May 13 – May 19, 2022
Total Distance: 101.1 miles
The first week of the Pacific Crest Trail has been a story of ups and downs, trials and companionship. There were many hardships in the first 7 days of hiking the PCT – blistering desert heat, relentless climbs up the sides of mountains, issues with gear, feet soreness, and worst of all, self-doubt. However, whenever one or more of these factors was beating me down, there was always someone who I could relate with and hang out with for a time to rejuvenate my energy for the next step.
That seems to be the magic of the PCT – everyone is going through the same pains and discomforts, so there is an immediate connection and understanding between every hiker on the trail. We are all out here figuring out what our bodies our capable of, what our minds are capable of. Everyone I have met in this first week has agreed that this journey is harder than they expected, but we all know that nothing worth doing is easy, and that’s why we are out here in the first place.
Day 0: Traveling to Campo, CA
On May 12th, I took an Amtrak train from Irvine to San Diego, followed by transferring to a trolley and then a bus that took me to the Campo Green Store, within 2 miles of the southern terminus of the PCT. I was the only PCT hiker on the public transportation that I saw, however the bus driver to Campo was nice and talkative. It was clear that he takes a lot of PCT hikers to the trailhead between March and May.
After getting a few snacks from the Campo Green Store, I walked a mile south to Camp Lockett Equestrian & Event Facility (CLEEF), where Patrick, Legend, and Dodger were hosting a spaghetti dinner. Here I met a lot of other hikers also starting on the 13th, including Max from Massachusetts, Rob from D.C. area, Eti from London, and Cal from Kentucky. This would be our last freshly cooked dinner for several days, so we ate our fill of pasta and salad!
After the dinner, Legend showed us his performance skills while giving a motivational speech along with basic safety and Leave No Trace training. From talking to Legend, it seems that he is trialing a kickoff system and hostel at CLEEF for PCT hikers that would replace the gracious services that Scout and Frodo (two renowned trail angels in San Diego) performed until recently.
We had a campfire (probably the only one we’ll have on the entire trail) before getting some sleep in our tents in preparation for the first real day of hiking!
Day 1: Southern Terminus (0 mi) – Hauser Creek (15.4 mi)
In the morning, we had a pancake breakfast courtesy of the fellows at CLEEF. After a few last words with Patrick and Legend, we headed out towards the southern terminus, about ½ mile away from CLEEF.
Max, Eti, Cal, and I started at the southern terminus at the same time. At the terminus we met some people from the PCTA who checked our permit dates, gave us PCT badges to attach to our packs, and took our pictures at the terminus monument. It was pretty amazing seeing the terminus monument in person – I have seen countless pictures of the monument, but actually standing on it myself after 4 years of thinking about it made the trail feel much more real!
After taking our pictures and meeting Ana and Helena from Nevada, who started right after us, we took our first steps on the PCT walking down the hill from the terminus at about 7:40 am. Our journey had begun! The terrain near Campo was pretty easy, and before we knew it we had made it to the Mile 1 marker, which we took our obligatory pictures with.
After 4.5 miles, we arrived at a stream, which was our last easy source of water until 16 miles ahead at Lake Morena, so we took a break and filled up on water (I stocked up to 5.5 liters to be safe). While at the stream, we met Aaron from Virginia, also hiking NOBO, and a couple from Seattle area who were on their last day of hiking the desert section of the PCT southbound. While a lot of hikers set out to do the entire trail in one continuous journey, it is nearly as common for people to section hike the trail in smaller segments.
For the next 10 miles, the trail ascended some hills before dropping into Hauser Canyon. It soon became clear that there would not be much shade in this environment, and the weather was also hotter than most of us expected, in the mid-80s. Around mid-day, Max, Aaron and I decided to rest under the shade of Aaron’s tarp, which we made into a makeshift shelter, until the heat of the day subsided (this mid-day break is known as a siesta). We hung out for several hours before heading out around 4:30 pm. As we were leaving, we met Christine, a cordial woman from New Brunswick, Canada who was walking at a pretty slow pace.
Hiking during the evening felt much easier as the heat was less oppressive. As we neared Hauser Canyon, I found that my pace was a bit slower than Max or Aaron, at about 2 miles/hour. I got to Hauser Canyon around 7:30 pm and set up my sleeping bag and pad without my tent (cowboy camping) before the sun set. Max and Aaron reached Hauser Canyon a bit earlier but had to walk about 1.5 miles down canyon to find water since the streambed was dry where it crossed the trail, and they didn’t carry enough water from the stream earlier on. Thankfully, I had enough water so I was able to stop for the night. For dinner I had some cherry tomatoes, sausage, and boiled eggs I brought along with the avocado I bought in Campo.
