Day Two...

After a lot of running around San Diego getting last minute things organised such as food, new shoes and uv filter for the camera, we set off to Lake Morena for the ADZPCTKO (Annual Day Zero PCT Kick Off)

The kick off was great. With lots of informative talks including a water report, bear safety, how to avoid injury and my favorite: a 'shake down'. A shake down is where a previous thru-hiker (someone who has completed the trail) empties your backpack and goes through it with you. I found this really useful and have made some adjustments to my kit. I will also be able to fine tune my gear as I go along. 

I was awoken early on the Saturday morning by Valdis (my Brother-in-law) who had come over from Canberra to join me for the first week of the trip. For the last night of ADZPCTKO (tonight) they had a raffle and a video of the previous year's group. The video was well produced and a joy to watch and I won some stuff in the raffle (great, more to carry... At least I didn't win the bear vault!) We had a challenging night that night in the tarps as we hunkered down to brace high winds and rain. 

The class of 2015 thru hikers at ADZPCTKO. Valdis and I are fourth in from the right.

The next morning we woke up dry and happy to be greeted by the sun. After packing we grabbed a coffee and a bagel and headed over to find Nohawk, our ride to the border. While waiting for Nohawk to get ready I had the good fortune to meet Teddi Boston, the first woman to complete a southbound PCT trek in 1976!

Nohawk (Jack as Teddi calls him) and Teddi Boston. 

By the time we reached to monument the nerves were kicking in. So much so we forgot to sign the register! Anyway we didn't hang around. We took the obligatory photos, said goodbye to Nohawk and headed off. 

The obligatory photo at the southern terminus monument.

As the landscape unfolded in front of us I kept commenting how the scenery reminded me so much of the Monaro area and Michalego just south of Canberra in particular. Then at mile two we heard semi-automatic gunfire...! Yep. Definitely in the USA!!!

Then came the game of leap frog as we passed and were passed by other hikers. Valdis and I set a pretty steady pace at about 2mph. And while this wasn't as fast as some others, we tended to maintain our pace uphill and for longer periods and would catch up to them. As it turns out a lovely guy from London, Jim has a similar pace and we have met up with him a few times for lunch or dinner. 

The trail is really well marked and to be honest you just have to follow the path between the trekking pole divots! We ended up doing 16 miles on our first day which we were pretty chuffed about. We camped at a place called Hauser Creek (dry) which is four miles from Lake Morena. 

This is what a lot of the trail looks like. Footsteps and trekking pole holes!

Ok. I'm cowboy camped at about mile 56 tonight. The journal is a couple of days behind (sorry). We had a great day and did 14 miles. But I'll tell you all about that in the next post... 

Now here are some pictures for you. 

Rxx

Patch and Sophie. They hiked the AT (Appalatian Trail in 2013) and are thru hiking the PCT this year.

Our tarp set up for some shade at lunch. 

The hill we had to hump over to get to Lake Morena. We camped in the valley below this (Hauser Creek). 

Beautiful agave? Plants with huge flowers you could see dotted all over the landscape. 

There are amazing geological features...

And beautiful wildlife to see along the trail. 

This was my first burger from the store at Lake Morena and boy it was good!

Valdis taking in the view. 

Valdis cowboy camping. 

And finally, me after washing my hair in a stream... No soap of course! 

Night xx