A very sweet first week

Howard Johnson Motel

Sweet Stuff and I started at Southern Terminus at 2pm. Late, I know. Everyone else had started hours before. However, that is not how we behave. Instead of camping at CLEEF, we stayed at the world-famous 2.7-star Howard Johnson Motel outside of San Diego, which we walked to from the airport. God, leaving that airport was a nightmare. We arrived at different terminals and eventually found ourselves between rows R and S of the parking lot before finding an exit that didn’t involve crossing a major highway. Shout out to the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. Trains are overrated anyway. They are too convenient. We walked 2.5 miles to Howard Johnson because we’re too stubborn to pay for an Uber and we’re about to walk all day anyway; Better start now. I’m sure everyone wants to hear more about the content of the trail than about the wonderful amenities of the Howard Johnson Motel and our last minute shopping in San Diego, so let’s get into it.

Sowing fear at mile 0

The south terminal was deserted. I always imagined 20 or more people in the terminal queuing to take a photo, but I guess that experience can only be achieved if you start on time. I honestly preferred to be there alone and not have a bunch of people staring at me while they took my photo. I hate being perceived. I received my hang tag before walking to the border wall with Sweet Stuff. The photos don’t do it justice because wow, it’s huge. The scale of this is absolutely insane. We ran our hands along the wall to officially start in Mexico and then headed back to the terminal to take pictures. When we returned, there were half a dozen retirees there to see the terminal and they started asking us about our walk. Once they found out that Sweet Stuff was only doing the first 75 miles with me and that I would do the rest on my own, their behavior changed from positive curiosity to fear-mongering. The last words they said to me before heading north were, «I don’t want to scare you, but I have a friend who is in the Marines who did this a few years ago and was harassed by a mountain lion for 3 days in the Sierras.» I hope you carry a gun out there. I don’t carry a gun, that’s too much weight, and from the sound of it, I guess I don’t have to worry about being stalked by a mountain lion until I get to the Sierras. That’s a problem at mile 700. So we start walking north.

It was a quiet and awkward start. Sweet Stuff and I hiked the entire Appalachian Trail together in 2024, so we’ve covered almost every topic of conversation up to this point. Every time we started to tell each other a story, the other one finished it because we had already heard it before. It was definitely quiet that day and I spent a lot of time wondering why I’m doing another long ride. The beginning of the AT felt surreal and I didn’t have that same feeling here. I realized it’s because I fell back into the norm of hiking extremely fast, so it didn’t have the same glow as those early days on the AT when everything seemed so new to me. We arrived to camp at Hauser Creek, mile 15.4, just before sunset. I set up my tent, climbed inside, started eating the burrito I had packed from San Diego, and woke up the next morning in a wet tent with three-quarters of a burrito next to my head.

Cold burrito in my store – it was disgusting.

Magical trail at Lake Morena

It was rainy and cold when we woke up. My body was still in shock from walking 15 miles in 6 hours with 20 pounds on my back, but we got up anyway and headed toward Morena Lake. That’s how it is. We arrived in the city around 9 am, where a magical trail awaited us. We ate some bagels before heading to the malt shop down the road for a second breakfast, had a few beers, and headed back to Lake Morena to meet up with other hikers and dry our gear. They were only 6 miles from the Boulder Oaks campground, so we stayed there for the night. There was a huge bubble of hikers around us who had the same idea, so the campground was packed. That’s how you meet people though. It’s like the first day of school when you’re trying to decide who you want to be friends with. Most of the people who walk are really unique people, with big hearts and diverse backgrounds, so it’s easy to strike up a conversation with anyone. I’ve talked to people from about 15 different countries just in my first few days on the road.