Day 2: Hauser Canyon (15.4 mi) – Kitchen Creek (30.2 mi)
We got up early (around 5am) because the day began with a large uphill climb into Lake Morena and the weather forecast for today was very hot, with highs in the 90s. We started hiking at 6am. The uphill section was long but not overly difficult, especially after the first mile. At the top of the hill, there was an expansive view of the town and lake before the trail dropped to the Lake Morena campground. I arrived in town at about 8:15 and promptly headed to the Oak Shores Malt Shop.
At the Oak Shores Malt Shop, I saw Max, Aaron, and Rob again, but they headed out before I had ordered my food. I got a breakfast burrito and mint malt at the malt shop, which filled me up until later in the afternoon. I left the malt shop and headed towards the campground, where I filled up on water for the next section of trail. While at the campground, a kind gentleman offered me some electrolyte water (Gatorade and nuun). I had plenty of electrolytes already, but considering it was such a hot day, I wasn’t about to turn down the generous offer. I ended up leaving the campground around 10:30 am.
The terrain was easy for the next 6 miles between Lake Morena and Boulder Oaks campground, but the heat was oppressive. Soon after leaving Lake Morena, I met up with Eti. We walked together for about an hour and chatted about our gear, but he was having serious problems with blisters on his toes due to his shoes being too narrow, so I went on around noon while he was tinkering with his shoes.
I passed Helena and Ana on the way to Boulder Oaks. The terrain in this section was pretty flat and uninteresting. I reached Boulder Oaks campground around 3 pm, where most everyone I had met up to this point was relaxing in the shade, including Max, Rob, Aaron, Helena, and Ana. I also met Grace, who was hiking the trail with her dog.
Eti eventually showed up as well – he had cut out a small section on the side of each of his shoes to give his toes more room and changed the way he tied his shoes to reduce pressure in the toe region. I hope his modifications allow him to continue onward since his blisters looked quite severe. In the end, he will probably need to get shoes that fit his feet better. I should mention that most other hikers including myself also have some blisters at this point, but none as bad as Eti’s – with proper attention with Leukotape and cleaning our shoes and socks periodically, some minor blisters will likely not become debilitating.
People left Boulder Oaks at various times after waiting out the worst of the heat. I left at 5pm. Hiking the 4 miles to Kitchen Creek – the next major water source – was made more annoying by an ongoing marathon along the trail, where people were running SOBO and finishing at Boulder Oaks. This meant I had to get over to the side of the trail to let someone pass every 2-3 minutes. I got to the road crossing at about 7:15pm, where a charity organization was set up for their own marathon, separate from the one ending at Boulder Oaks. They offered me some pizza and we chatted a bit before I went down the road to the creek. The creek area was beautiful, with cold, flowing water. I saw Helena and Ana at the creek, but nobody else. I decided to soak my feet in the creek and wash out some of my dirty clothes.
Day 3: Kitchen Creek (30.2 mi) – Camp north of Mt. Laguna (45.2 mi)
I started later than intended today. I didn’t get up until 8am and didn’t start walking until 9am. I guess I needed the rest after two hot 15 mile days to start out with. The creek definitely helped my blisters last night, since they felt much better this morning. However, the blisters are probably going to be a persistent problem unless I change something – I might try to buy some liner socks when I get to a bigger town.
Today’s hiking mostly consisted of a long, hot climb to Mt. Laguna. I did about 4000 vertical within 12 miles. However, Deep Creek at about 8 miles provided a great place to refill on water and siesta for a few hours to wait out the heat.
Today I didn’t see any of the people I had met earlier, but I did meet a couple from Taiwan and an older man from Japan that I kept leapfrogging with. I believe a lot of people decided to stay in Mt. Laguna tonight, since it has showers, restaurants, and some convenience stores, but I decided to bypass Mt. Laguna since I didn’t need anything there. I’m actually finding that I’m carrying too much food – since I’m not eating a ton of calories yet, I probably have enough food for 8-10 days, instead of 4-5 as I initially planned.
My campsite tonight had a great view of the desert below Mt. Laguna, but it was very exposed and windy, so I had to anchor down my sleeping pad and bag to make sure they didn’t blow away while setting up camp. However, the Mt. Laguna area has been very pretty with expansive views of the desert and patches of pine forests here and there. At 6000 vertical feet, it was the first part of the trail that felt like walking through actual woods and mountains rather than desert, even if it is still a pretty dry climate.
Day 4: Camp north of Mt. Laguna (45.2 mi) – Sunrise Trailhead (59.7 mi)
I started a bit later today as well, around 7:30. Camp was slightly less windy this morning. The trail was at the top of a mountain ridge now with nearly constant sweeping views to the east – it was the most scenic part of the trail thus far! Thankfully, today was a bit cooler than previous days and the wind on the ridge also helped to make the hiking more tolerable.
