Life of a Gal Named Liv

day 4 on my pct journey & I’ve completed 58 trail miles, but 67 actual miles. Body hurts. Soul is happy. Here is an account of my adventure so far:

Day 0 San Diego

as some of you know, I absolutely hate going through TSA. every single time I get patted down & with so much camping gear and a good amount of expensive gear in my checked bag I was QUITE a little stress ball. The day started at 4am, caught an Uber to the airport. All went smoothly (unbelievably) & I was in San Diego by 11am. I had 3 hours to kill before I was supposed to check in to the well known trail angels house (Scout and Frodo) so I walked to the zoo (yeah, with all my gear on my back)!

The stay at Scout and Frodo’s was an amazing experience. The couple hiked the trail together, and ever since have been hosting hikers in their backyard. They have like 4 big wedding tents set up, & we all cram under them with our sleeping bags/ pads. They have hosting down to a science, make fantastic high carb meals, gave us great advice, and it was all free! 10/10 recommend. I had lots of fun drinking tea & chatting about gear with my new European friends!

Day 1 Warner Springs

My Trail Angel ride, Rebecca, dropped me off at 12:20 in Warner Springs. 12:23 I hit the trail!

the first couple miles were grazing fields, with a whole bunch of wildflowers! while it was 80 degrees, I was still smiling and stoked!

after about 8 stream crossings, and up and down rolling hills, I got out of the lowlands and into the desert-y mountains! the heat was for sure getting to me. 80, real sunny, with 45 lbs on my back.

Had a nice snack on Agua caliente creek, while I pumped water.

Twas a hard last 5 miles, of the 14.5 but I did it.

My first night was pretty rushed, but I ate & slept real hard. Funny enough, the insects sounded like my InReach device, so I woke up thinking I had left it on!

Day 2:Bucksnort Mtn area

woke up to a stunning sunrise & was on the trail by 7:30am. Had some trail magic-yay! I got water @ Mike’s place & an angel gave me some candy!

Unfortunately my Goal Zero Flip charger snapped, so I temporarily have it “fixed” with duck tape. We will see if it holds up & if they can send me a replacement!

I completed 17.5 miles that day & damn the views were amazing. See for yourself:

that night I camped on a sandy spot in Nance Canyon & unfortunately didn’t sleep too well (lots of people camped near me). BUT I did have a tasty dinner of Veggie Mac by Alpine Aire.

Day 3 Paradise Valley area

Woke up at 4:50 am, and over the process of an hour tried to pack things up very quietly…to not disturb my very-close neighbors! I was really nauseas all morning (pretty normal for me), and I could only eat half my breakfast. I got on trail at 6:00 and was faced with a steep incline to get my legs warmed up!

A mist rolled in around 7:30 (felt so good) and continued until about 11:00. Made for a beautiful contrast between the sky and the flowers!

At Mary’s place (another trail Angel’s property) I filled up on water & met a few folks who were leaving the trail at Paradise Valley Cafe. They all got hotels & planned to shuttle to Black Mountain Road in a day or so (or flip further north)…We will see if I see them again!

Right before I crossed the highway it got real hot & thank god a trail angel had left some jugs of water out for hikers.

I needed some motivation, so I wrapped up my audiobook on the dust bowl & started “into the wild”- oddly this exact area I was hiking on was mentioned in the books WHILE I was listening to them/hiking. Weird.

After a grueling 19.5 miles of climbing (with very little downhill) I made it to Live Oak Spring! The fog has set down in the canyon, and I camped under the oak trees. Had phone service & some tasty Kung Pao chicken to wrap up the day.

Day 4 San Jacinto Mountains

woke up on time @ 4 am, quite chilly and very sore. took the morning slow, and started the hike UP, UP, and UP!

The first mile out of the canyon was pretty warm (due to incline), but I was quickly woken up by the icy wind when I crested the ridge!

Everything was iced over & I didn’t see a soul for miles. The views were outstanding.

The trail was a consistent grade, went through some snow, & I even helped lead a group to the trail (in a snowy untracked section).

By about 11am, I reached a huge burned section… which meant jumping over and crawling under 20+ downed trees and lots of route finding. This detoured me from exiting the mountain at Spitler (2 more miles of obstacles) and instead exiting @ Fobes.

I hiked down the trail in crocs, stoked to lose the boots for a a bit. Filtered out of a stream, ate a Lara bar & started my road walk. I was 3 miles in, and some nice folks picked me up for the final 3!

They dropped me off at Hurkey Creek Campground (my current location) and I had an awesome time laying in the sunshine by a creek! Today wrapped up around 15.5 miles, and I ate lasagna (alpine aire meal- which is more like marinara and noodles rather than actual lasagna ).

What’s next?

I have a ride confirmed for tomorrow morning- trail angels are THE BEST. I’ll get dropped off at Black Mountain Road, and hike into the PCT from there (7 mile dirt road walk). With the crazy snow, the San Jacinto area has been closed for a while. It did just open up a week or so ago, but with all the blowdowns, and the extreme snow on the north slopes it has been advised to skip it (unless you are prepared to be a mountaineer). So I’m skipping to Black Mountain, trail mile 190. (Soooo 23 miles less of the PCT). BUT I am glad I did the first section of the range, since barely anybody else is doing it. There was much solitude & allll the views to myself! The next town (next Tuesday/ Wednesday) I’ll hit is Big Bear Lake, where I’ll take a “zero” and let these blisters heal. I was supposed to restock my food, but I haven’t been eating too much at all. Good for the wallet, probably not for my body. I’ll eat another granola bar right now 😉

Also to answer some questions:

1) trails marked? Yes, every time the PCT crosses another trail or road there is a sign.

2) are you scared sleeping alone? I sleep way better by myself than with people around. I like the solitude!

3) any wildlife? so far just a lot of black capped chickadees, and some other small birds! oh, and tons of lizards.

Well, there ya go folks. The complete run down of the past few days. Happy trails!