The Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kick Off began today. Monty, Wendy and I squashed into the front seat of Monty’s pick up truck and headed back down south just after 9am. We went past Mount Laguna and I popped into the general store to say hi to the folks I met about a week ago. It was like catching up with old friends, I guess the accent stands out in this part of the world.

There was already a lot happening on site when we arrived and I was soon put to work at the front gate to welcome the hikers. I met a few more celebs from the hiking world, Halfmile (pictured below) who created the 250 pages of free maps I printed and his colleague who created the iPhone app which I use every time I want to know where I’m at.

I looked very official in my orange vest but soon realised I had no answers to any questions making me somewhat redundant. Luckily for me I was introduced to Dr Sole and was relieved of my duties to have my feet seen to by the specialist.

After a soapy foot bath my feet were ready for surgery. As Dr Sole lathered my feet in peroxide and started to snip away at the skin I thought to ask if he was actually a doctor. He laughed, shook his head and told me he’s an ex-truck driver who knows a lot about curing hiker injuries. Good enough for me!

Not only does Dr Sole cure feet, he also sewed sheepskin to my backpack straps to alleviate my shoulder pain. In addition, he invited Wendy and I into his mobile home and fed us cookies and coffee. The generosity of people out here is absolutely overwhelming.

Dr Sole also gave me another pair of boots to try. They’re a size 8.5 US and have better ankle support and sole support than my Salomans. I now have three pairs of shoes to test out and choose from this weekend!

I participated in the sunset yoga session this evening and am getting an early night as I start working for Dirty Girl Gaiters tomorrow. It’s going to drop below zero tonight so I could be in for a chilly nights sleep!

A zero day = no miles walked on the trail. Instead this morning I woke to coffee and breakfast being made, then searched in vain for some sunshine to dry out my feet. No such luck. Instead I read a few pages of ‘Wild’ on my e-reader while sitting on the ground in Monty’s driveway. It was the section where Cheryl is trying to squeeze all the gear into her monster pack in a motel room in Mojave. I loved reading it even more the second time around.

As I was reading Billy Goat came over and spoke to me about the Kick Off and was glad to hear I had decided to go. He took Chris in his specially designed car down to Lake Morena today. I decided to stay behind to help Monty get things in order for tomorrow. It was probably the most domestic day of my entire life. I pre-made salad for dinner and learned how to cut with the biggest, sharpest knife on the planet. Then I put on a load of laundry, cut vegetables for dinner, washed dishes, moved boxes and cooked.

In the midst of my domesticity we took a trip to the Community Centre where I was picked up yesterday to collect another hiker who’ll be teaching yoga at the Kick Off. There were at least 30 hikers hanging out including the infamous ‘Yogi’ (pictured below) who wrote the PCT handbook (my bible). I felt a little out of place and completely out of my element. So much so I expressed my concerns to Monty again about Kick Off, but he reassured me that I’ll be working there, welcoming hikers and helping sell Dirty Girl gaiters to people so it’ll give me a purpose for being there.

Monty found me a new pair of shoes in the hiker box today so I’ll test them out over the weekend to see if they make any difference. He also dug deep into my most painful blister again today to ensure there wasn’t anything else inside. I’ve never had so much attention paid to my feet in my entire life.

Tomorrow morning we’ll head down to Lake Morena around 9am. I’m still a little apprehensive about being in the company of over 600 other hikers but it’ll be an experience nonetheless!

This morning I made the decision to spend a full day off my feet and I THINK I will head to the kickoff. I was lucky enough to score a mattress on the floor inside last night as Pac Man slept outside without cover on the porch. He’s decided to carry onto Idyllwild which I would have done too if my feet were ready for the miles.

It was really sad to see him go. 9 days on the trail can seem like a lifetime and I honestly haven’t belly laughed that hard and that frequently for as long as I can remember. Travel safe Pac Man and hope to see you somewhere along the tail. (Check out Pac Man’s website www.crestblessings.com as he’s aiming to raise over 2.5 million dollars for Juvenile Diabetes Research).

What this means for me is a day off drying out my feet in the sun then heading back to Lake Morena tomorrow to prep for the kickoff. Then on Sunday Monty will drive Chris and I back to Warner Springs where I’ll start off where I left off. I hope this turns out to be a good decision.

This morning I would not have expected to be sitting with PCT hiking veterans Warner Springs Monty and Billy Goat who I quote on my homepage when I describe ‘why’ I chose to hike this trail.

My feet are bathing in a bucket of Epsom salts after Monty picked up Pac Man and me from the Warner Springs Community Centre. He also had our trail mate Chris after he was bitten by a spider and needed to be taken to emergency.

