We all stayed at the Pine Valley Inn on Friday night so we could get an early start at the Mexican border Saturday morning. The day dawned cold and raining. We were all very surprised to see rain and there was a lack of rain gear amongst us. The rain tapered off to a drizzle though and then quit altogether a couple miles in. We ate breakfast at Major's diner and then shuttled down to the border and the southern terminus of the PCT. There were quite a few thru-hikers milling around the monument waiting to get their pictures taken. We darted in and out quick to get all our pictures in. It was thrilling!
We don't know this guy but I thought it was a cool pose.
We said good-byes to Don and Kevin and started walking. There was a nice heavy drizzle for about an hour and half and then it slowly died out. The spring flowers were in bloom and the landscape was lush and refreshing. It was just amazing to be out here with Carolen and Di as they embarked on their 6 month journey. I'm glad we could be a part of it in some small way.
We started leap-frogging with a couple of thru-hikers from Germany, Inga and Chris. Inga had us cracking up every time we saw her. We named her the Permit Lady because every time we saw her she demanded to see our PCT permits. We could hear her voice wafting up from switchbacks below us asking for permits. She had a super sense of humor. Turns out she is an Oncologist in Germany! Nancy told her Germans weren't allowed on the PCT and the border patrol was looking for them. Inga got a good laugh out of that one. We enticed her to stop by our campsite at the end of the day for food and libations.
I turned my mind off early on. No waxing philosophical or pondering the meaning of life for this one. I did say a few prayers of gratitude for good health and the beauty of nature but that was it. We just walked and the miles ticked by. We took smallish breaks to re-fuel. We were sitting at one of our breaks and I saw a couple coming up the trail. I shouted out "Mandie and Josh!" I recognized them from their PCT blogs. They looked pretty startled that I knew their names and they probably thought I was a weirdo stalker. Mandie was even wearing the same shirt as me but in a different color. I hope she didn't think that I was trying to be all Single White Female with her. I refrained from talking to them the next few times we leap-frogged because I didn't want to scare them even more. Carolen gave me the trail name Blog Stalker out of that situation. LOL! Here are Mandie and Josh's blogs: http://2014pct.blogspot.com/2014/04/pct-acknowledgements.html
http://www.mandiehikes.com/2014/01/pct-to-eagle-rock-adventures-in-shoes.html
This was a neat looking orange hairy thing that's actually a parasite called Dodder or Witch's Hair.
Carolen saying "Hi Mom!"
Walking, walking, one foot after another, in the zone. We stopped at the bottom of Hauser Canyon to take a break before the arduous climb out. Inga, Chris, and Papa Bear were taking a break as well. All of a sudden we hear "Keep it down over there!" It was Kevin and Don climbing down the mountain with water!
This is what we have to go up and over.
Soon we had to start climbing. I don't know if it's called Hauser Mountain but that's what I was calling it. 1200 foot elevation gain so slow and steady was the plan. Nancy said she just tuned everything out and walked to the beat of the sound of her pants rubbing together- haha! Whatever gets you to the top! I breathed pretty heavily throughout the whole hike because I had a sinus problem so my breathing was pretty explosive on this uphill. I tried to do the yoga breathing with heavy open mouth exhales and it worked pretty good. The views of Hauser Canyon were breathtaking. I stopped about midway up when a couple of border patrol helicopters flew through the canyon. It was an excuse to take a breathing break. Made it to the top at last and thought that wasn't so bad. Nancy soon came powering up and was cruising. She meant business. We gathered at the top with high fives all around and pictures taken. Yeeeeeeehawwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!
From there we trekked along to Lake Morena. The lake was pitiful- hardly any water at all. Pretty sad.
We made it to Lake Morena campground with 8 hours and 8 minutes of total walking time. We thought we were bad-ass and we still think we are bad-ass!
Our friend Laurie was at the campground with a gourmet feast waiting for us! OMG I couldn't believe all the stuff she had for us. She made mushrooms with balsamic and gruyere cheese, chicken fajitas, and chocolate dipped strawberries with port! She really put a lot of effort into it to make it nice and comfortable for everyone. It was potluck style so we each a something to contribute. Ingrid had turkey burgers, Nancy had an artichoke/rice salad, I had a quinoa/black bean pilaf, Di had bread and butter and mac and cheese, Carolen and Don brought jalapeno pie and brownies. We ate, drank, chatted, and reveled in our accomplishment. We each could not believe how good physically we felt.
Laurie is training Mako the service dog.
Inga did stop by our campsite with her friend, Flore from France, and I poured them a little spot of honey bourbon. She thought the honey bourbon was a Gatorade flavor- haha! She sniffed it and took a sip and thoroughly enjoyed it. She said she could feel the heat all the way to her legs. Flore enjoyed it as well.
The next morning Laurie made us pancakes, bacon, and coffee! Doesn't get any better than that!
Pretty soon though it was time to say our good-byes to Carolen and Di. We may have done 20 miles but they had another 2650+ to go with an October 1 finish date. We all started crying as we were hugging good-bye. It was a poignant moment.
All of our best wishes and prayers go with Carolen and Di as they fulfill this life long dream.
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
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