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PCT Day 135, water cache to Scissors Crossing (Julian), 14 miles

Cactus nuzzle in looking down on Scissors Crossing near Julian.

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

A happy trail worker on the desert section of the PCT.

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 plan for the final days to the end of the PCT.

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

It was usually long walk off-trail to get water in the desert.

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

The PCT is wide enough in the desert to avoid the "jumping" Cholla.

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

Sunset over Anza, California from a secret campsite.

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 […]

PCT Day 128, zero, Idyllwild

The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for. – Maureen Dowd I’m amazed at how exhausted I am. Another zero seems to do the trick and I have just enough time to enjoy it in this lovely village tucked into the mountains. I should finish walking […]

PCT Day 126, water faucet to North Fork San Jacinto River, 20 miles

The sign warns of potential hazard as the trail leads above tree line on San Jacinto Peak.

The road to success is always under construction. Lily Tomlin It was a night of dueling owls and a morning of dueling doves. A falling star flew through the sky just as Ted informs me it‘s 5:00. I guess manually changing your iPhone clock ahead of daylight savings doesn’t work since my clock reads 4:00. […]