Before we were headed to Monty’s property in the back of his truck we arrived at the Community Centre around noon after 2 miles of walking. On arrival we were greeted by a bunch of volunteers cooking lunch, offering up laundry and showers and selling items at the store. I basically bought them out of first aid supplies and wet wipes.

After a heavenly outdoor shower and a cheeseburger we caught a lift to the post office where I picked up my second resupply box and sent a few items back ‘home’ (BJ expect something in the mail from me). I had one of the UPS delivery men ask me if I was REALLY going to hike to Canada, and although he delivers hundreds of hiker packages throughout the season, he still can’t believe it.

When Pac Man told Monty about my blisters he took one look at them and told me I should rest up a day and put my feet in salt water. He offered for us both to come stay with him and also meet ‘Billy Goat’. Later on we all sat on Monty’s porch drinking beer, soaking feet and talking about hiking with the king of lightweight hiking, and with a man who has hiked over 40,000 miles.

Monty fed us a three course meal of salad, chicken rice and brussel sprouts, and ice cream and strawberries before we all watched the National Geographic doco on the PCT which of course Monty is in. It’s been a spin out. Monty highly recommends I attend the kick of weekend this coming weekend which would mean taking the next 5 days off hiking. I would be given a job to do there and some kind of motorised vehicle to sleep in, plus it would give my blisters time to heal. Food for thought as I drift off to sleep after midnight.

After the midday snooze yesterday we filled up our water and headed in the direction of Warner Springs. We knew we wouldn’t make it the whole way but wanted to go as far as my feet would carry me. We left around 6:30pm and walked through a number of open flat fields as the sun set.

It was quite surreal as the moon came out and lit the path ahead. We passed lots of cows and when the sun had totally gone down we could hear packs of kyotes barking. I for one was a little freaked out by how close and how many there were.

At mile 106 we reached Eagle Rock which was a quick deviation off the trail. I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to see it in the dark, but under the moonlight it looked spectacular. The only decent photo I could capture was on my Olympus camera if I stood completely still. At around 9pm my feet and stomach gave up and I needed a quick sit down, some beef jerky and water. Once I was refuelled I could walk another 15 minutes to what I think is a jeep road which is perfectly flat and away from the cows. After two more blister pops my feet were done and I was ready to sleep.

Today I’m having a slow morning, sipping coffee and contemplating the next two miles into town and what I’m going to do when I get there:

– shower
– laundry
– post office pick up
– buy lunch food
– buy new shoes/boots?

I set the alarm for 5am this morning but quickly hit the snooze button when I heard the wind howling through my tent. I had slept with ear plugs and a eye mask on so the flapping of my tent and glowing moon wouldn’t keep me awake. They worked. Four hikers passed our campsite before we moved out at 8:30am. I needed warm oats, coffee and to do some serious taping of my feet before we left.

6 miles in we reached the 100 mile mark, only 2563 miles to go from here! Today was always going to be a shorter day because we realised that Warner Springs doesn’t have ANY accommodation, not even camping, hmmm. There is however a community centre where we can do laundry, take a shower and have breakfast, lunch and dinner. This coupled with visiting the post office will be on the agenda for tomorrow, which means after a long siesta in the sun today we only need to go a few more miles to camp on the outskirts of town near Eagle Rock.

I’m slowly starting to get my systems in place without unpacking and repacking my bag 100 times a day. I still have a long way to go before I’m actually being ‘efficient’, but the snail speed I’ve been travelling at when setting up my tent, cooking and generally outdoor chores should soon improve.

It’s so bright I’m able to write this by moonlight sitting on my small out cut of Tyvek in the middle of the desert. I just snapped my spork clean in half and am glad Yogi suggested to bring two of this item.

It was a long day on the trail from 7:30am this morning to arriving at camp some time after 6pm. I was glad to get a start on the heat as it reached 43 degrees today and there was very little shade.

A few miles short of the water cache my feet hurt so badly I couldn’t continue walking. I sat down, stripped of my shoes and socks and did my best to relieve the pain. Pac Man stuck a sterile pin into two of my blisters which hurt like hell, but it was exactly what they needed.

At the water cache we bumped into our hiker friend Chris who we ran into yesterday. He was glad to see us saying we were the most entertaining people he’d come across on the trail so far. We gave him some extra food as he only had tuna left for another two days, then chilled out for a while in the shade together drinking powdered Gatorade.

Trail angels had stocked this cache up so well with clean bottled water. These volunteers are unbelievable, how they got that much water into a remote part of the trail is remarkable.

After we stocked up on water we just found a shady tree and rested for 3 hours. I had to drain 4 more blisters and was terrified at how my feet looked under the bandages. After 3 hours of air and sun they looked and felt much better which improved my mood immensely. It also allowed me to walk another 3 miles to the campsite I’m at now.

