Near Wrightwood

April 27-29

I'm gonna keep it short because I am very tired. I've been pushing it because there's nothing else to do besides walk. Tomorrow I'll only do 15 miles then I'm at a campground that's close to the town that's next. I got to eat McDonald's today. 

The trail!

April 27-29
Heyo! I did some good morning miles today while finding an alternate way around the poodle dog section. I found a lady "Bone Lady" who I guess hates poodle dog more than me and created detours or longer ways around them that follow roads so I hopped on that today. It was about 6 miles on a road instead of 4 through the bush. Sounds like a no brainer to me. Met up with Bean who I haven't seen for a week or so. He's a young guy from Idaho. He said he didn't know about the detour and went through it. "I was doing the crab walk for about 4 miles trying to avoid it." I'm glad I didn't have to go though it! He jetted off after our conversation and I took a snack break as this is an easier day for me. I got to a campground and took a 2 hour nap where I was out cold when some funny day hikers came and woke me up. I passed them earlier and got stuck in conversation for 30 mins or so. I headed off and met a southbound section hiker who was an old timer. First thing he said was "Do you still have any weed?" I've never met the guy but he was funny and I got stuck in a conversation with him for a while too. So, all in all, I did about 12-15 miles in my normal timeframe, I just got sidetracked a few times and took a few naps. Good day. 
Where's the snow?

Sent from the PCT

Mile 298

4/24
Sleeping in a bed is nice! That's the most luxurious thing I get to do. A few of us were joking the other day when we pulled up to a picnic table and realized we thought of it as a luxury. Things like that. It's just a picnic table, but it's so nice to have it. Enough blabber, I slept around till 10 then walked to the burrito place for round two then filled with supplies at the general store. I didn't need much so I didn't have to go into town where there's a Safeway and Kmart. (I got a lot of my food out of the free hiker box which is hiker's food that they didn't want.) I got on the road after a long, long chat with the owner of the Nature Inn who gave me a ride back to the trail. 12 miles came easy and fast with a clean rested body and a super burrito in me. I want to do big miles tomorrow so I can hit the hot spring before the weekend when it gets too crowded. 30 percent chance of a thunder storm tonight!

San Bernadinos and San Gregorio behind Big Bear Lake. Britney Spears house might be in the mix too.

4/25
The day started off pretty bland. The first 20 miles or so were a burn area so there wasn't much scenery. I spent most of the time dreamwalking because it was just bushes and burnt trees. There was a nice creek that I got to dip in and clean up while taking 1-3pm off eating and doing whatever. I met a new older couple from Colorado. It was a quick one as I sped right past them after my lunch of instant potatoes, an avocado, and a heap of coconut oil. It's a good healthyish lunch besides for the potatoes. I then got to cross the bridge in the picture below. I don't remember if it had a name but it's at mile 298. I started to push it thinking I could make it to the hot spring by 8 or 9pm or so, but there was poision oak on the trail and I didn't want to have to dodge it at night. I climbed down the ridge to a sandy beach where I got to dive in at deep creek before it got dark. I did about 25-28 miles today.

4/26

What a day! I'll start off by getting it out of the way and saying I hate poison oak and I hope I don't have it. So, I was only about a mile and a half from the hot spring so I made it there by 7am maybe 6 and hung around till about 9. All the naked hippies were still sleeping so I got the hot tub all to myself! White, a lawyer from Georgia, got there a little after and we got to share the tub then soak my feet in the super hot small spring. I headed off and realized I was dehydrated but pushed till about 2pm because there was nowhere good to stop. I found a bush with some water jugs dropped by a trail angel and took an hour or so and kept drinking. I realized after I drank about half the bottle of lemonade flavoring that it has a lot of caffeine in it so that's why I felt so bad. I had like 6 cups of coffee after not having had caffeine for 3 weeks. I had my dinner then went on and there was my arch enemy PO all around me and it was getting dark. I didn't want to plop down because PO was all over the place so I went on into the night being very careful until there was a PO MEGA BUSH I had to go through. Found a good spot by a creek at about 10pm and washed off while shivering and freezing and doing push ups and jumping jacks. Now it's 11pm. 

4/27

I'm at McDonalds at Cajon Pass and I look like a bum. I have a rip in my pants and I'm the dirtiest and smelliest I've been yet!!!