I hiked about 8 miles to a picnic area where there was shade and water, where I met Eti again along with two new hikers, Petr from the Czech Republic and Mich (aka Clint) from Chicago. Petr and Mich started on the 12th and were going a bit slower at the start but had picked up the pace since.
After filling up on water and resting for a while, we hiked another 7 miles to Sunrise Trailhead. The trail continued to weave around small hills at the crest of the Laguna mountains with nice views to the east. The trail was also following the Sunrise Highway, which meant we had reasonable access to water here and there.
At Sunrise Trailhead, there was a horse trough that had some questionable water. Eti filled a bottle with the trough water, and it had a distinctly yellow color to it. Filtering the water removed the yellow color, but it was certainly not the most appetizing water to have to rely on! Since no one felt like hiking further today, we decided to camp nearby.
While I had originally planned to continue hiking another 4-6 miles today, Eti convinced me to stay with them and hike into Banner with them tomorrow (about 10 miles) to get a ride into Julian, our first major town. This means we will skip about 12 miles of the official PCT, but hike 6 miles along a road to Banner instead. I don’t want to skip too much of the trail overall, but I also want to stick with a group while going into town to make hitching safer and getting a hotel room easier. Anyway, as long as I am enjoying the journey, I don’t think missing a few miles here and there is a big deal.
Tonight I had a strange dinner consisting of parmesan couscous, Taki sausages, gouda cheese, sriracha, and pretzels. Surprisingly, it tasted pretty good and the pretzels added some crunch to the otherwise bland texture of the couscous. We also watched about a third of “Wild” on Clint’s phone. I had never seen “Wild”, so it was interesting to compare the mistakes and absurdity of Cheryl’s situation in the film to our experiences on the trail so far. Overall, I think we are doing quite well; at least our packs don’t weigh 70 pounds!
Day 5: Sunrise Trailhead (59.7 mi) – Banner (~70 mi) – hitch into Julian
We (me, Eti, Petr, and Clint) hiked 10 miles out of the mountains into Banner. In doing so, we also did our first ten by ten (10 miles before 10am). The road into Banner descended several thousand feet from the Laguna mountains and was kind of rocky and hard on the feet and knees.
At Banner, we waited about 20 minutes for a hitch into Julian. A nice lady who said she was originally from Switzerland took us all 4 to Julian.
In Julian, we got a hotel room at the Julian Lodge, where a lot of other hikers were staying. We stopped by Mom’s Pie where we got complimentary pie and ice cream. We stopped at several shops for resupply, including Julian Market, 2 Foot Adventures gear shop (where I bought some Injinji liner socks to try to help my blister situation), and Julian Cider Mill (which gives hikers a complimentary cup of cider). Overall, Julian is a very hiker-oriented town, and it felt like most everywhere is set up to offer hikers exactly what they need.
The rest of the day was spent sorting out gear, doing laundry, having lunch at Julian Grocery – which offered $5 fresh deli sandwiches for PCT hikers – and having dinner and beers at Julian Beer Co. We also met some hikers who stayed in Julian the previous night and were heading back out to the trail – Boogie, Return Policy, Exhale, and others.
At Julian Beer Co., we met with Rob, Max, and Aaron from earlier. We all hung out for the evening and made a plan to hitch back to Scissors Crossing together tomorrow afternoon.
Day 6: Julian, CA hitch to Scissors Crossing (77.1 mi) – Camp near Grapevine Mountain (81.6 mi)
This was our first near-o, as we decided to wait in Julian until around 5pm to hitch to Scissors Crossing to escape the heat of the day, as the climb out of Scissors Crossing is somewhat strenuous and it was even hotter than usual today.
At this point, we have formed a somewhat fluid trail family, consisting of myself, Eti, Petr (trail name Mandalorian or Mando), Mich (trail name Clint Pro Tip), Max, Rob, and Aaron. While I always enjoy meeting new people, it is nice to have a group that has similar goals each day.
In the morning, we had breakfast at Julian Café, but most of today was spent sitting around the Julian general store waiting for afternoon so we could hitch back to the trail. While waiting, we met various other hikers who were doing the same thing, hanging out until the late afternoon. These included two young gay guys Grant and Garrett, Tarzan, and another group of younger guys. We also met Rose from Canada and Jubilee, a Puerto Rican who is living in Atlanta, and saw Grace and her dog again.
At 5pm, Rebecca, the owner of the gear shop, transported us from Julian to Scissors Crossing. The trail at Scissors Crossing is in a much more desert-like environment than the start of the trail, with many yucca and cacti and very little shade. Even at 5:30pm, the temperature was still around 80 degrees, so the climb out of Scissors Crossing was still quite hot. Thank goodness we didn’t decide to start hiking in the middle of the day!
