May 12, 2013
20 miles

OK, I miss the Jacuzzi. Reloaded with five days of food to make it to Big Bear, as well a gallon of water has returned my pack to the 30 pound range. And a day full of climbs. And a swollen stomach. And the inertia of 48 hours of sloth, made today tough going. Still, it was great to be back on the trail.

The trail lived up to its name today, following the crest of the mountain for several miles. Far down to the right lay the artificial green of Palm Springs. To the left lay a true green alpine meadow with enticing, out of reach alpine lakes.

The day was very warm and the twenty miles passed by grudgingly. Saw my first gopher snake.

Arrived at camp pretty well done in. Dinner was Couscous, Miso Pasta and dried fish of unknown origin washed down with hot chocolate. A fire and an early crash.

It’s good to be back.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

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May 11, 2013
Palm Springs – 0 Miles

Saturday was a full day of respite from hiking. In hiking parlance, a zero day. Combined with yesterday’s afternoon off and this zero, became rather fat. I spent the day watching the swelling in my feet subside. Most thru hikers have to go up in both shoe length and width. Others tended to their injuries. Also repaired some holes in my tent and bathed repeatedly.

And we ate. Breakfast burritos and Ben and Jerry’s for breakfast and beer for breakfast and so on throughout the day.

Time to get on my soapbox. Thru hikers arrive in a town and proceed to binge eat and ignore basic nutritional guidelines. And that’s OK. Something must not be done. If the furnace is burning hot enough you can throw anything in there and go. Off my soapbox.

As it was Sag’s birthday, cake accompanied the pasta dinner. 124 pound Orbit humiliated 205 pound Doc in an eating contest. Everyone has lost weight on the trail except me who has put on seven pounds. I once gained two pounds in a 100 mile race, so this is normal for me.

Orbit threatened to return to the trail late in the day but the threat proved empty as the eating continued. Throughout the day I found myself missing the simplicity and purpose of the trail and looked forward to returning. Tomorrow I’ll get my chance.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

If you’d like to help out and donate, please click here!

May 10, 2013
8 miles to Paradise Café Burger

Woke up dry, which places the day in the good category for backpacking purposes. As the rain was strong yesterday, the first view of the day is upward. Blue skies, so appreciated, as their contrast is in such recent memory.

Packed up, geared up and ate breakfast, a 20-minute process. Then took off. The pace accelerated as the distance was short. Speed is relative, and moving along at 4 mph can feel like going over a sudden hump hill in a car. Whoa.

Sags was a little late for the rendezvous, so we boogeyed down to the Paradise Café a mile away for a breakfast burrito, hamburger and bread pudding washed down with breakfast beers. During the feed, Sags arrived driving an Audi A4 sedan. Seeing the six of us, and our backpacks sardined into the Audi caused several patrons to stop eating and start snapping. The drop from alpine to low desert on the aptly named Pines to Palms Hwy was a heat homecoming for me.

Our arrival at a modern American home rendered the group temporarily mute. Memory of comfort returned quickly as we caught up on resupply, laundry, personal hygiene, swimming pools and beer. Watched a double feature of Blazing Saddles and a French film called The Intouchables. Good night and day contrast. The later film was off the charts good, capturing the bond of an unusual friendship.

Then all to their sleeping corners with a good movie buzz and bellies full of Seattle Hot Mammas.

Don’t ask.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

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Mile 144
(22 miles today)

Woke up to grazing donkies. As I walked past Daisy I couldn’t resist myself. I gave her a scratch and whispered in her ear, “Do you realize he wants you to walk all the way to Chile?” She seemed untroubled by this news. Said our goodbyes to Pascal and invited him to stop by and pasture in my Costa Rican front yard when he passes that way!

Moved on through fields of resting boulders until a water stop at Hiker Mikes, a fine gentleman who has opened up his front yard and garage to passing hikers. R&R’d for longer than expected. Slack and Orbit played duets on the garage piano. I did pull ups on the outdoor gym and Red Beard and Doc discussed Doc’s shredded feet.

