PCT Day 139, Lake Morena campground to Mexican border, 20 miles
You don’t choose the day you enter the world and you don’t chose the day you leave. It’s what you do in between that makes all the difference. – Anita Septimus I wake on my final day with the moon casting leaf shadows on our tent, Rich a giant breathing blue bag next to me. […]
PCT Day 138, Mount Laguna to Lake Morena County Park, 22 miles
To me, there’s no greater act of courage than being the one who kisses first. – Janean Garofalo It’s quasi cowgirl camping in our enormous tent with no fly. The stars don’t disappoint before the moon rises over the ridge obliterating them. No campfires in this tinder box means everyone’s asleep when it gets dark. […]
PCT Day 137, past Sunrise Trail junction to Mount Laguna general store, 18 miles
A sign shows me I how far I’ve come and how far I have to go to finish the PCT.
PCT Day 136, Highway S2 to past Sunrise Trailhead junction, 18 miles
Dreams and reality are opposites. Action synthesizes them. – Assata Shakur I wake up with the sun even though we were up late talking and laughing in the hotel’s beautiful lobby. It’s so nice to have Richard right there next to me, though he begs for more rest. I mess around with my pack on […]
PCT Day 135, water cache to Scissors Crossing (Julian), 14 miles
If you have the courage to fail, then you have the courage to succeed. – Shalane Flanagan Desert sunrises are magnificent – orange light in the east as the full moon drops, deep pink on the other horizon. I sit up and make coffee noticing a tiny animal hole right next to my mat. OK, […]
PCT Day 134, Highway 79 to water cache, 19 miles
You never find yourself until you face the truth. – Pearl Bailey I have seen lots of animals on this hike including black bears and marmots, rattlesnakes and golden eagles, but nothing has gotten too cozy or threatened to steal my food until my stay at one of the Warner Springs Resort cabins. There’s a […]
PCT Day 133, zero, Warner Springs
The more anger towards the past you carry in your heart, the less capable you are of loving in the present. – Barbara De Angelis Behold! The final ‘zero mile day of this epic hike, and all I have to show for it is this haiku – Luxurious restat mile one-hundred-and-nine.Hop, skip, smile, the end! […]
PCT Day 132, Mikes’s Place to Highway 74 (Warner Springs) 17 miles
Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith. – Margaret Shepherd No beings – animal or otherwise – came round last night. I slept soundly in our little piece of sand next to a shack, the moon’s reflection in the windows looking like eyes. Mike doesn’t show, but I am so grateful he […]
PCT Day 131, ridge above Anza to Mike’s Place, 19 miles
There is nothing more pathetic than caution when headlong might save a life, even possibly, your own. – Meryl Streep I wake before dawn in time to see a grapefruit slice of moon setting. The wind picks up and I tuck deeper into Big Greenie. It’s too gusty when we wake to make coffee from […]
PCT Day 130, Cedar Spring to ridge above Anza, 18 miles
I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world. – Mary Anne Radmacher How strange it is to cowgirl camp under the big trees, acorn bombs falling most of the night and a nearly full moon shining through the branches. When I close my eyes, I’m just […]
