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Big Bear to Wrightwood

Posted on: Tuesday May 17, 2016 Pacific Crest Trail

We bus to Big Bear around the fire closure. We go through San Bernardino, the roughest looking city I have ever been through, then up a long, winding road to Big Bear that makes us all sick to our stomachs. I sit next to Legend, a guy who is planning on triple crowning in one year. He’s already done the AT this year and is hiking thirty miles a day. Some members of our group are a little star struck, but I am firmly on the smiles, not miles train.

A name, a Nero and a raccoon attack.

Posted on: Monday May 9, 2016 Pacific Crest Trail

Scout, the trail angel we stayed with in San Diego, calls while we are at Ziggy and the Bears. Somehow, I end up on the phone with him, giving a snow report on San Jacinto and Fuller Ridge. It feels like a lot of responsibility, giving a trail report to a trail legend. He’s happy to hear that so many of us that stayed at his place are still hiking together, having a good time.

San Jacinto

Posted on: Saturday May 7, 2016 Pacific Crest Trail

We are itchy in Idyllwild, impatient to hike. Our motel gives us a ride to the trailhead. I pull out my camera to take a photo and it gives me an error message. I turn it off and back on again. Still no luck. Great. The most beautiful part of the trail and I have to rely on my cell phone. I chase Shake’nBake and Bear Bait down the trail, asking them to take photos for me.

The detour (Warner Springs 109 to Idyllwild 179)

Posted on: Tuesday May 3, 2016 Pacific Crest Trail

We leave the tent city at Warner Springs and hike up to camp at Agua Caliente Creek. The name is a misnomer- my steripen flashes its snowflake at me when I treat my water.

Julian to Warner Springs

Posted on: Thursday April 28, 2016 Pacific Crest Trail

We climb up into the San Felipe hills. I say hello to my old friends the barrel cactus and the Ocotillos. The Ocotillos look burnt and dead, but explode into fiery flowers at the end of their stems.

Campo to Mile 77

Posted on: Tuesday April 26, 2016 Pacific Crest Trail

The wind is like a living creature. It shakes the tent so hard I am sure it will break my poles. Every few hours it rips out a tent stake, or snaps a guy line, forcing me to try to fix it from my sleeping bag. Then it is light and the wind isn’t dropping, so there is nothing to do but hike.

San Diego

Posted on: Tuesday April 19, 2016 Travel

San Diego is grittier than I expect. I arrive exhausted from an early flight, and from a long few days in Alaska. We petsit a husky and her bulldog friend for four days. She is full of energy, desperate to be outside and run. I have never identified more with an animal. I just want to be on the trail already.

Gearing up for something big

Posted on: Thursday March 24, 2016 Pacific Crest Trail

In a little under a month, I plan to turn my back on the rusty fence that marks the US- Mexico border. Under the hot desert sun, I’ll make my way north. It’s 2650 miles to Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail. I don’t know if I’ll make it all the way. I’m not sure I care if I don’t. I just want to spend as many nights as possible under the stars and explore three beautiful states that I have barely visited.