Life of a Gal Named Liv

341.2 miles so far! 110.2 miles the past week-ish. Over 100 miles completed in crocs. 10/10 recommend investing in the all-terrain crocs. No joke!

Breakdown the past week or so as follows:

Day 15: cajon pass to sheep mountain wilderness (20.5 miles)

Started the day out with some conflict & an unfortunate oversight of mileage- not a great morning.

With a late start, the 20.5 miles from the hotel to the campsite took up most of the day. I went through a lot of emotions while climbing the 5100’ feet of elevation gain.

While being alone the entire day, I had lots of time to think about loved ones, what I want to do next with my life, and death. I firmly believe one should be more scared of not living while alive, rather than dying. Life is really damn short, and I want to make sure mine is as full as possible. I don’t know what comes after death, but might as well enjoy life (right now). So, as I hiked up a big freaking mountain that’s what I did… a bit of soul searching, a few tears, and a lot of appreciation of my current adventure.

It was a full pack day- 7 days of food, and 5 liters of water. Mile 6 had a water cache (20 gallons of fresh water in blue tubs, left by locals), but there wasn’t even a trickle until 20.5. Really grateful for Liquid IV (if you haven’t tried it, go get some at Costco right now.) All I ate all day was a handful of nuts and a pro bar.

Once I got to camp, I met a group from Oregon & Denmark, filtered some water from a melting snow bank, planned the next day with Cajun and Keys (had phone service), and gave the loved ones a call. I made “lasagna” for dinner and treated myself to a Twix.

Stayed up late that night, taking care of my feet & talking on the phone. Coldest night yet- mid 30’s, so I bundled up with 4 little hotties & all the layers!

DAY 16: Sheep Mountain Wilderness to Inspiration Point (8 miles)

To be able to meet up with Keys (who took a rest day in Wrightwood), I had to do a short day- which was perfectly alright with my swollen leg & blistered feet.

I spent the day blasting Beck, & having a bit of fun sliding down the snow-covered trail in crocs. I have come to realize I’m a lot more “relaxed” about being “on trail” in the snow, compared to a lot of other hikers.

Passing through a ski resort (that still had snow on the runs) was a funny experience, & to make it even better I called in a wildfire at Guffy Campground. Currently, the fire is 227 acres, and has shut down the PCT until July 1- super glad I made it through!

Camped against a log, so I didn’t roll down the hill (very sloped site, technically illegal camping). While the site wasn’t great, the views were outstanding!

DAY 17: inspiration point to islip saddle (~16 miles)

I had a pretty decent nights sleep, pressed up against a log (cowboy camped) on a slight slope, fully inside my mummy bag. I woke up after a dream of piñon running to me as my mom opened the gate to their yard. it was real bittersweet, and I’m definitely very excited for that moment.

day started out super lax, with me making my coffee on a picnic table watching snow plows clear the highway.

Unfortunately they cleared the burm I was filtering water from the night before, so I didn’t have a water source for the AM.

Cajun and I waited for keys to arrive, and he did right on schedule @ 0927! I was real glad to see him, and we all started the 4 mile road walk to Baden-Powell. We caught up about the last couple of days, and filtered more highway runoff water. We had a quick lunch (I had tuna and pop tarts) and then we started up Baden-Powell. We had heard it was quite treacherous, but I was feeling really good for the most part! Keys didn’t have too much experience on steep snow, but with some of my tips he made it about 3/4 mile up the mountain. After a fall on a super steep section (yes, his ice ax was deployed) he was ready to head back down, so I went with him to do the alternate route. Cajun didn’t wait up, so we left him a note & we headed down to hike the 10 miles on the snowy road.

There was an insane amount of snow on highway 2, but it finally cleared up right before camp.

Day 18: Islip saddle to sulfur springs (17 miles)

Birds chirping, a good nights sleep, & it was time to start the trudge through the last bit of snow!

