DAYS 8-14

DAYS 8-14:

DAY 8:

5-1-2013

Miles 43-0

-Woke up and had a zero day at Mount Laguna Lodge

-Bought new backpack, mid-layer jacket, and hiking shorts

-Mailed home extra items

-New base weight is 20 pounds!!!! Woohoo!!!!! (I thought I had lightened my load to 18 pounds back at the kick off, but that was incorrect.)

DAY 9:

5-2-2013

Miles 43-59

-Left Mount Laguna for Sunrise Trail where we camped amongst the chaparral

-Fastest hike yet... very challenging but my legs were working wonderfully. I was averaging about 3mph. Yay! 

-Exhausted

DAY 10:

5-3-2013

Miles 59-77

-Left Sunrise Trail for Scissors Crossing where we hitched a ride with a man named Pedro to the town of Julian. Ive got blisters, burns, and bruises... all "battle wounds" I am proud of. I'm staying in a nice bed and breakfast here where they also did my laundry. I also finally found a boutique, Kathy's Dresses, where I bought myself a "town dress." They even gave me a hiker's discount! Its nice to feel clean and pretty! Ate some BBQ. Cleaned up and am about to go to sleep. 

DAY 11:

5-4-2013

Miles 77-91

-Woke up in Julian, ate a delicious breakfast, mailed a gift to mom, and did other errands

-Hitch hiked out of town back to the Scissor's Crossing part of the trail. Got there at 2pm. 

-Started back on the trail. Very hot outside. CONSTANT incline up a mountain for 14 miles. I hiked this in about 6 hours. SOOOOO tired! I think my body is getting used to hiking uphill as its getting easier for me with time. I sure am glad I lightened up my pack load!!! 

-Hiking sucks in the desert because you have to carry all of your water which weighs A TON. This means that before your hike, you must calculate how far you can walk per day on different terrains until you reach the next water source. Water is my lifeline, and I drink a ridiculous amount of water in the desert. I usually carry about 6 liters of water on me (more than a gallon) which weighs about 12 pounds. When you take that 12 pounds and add it to my 20 pound pack... I have a 32 pound pack to haul through the desert and up mountain ridges. I usually drink most of my water, with a liter to spare just in case a water source is dried up and unavailable. 

-We "cowboy camped" in the desert next to the water cache. Cowboy camping is when you don't sleep in a tent and its just you in your sleeping bag under the stars. This was the first time I cowboy camped and I loved it! It was incredible!

-I got my trail name!!!!! :)

DAY 12:

5-5-2013

Miles 91-93.5-91

-Woke up in the desert to a beautiful sunrise overhead and cool/cold weather

-Packed up and started on the trail from the 3rd pipe gate at mile 91. We were heading towards Warner Springs when my back started spasming and going out at mile 93.5. I was crying and going so slow. The rest of my group was ahead of me. I was trying to keep going but when I slipped into a bush and my thigh got stabbed with a branch, I thought I should just sit down and collect myself. Being alone in the desert while in pain sucked; but I knew my group would come back for me when they realized I wasn't at our rendezvous  point. Sure enough, they came back and found me. One of the guys and my good friend, Beave, decided to stay with me and help me get off the trail. He carried his pack AND my pack all the way back to the 3rd pipe gate at mile 91 while I hobbled along at a slug's pace. He made sure I was okay. I'm so lucky to have had that kind of support from another hiker. While camping out in the mountains, we looked across the valley and saw black clouds rolling over the mountain tops in the distance. The clouds were heading straight for us. Luckily I had cell reception so I could check the weather reports. Beave and I realized we might be hit hard with bad weather. The night turned out okay; it rained all night and we woke up to intermittent sprinkles and cold weather which felt nice since we were in the desert. 

DAY 13

5-6-2013

Mile 91-Julian

-My back was feeling a little stronger when I woke up, so Beave and I decided to hike off the mountain before the weather got worse. Instead of hiking downhill on the trail for 14 miles in high winds and rain, we blazed our own trail down the side of the mountain which was only about a mile or two to the road below us. We hitchhiked to a freeway junction with a friendly passerby. At the junction, we hitchhiked again and we were lucky enough to catch a ride with trail angel Checkers. Checkers is awesome, boisterous, and friendly. His laugh is just like Chris Farley's laugh! Checkers drove me and Beave back to Julian so I could recuperate and rest my back. I got myself a room at the Julian Lodge where bathtubs are available. I soaked in the bath, took Ibuprofen and pain meds, stretched, used a heating pad and ice pack, walked around a little bit, and laid in bed and rested. I later met Beave for dinner at the Rong Branch restaurant where we ran into Dave Super (owner of the outfitter in Mount Laguna) and another Canadian hiker. We all had dinner together. Aside from my back pain, it was a lovely evening. I went back to my room and had a great nights sleep. I was SO RELIEVED to be off the mountain because the weather got even worse according to reports. Even three hikers went missing in a snow storm just a few miles away from where Beave and I were. Search and Rescue has not found the hikers yet. 

DAY 14

5-7-2013

Julian

-Zero day in Julian, CA while I let my back and my blisters heal. I'm taking it easy and seeing how I feel. I'm hoping to get back onto the trail tomorrow.