Pacific Crest Trail (Desert Section) - Leg 1 Mexico Border to Warner Springs

I have had a dream of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail for several years now. It's a 2650 mile trail that goes from the California/Mexico border up to Manning Park in BC. You can only hike or horse the trail and because of the horse option, the grade of the trail is very forgiving and gentle. Most of the time it's great, but other times it makes a ton of switchbacks and you feel like you are going nowhere and can be extremely frustrating!! There are also great views most of the length of the trail which is amazing! I have more photos on Facebook!!

Initially, I had 4 months off to do most of the trail this year and for many reasons, I ended up with only 6 weeks off work instead. I figured this would be enough time to get the desert section completed. This was a great year to do this section from so much snowfall that there was more water sources than normal. To start the trail going northbound, the end of April is the most popular time to start due to weather/snow conditions, etc. They have a big Kick Off party down near the border so I went to that to take in the festivities and also meet some people as I was going down there solo. From the Kick Off and throughout the whole hike, I was amazed at the community of people from the hikers to generosity of others to support us hikers along with the maintenance of the trail. A lot of work by many people is put into that trail by those who love this trail. A lot of Trail Angels who pop up unexpectedly with BBQs, drinks, beer, etc (Trail Majic) to those who give rides to and from towns at our resupply stops. I feel grateful and fortunate to now be a part of such an awesome community of people.

I arrived at the airport in San Diego and met a few fellow hikers. They were all looking at the size of my pack in awe - well, fear- about how big and full it was. The general consensus was "You need to do something about that pack - really!!" As a seasoned, but old school backpacker, I was introduced the world of "thru-hiking" and ultralight gear. Little did I know. I found it really makes a difference when you are planning for weeks of hiking as opposed to a few days. My days of packing-like-a-girl were numbered and finally had caught up with me. I got a ride with a few of these hikers to Lake Morena Campground for the Kick Off party. It was a great way to meet some fellow hikers and gather more info that I would need for my adventure.

As the campground was 20 miles from the border, most people "slack-packed" this section, which means they just carried gear for the day without all the full gear. I had to learn this new "thru-hiker" lingo. My first day was hiking this section with Crumbs, Free Range Amelia, Balls and Sunshine. Guess I need to mention that everyone gets given a trail name eventually. Not sure why, but it was kind of fun and kind of weird to hang with people for days and never know their real name. Balls and Sunshine are a father/daughter team and she is only 11 and wants to be the youngest to complete the whole trail including the snow sections. I ended up hiking with them quite a bit and she's one awesome gal - so is her dad. Because of her being so young, they had a ton of sponsors and were full of good info on gear, etc. You can follow them on their trail journal if interested. Free Range's is www.trailjournals.com/amelia. By the way, my trail name became Hard Ass. I went down with my Club Fat Ass shirt on, but noone seemed to be able to call me Fat Ass which I didn't care as that's not where I put my fat. Plus the fact that my pack was so big and I had my Ironman hat with me - Hard Ass seemed to stick. Amazing that I can get that name going down where no one knows me, I'm exhausted and out of shape. Guess there are some things you can't escape. Here's us at the monument at the Mexico border.



It was a beautiful hike and a great way to start getting back into shape after just finishing my osteopathic exams the week before. Met lots more hikers of all ages and from around the world, including, of course, a few fellow Canadians. Made it back for talk about bears and campfires before calling it a day. The next day they had a great talk about the Sierra Mountain section and safety. My next job was to get a new tent. My heavy duty 3 season 2 person tent was big and heavy so I got a lighter, smaller tent as it was just me.



Here's the gang of us current hikers and past hikers at Kick Off.



Organized all my food and gear for the next 3 weeks to ship ahead. Lots of other talks, they provided food and just all around a great but busy day. The next day was the first "real" day with all my gear. My pack was still very big and heavy and I went from this:



To this on my last hiking day (notice same hiking clothes which I got a little tired of):



Because I was moving a little more slowly than my first day hiking buds with my big pack, I ended up hiking with a fellow Canadian, Michael, for 3 days which was fun. We learned to get up early and not hike in the heat of the desert sun mid-afternoon. There was a big climb to do directly in the sun and he wanted to wait until next day to climb it in the morning. There was some trail majic there also of food, drink, shade and water guns! It was only 10:30am and I didn't want to sit around all day so I hiked on like only a Hard Ass would in the middle of the hot day. It was a hard day, but I'm still glad I went. Met some new people as well which is always fun. Not only that, but the next water source wasn't until the next day so I started with 6L of water just to add to it all.



The next day was another hot day and with the water source several miles away - our water report mentioned that there might be dead mice in there so to make sure we filter. And we were looking forward to any water, mice or not. Surprise of Trail Majic with BBQ, smoked salmon, beer, drinks, shade, etc. What an amazing surprise!!! I hung out there for 2-3 hours eating and resting and treating a couple of sprained ankles. Yes, I did a little work out on my holiday, but I didn't want a little injury to stop people from living their dream so I did help a few people out along the way. The biggest surprise while at this Trail Majic was seeing my friend, Free Range Amelia, show up!! She was one of the people I hiked the first day with and I thought they were all ahead of me. Turns out she missed a turn and did some extra miles. She was my hiking partner for most of the rest of my trip.

Free Range and I wanted to have a shower badly and not put our hiking shoes on the next day that we hiked the last 8 miles to Warner Springs Resort and got there in the dark at 10pm. It was well worth it. I felt also too tired to scrub my body down, but it felt great to have a shower. The next day was a "zero" or day off. You can also "nero' which is almost a day off in thru-hiker lingo. It was well needed and to soak in the hot springs there was amazing. Just got cleaned up, reorganized a bunch of gear and enjoyed hanging out with the gang. Here's what can happen to you if you carry a pack that's too heavy and too big for you that's sits right where your underwear is. Had to get a new pack and lose the underwear. It was very, very sore!!