9 Miles!

I walked 9 miles on Monday! 

It’s taken a bit over a year, after two broken bones and 6 slipped disks in my neck and upper back to get into shape well enough to really get out on longer hikes. 

I had to keep getting the dogs out! Meika, my high content wolf mix will start to dig house sized holes in the back yard, and then I got a puppy! Way to make myself get out right? It is just so easy to fall into not getting enough exercise. I had broken my ankle and a foot bone, and I have had the slipped disks for some time now. I had a spinal block performed which blocks out all pain. I had thought I couldn’t carry a back pack. I didn’t know that they make good ones that only put weight on your hips. This opened up a whole new world for me. 

For a few years I had been taking the dogs out on short walks in local parks, then I got bored with the same old scenery and started googling trails near me. When I started I would pull up to a park and walk a block with the dogs until I had to sit down and rest. I also would find videos online of hiking trails near me. A lot of them were way too far for me to walk. Or so I thought. 

Jump ahead a year down the road, after a very long too hot of summer I am back at it. After the long hot period, I started on one mile hikes. Then I would add two miles to each hike, until my last milestone the 9th mile! 

I finally stepped foot on the Pacific Crest Trail! Now, I want to be what they call a section hiker, a weekend warrior! I also want to be able to walk a 20 mile day! 

I picked Kitchen Creek Trail on the PCT since it is just over my last five/six mile hike while out trying to find a waterfall. 

To walk where so many people have walked starting their  over 2 thousand mile trekfrom Mexico to Canada was awe-inspiring for sure…..

Many of you might have read the book or seen the movie, “Wild” part of it was shot at the southern terminus of on the Mexico Border not far from here. This is where you make it to on the second or third day of this 2000 mile trek. I am not sure I would want to start at the beginning, it is a brutal high desert walk. (You are up 2000 feet from the desert floor, with super high winds all day and all night for most of the year.)

Well enough words.. Here are the pictures. My favorite part! 

We started off in our sleepy little coastal town of Oceanside, and drove a little over an hour to get to the starting point. The temp on the coast at nine am is nice and warm. Perfect weather! 

Just over the town of El Cajon we see some helicopters from the air force base flying in formation. 

A shot from the car, there are a few clouds hanging in from hurricane Michael. We got a half of an inch of rain, in about 2 minutes. Then it was gone. You can see the helicopters in the sky..this is looking to the west. We are heading east!! 

And then we get there! The first sign! You can see the road we parked the car on  to the left. First few steps on the PCT! 

shadow selfie…and the first pink ribbon. These warn hikers of a road crossing. 

A second pink ribbon. This one was tied to a feather and stuck in the ground. 🙂 You can see Luna’s shadow and my sons legs. He had turned around and said. You’re already stopping to take pictures????!! My reply, “Well of course, look at the ribbon on the feather!” hahaha

My son is getting in shape to hike the Appalachian Trial another long distance trail on the other side of the US. It’s also over 2K. He knows he has to loose the weight before he starts. This will end up being his before photo! His plans are to start in 2020! Until then he and I will be weekend warriors on the PCT! 

You have to go through a few cattle gates, and lock them after you go through. Yes, there are cows, although we did not see any. 

Another gate, and another PCT sign. Luna waits patiently for me to open it..

And up we go. We are going to climb 800 feet in elevation up four miles of trail, with loaded back packs! This is the first real test with the bags packed. 

We are heading up through this pass..

My son is in the picture below.. Can you spot him? I didn’t know he was in the frame. I was just trying to take pictures of the trail with the first Cholla Cactus! 

Okay, time to turn off the camera and catch up to everyone. I will show more later. We passed by some really awesome places with views that are so cool!