hot toddie

Yeah thru hiking fit right back on like a fitted glove, or like a better simile that encapsulates something coming easily.

The first day was a bit iffy getting the feel for it all. Turns out my Sawyer filter is a reject since i used it last, i have to backwash it very often and forcefully to get a solid flow off of it. Also i didn’t pack a brush, so i’ve been doing a hand comb through it to fight off the dreadlock menace. I hit the trail kind of late that first day, at around noon, so i did about 8 miles before finding a lovely spot overlooking the direction the trail came from. Met Weatherman, a guy who did the AT last year and had horrible weather whenever someone came to visit him. Also a girl from Alabama who doesn’t have a trail name yet.

That first day i only saw a handful of hikers, but i’ve been churning through so many this week. What sticks out the most is how much i suck at remembering the normal human names, people who don’t have fun more abstract trail names yet. I feel like a jerk because of that but also we’re all friends out here already, and i’m pretty okay at remembering stuff about them so it’s whatever.

The second day i did a bit less than 15 and had the phrase “hot toddie” stuck in my head. I spent a couple few hours at a deli where i ate too much and saw a handful more of hiker trash.

The third day was a lonely one. The climb up to Mount Laguna was a slow and steady one that i didn’t complete. I spend the whole day listening to podcasts. Shoutout to Paul F Tompkins who is one of the funniest dudes for his podcast Spontaneanation also his silly laugh. I also got real close to the finale of the first season of The Adventure Zone which is super legit unless you’re one of my boys then don’t listen to it cuz i’ll probably steal some ideas from it for our D&D group.

At around the 50 mile mark on the 4th day the wind got angry. It ranged from blustery day, to “oop i gotta catch my footing,” to “okay i have to stop walking and brace myself so i don’t get blown off trail.” It stuck around for a couple miles and i had a grand ol time.

Camping that night was difficult. I cowboyed just in my quilt cocoon in a dip behind a hill hoping for some wind breakage. Sleep left a lot of room for Jesus that night, i don’t even remember ever falling asleep. Eventually the sun started to rise and i resigned myself to “waking up” and hiking.

Turns out i hadn’t seen the full fury of those mountains yet. For the next 10 miles i was getting bullied all over the place by that wind. I was even on the finale of The Adventure Zone and i had to keep pausing it until i found occasional breaks in the wind. After those 10 miles the trail made its way off the ridgeline and i could stop and eat the grapefruit trail magic i found during my skirmish with a wind titan.

The wind was not done yet though. On the next set of mountains it returned with all its malice and assassinated my handkerchief. Poor baby blue did nothing wrong, he was just a snot rag in the wrong place at the wrong time. Somewhere on that mountain he was blown off of my backpack, and now he lives up there i guess. For the remainder of the day my sleeves were coated in the constant drips that used to rest in his domain.

I crashed out at around 20 miles. I still had a couple hours of daylight left but boyo i was beat. I found a set of rocks that did a decent job fighting the wind, which thankfully threw in the towel at around 10pm and let me get some sleep.

I set out bright and early for the hitch into Julian the next day. I got to the road crossing and found Ghost waiting there to give people a lift the 12 miles up to there. Julian is so great i’m not sure that i didn’t die in those winds. Mom’s Pies gives a free slice and some ice cream to thru hikers, and the cider mill gives some cider and candy. The highlight is Carmen’s though.

Carmen’s is a super hiker friendly restaurant. Their burger was massive, but anyone can get that. Hikers get one free beer, unlimited free pop and coffee, a discount on beer, access to a washer and dryer, and we can sleep here for free. Out of fear of the Law of Snoring, i crashed out on the porch. I’m writing all this up inside actually, drinking some of that free coffee and thinking about what i’m going to do for breakfast. There are 6 other hikers here, we’re all getting our new media time in now just staring at our glowy rectangles.

Shoutout to the crazy sassy waitress who was here yesterday, i’m really sad i didn’t get a picture. She was giving us sass all day, telling us all kinds of jokes, sometimes recruiting us for some task around the restaurant. She told us about how she used to sleep under the deck when she got too drunk, and how great it was finally having grandkids. When i was passing out my Reese’s Cups (they weren’t doing it for me) she came by, grabbed one, and told us about the one correct way to eat a Reese’s. She then surgically ate only the chocolate, and threw the peanut butter center off into the bushes and walked away. I love that woman she was great.

That’s it i guess, morale is high. There’s only 3 water sources in the next 24 miles so i’ve got some work ahead of me but after my nero into town i’m feline groovy. Shoutouts to the really chatty cat who was hanging out by the hiker box behind Carmen’s. I’ll see if he’s there and i can get a picture.

update: oh man he’s back

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oofda he’s pearly white in socal i bet he’s gonna have to pay way too much for sunscreen in a day or two

i returned to the laguna section in january 2020 and wow that was a whole time again. something about me and that ridgeline and howling winds K I S S I N G

carmens was gone from julien then. who can say what is gone from the pct now?

well the internet surely can quantify the changes but i don’t care to look because man current year sure is something

-hiker new media time-