Big Bear

April 23
Well, I got a few miles into the morning hike and heard a roar. I took a pause and had to laugh. Yep, that's a lion, tiger, and bear that I just passed. All the pictures I got are pretty bad since the sun just came up and was right in the camera. I think there was a wolf too. The bears were sleeping while the lion paced back and forth. The tiger had its eye on me and it seemed like I was a piece of bacon ready to be pounced on. The rest of the day was good, did 20 miles pretty fast knowing the earlier I get into town the better. Now I'm in bed at the hiker friendly and very cheap Nature's Inn ($40) at Big Bear. It's a nice place. Not too close to stores and food, but nice and cheap.
http://www.naturesinnatbigbearlake.com/
http://bigbearzoo.org/location/
Trail magic!!! Sodas and cookies, and how did they get that couch onto the trail???

Near Big Bear Valley

4-21
Greg: Thanks for coming out and bringing shoes, In-n-Out, and yourself.


I had a good time getting lost then trying to find the trail for the first 30 mins or so. Greg and I stayed up chatting and shooting the manure. I woke up at about 5am and said it's hiking time. I don't think that's Greg's ideal wake up time but I had 9 miles to a big creek and wanted to get there before 10. I made it and it sure was hot. It got hot at about 8. But when I got there I jumped in and got a good clean and hung out there for about 6 hours haha. I did a few more miles after that to a creek then called it there. This was written the day after btw. I was too tired last night. 
This is the creek I ran down the hill to jump in...

4-22 
Got up bright and early to beat the heat and beat the heat I did. While I was walking along the creek every turn I made kept me in the shade. I was in the shade until about 11. Caught up with Spitwalker and Wildflower again and did the rest of the day with them. I'm lucky I caught them because Wildflower got her name because she knows what every plant is and she pointed out the evil poodle dog bush, or Turricula or something. It's like poison oak in that it gives you a rash. It grows in recently burned areas. I think I brushed up against it before she pointed it out so I've been kinda paranoid and weird and not happy all day. I kinda got over it though but I really hope I don't have it. It's suppose to be worse than poison oak. Once she told me, I didn't touch anything or even drink water for the next 5 hot miles until I reached the creek where I got naked and washed everything. I really hope I don't have it. Well, I'm about a mile or so from the rescued LA film animals so if I do have a bunch of rashes in the morning I can just jump in the tiger cage and be done with it. The poodle dog bush was almost all dead and didn't have flowers so hopefully that makes it less potent. That's why I didn't notice it too. Because I've been keeping my eyes out in the burn areas. That really put a damper on my great day. I hope I don't have it...

Big Bear Valley? That's probably not what it's called. The Smokieness is from a fire somewhere. I'm not worried about the fire at all, just if I have poodle dog rash.

Greg Visits Doug Near I-10

April 21
Story and pictures by Greg

I don't think this pair of shoes even made it 200 miles… One down… 12 pairs to go (2600/200=13)

The picture Doug posted from the other day was from up at the top over there…

He made it down & now it's time to go back up!

Straight Thug

Whiskey/Cointreau & coke, Tequilla shot mixed with lemon, and 2 Sierra Nevadas :)

We spent the night after walking for about 1.5 hours (1.25 miles). Doug was lost and couldn't find the trail (that's 2 out of the 3 times I've been with him he didn't know where the trail was. I found it and got us back hiking ;) After we got tired, which was at the trailhead of the road, we decided to plop down, smoke a stogie, & play some cribbage. After the moon went down we got maybe 3 hours of sleep before Doug woke up all wet and cold. (His bladder was leaking… his water bladder that is). He heated up the potatoes and onions that I pre-cooked the day before and went on our way.

MMMmmm… DUFFMAN!!!

To the '10'

4/18/13
What a day! I got to sleep in a bed last night. What a luxury! I still woke up at 5am ready to go, haha. I had some errands on morning part of today. I had a good chat with Jeff "Jefe" at the pizza place last night. He is an old timer from San Diego that had a few words of wisdom for me... So... I added some socks, 2 pair of sock liners (the inner layer with Indy toe holes), and another pair of "darn tough socks". 
His second word of wisdom was something for my boom boom. And I'll tell you my boom boom is thanking me every second. Got my farewell burger and got out on the road thinking let me just adjust myself and stick my thumb out to see if one of these nice Idywillians will give me a lift 3 miles to the trail. Before I could put my arm out, there was a car in front of me with a guy leaning out saying you look like a PCT'er that needs a life to the trail. I was clean and just came out of a burger joint at noon, so that means there's nowhere else to go but the trail. So thank you Idywild. What a great town. Did about 6 miles or so then called it quits at an amazing camp spot. Ran around climbing all the rocks that hang over the edge and got some good pics of all the funky trees. This one was my favorite. It's been through a storm or two!

