Agua Dulce to Kennedy Meadows

     There lie two trail angels within 24 miles of each other.  One in Agua Dulce, the well run, organized and functional Hiker Haven.  There L Rod Saufley cranks out laundry in a way that no normal human experience can relate to. The rotten, funky smells of hiker laundry get channeled through the Saufley machine and arrive with name tags on the porch of the hiker hangout.  It is amazing the kind of organization and work that goes into keeping that place running smoothly.  Twenty four miles down the trail is the Anderson's.  A wild, dishevealed party that has no end.  Drunk Doug gives you the tour, shows you where the hawaiian shirts and the beers are kept, and sets you loose.  Terri and Joe Anderson hold it down with huge dinners and breakfasts, hooking up hikers like no reasonable person should.
     In between are 24 miles, and therein lies the challenge.  24 miles in between hostels, 24 beers in a case.  Smokey the Beard and I took on the challenge, picking up a case each of Coors lite in Agua Dulce and setting out through the desert at 130pm, hottest time of the day.  About two hours later we were too drunk to be held responsible for our actions.  I airplaned a dip into Smokey's lip, causing him to puke.  Then, falling behind I fell off the trail and bloodied up my knee pretty good.  By the time we arrived at the Andersons, we were in good form and ready to keep the good times rolling.  Managing to squeek by with only one zero day we set out on a few hundred miles of serious desert hiking.
     Basically we crossed the whole mojave section without battin an eye.  The weather was nice.  The hiking was great.  The scenery was beautiful.  We ran into Patchwork, accosted first by his dog; a huge pit.  Turns out it wasn't his dog.  It had followed a few hikers previously, then latched on to ol' Patchwork.  We talked to him about how he'd found an awesome dog then kept walking, not thinking anything of it.  20 minutes later we hear the jingling of his collar in the bushes and knew we'd picked up a straggler.  We named him Rocket after his defining attribute and hiked with him for the rest of the night and through the next day.  The humane society came and picked him up at  a road crossing and hopefully took good care of him.  Smokey wanted to keep him but he was in too poor of shape to make the miles that we're hikin'.

     We dropped off Rocket then went into Mojave.  At the grocery store we did our resupply then headed over to KFC to get some food.  I plugged my phone into an outlet to charge up for the coming weeks on the trail and alas, some tweaker broad stole it right out of the wall.  Goodbye world.  I have no phone.  I am alone in the wilderness.  (i'm writing this in a trailor, hooked up to a genertor with satellite phone. basically off the grid.)  In the distance we've seen the snow covered sierras drawing closer and closer... it's like watching an oncoming army come over the horizon.  From here, we can see where the battle will happen, it's just a matter of time before we get there.  Right now, we're in Kennedy Meadows at the foot of the southern Sierras.  From here we have about 200 miles of trail that sits about 9000-13000 feet including a climb of mt Whitney.  This is the roughest section of the trail and we are excited to get at it!  Everything we have been doing so far as been leading up to this: from Mojave, we pulled a 25, 26, then 3 back to back 28 mile days.  Basically we've been flying.  Time to slow it down, be careful, and make it through these crazy mountains.

Updates to come on how it all goes.

Be goodness!

Clay

Idyllwild, CA to Agua Dulce, CA

     Well, here we are sitting pretty at 450 miles.  We're in the tiny desert town of Agua Dulce, CA right on the edge of the Mojave Desert.  Fuller Ridge and San Jacinto turned out to be a lot of fun.  The trail was completely buried in snow so there was a lot of map-and-compass routefinding going on, but we made our way up and over.  It was a thrill to see that mountain rise up on the horizon then sink into the southern skies as we left it in the dust.  Another challenge down.  After Jacinto we hit some awesome trail magic down under I-15.  Some past hikers were cooking up grilled cheese sandwhiches and passing out beers so we had to stay to toast to our successful journey over the mountain, listening to the familiar sounds of cars passing on the bridge overhead and the occasional freight train. 
     We crossed a few desert ridges, did a lot of water crossing on Mission Creek, then up into the mountains towards the ski resort town of Big Bear, CA (mile 175). 
     Big Bear marked the end of our 'getting in shape' period.  Basically, at this point, the ridiculous charge towards Canada starts in a big way.  We bought food for 7 days, with a 25 mile per day schudele.  This stretch of hiking was refered to several times as the death march.  We cruised out of Big Bear and kept our momentum going strong, even though we ran into a few fire detours that had has walking down the highway for 3 days.  Oh well, you take what comes to you out here on the PCT, that's kind of the beauty of it.
     We've met a bunch of really great guys; a few from Portland, a couple from northern Cali.  We had a strong hiking crew of 7 going for awhile which was a nice change of pace.  Its amazing how much things change when there are a few new people to talk to while you're hiking hour after hour.  We left them behind at Wrightwood, which we decided to skip, but they should be catching back up to us soon.
     This section has been a lot of fun.  Adam and Aaron really seem to be getting into the thru-hiker groove and we're all just enjoying the miles and having the best time possible.  Things are changing; our bodies and minds are adapting and getting ready to knock out the next 2200 miles!  whooweee!