Our little group is quite excited about upcoming events. Red Beard has access to a cabin in Palm Springs, the style of cabin that has a Jacuzzi, it being Palm Springs, of course. The plan is for Sags, a 2012 PCT thru hiker to pick us up at high noon on Friday on the Palm to Pines Highway. Then we’re off to our first shower in eight days. Not really necessary as I think we all smell like almonds at this point. Will take Saturday off to recharge and return to the trail Sunday.

Left Hiker Mikes just as Pascal and Company arrived. Daisy was limping badly and Pascal planned to rest her at Hiker Mikes until she recovered. Pushed forward as the rain clouds intensified in the background. Made good time (3 mph) toward the Palm Springs Oasis. And then the rain came down upon the righteous and the unrighteous alike…Followed by hail. The desert is a curious place.

Signed the register at a water catch around Mile 142. Doc was officially the 500th PCT hiker to pass the cache this hiking season. For that he won an all-expense paid nothing.

Walked on till we found an outstanding camping spot set among house-sized boulders and lightning. Found enough dried wood under boulder ledges to get the stove going. Not sure about my couscous, Japanese curry and tuna fish concoction, because I ate it before I tasted it. But the belly was full, the campfire stories good and a borrowed hiking pole prevented me from receiving a wet hug in the night.

Postscript: Z packs is sending a free, newer, stronger tent pole to Big Bear free of charge. Kudos.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

If you’d like to help out and donate, please click here!

Warner Spring to Lost Spring
11 miles

Left Doc in a comatic sleep by the side of the river where he was later to awake as the centerpiece to a herd of cows. Took a side trail into Warner Springs past the defunct resort until I stumbled upon the post office. Saw my first mule deer on the way. Lost a stare down.

The post office was yet to open, but I siphoned some of my tax dollars back by charging my phone with one of their outlets. The resort was started by Bob Hope and his posee and has been around forever. Renowned by hikers for its hot springs, it is a bitter miss. The good news is it recently sold for 50 million and will soon reopen. Picked up my bounce box (a package you continually forward up the trail post office to post office), restocked with yet more Asian goodies and resent it to Big Bear Lake. Then retraced my steps, as hitching was unsuccessful, back to the PCT.

At the junction, the Warner Springs community has opened up a seasonal reception center for hikers. The whole affair raises funds for the local school and is irresistible as a way station. Its charms overwhelmed me and I ended up hanging out until 2:30. A steady trickle of hikers came and went, some I knew, some I didn’t. I caught up on business while my double breakfast got used to new surroundings. At 2:30 I set off and the Warner Springs School could afford a few more text books.

Criss crossed Aqua Caliente Creek again and again, until climbing back up in to the mountains. Planned to go 15 miles but ran into my core group at around 10 miles with two donkeys as sentries. A stovepipe fire was going and a Frenchman named Pascal was holding court. Who could pass that up? So I skidded. The hot cocoa was bubbling and I sat down to hear of Pascal’s wonder of 15000 miles thru the trails of the US and then down to Chile over land. All to be on foot. All with his beloved donkeys. Every man to his dreams.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

If you’d like to help out and donate, please click here!

Mile 85 to Mile 109

With the troubles behind me, I packed up and left my perch high over the desert floor. Michael is now known as Doc among hikers because he cured me of my intestinal woes. The path hugged the ridgeline near the summit for all the early part of the day. The desert floor once again several thousand feet below. The future always certain as the view of the trail often stretched for several miles. Focus shifted from thoughts to present like a tennis match. Finally the path began to drop to the valley floor. Mile 100 passed by several times in the form of several landmarks.

Upon arrival on the valley floor people began looking for campsites, but the lure of cold beer and non-Asian foot in Warner Springs was too much for me and Doc. So we pushed on. The plains above Warner springs were cold, dry and longer than their miles indicated. They were also honeycombed with rodent holes.

A sign one mile before Warner Springs implied there were 1) no diners and 2) no beers. However, there were breakfasts. Delayed gratification is an art to master. We hit the brakes one mile short of the springs and cowboy camped next to a river shaded by oaks. And dreamed of pancakes to come.