April 19
Since leaving Idywild, I've done 11 trail miles. So 11 pct miles in 2 days and it's been great. Before I started I thought of the idea to take it easy the day after town since I'll have a full pack, and so I can enjoy and explore that area. For the time, I wasn't eating or sleeping while not doing my 11 miles I had no pack on and could go wherever I wanted. There is so much off the trail, especially in a nice area like this. I got to climb a bunch of boulders and stand on what felt like the edge of the mountain a few times. I also got to go to the San Jacinto Peak, which was pretty cool because I don't think I've ever been to a super high peak like that. All in all a great day of exploring and eating as much as I wanted. 

That's next (see below pics). Gotta go down then up. Taken from the peak.

April 20
I woke up super early to get down the ridge before it gets too hot. Made it down from 8000 to 2000 or so. Made it to the bottom by 1pm then took a breather and food. Did the last 6 miles through the sandy desert with Rambling Man. I think my pace was a little too fast for him. He's an old timer. But we made it to trail angels Ziggy and the Bears where we got a shower and watched the other hikers roll in and got salad and ice cream. It's hiker midnight (8pm) so I'm gonna take a nap then wake up and do some night hiking under the moon with Gregor.
Photo taken from under the '10'...

How To Comment on Blogs

To comment on this blog so that Doug can see what you think, I believe that you need a google sign-in/email account with google+. If you have a sign-in, you can also 'subscribe' (at bottom of blog) which I think will automatically send you an email when something is posted, maybe...
If that does not work, sign up with Blogger.com. You can add any blog onto a dashboard list.
Good luck!
Debbie

Idylwild and San Jacinto Mountain Range

April 17th
>> Woke up to a freezing cold morning and it took me a bit to get up and go. I guess I should have camped on the east side of the ridge where the sun hits in the morning. I walked with passion and a little fire for the 18 miles to Idylwild. It helped that all I had in my pack was 2 power bars, some protein powder, a bag of stuffing, and only a liter of water. At one point I thought I left my pack even though it was on my back. It was up on the ridge at 7-9000 feet. There were some amazing views. I made it to the parking lot outside and bummed a ride to the Idylwild Inn where I got my laundry done, took a long long shower, and had a bite to eat. I feel great. Tomorrow I have some errands to do around town then back to the trail. I plan on going up San Jacinto Mountains which is 10000 something feet. Time to do some organizing then get to sleep in a bed!!!

More First Week News

4/12/13
Mile 101. Made it the first 100 miles! I pretty much have the first section done. Did some more good miles today so I could take it super easy tomorrow. It's Friday today and Greg is gonna meet me in Warner Springs Sunday which is 10 miles away. There's a road right by me and 4 miles down the road there's a general store. Oh, Warner Springs is shut down so there's nothing going on there. Looking forward to taking it easy the next day and a half. No major things went wrong the first 100 which is good. No blisters. My left knee got kinky while descending so hopefully this time off will allow it to recover. It's something I remember from baseball and its very minor in terms of feeling/pain. Kinda like a not so sore muscle. Also, I ended early today near a spring and got time to clean off and make a great dinner. I was getting kinda dirty those last couple miles(the dirtiest I have even been and that's saying a lot). I should have taken a picture of my cardboard shirt before I washed it. The picture is my dinner. Couscous with a packet of gravy mix and about 2 ounces of olive oil in a burrito lined with sardines. 5 of them haha. Its sooooo good. Whoever thought I ate a lot before I'm gonna blow your mind when you see how much I eat now. I'll do a play by play of what I ate one of these days. 

