HYOH...

May 26

As we were packing up the next morning another hiker rolled up to talk to us for a bit. He told us about coming across Josh who seemed in good spirits but was complaining about pain in his quad and had asked where the nearest road crossing was. We later found out that he did in fact get in touch with a cousin of his in the area who picked him up. Bummer to think that he was probably done with it all. Made me think back to some of the last things I said to him....

That night at Mike's he'd expressed how he thought it'd be so cool if we ended up hiking the whole way together... Embarrassed to admit that Rory and I both immediately began laughing.... :( we didn't for long but I think the damage was done...... We both knew how unlikely it was... Especially given how hard he was having to try to keep up, almost always rolling in after dark... Even dangerously over-extending himself as when trying catch up with us in Warner Springs... I tried to recover and explain that yeah it would definitely be cool, we all loved one another's company and genuinely enjoyed hanging out together, but that it was just not very likely.... This is a loooong trail and unless things just fall into place perfectly, there just isn't much chance that it'd happen... Too many things can happen along the way nevermind each of us having a different pace and different ideas of how we want to hike and experience the trail... I ended up trying to explain the most common mantra of long-distance hiking that I'd learned on the AT and that is "Hike your own hike", sometimes abbreviated HYOH in writing... The saying has everything to do with how each individual person has their own way of hiking and what works for that person works for them. People use different gear, hike at different paces, carry different weights, eat different things, spend different amounts of time in towns or on the trail, do things differently in those places, and on and on... Everybody's *hike* is as individual as that hiker. It's a great life lesson really and one I try to remember off the trails well.. But one thing that maybe isn't as obvious about the saying is that not only is HYOH about doing your own thing, it's also very much about accepting that other hikers are going to do their own thing. HYOH is about respecting other people's hike as much as it is about your own....

..... Anyway... I didn't put it in so many words but I must've done a halfway decent job of expressing the idea b/c Rory chimed in with a "well said."

I really would've loved for the three of us to make it all the way together... I really would've... But as much as I really hate to say it (feels cold and selfish) I also didn't want him to think that I was going to possibly sacrifice my hike just to hike with him...... :( What if I slowed down so that we could stay together and then he pulled off the trail and I was then unable to complete the trail in time before it starts snowing in WA..? Or the other way around? I mean people do choose to stick together and who knows maybe that'll happen... But that wasn't my goal when I came out here and my goal hasn't changed (tho it could)... I want to complete a thru-hike of this trail... Preferably with as little risk to my well-being as possible.

Wow.. that ended up being a mouthful... But it's an important part of this experience..

Back to this hiker, "Malto". Interesting guy. One of the ultra-lighters w/ a super small and light pack - can't remember what his weight was but it must've been a base-weight of around 10 lbs or less. Ended up being from the Atlanta area and had done loads of prep. Lot of training hikes on the rigorous AT - said that his longest day in training had been 59 miles!!! :o And he was going to average 35 mile days for this hike. Wow. So needless to say, we didn't see him for long :D

Around midday we hit the Pines-to-Palms freeway (74 I think?) a mile west on which is a favorite hiker-friendly restaurant, Paradise Valley Cafe. First thing I ordered was a root beer which quickly turned into a float :) Yum food on a relaxing cool covered area. Rory ended up calling a trail angel (JJ) for an early ride into Idyllwild to get an infected blister checked out and I piggy-backed for a quick ride back to the trail. JJ was awesome and also offered to pick me up the next evening and let me stay at his place if I wanted - tooo cool :)

Briefly talked to an older couple in the dirt parking area who were amazed by what I was doing and wished me well :)

About a mile or two later I realized... this was the first time I'd really felt like I was out here hiking on my own! I mean most of the hiking was alone, but I'd always known there were a few others close by and we'd regroup at camping spots. That wasn't going to be the case for at least a little bit and it felt great :) Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the company, especially in camp after we're done hiking, but it really is nice sometimes to feel..... I don't know... The space... The quiet.... The feeling of being self sufficient... I remember actually revisiting how I started the trail with Josh... A big part of me was relieved to have someone to start with, to share with, just to have the company... But I realized then that I felt how the start didn't have the impact it would've had if I'd been alone... It really is an almost completely different experience.. Both my AT starts were pretty much alone and I really remember liking/appreciating it.. Starting out alone is really pretty.... sobering might be the word... It's raw... powerful... And while again I thoroughly enjoyed Josh's company and was happy to be hiking with him that day, it really was a distraction from that moment of "ok, here we go, this is really happening, I'm doing this, I'm on my own.." I remember how I kept telling Josh for several days that it hadn't sunk in yet that we were really on and hiking the PCT... I realize now that it could've been b/c that initial feeling of starting out was kinda diluted almost... distracted by the voice and presence of another...

Wow, what a post.. So yeah, solitude aside, that evening ended up being really beautiful. Terrain filled with huge boulders.. And by the end of it I'd started getting back into some trees!!! Woooohooo!!! So nice :) Opted to take mile long side trail descending to what was supposed to be a great spring and campsite. Began to regret the choice as it just kept going down and down and down. But the spring was amazing, literally gushing out of the ground as if it was a hose turned on full force! And I found a nice spot under some box elder trees (?) next to this Huge old oak. Great spot for the end to a great day :)


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Location:Live Oak Spring