Week 2: Or Something Like That…

I have to be honest… I hardly know what day it is anymore and I don’t care too much… instead of a day to day format, I’m just going to write about what I feel is important to me and my story… Also I plan on adding photos to my posts, I just don’t have my computer and I haven’t figured out how to add them yet. Thank you for your understanding, for now you can either follow me on Facebook or Instagram @onwardkyra My profile photo is the same on both!

The morning of the 11th, I had cowboy camped the night before and woke up to the most beautiful sunrise. There were a few clouds that wrapped over the top of the mountain peaks ahead of me. At first, they were a cliche cotton candy pink. A little while later they turned a kind of creamsicle orange. After that, baby duckling yellow, and finally, vibrant white against the bright blue sky. It was silent and colorful and beautiful. I couldn’t have asked for a better morning. I walked about 3 miles to get to scissors crossing to then catch a hitch into Julian. The woman who picked us up was named Fossil Lady. She is a trail angel who is also a geologyst, very nice, had great stories about fun hikers she’d picked up and how she got into rocks. When we got to town, the group of us that were together went straight into MOM’S PIES where PCT thru hikers get “permit for pie.” I got a steaming piece of pecan pie a la MODE! This was by far the best pie I have ever had! I ended up getting a hotel room where I could sleep in a bed after showering and doing laundry. It was nice and warm, but the bed was so soft. I’m used to a hard mattress anyway so especially after sleeping on the ground for a week, well I think I wouldn’t mind coin showers at a campsite instead from now on. The next day I resupplied at the deli, enough to get me to my box in Warner Springs 40 miles away, and caught a ride with the trail angel named Rangel, back to scissors crossing. It looked like some hikers had taken a couple zeros under the bridge with beer and weed. I said my goodbyes to them, wished them luck with getting out of the “Vortex” and kept on walking. I got to about 6 miles and was EXHAUSTED. I set down my gear and wanted to just take a break but ended up falling asleep behind a rock. 

This night was awful. I have had horrible night terrors for as long as I can remember. This night, I was camping next to a woman named F-Stop (which is apparently a photography term), and she was lovely, super nice, she has a service dog hiking with her too… well, the first time I woke up, I thought I had heard a rock slide and a woman’s scream, like clear as day. So I shot up, grabbed my headlamp and walked down to the trail to investigate the noise. There was no sign of a rock slide, F-Stop appeared to still be sleeping under her tarp, her dog wasn’t barking or anything so I thought I must just have had a bad nightmare. So I did some star gazing and shortly fell back asleep. Around 5am, I was jolted awake yet again to the sound of a cougar standing over me, growling just like you hear in the movies as it attacks its victim… well, once my eyes were open again, I was sure I was going to see a mountain lion mid air about to land on my face, but there was nothing. I quickly stood up in my sleeping bag like a hobbling, orange burrito turning around in circles, scanning every tree and rock for a big cat, or even some sort of paw print. Nothing. Yet again, just another bad dream. I was so unnerved that I just threw all of my gear into my pack and started walking. My mind was racing with thoughts of what I would have to tell the rangers when I reported that I had murdered a cougar with my trekking poles, moive action battle style, impaling it as it jumped on me. I don’t want to see a mountain lion in the wild let alone have to fight one off… I was walking faster and faster and getting more and more upset about the idea of having to save someone falling off a cliff in the dead of night with one hand, while simultaneously fighting off mountain lions with the other. I finally stopped, crouched down on the trail right where I was and started to cry. My thoughts were too much to handle and I just wanted to scream, to drown out the noise in my head. Instead I started watching ants. In two straight lines, one walking toward the crumbs from a previous hiker’s midday snack, and the other bringing crumbs back to their home, the hole in the earth… I thought of Madeline, how the girls stood in two straight lines, broke their bread and brushed their teeth and whatnot… I was able to dry my tears and stand up straight. My goal was just to get to water and stop, and eat and sleep. On my way down the trail, I saw Jr. Ranger again. I had met him in Lake Morena. When I turned the corner past where their tents were set up, a girl I came to know as Cali shouted, “IT’S A GIRL!” Rapunzel, who was also camping there then repeated it like I was the only non male hiker they had come across in a week! We laughed over our outfits being color coordinated like the power rangers, shared photos of our pets and then I kept on walking as they packed up camp. I reached the trail down to the water a little while later and they had caught up to me. They said they were going about 15 miles to hit the 100 mile mark, and I really liked them and their energy… so I pulled an 18 mile day to catch up with them. So what started out as a crappy morning with nightmares and tears, ended with new friends, 100 mile celebratory beers, and lots of “fun facts” from a hiker everyone calls Hey Google.

The next morning, it was only 8 miles into Warner Springs where I had a box waiting for me. The trail to get there was different from anything I had walked through so far. It was prairie fields with cows and just a long stretch of dirt in the middle of the grass. It felt like an old western movie, we just had to walk from town to town to get to where we were going… just like what we are actually doing. We started getting closer and closer to Eagle Rock, which is a giant rock formation that looks just like an eagle with its wings outstretched. When I got there, there were TONS of people on horses lined up for a photo, it was so cool to watch the horses fall in line so perfectly. I kept hiking and the wind was whipping through the fields. The horses started gaining on us so Rapunzel and I jumped into a bush to get out of the way! Haha, they all smiled at us and said hello… very nice people, and beautiful horses! When we got to Warner Springs, they were all at the community center where we went to charge our phones and wash our clothes. We were looking over how much food we each had left when a man, who we assumed was the guide, came over and offered us tacos and Modelo… Heck yeah! When people say the trail provides… they mean it. My three new friends kept hiking that night while I waited for the post office to open the next morning. 

I got the box mom sent me, filled up my food bag, and layed around the community center a little longer to rest my body from the near 20 miles I pushed two days before. I made friends with the cows… Snowball, Mitten, Cheddar, Bruce, Stanley, Rocky Road, and Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Oh and then a Bull came out of nowhere, so Jaason helped name that one Bilbo Baggins.

The next day was just hell. That’s it. HOT, climbing the whole day, attacked by ants… When we finally got to Mike’s Place, the home of a trail angel that is sometimes home and provides food and water for hikers. There was music playing, JR was dancing while doing laundry, Firecracker was cooking, and there was cold beer in the cooler. I set down my pack, grabbed a beer and immediately dropped it. It exploded everywhere… That's when the tears started. I just layed down on the driveway next to my spilt beer and laughed hysterically with tears running down my face… I think Jr. Ranger felt me because he subtly just switched our beer cans, giving me the full one. We ended the night, all cowboy camping on the front porch next to each other. 

Logan, Jaason’s highschool friend, met up with me the next day and ended up doing just over 40 miles with me! I taught him how to dig a hole to poop in, filter water from a stream and boil snow when we run out of water! It was so fun to see a familiar face for a couple days and get to know him a bit better. We went to Paradise Valley Cafe, where they welcome every one by saying, “Welcome to Paradise!” They were so friendly and helpful! 10/10 recommend visiting if you’re ever in the area. I haven’t had hiker hunger hit yet, it sure felt like it when I finished a 3 egg omelette, hashbrowns, 2 pieces of toast, AND A PANCAKE! SO delicious! The days with Logan were long and an awkward, “is it hot or cold, do I wear my jacket or not?” type of weather and just uphill climbs the whole time, we ended our journey together when my friend, his wife, Hannah came to pick us up after Spitler Peak. She brought pie! She drove us to Idyllwild where we both showered at the campground and then they took off for a pizza party that night!

I plan to keep on hiking… I am just debating if I want to summit Mt. San Jacinto, or just continue on the PCT… Update coming soon!