PCT Day 1: Mexico to Lake Morena

A slow start

This morning, as I was packing my bags, everything seemed slower and more confusing than usual. My process was not as smooth and organized as when I left CDT seven months ago. I partly blamed my rusty skills and partly a little lack of sleep. The group that used the CLEEF fairgrounds event area on the hill below us was made up of hard-partying members of a historical society. They had been noisy until two in the morning. At four I woke up wanting to pee and that was the end of the night for me. My brain was too excited to sleep anymore. I packed up, set out, and then something didn’t seem right. Doh! I realize I made a rookie mistake and left my trekking poles at my campsite. I backtracked the short distance, got my poles, and finally, for real, got on my way.

First steps

The trail felt good. The weight of my backpack and the natural rhythm of my steps seemed familiar.

I walked at a nice, leisurely pace. I’m not here to break speed records, especially in the beginning when trying to do too much too soon can lead to overuse injuries. According to our team at CLEEF, about a third of hikers set out this way in the first 200 miles of the trail.

When the sun came up, I found myself smiling. I felt like I had waited so long for this hike. And finally it was here. Last night, one of my fellow hikers at CLEEF commented that everyone was either super quiet or super chatty, and that was an indication of everyone’s nervous anticipation for the start.

The trail itself was hard and relatively smooth, different from the quicksand at the beginning of the CDT, or the rocks and roots of the ACT. With 11 miles behind me at 9 o’clock, getting 20 miles into the town of Lake Morena and the famous Oak Shores Malt Shop was becoming a reality.

After a brief stop at a water reservoir left by the trail angels, our path descended into Hauser Canyon and then climbed sharply. The trail was very exposed. The midday sun beat down. He was sweating profusely and sucking on water, simply grateful that today’s weather was relatively mild compared to the extremely high temperatures hikers experienced just a few weeks ago.

Morena Lake

Soon the trail headed toward the town of Lake Morena. I found the town campground right next to the trail and was greeted by the hikers who had spent the previous night there.

After setting up shop and getting to know a lot, we chatted, a group of us headed out to Oak Shores Malt Shop and enjoyed delicious smoothie dinners. We chatted about our experience on the trail and the snakes we had seen (none for me so far, someone else two rattlesnakes). It seemed like a great start to my hike. I know not every day ahead will be a blue sky day, but today certainly was.

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