Mexican Border to Idyllwild, CA

     After a week of ridiculousness riding trains and hitchhiking from the sweet ol' land of Boise down to the Mexican Border, our hike has begun!  Years of dreaming, months of hard planning and preparation and here we are, finally, walkin' it out.  I can't even describe how stoked I am to be out here getting it done.
     We left the border monument (mile 0) on April 25th.  It was like a force that has been building, dammed up by time and waiting, was finally released.  A four month journey had begun and we were now riding out the course, trapped by time but freed from our normal lives.  Feeling unstoppable, we knocked out the first 100 miles by day 5.  We crossed a bit of desert in mild temps but high winds.  Getting blown off the trail into all kinds of prickly plants as we walked.  One night, high up in a box canyon, we couldn't even get our tent up so we wrapped up in it and weathered the elements.  No big deal.
     By the time we hit Warner Springs, CA (mile 109), Adam and Aaron were suffering pretty bad from over use injuries.  I had been walking my dog Katy every day for 3 months prior to leaving so I was ready to do some walking, but the other boys got the crash course as we hiked 21-25 miles per day.  Adam's knee had a good case of tendinitis and Aaron was dealing with some shin splints.  This really took the wind out of our sails and we had to take 2 days off at Trail Angel Mike Herrera's house.  Not exactly a curse, as he cooked up about 120 lbs of smoked chicken and ribs and brought out cooler after cooler of beer.  We got a little spoiled but remained anxious to do what we came out here to do: hike on!  We got a lot of good advice from hikers that were coming through about taking care of their injuries and on day 3 of resting up, we headed out on a short 9 mile hike to Tule Spring.  This short hike helped to strengthen up their ailing limbs and the next two days we were moving again.
     We covered 50 miles in 3 days after Casa Hererra to the town of Idyllwild, CA (mile 178).  This is a true trail town with all the things hikers need to continue down the trail: grocery stores, cold beer, a quick pizza stop, and a cheap camp ground.  As I write this, we're doing laundry for the first time since we left the Mexico border and getting some showers in before we head back out towards Big Bear.  We were trying to make it to town last night, hiking hard for 22 miles up the San Jacinto crest around Apache Mountain and Taquitz Peak.  As we got up to 8000 feet we started hitting little patches of snow, nothing serious but a wrong step could send you sliding down a little snow chute 20-30 feet into the trees below.  As we neared Saddle junction and the trail down to town, we hit solid snow.  Losing the trail around 7pm we hiked into the twilight using our compasses and maps, cutting sidehill towards the saddle.  The sun dropped quick and we ended up cowboy camping on a bare spot, watching the stars go from sparse twinkling to bright shining glory.  It seems like every night I look around, my eyes peering through the tiny face-hole in my mummy bag, and wonder at the fact that I am finally out here hiking the PCT with some of my best friends, having the best times, and truly testing myself as a man and a human being.  What more could you ask for then to fall asleep in a warm sleeping bag after a day of trekking through the snow?
     Come morning, we hiked the last mile towards the saddle and descended down the south face of the saddle eventually hitting the Devil's Slide trail switchbacking down to town.  Now, here we are.  Resting up quick and preparing to head out.  Apparently some hikers had an illegal camp fire which they let get out of control, now the climb over snow-capped San Jacinto peak and Fuller Ridge (touching 9000 ft) is blocked for the next day or so.  We are trying to push hard and can't really afford to wait around, so hopefully we can get back up into the pass and hike through once we get word from the fire marshall that the trail is open again.  San Jacinto has been looming in the distance for the last 80 miles or so, lingering on the sky line and presenting the first real challenge of the trail.  I'd really hate to have to skip it because of this fire but it is a possibility.  Best case scenario is that I'll be picking up some ice cramp-on's to wear over my sandals and tomorrow we'll be charging through the snowpack over looking Idyllwild to the west and Palm Springs to the East.
     We're all feeling really strong and ready to take on this trail.  There are many challenges ahead: we'll be hitting the waterless Mojave desert on the other side of Mt San Jacinto and then after that up into the snowbound Sierras, climbing up to 14,000 feet.  So far though, things have been going well and the things we have seen and done will never fit onto a simple blog... and we're only 178 miles in, 2475 left to go.  Pictures will be coming when we get a chance to sit at a computer (right now I'm in a library with a 30 minute time limit) but we have some awesome footage of the mountains we have crossed, a couple huge rattle snakes (one of which Adam got into a staredown with and scared off the trail), and the icy slopes we have been traversing.
     I hope everyone at home is well and that you are as blessed to be there as we are to be out here, living a life that seems like a dream.  Much love to you all and take care!