November 13 - Final Day

We left at 12:30 am on our 42.79 mile trek to the border. The morning hours in the dark were cool and we made really good time. Everyone was giddy with excitement that didn't seem to wear off. Smooth's prints were in the dirt an he stayed ahead of the five of us for most of the day. The border patrol activity increased the closer we got to the border, but no one hassled us on our way south. We caught Smooth with 12 miles to go before the terminus and started hiking with him in our southbound train. 

We reached the Southern Terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail at 4:15 pm today the 13th of November 2013.

I am now in San Diego, a little overwhelmed by the noise and the speed of everything. My belly is full and I am not thirsty and searching for my next water source. I have a comfortable bed for the night and a day at the beach planned. The days that I spent hiking will forever be a part of me I won't forget. 

November 12

Louis and I were camped together near the Sunrise Trailhead. I left early, started down the road and bushwhacked my way to the trail. I saw Smooth's prints as soon as I reached the trail and knew that he had gotten up early with the thought of town ahead today. He managed to stay ahead of all of us, but one by one every hiker in our crew made it to the Laguna Mountain store. The employees seemed used to hikers and were accommodating to requests like heating up Hot Pockets and plugging in phones. Forrest's mom showed up and brought Olive Garden food for all six of us. This food, and what we already had eaten, set us up nicely to carb load and be asleep by 6 pm. My alarm is set for 11:13 pm to get up and be at the trail by midnight for our 42.79 mile day for the finish. 

November 11

I was up with the sunrise and left Nat, Jane and Louis at camp to start my day on the trail. Nat and Jane caught up within a couple hours because the eczema is a little inflamed on my feet from wearing synthetic fiber socks for the previous two weeks. I've been taking ibuprofen to keep the inflammation at a minimum and also have some hydrocortisone and new wool socks. We arrived at scissors crossing, where Nat and Jane posted up on the road to hitch to Julian to resupply. I went under the bridge to the water cache to hydrate and let my feet air out. Smooth and Louis joined me and we sat in the cool shade for an hour before we ventured into the hot desert floor to hike again. It was warm enough that shedding layers was necessary and I even hiked in my bike shorts for a while to stay cool. Smooth fell behind today, as he is battling various body fatigue including shin splints. Louis and myself are camped together near a trailhead and a pit toilet, and have about 17 miles to go to get to the Mt. Laguna store for some calorie loading before the final stretch. 

November 10

We left this morning just before 6 am as Smooth was making his way slowly down the switchback to where Nat, Jane and me were camped. We hiked lower into the valley and met up with Louis at one of the river crossings. From there, the whereabouts of everyone in the group was established and we pressed on to the south. Forrest, Louis and I had a morning break together before the heat of the day set in. We watched a plane towing gliders to altitude and made noises at cows during the day. There are some things thru-hikers find entertainment with that few others consider. Again, water was exactly where it was listed on the water report and our day had very few surprises. The scenery is all desert beauty at this point. Pointy plants like cacti and prickly brush dominate the landscape. Our groups have evolved again for camping tonight. Nat, Jane, Louis and myself are camped 3 miles south of Smooth and Forrest. Today was a 32 mile day for me and I think that is just enough to help me sleep well for tonight. 

November 9

The three of us woke up and left camp, drawing a "6:00" in the dirt to let the other three know when we left camp. Everything went well during the day. All of the water was where it was supposed to be and the warm sun was never too hot. Forrest and I waited for Nat, Jane and Smooth at a water source and within an hour they showed up after hiking since 4:30 am to catch us. I went ahead to catch Louis and share the news that Smooth was still ok to hike and that our border tagging plan of the 13th was still in play. I caught Louis at his lunch spot where he was watching the trail to the north to see if we would catch up to him. From there, it was only 2.5 miles to trail angel Mike's place where fried chicken, potatoes, salad and cookies were being prepared. We were starting to get sucked into the vortex when, just before sunset, Jane snapped out of her trance and put on her pack. That started it, and we all followed her out. I am camped with Nat and Jane, Louis and Forrest are ahead and Smooth is behind. We will all meet up at different times tomorrow during  the hike because of the limited water sources. 

November 8

This morning we made a fancy breakfast in the kitchen of our little cabin. Louis came up in the morning and joined us for eggs, sausage and hash browns. We left around 8 am and started our highway trek on the fire detour. It was an 18 mile road walk that cut 27 miles off of the trail around a fire that burned so hot that it consumed all if the organic matter in the soil in some zones of the burn. The first 4.6 miles were along a narrow, winding mountain road with multiple blind corners. We were constantly switching sides of the road to avoid being caught between a cliff face or a guard rail and a vehicle. Semi trucks and motorcycles and everything in between were racing by at seemingly bizarre speeds. It was great having two convenience store stops and one cafe stop on the road walk, but still a huge relief when we reached the trail. We left the road and went home to the quiet bushes and cacti. We have a beautiful campsite on a ridge and it's perfect weather for cowboy camping. Smooth is having shin splint issues and Nat and Jane are staying back with him tonight five miles behind us. We all will meet up again tomorrow after Ben gets rested up. My Poodle Dog rash is still around, but I think if I don't itch it then it won't turn into the big blisters I was hearing about. 

