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!