- Date: 2023-05-23
- Pct day: 18
- Start: Mile 209
- End: Mile 220
- Distance: 12 Miles
- Start name: Interstate 10
- End name: whitewater river
- Ascent: 2942 Feet
- Descent: 1679 feet
- Wake up: 06:30
- Start hiking: 08:30
- At camp: 1800
- In bed: 20:38
- where I slept: in a tent
- shower: no
Key moments
- woke up at trail Angel Nitzys place, took and out my ear plugs and realised everyone was up talking - man earplugs are great.
- Had a great breakfast of steak and eggs and potato hash, with coffee
- Nitzy drove Dovetail and me out to the trailhead, giving us various advice about the conditions of the trail coming up - sounds like a good section!
- nitzy was an absolute legend. I would highly recommend other hikers come and stay with her if they are looking for a rest near Cabazon
- Dovetail and I grabbed a photo and then he zoomed off on a 30 mile day, I saw him in the distance a couple of times , and some other hikers I met came across him running down the downhills. Dude is fast.
- It was heating up but it was bearable, came across another rattle snake, it was polite really, just crossing the path and rattling while it did so “back off, man” is what I was hearing from the snake. I waited until it went far into the bushes and I couldn’t hear it stopped rattling
- came across some other hikers from Canada and the USA and Denmark, nice folks: Arthur. And Veev, Camilla and Sophie. - all three are accountants, how funny. I’m now in a new bubble of people.
- Arthur and I went down to the whitewater preserve for lunch, we crossed the river together, it being the first substantial river crossing of the trip.
- It was fine, but the water was running fast and up to our knees. The power of the water means that when you put your foot in it moves from where you want it, so you need to be very careful that you don’t land awkwardly on a rock and roll your ankle. The water was definitely moving fast enough that you could have your feet swept out if you weren’t careful - that wouldn’t be bad but landing awkwardly on your knee or ankle would stink.
- We weren’t sure what to expect with the whitewater preserve - but place was basically a lovely park with picnic benches and flushing toilets, palm trees and drinkable water. The ranger was super nice and had a little area for pct hikers to camp, and even said that we could put our trash in their dumpster if we waited until most of the day use hikers to leave. There were also palm trees and a wading pool - great spot to rest your feet. I would have stayed there for the night if I hadn’t already had a nice rest at Nitzys.
- There was a couple from the Netherlands there who I chatted with in Idyllwild before I saw a movie, good to see them again. Neil and Isabell.
- They were mildly shook up as isabell had taken a fall off of the path head first, and has luckily come out completely unscathed.
- We talked about how so many people are going so fast. Neil made a good point that you’ll always notice the fast people as they are ones, well, passing you. And that we might feel unfit but the people on the pct aren’t exactly a normal selection of people from real life. These are fit people.
- After waiting out the heat of the day there I decided to push on a little bit, asking Neil if he could come along for the river crossing, just to be on the safe side in case I slipped. Good dude. I hope I see them again.
- I hiked along to the next river crossing, and met a dude from Palm Springs on the way, he said he was in awe of the PCT hikers. He comes out here and plays around having fun crossing the river a couple of times before hiking back. He gave me some watermelon. What a champion.
- Came across another group of PCT hikers, we all did another a river crossing section together,
- after crossing the river I saw Camilla and Soph and Veev, they waved and it looked like there were heaps of campsites on the other side of the river. It was 6pm, and I decided that I should call it a night here and have a chilled out night before an early morning.
- We had a good chat about all things PCT, they were cowboy camping - camping with no tent - I haven’t been able to try this yet but I’d love to give it a go, the stars would be amazing.
Plan from here
- hike to mile 139 or so, getting to the top of a nearby mountain at nearly 8000ft. Massive day of climbing ahead, which will require an early morning.
Animals sighted
- rattlesnake
- Some kind of Jay bird
- So many lizards
Gear thoughts
- take a pair of Goodr brand sunglasses and break the arms off of them and put in some elastic shock cord - you’ve got yourself some cheap Ombraz brand sunnies
- 1/8 inch gossamer gear mat might be more utility than my accordion style mat , especially for the weight and the length
- I should try out getting a different camping pillow - maybe something bigger or higher
- Could consider getting my Uber lite wide mat sent here, I miss having a wider mat
Physical condition
- pretty dang good - my right ankle seems to be a little bit tired lately, but that’s to be expected given the effort it’s been out under
- Blisters appear to be abating?
Thoughts and Observations
- the PCT is really fun when you allow yourself to deviate from your original plans
- I enjoy being by myself and having my own plan but I also want to be part of a larger group.
- I think making the hike about my own pace, and focussing on finding that internal feeling, rather than focussing outwards on others pace and who is ahead, I will have a better time, as my expectations will be more aligned with myself rather than others
Some of the bad things
- I wish I could know what condition the Sierras will be in and if I should be trying to get there earlier or later in the season
Quotes of the day
#pct #pct2023 #pctclassof2023 A
