May 1, 2016

Wrightwood to Jackson Flat Campground (mile 372.2)

Miles: 12.4 (8.8 PCT miles + 3.6 to PCT from Wrightwood)

Sleeping in a bed is good, but neither of us slept as well last night as we do on the trail. We believe this is due to a combination of over stimulation, going to sleep way too late and worrying about family.

We were excited to be heading back to the trail.

Our friends Josie and Matt drove us to Wrightwood and hiked with us up the very steep 3.6 mile Acorn Trail back to the PCT.

The sun was shining but there was a chill in the air.

We walked through neighborhoods and eventually reached the Acorn Trail. Once on trail we huffed and puffed with every step. We felt as if we hadn’t hiked at all the last 25 days.

We are carrying 6 days of food and our packs are heavy. Combined with the elevation gain meant we were struggling.

After about an hour and a half we reached the PCT junction.

Boy were we relieved! All four of us.

We hiked on another half mile to a dirt crossing, where we stopped for lunch with a beaitiful view of the mountains. Once again we enjoyed leftovers for lunch. We owe a huge thank you to Andy’s mom and his aunt for always making such scrumptious food.

Soonafter lunch, Josie and Matt walked back to the Acorn Trail. It was wonderful to be in their company and hike with them.

After lunch we felt really sluggish. We could barely move. Two zero days had turned our legs into cement. We pushed on, motivating one another and distracting each other with conversation until 5pm, when we made it to camp.

We are content with a relatively short day and excited to sleep early tonight.

There’s no one else here at the campground. Most people either hitched to Wrightwood or hiked past us tonight.

Most of the people we met on the trail today were new to us. Andy enjoys this but Laurie feels left behind.

We are all on different schedules and hike at different paces. And that’s OK. Laurie is working on warming up to this concept.

We ate dinner – more leftovers, snuggled, gave each other massages and laid in our sleeping bags listening to rain land on our tent.

Tonight we are grateful for adventurous friends and soft ground on which to sleep.

April 29 and 30, 2016

On the trail we crafted a list of all the things we wanted to do when in L.A. This included things like airing out our wet tent, condensing our first aid kits, taking out qtips and colloidal silver from every resupply box since we aren’t using them as quickly as we had anticipated, and other odds and ends.

We were ambitious.

Even though we had 2.5 days to do all that we wanted, there wasn’t enough time. Our list didn’t include meals with family and visiting with friends- the things that became more important once we were settled.

The last 2 days were nice but felt like a whirlwind. We both look forward to returning to our simple life on the Pacific Crest Trail.

On the trail there is a limited amount of food choice and as we get closer to our resupply point the options become even more sparse. We did a great job of creating variety in our bars and dinners but there is only so much backpacking appropriate food one can eat. There is something refreshing about that simple way of eating.

In towns and even more so now in L.A., Laurie found herself getting overwhelmed with options. Everything sounded good and knowing that we may not have it for the next 5 months made it feel even more urgent to eat everything in sight.

Needless to say, we both over ate. It is so hard when there is an endless supply of tasty food! We haven’t encountered “hiker hunger” yet but can sense it is coming. At least for the first few days of this next section we will be well prepared with full stomachs and tasty leftovers!

Sunday morning we head back to Wrightwood and back to the PCT. Our friends Josie and Matt will be joining us for a day hike and we look forward to sharing the day with them.

Laurie spent Saturday visiting her mom in Oakland, CA while Andy continued running errands and checking things off the list.

He also made time to nap, a rare treat for us on zero days thus far.

Our packs are packed, leftovers are in ziplocks, and our clothes are clean. We still stink, but at least we’re not dirty. No matter how many times we shower, our arm pits still stink. Oh well. We just have to embrace our new smell.

Tonight we are grateful for airplanes which allow for quick visits with family and readily accessible power outlets.

April 28, 2016

Bushcamp (357.2) to Wrightwood

Miles: 10.7 (6.2 PCT miles + 4.5 miles into Wrightwood)

**There are videos in our last post that didn’t appear in our email. To view them, please visit our website**

We woke up this morning to the sound of wet snow falling on our tent. Neither one of us wanted to get up into the cold and windy morning air.

Eventually we dragged ourselves out of the warmth of our sleeping bags. Motivated by hot showers and home cooked meals we layered up and faced the windy world.

The wind howled around us as we disassembled the tent. We had to work as a team- communicating who was holding what to ensure that nothing flew away.

We were walking by 7:30am. It was still chilly with clouds swirling around us but we could see the sun trying to peek through.

The first 4 miles were uphill. After a brief snow flurry of small little snow balls (not flakes or hail) we quickly warmed up and shed our rain pants, rain jackets and gloves. We walked above the clouds, watching them ebb and flow in the valleys below. The mountains above us were dusted in white.

As we got higher snow clung to shady spots on the trail and trees. The air was crisp with a hint of pine. It was a magical morning!

At 8:40 we challenged ourselves to walk the remaining 3.7 miles to the Acorn Trail junction by 10 am. Laurie, who loves competitions, immediately picked up the pace. She quickly discovered however, that it is very hard to chew, breathe at elevation and walk all at the same time.

We reached the Acorn trail (most direct route to Wrightwood) at 9:57. Success!!

We switched backed down 2,337 ft into Wrightwood. Neither of our knees were super happy with the steady decline but our packs were light and spirits were high.

We walked through neighborhoods on our way into town- picking up for sale brochures and day dreaming about what it would be like to retire in Wrightwood.

We got to town, wander through the hardware store and Wrightwood market. With so many bars in our stomachs neither of us felt very hungry.

We met up with Nemo and gave him some of our leftover food before going out to lunch with Tony and Esmeralda who had driven from LA to come get us.

We split a burger and sweet potato fries and ate again 2 hours later at Andy’s aunt and uncle’s restaurant Mini Kabob. We then came back to Andy’s parents house and ate again with his mom. We can’t let good food go to waste!

We sat on a couch, ate fresh fruit and don’t know where the rest of the day went.

Around 7:30pm we went to Big 5 in search of an Angeles National Forest map to research a few more reroutes. Big 5 was only .8 miles away but the 1.6 miles felt too far to walk. Crazy how we resort to old habits when back in a familiar environment.

We are going to bed later than normal with full bellies and happy hearts. Thank you to our LA family and community for welcoming us back with such open arms.

Tonight we are grateful for good laughs and good friends.