Left Lake Morena at about 8:30 for the climb to Mt. Laguna.
Rock with acne.
The random highlights of the day, or at least how I saw them:
Passed a yard full of old, abandoned cars and appliances. I love these kind of displays because the homeowners are presenting their history to the public. History is always cool. As well, there is a sweet optimism that function will one day return to the abandoned hulks.
Next, I saw a teenaged boy shouting to the wind from his back yard – something about fairness.
And, so, the miles went past. Trail science came into play. Trying to pick out where the pass will split the mountain ahead. Where to place your feet every step, million of times without consciously thinking about the placement. Not dwelling on the consequences of a really bad placement. I thought of the Latin root of the word funner which is flatusnlroca or FNR – flat no rocks. This being the ideal trail, thus a trail that is flat and has no rocks is always funner.
I crossed under two bridges of the East/West 8 Freeway going South to North and in essence made the sign of the Greek Orthodox Cross.
As I climbed upward, paralleling a rare desert canyon with flowing water, I thought about the introvert/extrovert nature of hiking. How it really is the perfect balance between the two. How at times hiking requires you to be very social, while at other times it demands solitude. And then I gave up all thinking to focus on the artistry of a chocolate shake that awaited me in the next town.
Tree hugging rock.
It being a low snow year, many of the stream beds are dry. The Kitchen Falls were so truncated that the fall was over before the water knew it had fallen. Water stops for resupply were quite stretched out but never an issue.
Passed a Marine helicopter crash site with a sign warning of unexploded ordinance around the trail.
By the afternoon I had fallen in with Orbit, a speed demon hiker wearing a bow tie, which was good because the final climb to Mt. Laguna was tough. Twenty-one miles today, most of them earned.
A late arrival, followed by an errant pass of the camping area by half a mile, put any mention of a cooked dinner out of the question. And so it was fish tacos in a warm restaurant while a hard wind blew against the door.
Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde
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