Skip to main content

Trail Angels (D-3)

That's Bad Santa and he is one of the many trail angels who help out thru-hikers out of the kindness of their hearts (both in PCT & AT, and other long distance trails in US).  Today was my lucky day: after having a hearty pancake & coffee breakfast provided by Hoosier Daddy & his team (another set of trail angels - see last post), I was ready to take my first break after 2+ hrs of hiking in the already-hot sun and the break happened to be an overlook point on a highway. Just as I set down my backpack, Bad Santa drives up & calls out "Trail Magic". He offered up soda, water, chips, oranges, and even beer 😄.  The Coke that I had never tasted so refreshing! And the orange that I kept and had later at 4 pm was the same.  Everything tastes better when you are backpacking 😋

Today's hike was relatively easy, as it was mostly downhill.  The sun was still a factor though. Ended up after 22 miles at a nice campsite and met fellow hikers from New York, Germany, Finland & Chile (needed one from Africa to cover all the major continents).  I have met a lot of fellow hikers but none for more than a day - everybody's pace is different, esp at the beginning.

Thick & buttery pancake b'fast by Hoosier Daddy & his team at Mt. Laguna campground

The trail (left) crosses many stream beds, almost all of them dry by this I time of the year in the desert section

 This was weird! Suddenly came upon an elaborate memorial to somebody who didn't even seem to connected to the trail

And there were more too in this short section of the trail

Anybody wanna pose on these nice big rocks on the top of a mountain for an Insta pic? 😀

For my data-minded friends:

Comments

gopalam said…
Meeting people from different walks of life is the most fun part. One gets a new perpective of life .I am very happy that my classmate is experiencing all that and hoping to listen to all your stories soon.

Popular posts from this blog

My gear and my tramily (D-97 @ 2148 - Zero day)

Some of you have asked about what gear I am using. Since today is a Zero day (the last Zero day was on D-57) and there is nothing much to report other than the fact that I shipped the last set of resupply boxes to different places in Washington state and ate substantial amounts of food today, I figured I might as well talk about my gear, and also a bit about the other most essential component on the hike - my "tramily" (trail-family).   Tent : 1-person Rainbow Li from Tarptent (bought new). This has worked very well for me and as you know from my earlier posts, Tarptent has given very good customer service too. I haven't had the chance to use the tent in heavy rain or snow (luckily) though and can't comment on it. I use a Tyvek ground sheet (already owned), also from Tarptent. Backpack : Catalyst from ULA (already owned).  I started with Zpack Arc Air Robic 60L (bought new) and used it for 700 miles, but it was not comfortable at...

Monthly Data Update (M-4; Day 91 to 118)

  All data below in italics is for M-1, M-2 & M-3 respectively, for comparison. M-4 is 28 days (all other months were 30 days) Distance traveled on PCT: 702 mi / 1130 km   ( 631 mi / 1015 km; 554 mi / 892 km; 798 mi /1284 km ) Total time: 281 ( 280; 280; 320 ) hours Total ascent:  126,923 ft / 38,686 m ( 117,830 ft/35,915 m; 99,040 ft/30,190 m; 123,951 ft/37,780 m )  Total descent: 128,161 ft / 39,063 m  ( 115,912 ft/35,330 m; 99,730 ft/30,400 m; 123,921 ft/37,771 m ) Highest point: 7174 ft / 2187 m ( 9407 ft/2867 m; 13,120 ft/4000 m; 7580 ft/2310 m ) Average distance/day: 25 mi / 40 km ( 21 mi/34 km; 18.7 mi/30.1 km; 26.6 mi/42.8 km )  Average distance/hiking day: 26 mi / 42 km ( 21.8 mi/35.1 km; 21.3 mi/34.3 km; 26.6 mi/42.8 km ) Average time hiking/day: 10.0 ( 9.3; 9.3;  10.7) hours (incl Nero days) Average pace: 2.6 mph/4.2 kmph ( 2.3 mph/3.6 kmph; 2.0 mph/3.2 kmph; 2.5 mph/4.0 kmph ) Number of Zero days:...

The Start (D-1)

It was a bitter-sweet day.  Start of something that I had been looking forward to for months, nay years. But, it is always difficult to say goodbye to loved ones. At the same time, the encouragement and extraordinary support from family and friends over the past few weeks has been amazing and I am deeply grateful for that. More on this later. It was a relatively easy start to the hike with mostly flat trails, but the real stuff lay in wait. Both the elevation gain and the heat from the bright sun in the dry desert manifested post-lunch.  Most streams were dry and there was not much shade either. It was a relief to reach Lake Morena campground, 20 miles from the start, after almost 9 hours after leaving the US-Mexico border.  A most delicious dinner post-hike at the Oak Shores Malt shop which every PCT hiker knows 1 done & 2659 to go This view of Lake Morena was such a big relief... campground was near...whew! ...