Day 1: Off We Go!

Date: Wed 4/18

PCT Start Mile: 0

PCT End Mile: 20

Off-Trail Hike Mileage: 1.5

Total PCT Miles: 20

Total Overall Miles: 21.5

The Highlights: A rattle snake and our first trail magic!!

Day 1 started early with the sound of about 30 air mattresses releasing their air “pshhhhhhhhhhhh” as everyone in Scout and Frodo’s backyard woke up, packed up, and packed out. With Santa-is-coming anticipation, I’d slept poorly in the wee morning hours and was finally sleeping well when it was time to get up. Shawn actually had to wake me up, a scenario that is usually the other way around. After a quick breakfast and bathroom use, everyone stood on the front porch with their packs. We were quickly assigned to vehicles and the caravan of hikers was off to the Mexican border in Campo.

Shawn and I shared a car with two other hikers. After a lot of trail questions, it emerged that our driver, Vogue, was a triple crown hiker, having hiked all three of the long distance trails in the U.S. – the PCT, AT (Appalachian Trail), and CDT (Continental Divide Trail). He’d also done the PCT one extra time for good measure. Needless to say, he was an excellent source of information (and inspiration), but even more so he was extremely supportive and friendly as the rest of us set off on our first ever thru hike. Newbies in the presence of a wise Sage. Some of his words of wisdom: step one is step one. Fair enough.

Here we are with Vogue:

Finally arriving at the PCT southern terminus border monument, there was a flurry of activity, with group and individual photos at the PCT monument and also pics at the border wall.

And then, we were off!! The start was somewhat staggered as people finished their photos and headed to the trail, but there were a lot of hikers starting somewhat close together so ample opportunity to meet new hiker friends. We spent the day chatting with hikers around us and leap-frogging familiar faces as everyone took different rest breaks. Throughout the day, we hiked with people from the U.S., Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Austria and others. It was quite a multi-cultural mix.

As the morning grew late, the sun grew high and soon there was a staggered scene of solar umbrellas popping up across the landscape as everyone attempted to save themselves from the sun, myself included. The umbrellas have a reflective coating on the top and are pretty awesome in the heat, feeling 10+ degrees cooler underneath. I’m a big fan already.

Late morning found us hiking through a burn area that was actually quite beautiful. The color of the fresh green grasses and plants popped amidst the charred black trees and blue skies.

Somewhere between 10-11 miles, Shawn and I rounded a corner and Hoosier Daddy (originally from Indiana, as you might expect), yelled “Snake!” From the trees alongside the trail came the tell-tale rattle of a rattlesnake. Hidden in the trees, we couldn’t actually see it, but gave a wide berth to the area the sound emanated from. Can’t say we can call it our first rattle snake “sighting”, but I’m sure that will be in our future. This also highlighted the necessity to hike with someone not too far in front of you as a snake lookout 🙂

Around 1:30pm or so, we had a short road walk between trail sections before our descent to Hauser Creek, where many planned to take a long break before the ascent up the other side of the valley.

Walking along the road, a woman came along in a truck with a “Rock Biological Consulting” logo on the side. Rolling down her window, she greeted us and asked if we’d like to share a tangerine. “Some trail magic?”, she said. Yes! Awesome! Day 1 and our first trail magic.

Trail magic is basically help or gifts that people give you along the trail, typically in the form of food, beverages, or hitches, but trail magic takes many forms. Fresh fruit is particularly coveted trail magic, as fruit can be hard to come by along the trail and too heavy to carry much of. Needless to say, we were extremely thankful and enjoyed our tangerine once we reached Hauser Creek, which isn’t much more than a sandy dry creek bed, but offered plenty of shade for a nice rest. Shawn with our first trail magic:

After our rest, we had a long hot climb up the other side of the valley. Switch-backing up the trail, my umbrella was angled to the wrong side 50% of the time. 😂 Eventually, the welcome sight of Lake Morena came into view and soon enough we’d descended to the lake and were setting up camp. At camp we met a hiker named Kevin, who had extra beer that he shared with Shawn. Before long we were tucking into burgers at the infamous “Malt Shop”, where we also resupplied for the next day and a half of hiking.

Since we were staying at an actual campground, we had the opportunity for showers, which were nice after a 20 mile day. I also rinsed my socks until the water ran … less dirty. Nice and clean-ish (as clean as you can get without soap), resupplied, and well fed, we fell into our sleeping bags exhausted. Day 1 success.