4/12/13
Today I wanted to push myself and see how far I could go so I woke up at 5am and was out by 5:30. My shoes and socks started off not wet but not dry, but after plowing through some bushes they were soaked. I made it to a trail angels house that has water and likes having people over for food/and drink, but it was so cold I got my water, knocked a few times, walked around the yard, and left. I later found out the 2 guys that were ahead of me stayed there last night, had a few beers by the fire, and a nice dinner. They were all sleeping in and they got breakfast burritos in the morning. He lives out in the middle of nowhere. I made it further and at about 11am when the sun came out my shoes and socks were off and drying within a minute. After that break I kept thinking I could do anything with dry shoes. Everything is so much easier. Got to a water cache with a bunch of 5 gallon jugs at about 4pm and decided it was super meal time so I made couscous with a packet of gravy mix a bunch of olive oil and a pepperoni meat log. After that I practically ran the last 6-7 miles. Total miles was about 26-29 and with that being said tomorrow will be an easy one and good night.

4/13/13

Lazy Saturday for me. Got up late. About 7am I think and didn't get going too fast. Did about 10 miles to get to Warner Springs. They had a community center set up with showers laundry and a burger. I only needed the burger. I had just cleaned all my clothes and washed myself nice and good at the first clean creek of the pct. So, I have figured out a lot about what I need while hiking. I have a few things I can get rid of. I can drop my bath towel and when I find another bandanna then I can have 2 bandannas. 1 clean stuff and 1 dirty stuff. I can drop the soap. It's too hard to use soap out here. I end up feeling worse when I use it because I can't get it all off. And when there is a stream or creek you can't use it in the crik. I've got some good advice from a fellow hiker, Charles "tracks". He also said since my knee is already having a weird feeling to get hiker poles. He said you're a big guy in the hiker world and walking a lot puts a lot of stress on your knees. Especially descending. So get hiker poles and thank me later. So Greg is gonna bring me some tomorrow. I can bring less food. I didn't eat certain things. Oatmeal. I didn't ever cook in the morn. 1 cooked meal a day is good.

4/14/13

Thanks for coming out and dropping off stuff for me, Greg. Those poles are great. When I got in a good rhythm it made a huge difference. My body feels less sore especially in the knees and legs. The pizza was delicious too. Even though its only been a week it's always nice to see a familiar face. Especially my bro and Natalie. It was pretty hot for the hour or so that they were hiking with me. We saw a rattler too. A big one. Right after I was saying I haven't seen any I almost walked into it. The rest of the hike was good. Got pretty foggy. I'm at about mile 122-4.
Thanks again for coming out, Greg.

4/15/13

I made it from a couple miles before the hwy to mile 166. About an 18 mile day. I woke up late and was taking it easy all day and called it early because bad weather looked like it was coming and I would rather be at 6000 feet in a valley than 7500 on the ridge. About 20 miles to Idylwild tomorrow so I have to push it. It's either that or be at 9000 feet in snow with little food for a night. I'll have a good meal to look forward to. And a warm bed if its not too expensive. Hopefully I can find some people that want to share a room. All the hikers I was with today said they stayed there last night because they didn't want to get caught in the bad weather above 6000 feet. So they aren't going back.


Guess which way the wind is blowing. And do you think it's is cold? 

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

[Doug is in Idlywild.)

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

Doug with Greg and Natalie

Story by Greg

Pictures by Natalie

Doug: 108 miles down… two thousand three hundred and somethin ta go!

A nice introduction for Natalie to the wilderness..

 Horsies! If you look real close on the right there is a dead one that keeled over ;)

Doug bathed in a creek the day before with some other naked hippie...

… but still smelled.

Then I asked doug if he had seen any rattlers yet and he said no. Five minutes later he was leading us on the trail and jumped back in terror. A five foot rattler was sitting on the 15 inch wide dirt path through the grasses & rattlin his 7 inch long rattles!

Natalie proceeded by screaming, turning and running. I got a stick to toss at it to get those rattles going again!

YEEE HAWWWWW!!!!!

Should I tell him his backpack is crooked and looks goofy?

Naa, I won't tell him. He has only been gone 7 days. It just matches Doug :)

Good 'Ol Doug. He is a good brother.
Where is he going in life...
To Canada! Duh!