We stopped after hiking about 4.5 miles from Scissors Crossing. At the campsite, we met Karen from the Northwest Territories in Canada, so we had 8 people at the same camp area, though we were fairly spread out.
Assessing my body and how it is doing so far is important to do every night to make sure I take care of any problems at the start and prevent them from getting worse. Today, I can say that the liner socks I bought in Julian were a success, as my blisters have way less pressure on them and are starting to heal. However, it is now clear that I have somehow overstressed my right knee. Although we only hiked 4.5 miles today, my knee started to hurt quite a bit before reaching camp. I believe that the hike down to Banner the previous day was probably when the problem originated, since there was a lot of downhill that day. I will need to pay close attention to how my knee does tomorrow.
Day 7: Camp near Grapevine Mountain (81.6 mi) – Barrel Spring Trailhead (101.1 mi)
Unfortunately, a night’s rest did not seem to significantly improve my knee issue, as starting out today I noticed the pain in my knee was as bad if not worse than yesterday. However, in the morning at least, it was bearable.
The first stretch of today’s hiking was about 9 miles from our camp to third gate water cache, a large cache of water jugs maintained by trail angels. This cache is one of the only water caches in the desert section that is maintained well enough to rely upon, and it’s a good thing it exists, because without the cache, the water carry to the next reliable water source would be about 24 miles from Scissors Crossing. 24 miles is certainly doable, but it would require hikers to carry 5-6 liters of water at least.
About 2 miles before the cache, I caught up to Max and Aaron, who were resting under a small juniper tree. We hung out for about 30 minutes before pushing onto the water cache. At the water cache, a large group of hikers were gathered, however it was already crowded in the small patches of shade near the cache so Max, Aaron and I filled up on water and returned to the trail before finding a tree to siesta under.
Since today was also pretty hot, we wanted to wait a fair while to avoid the early afternoon heat. However, we still had about 10 miles of hiking to make it to Barrel Spring, the next water source and our destination for today. So after resting for about 5 hours and discussing all matters of hiking, life experiences, and other subjects, we finally began hiking again.
Despite the terrain today being pretty easy overall, my knee pain was getting steadily worse, and the last 5 miles before reaching Barrel Spring felt like torture with each step. It was becoming obvious that my knee issue was a debilitating injury that would probably impact my ability to continue hiking, but I knew I would be in a bad situation if I didn’t get to water, so I pushed on through the pain to Barrel Spring.
I arrived at Barrel Spring after sunset at about 8:20pm, got water from the spring, and set up camp. Eti was kind enough to provide some KT tape to me to try to wrap around my knee for support, however I knew at this point that as a preventative measure the tape would be too little too late to really improve my situation.
Day 8: Getting off-trail
The next morning, I found that I could barely stand up, even without any weight on my back. I had to accept the fact that I could not physically continue my hike at this point even if I wanted to – how could I hike further if I couldn’t even walk? Beyond that, I didn’t want to do anything that made my injury worse than it already was. It was an incredibly disappointing situation to be in, but I didn’t have much time to feel sorry for myself; I had to think of how to get back to civilization so I could let my knee heal up.
As luck would have it, Barrel Spring was actually as perfect a place as one could ask to have an injury along the trail. For one, there was readily available water, but the spring was also about 100 feet away from a highway. When I woke up, I found that Karen, who I had met at camp last night, was still around even though everyone else had continued hiking. She was planning on taking a shuttle around 9am to a small community called Ranchita where there was a hiker-friendly store. I decided to take the shuttle (provided by Kym) with her, and we were also joined by Mike from Australia and Rockhopper from Japan.
At the store, Montezuma Valley Market, I got a room in their hostel for the night to give myself more time to plan rides back to the Los Angeles area. Kym, the co-owner of the store, was super kind and offered me an ice pack to relieve swelling in my knee. The next day, some more hikers arrived at the store, including Jubilee, who I had last seen in Julian. Jubilee also had some injuries, including a possible stress fracture, and also needed to get off-trail to let them heal. Kym was generous enough to drive both of us to Ramona, where we got rides closer to the city.
Getting an injury on the trail is something that I knew might happen while hiking the PCT. Overuse injuries are very common on long-distance trails, especially if your body is not used to the type of mileage per day that is necessary on these trails. However, I was not expecting to be forced to stop after just a week of hiking. Stopping before I even got used to the cadence of thru-hiking is super disappointing.
But despite my injury, I do not plan on quitting completely – I hope to heal up for 3 to 4 weeks, get a consultation from an orthopedist, and rejoin the trail later this summer further north. I still have several months of time open to do this trail, and I intend to do as much as possible. Hopefully, with a bit of experience under my belt now, I can identify the probable causes of why I got an injury and take steps once I start hiking again to prevent something similar in the future. My journey isn’t over yet, and I refuse to give up so easily, so I will be back in a month or so!