Day 1: A lot of walking

Here it is our official start of our PCT adventure. This was a day with lots of ups and downs, but ultimately it left me feeling really positive about how things will go from here.

Jake and I got split up early on, as I stopped to use the restroom shortly after our morning break and left Jake to continue ahead. Unfortunately my pack from chose that moment to pop loose forcing me to empty the pack to get the frame in place, hoping that doesn't happen again.

After fixing the backpack and set off again with a group that  came up while I was working and we got to about mile 8 (this is about 10:30ish, we started about 7:15) before they stopped for a break and I continued on. Little did I know that my most fiercesome obstacle of the day would soon be upon me (or I upon it)

I was approaching a tannish long stone in the road, or so I thought it to be until I got close. In fact, it was a rattlesnake, quite a large one, sunning itself on the path. We both took notice of eachother at around the same time, I be jumping back about 3 feet (no small feet in a 45 lb pack) and he by coiling himself to strike and setting it's tail to rattling. Folks, there is a world of difference between hearing a rattlesnake sound and experiencing it in real life. It was cool, but unfortunately he was also blocking the path and I had to wait around until he finally moved into the bushes near the trail, letting me sneak past.

The rest is a blur going down canyons, going up canyons, stopping to bandage hotspots and blisters. Around 3pm a fog rolled in and suddenly everything cooled off tremendously, otherwise I doubt I would have made it to Lake Morena, but I did.

Jake and I made dinner (I having finally caught up to him, excluding one short encounter at 2) at the Lake Morena campgrounds and then we hiked up past the town and pitched camp. My new tent is awesome, btw.

All in all, we made it 20.5 miles, which was more than I was expecting to be capable of today. Now that we've made it past the waterless first 20 miles we plan to slow our pace tomorrow to give our bodies a chance to recover.

Tomorrow: We walk more slowly. Look forward to it.