Good night, Fumiko.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Warner Springs, California
May 7th, 2013
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

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I am happy to announce that Carpenter Zuckerman and Rowley have very generously decided to donate to Escuela Verde three dollars for every mile that I walk between Mexico and Canada on the Pacific crest Trail. Such kindness is both admirable and impressive. Thank you so much.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

If you’d like to help out and donate, please click here!

(22 miles) Moved on through drizzle/light rain driven by a strong wind. Pleased with my Patagonia jacket/Go Lite pants rain protection team. The rain beaded up like a new wax job as I sliced through the soaked brush for whatever reason. I started thinking about appearances. The idea for “Reflections” came to me. I sorted it out over the course of a mile, then found the right rock to hunker down behind and write it. You can find it in the “Other Stories” section.

My gut revolt intensified. Started memorizing hills by the amount of times I had to stop and dig a cat hole. The record was a three hole hill. The trail followed the mid-line of a mountain range for miles, then suddenly dropped to desert valley floor. It then cut across the valley floor before climbing up the next range. Because of rain the desert was in full bloom. Even saw the angel trumpet flower which used to kill all the hippies.

Hiked on and off all day with Ethan, a free climber from Washington; Red Beard, on his second PCT attempt; and Michael, a med school student from Ohio. Ethan gave me my trail name which is Blaster. For obvious reasons, of course, it has stuck.

Just before the second climb, the path passes under a road bridge. There, an outstanding human being has carried down hundreds of gallons of water, a trash can and some food supplies so that hikers can resupply. What kindness.

I holed up there to take care of business. This involved drying my gear, restocking, repairing, interneting, eating, resting and digging cat holes. My biggest problem is the broken pole without which my tarp doesn’t function. I found a very old nail, pounded off the head with a rock and jammed it into both broken sections of a hollow tube. Then duct taped it. As the rain intensified, so did my confidence for a dry night.

At the bridge crossroads, many hikers hitch in to Julian for a famous apple pie. My gut precluded that, but Michael went.

After two hours of troll life, I began the climb up the next range. I stopped eating and drinking to try and flush the system. I put on the music. All to no avail. I made eight miles before I was done in. A perfect camping spot drowned the last of my will. Set up my tarp. My repaired pole held for 20 minutes of wind before failing. Was getting down, when lo and behold, Michael appears in biblical fashion carrying a pie with my name on it. I ate it for dinner and woke up the next morning cured of my gut travails.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

If you’d like to help out and donate, please click here!

22 Miles

Cowboy camped (without shelter). Hit the path early. Winding through pine forests in the 5000 ft range. The trail, covered in sand, pushed up from the Anza-Borrego desert that sits a few thousand feet below – that other world a panorama throughout the day.

Stopped for breakfast and answered the why questions more than once. Pushed on as the clouds spoke of bad things to come. More and more cloud shadows tried to make the landscape look ominous. But the insistent wind always pushed them on. My afternoon nap was in the sun and that was the last light of the day. The pushing wind was also bringing.

Arrived at my destination campsite around mile nineteen. It was plopped in the middle of a wind tunnel. It was only 3:00 and the site lacked charisma. Grabbed some water out of a tank that said “Humans only.”

The rain started. As my coach once said, “Walk it off,” and, on this trail, that is the only solution, so I pushed on. The trail kept dropping, kept getting warmer and making me grin more. Twelve hundred feet and four miles later, I hit the bottom of a canyon and set up shop.

Reptile count – new reptiles seen:
1. One horny toad lizard, aka the ant slayer
2. One alligator lizard

Set up my tarp for the first time. Fired up my wood burning stove. Cooked Asian Delight and settled in for the night.

The first gut revolt hit at two a.m. and on through the night the battle raged by moonlight. The Assblaster saw much service. Many cat holes were dug. A songfection by the Cranberries entered my head. Upon return from one skirmish, I adjusted the sole tarp pole violently and it promptly snapped. The rain chose that moment to return. Propped up the roof the best I could with my pack. Failed trying to repair pole with chopsticks and duct tape.

Woke at 5:00 wrapped in wet tarp and had a laugh. Walk it off. And so I did.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

If you’d like to help out and donate, please click here!

Left Lake Morena at about 8:30 for the climb to Mt. Laguna.

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.

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

If you’d like to help out and donate, please click here!