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While my first post covers approximately the first 150 miles of trail, this one brings the story to the first 10%, or mile 265.
I'm getting used to this. The getting up early, the walking, the water planning, the predicting and escaping the desert's sauna hours. Heck, I've even got myself a schedule. Up at 4:30 am, hiking by 4:45 am (helps when you don't set up tent), water breaks every hour in the shade, find a nap spot by 11:00 am. Nap! Depending on how cool it is, hit the trail between 3:00 and 5:00 pm again, hike till dark or past that, find somewhere flat, unroll my half sleeping mat, put my pack at the other end of it, snuggle into my sleeping bag and tell myself that they make the most comfortable bed in the world (I'm actually pretty sure they do). Every night as I fall asleep in the cool air, a smile finds it's way to my face. The day's heat, rattlesnakes, water carry, sore feet, uphill, downhill or whatever is somehow always erased in the evening. What's left is memories of the gorgeous flowers, the sunrise and sunset, the jackrabbit I saw, the terrain of the day and the strong glow of the moon. I smile that I've only just begun, and I have countless more nights to set down whenever I'm tired wherever I like the view, that I get to be outside, walking, self-reliant and discovering beautiful things for the next several months.
The hiking for the last bit has been quite a roller coaster ride. I've finally figured out that the SoCal landscape involves deserts at low elevations, a climb into and over a cooler mountain range, and then a descent into another desert. Now that I've figured that out, I can work with that. Example: 15 mile descent from the San Jacinto mountains from 4:00 am to 10:00 am to a highway overpass in the middle of the desert for shade. Nap there in 108 degree heat from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Climb outta there for the next 10 miles until a stream and cooler terrain. Sleep! The one thing I haven't quite worked out in my schedule is when to eat... I was anticipating cooking and my usual back country meals, but as you can see, the only real cooking time is lunch, and I'm generally not looking forward to a hot meal. Therefore, time to adapt from big meals to going stoveless with nibbles on the go - stove is going to be re-homed at my next resupply in Big Bear.
This whole schedule and figuring things out has let me start pushing the mileage, and I'm now feeling good with 25+mile days which have brought me to mile 265, aka 10% of the trail!
The 10 percent
While my first post covers approximately the first 150 miles of trail, this one brings the story to the first 10%, or mile 265.
I'm getting used to this. The getting up early, the walking, the water planning, the predicting and escaping the desert's sauna hours. Heck, I've even got myself a schedule. Up at 4:30 am, hiking by 4:45 am (helps when you don't set up tent), water breaks every hour in the shade, find a nap spot by 11:00 am. Nap! Depending on how cool it is, hit the trail between 3:00 and 5:00 pm again, hike till dark or past that, find somewhere flat, unroll my half sleeping mat, put my pack at the other end of it, snuggle into my sleeping bag and tell myself that they make the most comfortable bed in the world (I'm actually pretty sure they do). Every night as I fall asleep in the cool air, a smile finds it's way to my face. The day's heat, rattlesnakes, water carry, sore feet, uphill, downhill or whatever is somehow always erased in the evening. What's left is memories of the gorgeous flowers, the sunrise and sunset, the jackrabbit I saw, the terrain of the day and the strong glow of the moon. I smile that I've only just begun, and I have countless more nights to set down whenever I'm tired wherever I like the view, that I get to be outside, walking, self-reliant and discovering beautiful things for the next several months.
The hiking for the last bit has been quite a roller coaster ride. I've finally figured out that the SoCal landscape involves deserts at low elevations, a climb into and over a cooler mountain range, and then a descent into another desert. Now that I've figured that out, I can work with that. Example: 15 mile descent from the San Jacinto mountains from 4:00 am to 10:00 am to a highway overpass in the middle of the desert for shade. Nap there in 108 degree heat from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Climb outta there for the next 10 miles until a stream and cooler terrain. Sleep! The one thing I haven't quite worked out in my schedule is when to eat... I was anticipating cooking and my usual back country meals, but as you can see, the only real cooking time is lunch, and I'm generally not looking forward to a hot meal. Therefore, time to adapt from big meals to going stoveless with nibbles on the go - stove is going to be re-homed at my next resupply in Big Bear.
This whole schedule and figuring things out has let me start pushing the mileage, and I'm now feeling good with 25+mile days which have brought me to mile 265, aka 10% of the trail!
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