Chuggin' along

We are cruising right along! We were able to successfully hitch our first ride of the trip out of Julian, it was the 10th car to go by us. Today we hitched into Idyllwild and it was the 2nd car that pulled over! Hopefully we can keep on that trend for future hitch hikes!

We hit the 100 mile mark on our 6th day and I also set my own personal record of this trip now officially being my longest backpack ever. Katie still has a couple weeks to go before she beats her longest trip.

We picked up our first resupply of food in Warner Springs and it felt like Christmas going through that box!

The people we have met have been so great and there are so many more out here hiking than I expected. Word on the trail is that there will be nearly 1,000 people attempting the thru hike which is hard to imagine.

We are adjusting well to hiking in the heat, taking siestas in the afternoon and dealing with the lack of water stops available. There is a lot of support from the PCTA and trail angels loading up caches too which helps a lot (see pic below).

It is amazing how simple my days become out here. A typical day is waking up about 5:30, putting camp away and packing my bag and starting to hike by 6:30. We usually hike for 2-3 hours, break for 30 min and then hike another 2-3 hours or until the heat becomes too much. Then we take a siesta for 3-4 hours where I might nap, read or write in my journal. We also use this time to cook our dinner so that it is one less thing to do once we get to camp. Around 4pm, we start hiking again and finish the day between 7-8pm depending on where we are heading.

Here are my updated totals after day 11:
# pushups: 45
# snakes: 7
# nights not in a tent: 1
# days of rain: 0
# showers with soap: 2
# trail magic: 4 (unexpected generosity by someone when you are not asking for it like a ride to/from the trail, filtered water, soda, etc.)

I posted some pics below. Whoever guesses first what the rock picture looks like wins a super duper prize :-)