Notes From Doug

4/8/13
Well day 1 was a success. I made it 20 miles to lake Morena campground and didn't have any major malfunctions. I did run across a bit of poison oak but don't think I touched any. Hopefully I didn't get any. Met a few fellow hikers Jack, Devyn? Tim? And a couple from San Diego. I am writing this at 6 am the day after I started because my tent and inside equipment are all dewey and can't sleep anymore. I think I'm going to put on my rain fly tomorrow and see how that works. Oh ya, I'm gonna be pretty sore tomorrow.

4/9/13
Woke up bright and early today and got to hiking in the morning fog. Made it 6 miles to under a bridge and over a few roads to a campground where I dried out most of my stuff. It was pretty cold so I had to wear my schlofingsock as a vest. It worked well and kept my core nice and toasty.  Made it a little further up a canyon then met up with the group. I set off to go down a road to get some water and possibly camp but it was way too windy so I kept on going until I found a place on the trail between two bushes. It's cold, misty, and windy but I'm snug in my tent. Didn't feel like cooking since it's so cold outside, so I ate pb&n (peanut butter and nutella) with no bread. I'm camping at about mile number 35. 

4/10/13

Day 3 was a beauty. I think I did about 20 miles today I started around 33 and now am at 52? Well woke up early after a night of howling wind and maybe some rain. I slept very well though. Got 10-11 hours snug in my bag. Hiked a few miles and met up with 4 others for a breakfast break. I think they had it worse than me. They seemed pretty cold. Kept on going and made it up to pine trees then it turned to a pine forests. Stopped for some yoga in the morning sun and hiked the rest of the way to town with Eli and Gabby. Mt Laguna was great. They had an outfitter where I got a belt (mine got lost somewhere from the Bay Area to the trail). Also got liner socks to help prevent blisters. Still no blisters btw. At the general store I had 2 burritos and a jerkey stick. We got on our way and before I knew it there was an overlook with a steep drop to the desert. It was crazy walking along that crest. I guess that's why it's the Pacific Crest Trail. Made it to a camp for pct hikers. And now... Good night

The Walton sea is in the top right corner and I'm pretty sure it's about a 5-6000 foot drop to that first area

4/11/13

The pic is from the campsite right before I got in bed at 7pm. I now revolve around the sun, when it gets up I'm getting up and when it goes down I go to sleep. My appetite is starting to come full force too. I'm sure it's not all the way there though. We (me,Devyn, Eli and Gabby) got up on the late side and were going by 8 ish. Hiked through the desert all day. It got pretty hot especially at about 1-3. I'm gonna get up early and make it to the next water source by 11 tomorrow. It's about 9 miles and it's suppose to be a water cache that a trail angel takes care of by putting about a hundred 1 gallon bottles out and keeping them full since this is a dry part of the trail. Hiking in the heat of the day is exhausting and I don't plan on doing it anymore. I'm pretty tired and gonna go to sleep. It's now 7:30 pm.

4/12/13

About mile 85-87. Got up early and made it 9 miles to the water cache under a road by 11 then hung around till 3 so I didn't have to hike in the heat. I still got good miles in and didn't have to be miserable during the heat of the day. At 3pm I took off and ran into some firemen training on the trail and heard the head fireman say, "Come on, this is the easy part, you're going down hill." The one in the back did look kinda fat haha. I got to tell him I wasn't just headed to the north but I was headed to Canada. That's pretty fun to say. About 30 minutes in to my hike I began to get a high. Everything just began to set in and I felt like I belonged where I was. I still feel a little high 5 hours after it set in. It's kinda hard to explain because it's one of those life highs, but at one point I was on the top of the ridge watching crows dance or play or whatever and it felt like I took a hit of every single best drug there is out there. "Damn that was some good crack!"
Life is good