Part 1 - Campo To Warner Springs

I’ve spent the past two weeks driving cross country and then walking the first 110 miles on the PCT. I’m working my way towards the beginning of the end. Once I hopefully finish the PCT I’ll have completed this monumental years long goal I’ve had and I don’t know what’s next but I have all summer to figure that out.

Getting ready to leave for this trip has probably been among the toughest things I’ve mentally done with my life. There’s been a lot of doubt in my mind, a ton of anticipation and a lot of sadness saying goodbye to friends and family. The closer I got to the trail on the drive out the more that faded away and turned to excitement.

There’s a fear that’s gripped me before the trail. A fear of leaving a task unfinished. I’ve gotten it set in my mind that on this journey there is no room for failure, there is no excuse for not going boarder to broader. I had to accept that failure is always a possibility so I can go forward and enjoy this amazing journey. I also know I’ll crawl my way to Canada before to get knocked off trail...

The section I just completed is a mix of desert scrubland, canyon oasis’s, and dry pine forest. It’s a hot, dry, difficult section (mostly cause I just started). We completed it in 6 days averaging 20 miles a day. It was beautiful, challenging and a great start to the journey.

I’ve met dozens of awesome new people. Out of everyone, I think Naners and Cave Man are my favorites, they’ve got great attitudes and are fun to be around. Unfortunately Naners’ goal is to be close to the Washington state line about two weeks ahead of us so we probably won’t get to hang around each other long. You never know though, the trail has a funny way of bringing people together.

This first week on trail has been difficult, not gonna lie. The desert heat kicked my ass, the pace kicked my ass, the weight kicked my ass. What I knew going into this was that all that was somewhat inevitable. When you’re doing a thru-hike you’re trying to get your “trail legs” in the first few weeks. You have to go through aches and pains, you get blisters, you figure out the stuff in your pack you thought you want but really don’t. All these adjustments are you trying to get ready for the greater adventure ahead and you have to take it day by day. This happens to everyone on every backpacking trip, most people just go home after a few days or a week or two so their body dosen’t physically change. When you’re thru-hiking, it’s a whole process.

A month ago I thought the trail would fly by, but now that I’m in it, I realize it’s going to be a long, exciting ride and I better get walking.