We arose bright and early at 4:30 AM. There are five of us starting the trail this morning. Bob Riess, our host, drove like crazy and got us to the southern monument just before sunrise.
Everyone is really excited and we all paused for pictures at the monument.
In order to claim a full through-hike, I walked over and touched the metal fence at the border.
I also signed the trail register and wrote this note:
I start on a journey that will likely answer questions that I never even thought to ask.
I started hiking at 6:15 and watched the sun rise over the hill. Soon I was at the one mile marker.
I felt really strong all day and found the desert to be amazing. There is a lot of greenery and lots of blooming plants. This one had an amazing spiked pod.
At the start there was a strong wind and it felt chilly. When I finally got out of the wind it was perfect hiking weather.
I had to take a picture of my shadow on the trail.
I made it to Houser Canyon by 11:30. There was a group of through-hikers there resting in the shade. I got to meet "Mother Goose", a well-known hiker of the trail.
From Hauser Canyon starts a 1,300 foot climb with no shade. To my surprise, I didn't have much of a problem and made it to Lake Morina by 2:30. I fixed my dinner there, filled up on water, and hiked on until 4:30. Here is my camp site.
I ended up hiking 26.6 miles today!
Here is the elevation profile from the PCT Gutthooks app:
Tomorrow I have a 3,000 foot climb so I'll have to start early to beat the heat.
26.6! Awesome for day 1 :) Love the meassage you left, sleep well!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great first day! So happy to be able to follow along via your blog. I hope that you'll have good connectivity so we can all follow along during your adventure!
ReplyDeleteThis is great Bob you have such a way of saying the things that we want to hear. ..sleep well for tomorrow. .
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