Climbing Mount Laguna

We woke up early at Boulder Oaks to head to Mount Laguna. Believe it or not, it was still raining and cold. I started this hike thinking that Southern California was perfectly sunny every day of the year. We wanted to get to the town before 4 in the afternoon because there was a restaurant that closes at 5 in the afternoon. The city’s food is always the priority on the road. We were very spoiled the first few days of the trek because most of us got to the food in town. This trail is like butter compared to the Appalachian Trail, and we were going 3.5 mph for the first half of the day, so we decided to rest at a campsite for a few hours. At this point, Sweet Stuff and I returned to our late-stage AT state of mind: bad New York accent, speaking in phrases only we find funny, and talking about crazy things that happened on our last hike. We bundled up in our warm clothes and lay down on the ground after eating lunch. Lunch consisted mainly of Snickers bars and tuna packets. I hate those tuna packages. After resting for 3 hours we decided to get moving again to be able to get to the restaurant on time. We were climbing miles up the mountain because it didn’t even feel like we were gaining altitude. The curves are crazy here. I’m used to taking the shortest and steepest route to get over the climbs, but here it feels like you’re walking on flat ground the entire time. I love the AT, but I completely understand why west coasters hate it so much. As we reached higher altitudes, the biomes began to change from exposed desert to complete pine cover. There were pinecones the size of my head along the trail that weighed as much as my bag of food. But yeah, going up Mount Laguna felt like you were running through different Minecraft biomes trying to find the perfect place to set up your base. Our base for the night ended up being the ‘Old Growth Spruce Taiga’ biome. I just pulled that name straight from the Minecraft Wiki; It’s a legitimate biome. We got to the restaurant and had a burger and Sweet Stuff bought some PBR for camp that night. The burger was mediocre, but the PBR was not.

Heading to Mount Laguna

First watering hole for cows!

We started the day by charging our electronic devices in a public bathroom in Mount Laguna. I looked in a hiker’s box and found a small hairbrush that I used to brush my hair once before putting it back on. I don’t carry it with me, but just brushing my hair made me feel a little less chaotic and wild. We went to the restaurant one more time for breakfast before heading out for the day. I’m eating garbage in the woods, so I’ll treat myself to hot food whenever I can. Honestly, this day seemed pretty insignificant to me. This was the first time we really saw an incredible and amazing view of the desert. You could have told me I was on Mars and I would have believed you. But then we spent all day looking at that view, so it got a little old. About a half mile before camp we reached our first cow water source. I stared at the algae floating in the grayish liquid, glancing askance at the «Do Not Drink» sign. That was our only option so that’s what we drank until the next one.

Brown Blazing the first 75

The next morning we went back to the water source because there were pit baths there. Five days later and I still haven’t had to dig a cat hole. To me, that’s an incredible record. Our plan for the day was to take a break at the next water source and then reach a spot about a mile away from town. During our break we met Ballsack, who is currently attempting to climb the Border to Border Calendar Year Triple Crown. He has to average about 30 miles a day to stay on schedule. She was so cool and I got so excited. We returned to the trail in the hottest part of the day and arrived at our campsite at 6 pm. We camped like cowboys so we wouldn’t have to pack up our tents in the morning, which would allow us to get to town faster. A hiker passed us while we kicked and laughed like we were having a sleepover.

COWBOYS CAMPING

A melancholic day in the city

There was only a mile and a half between us and Julian. I felt melancholy knowing that this would be Sweet Stuff’s last mile on the trail. Selfishly, I would have loved for him to go the whole way with me. We were already very in tune with each other and had the same philosophy on how to do the hike, so it was hard to see him leave so soon. Our philosophy is basically to maximize miles while maximizing fun. Work hard, play hard. There was a trail angel waiting for hikers at the road junction: Fossil Lady. We packed our suitcases into the back of his beat-up Toyota Forerunner and hopped in for the 20-minute drive to Julian. I was navigating the winding roads with complete confidence. I was equally amazed and terrified, but we made it to the city alive.

Taken moments before Sweet Stuff left.

I spent 2 days in Julian with Sweet Stuff and was in complete denial that it was leaving. Other hikers came into town and we all gathered on the bench outside Jack’s Grocery, completely stinking up the town. I had trouble staying in the moment because I was now focused on how I would handle the hike alone. I met a tram right away on the Appalachian Trail, so I never had to worry about finding a group of people to hang out with. I also realized that I’ve been comparing everyone to BirdDog, Pigpen, and Sweet Stuff. I’m trying to remind myself that they were once strangers too and that it took me a while to become as close to them as I am now. I sat with Sweet Stuff until he left for the airport. I was left alone in Julian as all the hikers were either back on the trail or at Stagecoach Campground. Although the city was full of tourists, it felt very lonely and quiet. I walked to the post office and stuck out my thumb to hitchhike at 6pm. It’s time to try to make new friends here.

Even though I’ll technically be hiking alone, I never feel like you’re alone here. I write this while waiting for a group of new friends to catch up with me today. I’m excited to tell everyone about it next time.

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