So I wanted to get started early on the trail and so Lenora and I got up about 3 and drove to the start of the trail. Actually, it wasn’t that easy, driving to the start of the trail that is. It is very easy to get with 2.2 miles of the start where the trail crosses Hwy 94 and that was a very tempting place to start. I noticed others did start at this point when I passed by here about 1.5 hours later. However, I wanted to start at the actual start and tried to get there. There are just places where you can go left or right on a dirt road and I always seem to make the wrong decisions as these points. After going down 1 such bad decision and turning around we met a Border Patrol car and he asked “Where are you TRYING to go?”. I actually laughed because his tone indicated he was tired of watching me be lost. So he pointed out where we should go and I headed that way and there must have been more than 1 way to get there because when we got to the right spot THERE HE WAS WAITING FOR US. I guess he was just making sure I did not make a wrong turn again. So here we on the road and the monument that marks the start (or the end I suppose if you choose to start in Canada) is just up the trail about 100 feet or so. So Lenora and I pray and I get out and get all my gear on and head up the trail to the monument. I take a picture of it and the reason why you don’t see that picture will become clear later. So NOW, standing at the monument, WHERE do I go. I really have only 3 options. The reason why I don’t have 4 is because in one direction is this huge fence that our country has built for unknown reasons really. I know that its only purpose right now that I can figure out is it tells me that I don’t want to go that way. BUT there are trails that lead in the other 3 directions and really no sign to indicate which of these trails in the right one. I could go down the same trail I came up from the car but I was SURE that was not the right way. Earlier we had seen where the trail had crossed the dirt road and I assumed that the trail was crossing from the east to the west. The monument was on the east side of the road and so I figured I wanted to there start on the trail going basically north or the trail going basically east thinking it would curve and cross the road. But I start going basically north and figure out (because my phone tells me I am not on the trail any longer) that was wrong. So then I go back and go east and again for the same reason figure out I was wrong. So then I simply walk back on the trail to the road and there on the other side of the road Lenora and I was on is a PCT sign. In my defense it was still dark. But finally I was walking on the trail and all was good and the trail crossed the road up a bit crossing from the west to the east. No way of knowing why I figured it was just the opposite when we past this point while driving.

I am not sure when other people started or where they started from but after about 3 hours of walking I am pretty sure that EVERYONE has passed me by. Almost everyone was in a big hurry and most did not even say HI as they passed. They were on a mission I suspect to get to the next point which for most was probably Lake Morena at the 20 mile mark. It made me think about my earlier life when the only thing important to me was getting from Point A to Point B and never pay attention or enjoy the journey between the points. There was only 1 other couple that was as slow as I was and we kept crossing paths along the way. They would rest and I would pass. I would rest and they would pass. We talked a bit but not much. I wish I would have gotten their story as I’ll bet it was interesting. After about the 5th time of crossing paths and I passed while they were resting, I never saw them again. And, I have never seen them sign in at any of the ledgers where you can sign in and make comments. Jennifer and Junior may not have had an REI Gary (previous post) like I had and may have had no idea what they were getting themselves into. I pray they are OK and even that they are still on the trail but just not the ledger signing types. You may be saying at this point, well if you passed them then why would they sign a ledger ahead of you? I say that because I am writing this after the fact and I ended up taking Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. In that amount of time I figure they would have passed my position.

So during the first 15 miles you ascend 1442 feet and descend 2042 feet and you end up at a place called Hauser Creek. This is a beautiful place to stop and camp if you are tired because what looms ahead at this point is a mountain to climb and an increase in elevation of about 1400 feet. I should have stopped because it was late BUT I had heard it was going to be a bit chilly and you don’t want to camp in the valley on a cold night. So I decided to start the climb. It was not a good decision but it worked out. Hiking up it did start to get colder and the wind started blowing and I was even going slower that normal. Finally I decided I was just not going to make it and I started to look for wide places in the trail where I could camp even if I blocked the trail a bit. I found such a spot and was ready to give it a try when a little voice said to look a little further. So I left my pack there and hiked a bit more up and around a corner and amazing there was a beautiful spot for camping and so I went back and got my pack and dragged it to the new location and set up tent. End of first day, about 17 miles. At the end, I was a disappointed that I did not get any further than I did AND I was disappointed that I cared. I really don’t care when or if I make it to Canada. The journey is the point. I prayed all day long. It was a great day.

Lenora’s Note:
We are so excited for the adventure to begin we are up by 3AM an on the road before 4. Not easy to find the memorial that marks the start or clear what to do once you reach that point but I know what I need to do. I pray for God’s blessing and protection for my adventurer and drive away as he begins to walk up the trail (I have no idea he is going the wrong way so I drive away happy that his adventure is underway). I head home to gather up my ‘gear’ for my day and then have a hour working out in the park with Dani, my favorite trainer. Quick rinse off and I rush down to Carol’s for our regular Monday Stitch-In. Tonight I’ve been invited to a small reception for Archbishop Cordeleone and I decide to head home to rest a bit since I will be out late.

It takes me over 4 hours to make the 25 minute drive home since about two miles from home I fall asleep at the wheel and crash my new car into a chain link fence at the Palm nursery. No one is hurt but the car needs to be towed OnStar works great and police an tow truck are dispatched to my location, quick to dispatch, slow to arrive. A wonderful young couple who saw me drive off the road stay with me until the police arrive and they are able to describe what they saw to the police. I am so grateful. My Guardian Angel must have been on high alert since I did not get hurt or hurt anyone else and there was someone who saw what happened and was willing to tell the story to the police. But I finally have to get a ride the rest of the way home so I call my trusty friend and faithful rescue angel Joan to come and take me home. I never make it to the reception.

Now I wonder, how do I tell Don without sending him into a panic???? Scarlet O’Hara provides the answer, “I will worry about that tomorrow.”