We’re at mile 94, almost at 100! The next water source is about 7 miles from here and Warner Springs my next resupply town is about 15. The only resort is apparently closed so I’m not sure what kind of shower/laundry arrangement there will be. At least my next food supply will be waiting at the Post Office for pick up.

Tonight I am camping on a beautiful ridge top in the San Felipe Hills located in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. I’m sitting in shorts as the sun goes down having just polished off dinner, so I think it’ll be another hot night!

Roll Up got a head start today so Pac Man and I carried on for the first 10 miles to the water cache alone. We passed a few south bound hikers heading to the Kick Off and we were over taken by a couple of lightweight hikers. One of them had passed a woman I saw on Day 1 (Snap Dragging) who had just made it to Lake Morena. He said he was so inspired that she was still kicking on after a four day stint to the first campsite. I hope she carries on until the end.

I had gone through 2 litres of water by the time we reached the cache and refilled all 5 litres after taking a bit of time in the shade. The next water cache is at mile 91 so we planned to hike five miles to 82 where we are now, then get up early and do 10 miles with the last 2 litres of water I have left. We’ve finally reached the desert and it’s over 30 degrees during the day.

We called Roll Up at the water cache and he told us his feet were in such bad shape he was going to rest up in Julian, meet his family and then rejoin the trail in Big Bear City. I hope he makes a speedy recovery.

I felt good in the heat today but my feet and shoulder were done after 15 miles. I hope to reach my next resupply at Warner Springs by Monday. Off to bed soon, until tomorrow.

Tonight I can hear kyotes in the distance and country & western tunes being blasted from someone’s car on the other side of the hill. It’s an absolutely stunning night, relatively warm and no wind with a perfect view.

This morning I said goodbye to my two trail buddies as I wanted to head out on my own. I needed to feel the tranquility of Day 1 and also ensure I know what I’m doing out here by myself. The solitude helped me feel more connected with this new ‘home’ of mine and I felt more focussed on the trail ahead.

The first task was finding the next water source off the trail. Despite the fact it says for horses only there was a tap on the side which provided slightly cleaner water that still needed filtering. I left a note and some trail mix for the boys and bumped into them on the way back to the trail after tending to my ever increasing sore feet!

The day got extremely hot and made me think about all the training hikes I’d done over summer back at home. Being out here is the furthest I’ve ever felt from home. I think each day feels like the equivalent of a week or a month. I already feel very used to not having a roof over my head.

After a quick beef jerky wrapped in cheese snack I was back on the trail battling with the sunshine and the pain of so many lose rocks under my feet. Almost thinking boots could have been a better idea. By about 2pm today I was pooped. There was very little shade the whole day so when I finally found some I made good use of it.

At around 4:30pm the boys caught up to me and asked if I was missing anything. I replied with a blank expression until Pac Man pulled out my entire water proof sleeve of maps and my trail notes. Hmmm… Scary that I didn’t even realise they were missing. Today I found my lost sunglasses case in a hiker box but my headlamp has never resurfaced.

There was some amazing scenery today with the San Jacinto Mountains (I think) in the background and some beautiful desert flowers in bloom.

Tonight I used my first aid techniques to ensure all the cuts and blisters on my feet are cleaned and covered. My whole body hurt after 17 miles today, the longest distance I’ve done so far.

I’m getting some interesting tan lines, especially on my hands from my hiking pole straps. Even though I’ve worn long pants since day 1 my legs are also filthy. There is very little water for the next 30 miles so I’m dependant on a water cache 10 miles away to get me through. The boys are heading into Julian tomorrow and depending on the water scenario at the cache I may possibly too so I can purchase an extra bottle of water to carry over the next stretch. We’ll see what tomorrow has in store.

I’m writing this by the first camp fire we’ve been able to light on the trip. We did a 10 mile day in 5 hours which wasn’t too bad and made it to Pioneer Mail Picnic Area at mile 52.7 by 6pm.

I drained my one big blister this morning and it felt a lot better having done so. Then it was off to the Mount Laguna Sports and Supply store where I purchase a light rain/wind jacket, a new headlamp and a warmer pair of gloves. Then at noon when the post office opened I picked up my first resupply box. The plan is playing out well so far.

My mind has been going a million miles an hour on the trail with not enough time to really even finish each thought. I did think a lot about fear and the need to identify fear to overcome it. I don’t feel scared out here at all but my thoughts seem to be travelling on an emotional roller coaster, way up and then way down, and everything in between.

We’re still travelling well as the three amigos. Pac Man leading, Roll Up at the back and me in the middle. We’ve got some big waterless stretches coming up so we’ve started paying closer attention to trail notes. The dessert will certainly be a test.