Finding the Groove.

Well Thursday the 14th will mark 4 weeks on trail! I made this long post a about 5 days ago when I had no service, and I uploaded some pictures and saved it as a draft, only for it to disappear and not be saved even though I checked once I was done and it was there in the draft section. When I had service again, i went to upload and it was not there at all. That was pretty disappointing and so that turned me off from wanting to type anything else for a bit since I had spent  a decent amount of time writing and editing that update. So that's why it's been a little bit since i've posted anything. 

The majority of that post talked about me hitting the trail in mid April completely out of shape, gluttonous, and extremely overweight and suffering for the first 15 days. It went on to stare that I was finally feeling like I was getting stronger and settling into the groove. I posted a few days of twenty plus miles and am genuinely starting to dread the up-hill climbs less and less, and settling back into my daily routines. In one week alone I put in over 150 miles, which is quite a bit for me.

As I post this now, I am sitting in Green Valley, just before mile 500. It's been pretty rad hiking this trail a second time, fourteen years later, because it 's a completely different experience in every way. In 2012, Casa De Luna and Hiker Haven were trail angel staples in this exact area. The Saufleys would open their home in Agua Dulce to nurse our wounds and get our resupplies for the entrance to the Sierra all squared away, before hiking 24 miles to the next town where the Andersons opened their homes to the hikers at what they called Casa De Luna or Hippy Day Care. Both places could be vortex's, a place where it's hard to get back on trail after just a day off. Leading to some people to take more than a week to cover 30 miles.

Sadly neither of those places exist anymore. A few years ago we lost Donna Saufley all together and the Andersons have moved on in their life, and with the expanding hiker numbers, the hospitality they offered just isn't managed or sustainable in the evolution of the trail. I am so lucky to have got to experience both places, with such magical people. I'll be honest, not having them here takes away some of the charm and best memories I made on that hike in 2012. That being said, not having them here also leaves open the potential for new, unexpected possibilities and memories to be made. 

I am finding this trail to be actually quite lonely even with so many hikers out here. With the permit system creating only so many people starting a per day, no kickoff party, no major trail angels bunching the hikers up, and me being a solo hiker, not part of any trail family, I find it pretty isolated. I see a handful or more hikers every day still, often just exchanging a 'hey' or 'when does the climb end' type pleasantry. I am a bit in front of the quote-un-quote bubble of hikers, but still find most hikers doing smaller days, starting later in the morning, and haven't met anyone that has quite synced up with my pace, some going quite faster, most going just a bit slower. And with alllll the town options these days, it's easy to get distracted by town food and drink. But I am still just over 200 miles from entering the Sierras, and people generally bunch up at Kennedy Meadows and head into them in groups, which I am sure will happen with me. Also, me only hiking back to Tahoe and no intentions of continuing to Canada, sort of keeps me from connecting with a lot of people out here as well. The PCT is the first long-distace hike for a lot of folks out here, so it takes a while to adapt, find what does and doesn't work for you. Learning your body, and water needs, food needs, sleep needs all takes time and experience. Something that I have a decent grasp on at this point. 

So in the next few days I will be MY half-way point, from the border of California and Mexico to hw50 at Echo Summit, mile 1092. Which is just about on pace for the 2 month goal I loosely set for myself. With a few 0 mileage days and Near-O's (10 miles or less) and also getting into shape still, I am feeling pretty confident I should hit the Tahoe area by June 21st which has always been the day I had in mind, shaving about 2 full weeks off my pace from 2012. 

All in all, things are going well. I only want to stop hiking all-together about 10 times a day now rather than 20 or 30 lol.

225 miles until the Sierra. 613 until hw50. 200 miles of tough desert left, then 450 miles of the beautiful High Sierra wilderness. Pow Pow.

 

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