Michelle Hikes

DAY FIVE 6.2 PCT miles Total miles: 47.7 I woke up feeling much better today, and I finally got my new pack when the post office opened. Because of the late start, I only managed to get 6.2 miles in before we thought it was a good idea to stop - at this point I was with two fellow hikers who had also stayed at Scout and Frodo’s, Smokey and Meg. It was a beautiful 6 miles with some lookouts to the desert below, surrounded by mountains in the distance. It was extremely windy, and even with a slightly sheltered campsite, it took a loooong while to set up the tent! I reinforced all the stakes with rocks and was so happy that the tent stayed up the whole night.  The view at our windy spot was really beautiful (nicest view I’ve ever had while going to the bathroom)!  The pack felt okay today, my hip is still a bit numb but it isn’t getting worse. I’m happy I switched out my old one because it does have a lot more support.  And yay...

Hi all! Sorry for the delay in blog posts - turns out I need pretty decent WiFi to do posts with photos, and so far there hasn’t been much of that! Over the next few hours I’ll upload some of my journaling from my first 7 days on trail, and then hopefully update you on my current thoughts/feelings, now that I’m two weeks in!  DAY TWO 12.2 PCT miles  Total: 27.6 Camped 1.6 miles north of Boulder Oaks campground Had a nice 5 mile climb and dip back down to Lake Morena in the morning and stopped to have some rest and a breakfast burrito!!  Was feeling good except for my very sore calves and the fact that my pack seems to be making my left hip and foot numb and tingly. At some points I could barely feel my left hip, which really has been worrying me. I ended up ordering a new pack from REI while at Lake Morena which is coming to Mount Laguna on April 5th.  After that stress, I made it an extra 7.6 miles hiking by myself to a little site on the top o...

DAY ONE (April 2) 15.4 PCT miles Camped at Hauser Creek (PCT mile 15.4) Elevation: 2319 ft I’m laying in my tent on my first night on the PCT! I’m camping beside Hauser Creek, a seasonal (currently dry) creek in a canyon at 15.4 miles! (For those who are counting that means I’m at 24.8 km so far!)  It’s currently 8pm, which means it’s dark and a little chilly and officially “hiker midnight” (aka, when it gets dark). My tent is on some uneven ground so it’s going to be an interesting sleep what with my slippery bag and pad!  Today was pretty amazing, honestly. I made some friends at Scout and Frodo’s (the trail angels who host hikers) and having a crew to start hiking with and meet at the end of the day felt SOOO good. We’re a mostly international crew at the moment, me from Canada, a Polish couple, a German guy, a gal from Wales, and 2 others (from Switzerland and England) who we think went ahead to Lake Morena. There’s also a few others who’ve been around ...