Day 1-4: miles 0-39

First blog post from trail! I arrived in Julian this morning, my first resupply town, in a downpour of snow and sleet. Now I'm relaxing as I wait for my laundry to finish, dressed in my raincoat - my only clean piece of clothing. A lot has happened since the first day! I'm sure I'll miss things, but here's a brief synopsis. I'm splitting it into two posts so the pictures will all upload with my poor cell service.

Day 1: miles 0-11.4

My mom and I drove down to Campo the night before and camped at CLEEF - an equestrian camp at mile 0.4 of the PCT that hosts hikers during the season. It was absolutely pouring the day we drove down, and had been for a few days, so a bunch of people had elected to start a day or so later, creating a bit of a 'bubble' of hikers on my starting date. I was expecting 5-10 people, but got probably 30 or so! It was really nice to meet everyone though and enjoy a campfire and hot breakfast.

The morning of the 31st, I got my PCT tag, making me official, and mom and I drove up to the starting monument at the border. I'd never seen the border before and it was quite a sight. I took some pictures with the terminus and started out! It was pretty clear for the first few hours, and then started raining heavily. I had met up with three other hikers going a similar pace, and we all planned to camp at mile 11.4. We were all starting slow, not wanting an overuse injury so close to the beginning. We got to camp around 2 during a break in the rain, set up, and hung out until it started pouring again. I had dinner in my tent and was nice and cozy despite the rain continuing well into the night.

There's definitely a communal feeling of surreal-ness. Most of us have been planning this hike for several years, some much longer. The rain didn't dampen the excitement at all, though I was glad it would be clear the next day.

Day 2: miles 11.4-26

The next day I left fairly early, hiking by myself for the majority of the day. I think I prefer to hike alone and see other people during breaks and at campsites - that way I can keep a pace I like and take breaks whenever I want. I've been enjoying identifying all the plants on the trail. A large number are very similar to ones of the Bay Area chaparral, but I also use the app PlantNet for the occasional ones I don't recognize. It's a lot of chemise, deerweed, California buckwheat, ragwort, oak, ceanothus, and sugar sumac right now.

Day 2 I was fast in the morning, hiking up Hauser mountain no problem, and stopped at Lake Morena. I encountered my first bit of trail magic - homemade cookies! - and stopped at the Malt Shop for a malt and onion rings. Then I continued on, crossing Buckman Springs creek and Cottonwood creek - my first river crossings! They were super slow but went up to mid-calf or so. I stopped at Boulder Oaks Campground and hung out with the other ten or so people stopping there that night. We saw a really pretty sunset, and what we think was a SpaceX rocket launch.

Day 3: miles 26-39

Today I went slow in the morning, hiking alone, then met up with another hiker and went at a much faster pace. Probably a bit too fast, since I got some blisters in my heel and little toe. The landscape went from desert to oaks, back to desert, then into pine forests. The climb into Mount Laguna wasn't bad, though a bit hot. Overall felt good, but my feet are definitely the limiting factor. I'm really glad I brought my little massage ball, since that's been helping a lot. I got to camp early and was able to do some watercolors and stretch a bunch, then just relax in the sun. I got a great spot in the pine forest, and was only joined by one other hiker - a guy named Andy from Germany. It was a very comfy night, and I could sleep in since I was planning to have breakfast at the Pine House Cafe at Mt Laguna, which opened at 9.