-Greg

Warner Springs

I'm alive. There's a computer here but no wifi. I'm at warner springs and greg should be here soon. I should be in idywild in about 4-5 days and I'll have internet and a nice campground with showers there. i'ts been great so far... no blisters or major problems. my knees are getting sore while descending. (I've already climbed and descended about 15,000 feet.) greg is bringing hiker poles which I've been told will help. people said since I weigh a lot (in the hiker community) my knees will feel it without them, so i made the purchase. I've met some great people so far and had some great views.
greg's bringing pizza!
Doug 4/14/13  11 am
[One week on the PCT]

Doug Makes Contact

Doug called Greg for a meet at Warner Springs this Sunday (out hwy 79). Greg reports that Doug is travelling with a couple, running low on water, and very stinky. Doug sez that his armpits are crusty. He's only been out 5 days.
As reported by Greg Murray 4/11/13

Doug's Time Map

This is his rough draft. Cute, huh?
Blog me if you might be able to meet him. He would love that! Bring food. I was going to call this Blog: Doug eats his way through the PCT.

Doug's First Day on PCT w/Pictures!!!

Doug packing his bag at the border...

2627 (now 2663?) miles to go… and he was tired walking up the trail to the trailhead. Seriously...

Doug in Mexico… well, his finger made it to Mexico! He was nervous there was someone on the other side that was gonna chop it off.

Brothers

There wasn't a clear way to go, I said good luck doug, shook his hand and headed back to my car, turned around and said Im sure you'll figure it out, and winked ;)

Greg Murray 4/7/13  

Greg Sends Doug On His Way

4/7/13

Greg and Doug set off today for Doug's big adventure. They drove east from La Mesa knowing that Campo was located off Interstate 8. Doug did not know exactly where Campo was located. They found the Border Patrol in the area and asked them where the PCT began. The BP kindly showed them the starting point. Doug unpacked all the bits and pieces from all the nooks and crannies in Greg's car.

Doug was ready to begin.

They took some pictures and walked a short distance south to the 20 foot warning track that identifies the U.S. and Mexico border fence. Doug wanted to start in Mexico so he stuck his finger through the fence. Both sides did not shoot at him, or ask for a passport. Greg walked north with Doug for about 5 minutes to get him going. When Greg returned to his car he wondered what Doug may have forgotten. In the middle console was Doug's money and credit cards.

Greg drove to the next trail spot to ask Doug if he wanted his money/cards. (Yes.)

Then, Greg sped off spewing rock and dirt all over his brother and said EAT MY DUST! I believe that he cackled as he left.

We are rooting for you, Doug.

Debbie Murray

Doug Begins, Sunday, April 7, 2013

4/6/13
Well here we are. Tomorrow I will be setting off. I had a great last day hanging out with my brother and some friends. (Beer Fest...  Doug won...) I'll get up at about 6 tomorrow and try to be out on the trail by 8. Thanks ma and everyone who helped or is going to help on my voyage.
Might take a bit for me to fall asleep because when I can't sleep I think of something that's repetitive and relaxing, which is usually fishing or hiking. But now that's just getting me more excited.
I am berry excited!!!
Sent from the PCT, well not quire yet.
Doug Murray. 

Helpful Info for PCT

http://www.pctplanner.com/ calculates your hiking time

pcta.org - everything pct

http://postholer.com/faq.php FAQ's

More Info From Doug

-Doug weighs 190 lbs. He plans to eat as much as possible along the way so as not to lose weight. Most hikers lose 10 to 30 lbs. He is practicing AYCE (all you can eat). There are two AYCE restaurants along the way. He  cannot wait to get there... He has not started and he is already very hungry.
-His backpack weighs 20 lbs. Add 5-30 lbs for food and water to become 50 lbs.
-He mentioned that 300 people attempt the hike per year and about 60% finish. Most drop out within the first 100 to 200 miles.
-He plans to hike 10-30 miles per day. He plans to have 10 'Zero' days of no hiking. He plans to have many people meet him along the way and bring him food.
-The other hikers will give him a hiker name. For example, one hiker was always looking and smelling good. This is odd... don't ya think? His name was GQ. Then, there was a guy named Half Mile, not sure why. We have all been debating what Doug's name will be. I think Grey Socks, or Mate, or Diggity Do...

He has his permit. He has his 2 lb sleeping bag that only cost $230. He has his itsy-bitsy tent (another bunch of money). He has a $300 budget to buy two pair of shoes along the way. He only has two shirts and two pair of socks. If you see him, he will probably be radiating a hiker aura. You have been warned!!!

The next posting will be all the internet sites that helped him gather info and maybe, pictures if I can figure how to post!