After going to sleep nervous, having just walked 20 miles on my first day, I was surprised to wake up refreshed and ready to hike. Not too sore! Wooo!
The hike out of Lake Morena was beautiful, but still very dry. I started flip-flopping with a group of hikers I had seen the previous night at camp. Flip flopping is trail lingo for continually crossing paths with the same person.
According to my Halfmile PCT app on my phone, "In May 2009 a Marine Super Cobra attack helicopter crashed near PCT mile 32.6. Munitions carried by the helicopter were scattered as a result of the crash. Signs warn hikers to stay on trail because of a safety hazard from unexploded military ordinances in this area."
Nightgown and I hiked together most of the day. That's what I'm calling my friend I met on the first day until she gets a real trail name. Nightgown hikes in a purple polka dot nightgown.
When Nightgown and I got into camp, we stumbled upon the group we had been flip-flopping with all day. The five of us set up camp near each other, talking and laughing and sharing stories.
The group we met includes a married couple from San Diego and their friend Matt, who is only on the PCT for the first few days.
A woman at the campground told us about a creek with swimming holes a few minutes away. We're were all sore from a long day of hiking, but we decided to walk down to the creek to soak our feet for a bit.
Back at camp we cooked and I spilled my boiling refried beans all over the table. Oops!
Day 3: Mile 33-47
This morning we hiked out of Cibbets Flat and into the trail town Mt. Laguna. The first part of the day was all uphill, but it provided us with a beautiful view of the previous night's camping spot.
After hiking for a few hours in open, exposed slopes, it was nice to see some trees again.
Mt. Laguna is a sleepy little town with only a few businesses. It seems pretty hiker-friendly and the first store we saw, Mt. Laguna Sports & Supply, is a sporting goods store dicated to PCT thru-hikers.
Here's nightgown being excited to arrive in town.
The sporting goods store has the first hiker box that I've seen on the trail. A hiker box is a place where hikers can discard things they don't want and other hikers can rummage through for things they need. The hiker boxes were full when we got to Mt Laguna. I didn't take anything because I was pretty sure my pack was already too heavy.
We talked to a previous PCT hiker, Super, at the store and he convinced us to come back later for a free pack shakedown. Super gives shakedowns and goes through your pack to give you tips for minimize weight and maximizing efficiency.
Nightgown and I walked a little further up the road and found a bunch of hikers at the Laguna Mountain Lodge. The lodge has a big front porch where we spread out our things and relaxed. I ate a microwave pizza, two popsicles, and a bottle of grape juice. Yumm. I also picked up my first resupply with a few days of food.
The lodge has a trail register. How does one decide what to write in a trail register? I need a trail name!
Here's a picture of all of us hikers that have been hiking somewhat close together for the past few days. From the left: Twice, Nightgown, Chance, me, Sugar Pine, and Lingo. Sugar Pine and Lingo are the married couple I kept passing earlier in the day.
I like to refer to Sugar Pine as Sug in my terrible southern accent. Sug received her trail name earlier in the day because she and her husband buried a Sugar Pine cone outside of Mt. Laguna before starting the PCT. She loves pine cones and her favorites are the giant cones of the Sugar Pine tree. I came up with the name and Rocket Llama formally dubbed her while we sat on the porch of the lodge.
At 3:30pm, Nightgown, Sugar Pine, Lingo, and I went to the pack shakedown at the sporting goods store. Super was very informative and helped me shave two pounds off of my pack weight. He had some great tips (suggesting I get a new rain jacket and pack cover). It was great, but it took over 3.5 hours to get the shakedown and put us a bit behind schedule. Some people rented a room in Mt. Laguna, but $27 felt a little expensive to me for a room so early in the trip.
I'm really not trying to keep a strict schedule, but we had to get a few miles out of town to get to a good camping spot. We left Mt Laguna at 7:30pm and set out for our first night hike. A lot of people night hike in the desert and I wanted to try it out for myself.
I enjoy hiking in the evening. The sunset was beautiful and we got to see a bunch of frogs come out onto the trail.
We ate some food at a small picnic area (where we met Pilgrim camping out in the heated restroom) and hiked through a large exposed burn area until we arrived at our campsite around midnight. On the way we passed Uke (he hikes with an Ukulele) and Troll (a second time, kilt-wearing PCTer who used to work under bridges). Night hiking was a ton of fun, but did include some stumbles and bruises. We arrived at Mt Laguna campground around midnight, exhausted and ready to sleep.
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