Drucey on the PCT 2022

  Day 32 one month trail-versary  ( day 30 & 31sick and resting) 17 miles It is a month since I set off from the Southern Terminus and in that time I have walked 566 miles and more importantly made many new lifelong friends.   Today we had some town jobs to finish then would hike17 miles to the first water  First job was our traditional town breakfast of Microwave scrambled eggs with smashed avocado on an everything bagel. Then we checked out and hit the thrift store for more exciting shirts. After a craft session building thermal insulation cozies for our pots we asked a trail angle to drop us of at the trailhead. We waited out the heat of the day in the town park which had real green grass, the first we had seen in the desert.  We pushed out 17 miles and dinner between 5-11 pm and then fumbled in the dark to find a camping spot as all were taken. Happy to be able to sleep we settled for a nearly level spot on the dirt road, our worst yet. 

 We had a long hot walk into Hikertown. I go taken out by a stomach bug and had to ride it out for 24 hrs 

  Day 28 Don’t worry I’ll catch up with the other days but I’m trying to update what I can in town.  498-519 Day 28 was the most incredible day I’m full of surprises. After the fatigue from the heat and the hiking yesterday the last thing I wanted to do was get up at 4 AM to hike and beat the heat. The alarm went off at 3:30 AM and I drag myself out of my sleeping bagAnd if we went in the dark down the mountain. We were aiming for a water cash that was 13 miles away. On the way we passed the 500 mile mark and did the customary song and dance proclaimers style even though we missed the actual 500 mile walk by 1.8 miles. As we reached the water cash there were some other hikers there and we had a chat and filled up my water. Then Ken A local hike it we had met two days earlier arrived with traumatic which included cold drinks bananas bread and the most spectacular cake I think I’ve ever seen. This made everybody’s day and we spent quite a bit longer than we had planned but loved...

  Day 20 Crazily the driver for today was to get within striking distance of the Cahon pass McDonalds. This is a significant landmark for the pct hiker.  What nobody had told us was the beautiful hike leading up to the highway was. We traversed high,steeply eroded ridges into a breathtaking sunset. There were no camp sites marked but we managed to find the only flat spot for miles and camped high above Hwy 66 ready for our morning appointment with the busy world of the highway rest stop 

  Day 19 294.7 - 318 June 2 After another social camp with 7 other PCT hikers we got away first to get the advantage of the cool morning and be early into the hot springs.  We made great time and were 11 miles in at 10am and enjoying the cool creek and natural thermal pools at the side.  The hot cold contrast was the perfect antidote for hiking fatigue.   The hot springs seemed to be maintained by a naked Santa character who fills sand bags to form the hot pools and offers advice about how to enjoy your time at the springs.  A couple had set up a slack line across the creek. Some people tried it out, it proved to be really hard except for the slack line expert who had set it up.  We hung around ate second breakfast and lunch before setting out for the afternoon hike after an amazing 6 hour swim/hot springs/ siesta.  The body felt amazing after all that rest and despite the heat made good time along the remaining part of this beautiful valley....

  Day 18   June 1 Mile 275 - 294.7 After our super late exit from Big Bear we had camped with a great group and were eager to get away early. It was the coldest night of the trail so far. We needed a early start to get miles in but Chipper slept in. Rockhopper and I threw pine cones at her tent to wake her and played pine cone soccer to stay warm.  The terrain was great today and we made good time. We found a good siesta spot and I got my best nap yet.  We decided to stop early and camp with the big group and had a great soak in the creek before a community dinner. Good food and good stories. 

  Day 17 Big bear lake to mile 275 10 pct miles  We started the day with a massive breakfast at the Big Bear Manor. This is a tiny place with the biggest pancakes and authentic American diner atmosphere.  We rolled out of breakfast and back to the hotel to pack up.  Further along trail there is less consistent resupply options so we sent a couple of boxes of food down the trail to be collected over the next couple of weeks. This all took longer than expected and we didn’t get back to trail until 3pm.  We hiked about 10miles and had a really social camp with another group of 5 trail friends.

  Day 16. Zero day in Big Bear Lake.   We had a hiker lie-in until 6:30am and made the now traditional microwave breaky of scrambled eggs and smashed avo    on bagels.  Rockhopper and Chipper were super keen on a Kayak lesson so we rented sit on tops and had some kayak fun which ended in the funniest capsize ever from Rockhopper and us all freezing cold and shivering our way back to the hotel and shower.  On the way back we met Kawano San the Japanese hiker we saw earlier on trail. We invited him in had coffee and all got Berger’s for lunch together.  After lunch we did the zero day jobs of laundry and internet uploads.   To round out the day we watched the new Top Gun movie. The perfect summer blockbuster with extra cheese.  Back on trail tomorrow after a great rest. 

  Day 15 10 miles to big Bear Lake   We are up early and really motivated to get into town for resupply and a zero day. We got down to the road 10 miles before 8:30 AM. There was a big truck with the camper on the back in the parking lot when we started to hitch into town. There were five of us and we had no luck with the first few cars when the driver of the big truck came across and asked to see if we needed a ride. Amazing generosity! So we all piled in and drove down into town. First order of business was big American style breakfast. We found a perfect cheap and cheerful diner and had an amazing breakfast and time to plan our campaign for a rest day. We managed to find rooms for the two nights despite it being Memorial Day weekend which is a very big holiday in the USA. We headed into the big supermarket and did a full resupply for the next five days. As we had run low on food in the last section and we didn’t want that to happen again we overcompensated and all bought a ...