilet was so fun!
(Sorry for putting the photo in the middle, I’m sorry enough to say sorry but not to fix it)
Started the day in town, hanging out and finishing up chores didn’t start trail until around noon lol our group is going for that speed record!! We had 20 miles of road walking in front of us cause the trail was closed due to a old fire. The first bit wasn’t bad but when we got a few miles in and cars started driving by at the speed limit I started to re live my accident back in September.
Woke up in a cabin was glorious. Moved to a “Bud” farm…. I think they grow friendships or something (not my joke but I’m stealing it). We moved our things out of a quaint cabin into someone’s front yard, we moving down in the world how much lower could we get???? (Foreshadowing cause I’m writing this one day later) we left most of our things at the farm and slack packed ( it’s when you hike with minimal things like day hikers) I flew up to Biden Powell peak.
I’ve been spelling sand witches name wrong and from everyone at Keith gramila dot com from the bottom of our hearts we apologize. We can’t promise it won’t happen again cause the main writer can barely spell his own name and the editors are waaaay under paid but we will do our best? Some emoji 🦁 this emoji reminds me of when I face time my mom and she uses that filter!
Started the day running into bounce!! Cool guy! Didn’t know he was at the same campsite, felt bad cause I was on the phone till late. Hope he didn’t hear me woops.
Made it into town around 11 and just chilled great day 😶
Totd Mimosas gangs are for cool people, way cooler than me. Peace out dawg
Started the day at a birthday party? Where am I lolololol. It was funfacts birthday so magicmarker got a cake with his picture and a whole buffet from Cracker Barrel!!! She’s an amazing person!! Most people out here are 👻
We started hiking pretty late and took a few breaks in the beginning. I needed to get to town by 4ish so I started hustling up the hill/mountain I did about 20 miles.
Found another toilet today. It was amazing snagged some more toilet paper cause I was running low. Reminded me of me and Dan A stealing those huge roles from the engineering building in college. Please don’t report me I don’t want to go to jail. K thanks
Lotta breaks today and still solid miles I loved it. We made it to Cajon pass where we were planning on re supply ing then back to trail to camp.
Hung out at the hot springs for half the day was nice to chill with tonka and friends for some time.
I think I found my people to hike the trail with!! Really love their energy and humor. I’m excited to move towards Canada with them!! Woop woop. Done.
Enjoy the picture of horses cause I didn’t take many photos this day
Thing of the day: the realm of endless possibilities is always there but people rarely reach for it.
Tonka packed in a watermelon it was the best melon I’ve ever had. To follow proper leave no trace I ate the rind. Ramblin was worried the rind was poisoned by nature so when we had service she looked it up. Apparently it actually pretty healthy for you kinda like a cucumber. 8/10 only cause it was a chore eating that rind
Hung out with my old friend cid today, haven’t seen them in a while, was fun!
I was tasked with collecting fire wood. That was it. No other instructions. I collected wood for maybe 15 minutes then got into the hot springs. Lounged around for hours. Around noon cid and I decided to walk up the river and just look around. We hit a huge rock and started climbing. We quickly realized that climbing up was fairly simple but getting back would not be.
Long good day. Woke up pretty late started hiking around ten. I want to start hiking earlier so I can take long breaks through out the day. Means I have to wake up early soooooooooo .
Met back up with stonks before I even started hiking. He said he saw someone going into a pit toilet with a woman’s sun hat on and was pretty sure that was me. Hiked all day listening to podcasts and music.
Walked most of the day alone and had this overwhelming sense of freedom at the end of the day. I am free to do anything with my time it’s a nice feeling. Sped past the town big bear lake, I don’t need more food and things. I did run out of lunches today (I don’t cook for lunch so I usually eat a bunch of granola and cold meat) so I’m starting to cold soak…… TORTELLINI!
Fast miles today!! Also meeting more and more people! Thought about having the goal of having a conversation with every new person I pass while they’re on break. I’m gonna try it. Yup that’s what’s in the blog today….. welcome!!
Long hiking today, lotta up hill ….. I loved it. I love uphill hate downhill. Also crisscrossed a stream all day, got lost a few times. Was amazing carried 1 liter All day. Walked through a forest fire area was wild to see these huuuuge trees charred and fallen. Camping near new people, trying to pick up my pace to catch back up with the San jacinto crew but also who else is out there to meet?
Starting to write these down offline so it’s more fresh and funky! I am writing this on 4/15 …. meh no buddy’s perfect. Got a ride to trail and breakfast from momma bear!! She’s truly an angle 😊 without angles thru hiking would be so much harder.
Got dropped off at trail and started hiking with a group I already knew. Dirtnap gourmet and max good people. Hiked to a creek took a break and a toke of some clove cigarette.
“Woke up without any water, and cause I’m a smarty pants dinner for the last night I ate the world saltiest meal EVER so I was pretty thirsty. Only two miles to my next water!!
Got a snickers ice cream bar from some amazing trail angles. Was the best ice cream I’ve ever had!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lotta uphills to get to paradise valley cafe. Some say it’s the best burger on trail!! Meh but that’s on me I shouldn’t have ordered the Texas toast bun, that thing got wet and fell apart.
Went through miles of this. Snow at a slope. It sucked and went on forever at least one hundred miles I don’t need no commas and grammar things LOL sorry friends. I got past the snow took a break and kept going with my knee pain…… it sucked my normal high moral was at a negative I hated everything was blaming everything for my mood and pain I hated life was definitely my lowest moment on trail.