Highway 2 still has A TON of snow on it, with lots of rock fall as well. Made for a fun morning of hopping boulders, before making it back to the trail at Cloudburst Summit (7000’).

We had a nice lunch, a chill hike to camp, & even got into camp early enough to soak our sore feet in the creek! The campsite was killer, and we had a super chill evening. My dehydrated (homemade) risotto tasted REAL good, but made me miss my home-cooked food.

Day 19: Sulfur Springs to Random dirt road (18.3 miles)

Not too exciting of a section, with hot weather, lots of bugs, & LOTS of up and down. Grateful to have the homie, keys, to keep me company and laugh off the roughness of the day! He has came up with more trail names for me- water cache and croc walker- haha!

Rough 18.3 miles this day, BUT Had a lovely 1 hour with trail angels (sandwiches, candy, and shade!), then a 1 hour siesta under a tree.

Keys shoes blew out, but thankfully I had a needle and thread (& sewing skills).

Blood blisters on feet- making the Last 1.2 miles were absolute hell. Treated myself to Milk Duds for dinner to make up for the blister popping that had to be done!

Day 20: Random Dirt Road to Acton -(20.5 miles)

well, for sleeping real lopsided on the side of a dirt road, I felt pretty good! Started the day out with a hot cup of Joe, and slowly started packing up. For those of you who know about my coffee addiction, you’ll be happy to hear I’m down to about 6oz per day ! …yup from the previous 64oz!

Keys woke up shortly after. I bandaged your my very-blistered foot, popped on my crocs, and threw my pack on. It was cool when we started down in the ravine, but quickly warmed up as we worked our way up the mountain.

We had about 8 miles of very overgrown trail, & dead trees across the trail, to navigate. We were quite fed up with the obstacle course by the end of it!

We took a nice mid morning break, and then had lunch at the forest service ranger station. We have been getting spoiled with all the trash cans and picnic tables lately! We ran into some day hikers, who are interested in doing the PCT- lots of chatting & they gave us some liquid IV!

We left our shaded lunch area for the (very hot) trail, and wrapped up the remaining 9 miles. The flowers were in full bloom, we saw two rattlesnakes, and I of course took LOTS of photos! See for yourself:

I’ve been listening to audiobooks, and the pick for the day was “where the crawdads sing”. I also spent a lot of time daydreaming about this years garden & talking about environmental politics with keys! It was a day filled with variety. We camped above acton on a very windy hillside. Views were 10/10.

Going days on days without a shower, I’m super grateful for wipes & bath and body works hand sanitizer. REALLY helps you to feel just slightly human again after a long, dusty, day!

Day 21:Acton to Agua Dulce (9.9 miles)

Rough night due to the winds, but I crawled out of bed & chugged my coffee. It was a nice easy morning of hill hiking & cooler temperatures.

Listened to “where the crawdads sing” and took lots of photos on the chill hike to Agua Dulce.

We passed by Vasquez Rocks, which was really neat!

We made it to Serenity’s Oasis & took the rest of the day to do chores in town. Got to go to Mexican with my friend from childhood- Katie & and get some fresh food to get me through until the next town!

Day 22: Agua Dulce (ZERO DAY)

Spent the day getting re-supplied, mailing home my snow gear, and planning out my next 100 miles and past that! It looks like I will be in town for my birthday, so I’ll plan on treating myself to an Airbnb!

I’m aiming to do 20’s the next 5 days or so, then 15’s for the last ten days. My left ankle is still super swollen, (real grateful for KT tape) & blisters are constantly a problem. SO- I think 15-20 miles/ day with a rest day every 7 days is the recipe for success. It sucks because my endurance (muscular & cardiovascular) is totally there. Just these darn injuries!

SIDE NOTE- The Oregon section has had a slight change due to the insane snow. Sue and I will be doing the Oregon Coast trail instead of the Oregon section of the pct. I’ll be popping by the Roseburg area right before too, so hopefully I can see some of y’all! Happy trails 🙂