[PCT] Chapter 2

Miles 0.5-77.1 Campo, Morena, Mt. Laguna, Julian

Jun 02, 2026

We wake up to a surprising cold for the “Desert” at 5:45 at CLEEF (the starting campsite) and immediately pack up our tent, pads, and bags and walk over to enjoy a generous pancake breakfast to start us off!

After housing a stack or two we head off onto the trail—and we’re the first one’s to leave!

The first 8 miles absolutely fly by, conversation ins flowing, the trail is mostly flat, and it isnt hot yet. The daunting first day had to be 20 miles because there is no water until mile 20–but this seemed easy all of a sudden because we were half way done by 10:30

-We were sure that we were somehow unusually gifted natural hikers and that things wouldn’t be so bad as we thought.

Then we descended down into Hauser canyon…another great sign. (John’s last name is Hauser) We took a break at the bottom of the canyon with spirits high.

As soon as we began our ascent of the canyon we hit a wall, the sun had got to its peak and it was well into the 90s, and we had a 2000 foot climb out of the canyon.

We stumbled into our campground at 2:30, incredibly (and unnecessarily) early. [After that day we adpted taking breaks during the hottest parts of the day]

—The PCT is gentle as you get in (aside from the heat, snakes, mountains, and lack of water) because it goes through small towns or campgrounds at least every couple day for the first few weeks. ++At the end of day 1, we were rewarded with a gas station diner and doubled cheseburgers and milkshakes. Well deserved!!!

And after our meal, we sat around and introduced ourselves to the other hikers who made the 20 mile push—our friends or the next few months.

Then, as soon as the sun set, we fell into dark dreamless sleep…

Day 2- My sleeping pad continually deflated throughout the night, I gradually realized that it had popped. Ugh! In my tiredness I just slapped some duck tape on it and went back to bed as it related more slowly. In my fatigue I slept well enough and despite waking on a completely flat pad (and a large rock under my back) I slept well enough. Only later in the day as I was hiking did I remember that I had a repair patch in my bag.

Day 2 was way harder than day one. We didn’t have the same nervous energy, we were tired, John was developing blisters, and it was all uphill. But once again we ended at Mt. Laguna which had a small restaurant we convinced to stay open for us and so we once again got to have a cooked dinner. (Truly spoiled hikers I know)

—-> There was a bathroom at the campsite which me and John were sitting outside of in the evening as we charged our phones. Our friend “Frenchie” (who his from France and does not appreciate the name) warned us that a sketchy man came in and looked at the sink where our phones were and quickly walked away twice. We were grateful to have such a selfless guardian on our side! Then, as we were sitting outside the bathroom we saw an old man and quickly leave exasperated and say to his wife with disgust “It’s extremely opccupied, somedbody’s living in there!”

-At once we finally realized, the sketchy man after our phones was scared of the hobo in the bathroom and the hobo was our friend and fellow hiker!

-Well, anyways it was funny in the moment and is telling of the PCT lifestyle

Also had the first rattle snake sighting^^

Day 3 things turned pretty (ish) for the first time and we pushed almost 25 miles! This came at great cost to John’s feet and he claims to have reached his 5th blister that day. We end up cooking dinner at a water source, then missing the turn for the trail, then looking for a campsite in the dark and ultimately getting to camp exhausted.

Above are photos: “the first beautiful sight”, “An attempt at midday shade” “Lots of desert”, and “A long way to Canada”

Day 4 we stumbled 11 miles downhill to the road where we tested our charm and worked to get a hitch the 11 miles (and 6,00ft) to Julian. We were underwhelmed to say the least…. Between John’s neck beard and how bad I looked like I smelled there were many people who wanted nothing to do with us until we got some kid with his learner’s permit show some mercy on us. It was funny to watch a Dad correct his kid’s driving and the kid be too cool to listen—until it wasn’t. That winding mountain car ride has been by far the scariest part of the trip.

In Julian we found ourselves amazed at our newfound lack of desire for beer and desire for water or Gatorade? (The trail dies strange things to a man)

Anyways, the American Legion let us stay on their porch for $10 and so we got to spend some time with some vets on Memorial Day. They were proud of their offer (and correct) cheapest drinks and food in town. They let us do laundry and showers with a bucket so we even got clean(er) clothes and washed the dirt off. —To normal people this seems filthy, but normal people haven’t been 4 days in the desert. With the amount of salt from evaporated sweat combined with the desert dust caked on our bodies, hair, and clothes we felt as if we were new men completely.

In between our gigantic meals we wandered around the small town and I made my way into the Church, a small, poor, Catholic Church with most of its writing bilingual between English and Spanish. It was simple in design but its stained glass was beautiful in the afternoon sunlight. I sat down and then kneeled to pray, grateful for the trip and in need of strength and of courage. Without knowing I fell asleep for several minutes with my head on the pew. I awoke, embarrassed and rushed out of the church. Looking back I don’t think God would be anything but pleased.