I passed this part at 5am ish… to orient you I was traveling from top to bottom. I stepped with my left foot near the top of the image and I fell through the snow. My car knee (right knee) slammed into two inches of snow and then a rock……. it tucking hurt oh wait no Fucking hurt. I laid there for a bit with severe knee pain till ramblin caught up to me asking if I was okay.
So the group I was hiking with saw on gut hooks that there was a small snow bridge (patch of snow that lest you walk over flowing water) coming up. They said I needed to cross it last cause I’m post holing all day and night and will probably make that bridge come crashing down, it was a half joke lol fuck them but it was funny and I also love them!
First half of the day was uneventful, just a lot a walking…. Around lunch I made it to this beautiful area called cedar spring it was this tiny oasis full of cedar trees with amazing campsites. I talked with a couple on a day hike while I was re filling my water. We talked about the PCT and how it’s going. They said something at the end like “with a smile like that when you talk about it you must be loving it” something along those lines.
Woke up this morning at some sort of hiker commune. It. Was. AMAZING!!! I helped the grounds keeper “Spirit” cut stuff for his new roofing, and move a fence over. Gave him about three hours of work for letting me and some other people stay the night there and feed us! He offered me some smelly plant as payment, I declined. Over all mikes place was amazing and I’m so glad I stopped there!
Wore long pants and a short sleeve shirt. Was constantly putting on sun screen and still got burnt. Will be wearing a long sleeve shirt tomorrow.
Past 100 miles today!!! Woooo only 26 more times hahahahaa
A lot of today was through plains where a bunch of cows were grazing. Offered no shelter from the sun but was just as beautiful as the mountains just in a different way.
Did like 16 miles today almost went for 23 miles but still gotta ease into it!
Woke up in a bed this morning! After two days of zeros and hanging around Richard and Trish’s house in San Diego it was time to get back to trail. Richard was kind enough to give me a ride and even take me to Julian for some odd and ends!
Felt fresh and ready to go when I got to trail, for the most part I still do! Today hiking was mostly along the side of a couple mountains there were so many spots for amazing panoramic photos I took six!
Richard invited me into his home to take some zeros I was a little hesitant at first but thought why not I’m on an adventure let’s meet new people go to new places. I’m so glad I went Richard and his girlfriend Trish were so welcoming kind and hospitable, I just wish there was more I did for them! It was an amazing way to spend some zeros around knew friends in a new city!
Woke up with a thumbs up and smile from Richard. Was nice
We buddied up again to get to Julia like 16 miles away lotta down hill which worried me cause of my car knee. It hurt a little in the beginning of the big down hill, I focused on what my PT told me and I really thought about how I was walking. Made it through doth big down hills of the day with only some pain in the beginning.
Twisted my ankle today “ouch” …… twice “ouch” … does a double ouch make a okay? Like a double negative? I gotta be more careful on those downhills when it’s muddy. It’s muddy cause of the hail remember the hail I’ll never forget the hail.
Other than that today was good gotta wait till Sunday to get to Julian just I got all the time in the world. Got to camp around 1:30 took a nap read a lot then started catching up on these updates cause I have service.
Report for day 4 I thought there wasn’t any water at my next camp site so I carried 5 liters of water with me all day. There was a steam just down the trail and I drank maybe 1 liter all day woops.
Ran into a search and rescue guy setting up some training exercises. He said he was just doing a day hike and didn’t know the area so I told him where I stayed and where water was, then the search and rescue thing came up.
Made it to my fist town just stopped into get some sunscreen trash bags trash bags. At the campsite There were a bunch of RV’s packing up and one couple was yelling at each other, glad I slept in the woods (definitely closer to desert out here but you get it).
Talked with a father son duo Junji and Junji the father went by John to avoid confusion. They were the first people I really talked to on trail.
Walked under the bridge at the red X then kept walking till I took this picture!! When I was editing this post I could hear my old Honda bosses saying “why is the X red??? What’s wrong??” I live in the woods now and I will use the whole rainbow!!!!! Lol jk jk love and miss all y’all 🤩
Saw the trail ahead on the ridge of a mountain, thoughts it would be cool to take a picture looking back at the ridge when I got on the trail in the first picture…. not sure if I explained that right….. imagine a V and I took a picture at the top of each side looking at the other side. That’s what I did, thought it would be cool to look through them and find where I took the picture from but that was to hard so I’m gonna stick with the V analogy.
Ran into some park rangers on trail today, their questions about my permits were very rigorous.
“Do you have a permit?” yes “Did you start in your start day?” yes “Do you have a camp stove?” yes “Do you have a California fire permit?” yes “You have any questions?” no “Okay, have a good day.”
Walked about 12 miles today. Gonna take it slow for about a week, then work to ramp up to 20 miles a day.
The past 24 hours were a roller coaster of emotions. Mostly dread and terror. Spent the night before getting on trail looking at the mountain range near Palm Springs thinking there’s no way I can do this. Getting closer to the southern terminus those feelings were replaced with joy and excitement! One day and one step at a time I’ll get past the Sierra Mountains near Palms Springs
TSA was so excited about the PCT they wanted to checkout my gear! Their packing skills could do with some work though, needed duct tape to close my bag.
