Day 2-4

Day 2

Houser Creek to Kitchen Creek Falls ~13.5 miles

As the sun peaked into my tent at 7am I was ready to start my second day on the PCT. I heard from other hikers that there was a malt shop that sold breakfast burritos at Lake Morena so I skipped out on my oatmeal and hit the trail. The first 5 miles out of Houser Creek were fairly intense with a 1,400 ft incline but all was easy with my mind set on a breakfast burrito. Once in Lake Morena I made a beeline for the malt shop. My steak, egg, potato and cheese burrito did not disappoint and after filling up I was ready to get back at it. 

A few miles after Lake Morena I walk upon a tree about 3 feet off the left side of the trail with a massive beehive in the knot of the trunk. I looked for a way around it and there were none, so I took a deep gulp, and slowly walked pass. Not 5 minutes later I feel a sharp pain on my left leg right above me knee. Sure enough it was a mangy bee that decided he didn’t like me and thought stinging me was a good idea. I shooed him away and kept walking with the piece of mind of knowing he is going to die now. 

At the end of the day a group of 5 of us decided to take a short .2 mile side trail to get down to Kitchen Creek. It was beautiful! There was a crystal blue stream running down big granite rocks. We all took off our shoes and soaked out aching feet in the stream. By this point we had put 13.5 miles on for the day and decided to camp by the creek. Problem was... there was not enough room for tents! The other hikers all nonchalantly said oh we will cowboy camp tonight by the creek. This means laying down and falling asleep with no tent. I had never done this before... As I’m writing this I am laying under the stars hoping I don’t get bugs in my sleeping bag or a rat doesn’t play with my face in the middle of the night. Wish me the best...

Day 3 

Kitchen Creek Falls to Mt. Laguna ~ 13 miles 

I am happy to report that no bugs came into my sleeping bag (that I know of...) and no rats played with my face. I successfully completed my first night of cowboy camping! It was surprising splendid. The beauty of sleeping under the stars combined with the ease of not needing to set up and take down a tent made me appreciate the art of the cowboy camp.

The day of hiking was not as splendid. I started at about 7am and set off on another 2,300ft assent into Mt. Laguna. You know how when you work out it’s always the 2nd day that you’re the most sore? Well that’s how my feet, knees and shoulders were feeling. I pushed my body and mind to get up the mountain. Each step hurt, but I knew it was getting me closer and closer to my goal. 13 slow miles later, I finally crawled into Mt. Laguna at about 2pm. I heard there were showers and a tavern that sold beer and food! So I showered up had a beer and a bbq chicken sandwich and sat around a table with 7 other awesome PCT hikers and called it a day.

Day 4 

My Laguna to Mile 59.7 ~ 18.2 Miles 

I had myself a rough night in the sleep department, which is totally unlike me. Between the constant noise of my tent whipping around in the wind and the pain in my feet I just could not string together any constant sleep. Nonetheless I got out there and had myself a great day! 

I started to hear the buzzing from other hikers about a wind advisory for the next 48 hours and boy was the buzz spot on. All day I found myself battling gusts of wind that made me wobble like drunk strolling home from a long night. I had to cover myself with my buff to prevent sand from hitting me in the face. This all made for a very challenging, yet fun day on the trail.