Here we are at the monument right at the border. We stayed at Bob Riess‘ house last night and he took us and three other hikers to Campo (they met on an organized year long round the world biking trip!!) . It is 6 a.m., freezing cold, and we are on the PCT. All we have to do is START HIKING 🙂
As it is so cold we want to get going. We have packed each 8 l of water. As the trail goes downhill and later on is generally flat, the weight on our shoulders and hips is not to hard on us yet.
Phil, another hiker from Oregon, catches up with us and we carry on together. He goes lighter than we do and hikes a fast pace but he doesn’t mind to slow down a bit so we enjoy talking to each other .
As we keep going on a trail that is not as much as I had imagined desert to be (it is more rocky and goes around hills and is green), our feet, shoulders and especially my hips start complaining.
We arrive at Hauser Creek after around 10 miles and we are more than ready for lunch! Although we kept drinking the water and diminishing the weight, there still remains enough to carry: 8,5 kg base weight plus around 5-6 kg of food and our bodies want a break.
Phil decides to stay a little bit longer but we want to get going again especially since we have to get over Hauser Mountain. It is only a climb of 300m but we just want to take our time. In the end we arrive at the Lake Morena campground after another 10 miles, pretty beaten. My hips are giving me a hard time, feet and shoulders come second. We are so happy to be here!! We had not seriously planned on doing 20 miles but here we are.
On the campground we meet go-BIG and his parents and they invite us to share their camping ground and later on after Phil arrives, just as beaten, they invite us all for dinner. They are so friendly. go-BIG and his friend Jeff will start tomorrow from the border.
After a day full of impressions we go to bed early.