November 7

We were up again before the sunrise and started to finish to climb up to Fuller Ridge. It seemed like it took forever to get to the North Fork San Jacinto River, but it was worth it once we arrived at the ice cold stream. We had our big breakfast at the water, filled up, and headed for the Mt. San Jacinto peak. It was a full 2,000 ft. of extra climbing and a few extra miles to the top, but completely worth it for the view from the top. We spent a while takin pictures and enjoying the peak and then made our way back to the PCT. It was Nat, Jane, Forrest and myself that made it to the top because Smooth had to come down into town early with shin splints starting to bother him. The rest of us made it into town around 4 pm and went straight for the post office. From there, of course, food was next. I ate an absurd amount of pizza and a full appetizer of cheesy bread. My stomach is full and we have a cabin rented for the night. We even have a fireplace with a wood fire going and a football game to watch. We met up with Louis in town too and he will hike out in the morning with us after a zero day for him. I have an obvious rash from Poodle Dog Bush in three main areas. One is on both wrists, the second is around both knees and the third is on both ankles. I'm doing my best not to itch and irritate the rash, and might need to pick up some hydrocortisone before leaving town. 

November 6

Last night was warm and it made getting an early start easy because there was no need to hide in a sleeping bag. Tonight will be colder being that we're camped at 6,463 ft. We hiked about 24 miles and knocked out most of our 8,000 foot climb before deciding to camp for the night. We are on a 20 mile waterless stretch with about 8,000 feet of elevation gain. We cooked meals at the base if the mountain so we didn't have to haul water to cook at our dry camp tonight. This is a climb that would be nearly impossible without the physical condition I am currently in. I heard from northbound hikers that people get evacuated by helicopter coming down this mountain. It is entirely exposed climbing and is a monster of a mountain. It sounds like we're going to summit the San Jacinto peak tomorrow then drop into Idyllwild to resupply. My legs are feeling the downhill from a day ago, but should be ok for our drop tomorrow. It's only 7 more miles to water in the morning too which will be perfect for a big breakfast before heading to the summit. 

November 5

We left the cabin this morning as the sun was rising over the city in the valley below us. It was cold last night, but the cabin worked well as a wind block and we stayed warm and slept well. The walk this morning to water was 6 miles and everyone missed the turn except myself and Jane. We sat at a picnic table for a while eating breakfast until we guessed that they missed the turn and left to catch them. It was another 7 miles to the next water, but no one was really dry since the weather was cool all morning. Smooth took off ahead when we stopped for a snack and said he would wait for us at lunch. He missed stopping at the last crossing of the river we were following and climbed to the top of the ridge before stopping for lunch. We ate without him at the last crossing and were chasing him the rest of the day. We finally found him and are camped on a ridge top overlooking city lights and facing east. The sunrise is going to be beautiful from up here. 

November 4

We slept really well with a roof over our heads. This morning we did our usual town chores which included groceries and, for me, a double breakfast at McDonald's. All of the package logistics worked out and everyone was able to get what they needed. Tiffany is a fantastic hiker host and will be a great trail angel for hikers in the future. She even put on a day pack and did a little hiking with our crew then sent us on our way south.

We left Highway 18 around noon and hiked full of town power until after dark. It was shortly after 7 when I walked into the Coon Creek Cabin shelter where we were to camp for the night. There, I met Skidaddle, a hiker I met while she was nobo just north of Crater Lake while hiking with my mom. She is camped at the cabin shelter too and hiking with her dad "Skidad". We talked about the day we met in Oregon and shared stories about our respective trips and are bedded down out of the wind. Unfortunately, this cabin has no window glass or doors so it is a little chilly. 

November 3

Clocks changed last night, and everyone except the thru-hikers got an extra hour of sleep. Clocks have no meaning, but the hours that the sun is up does. We were up before 6 am hiking and it felt too late because the sun was already rising as we were getting on trail. We all hiked hard for all of the 26 miles to the road into Big Bear where Nat, Jane and Smooth were going to resupply. When we got there, I convinced myself it was a good idea to go into town as well, and Forest decided to come with. All five of us went with trail angel Tiffany Raridon to a Mexican restaurant and then to her house for the night. It's nice to have a roof over our heads and to have stomachs full of good food for a night. It's a little bit surreal to have so little of the trail left to hike. The end is coming so quickly it's sometimes hard to imagine. 

November 2

This morning we woke up to frost covering our everything. The four of us cowboy camped and I did the brilliant thing of leaving my fleece sweater out where it could be full of frost for me when I put it on. All things considered, it still wasn't that cold in the morning hiking hours. It warned up quickly in the day, but was still cool enough all day to never be uncomfortable. We hiked to the Deep Creek Hot Springs area to find it packed being that it is Saturday. I decided not to soak after Nat showed me the name of the amoeba swimming in the pools. The name had the root menange-... And sounded like meningitis so I stayed clear of the water. We didn't want to spend too much time there anyway in keeping with our schedule, but it was a cool place to check out. There were a lot of day hikers after and around the hot springs that all were so impressed with our hike, but soon we got to a more remote part of the trail and were back to being alone again. Smooth was left behind when he went off trail for a bit, and ended up showing up to camp almost an hour after we arrived. We have a short 26 mile day tomorrow before Nat, Jane and Smooth go into Big Bear City. Forest "Tittycakes" and I will hike together for the following few days. 

November 1

The four of us were up for our continental breakfast around 8 am. Yesterday I think I spent two full hours in the breakfast room eating anything I could get my hands on. This morning the same process happened, but only lasted about an hour. Smooth put his laundry in quick, and by the time it was dry we were packed up and on our way out. We stopped by the convenience store for last minute necessities then headed for the trail. Our hike went really well all day. I suspect that the added town power of a zero the day before had a lot to do with how good it felt. My pack is pretty heavy with food since I am skipping the Big Bear City resupply option and going through to Idyllwild for my next package. It feels great to be back in my sleeping bag and out of the stifling hotel room. The Best Western at Cajon Pass is one of the finest places I have stayed, but being outside is so much better.