Waking up to a Murder (of Crows)

By 7am I found myself throwing pinecones at a murder of crows but by then the damage was already done. I was up. We goofed around a bit with the family and said our goodbyes and nice to have met ya's and I drove up to the Anderson's and Casa De Luna. My plan was to drop my car off and get a ride back to the Saufley's so i could do the 24 & 24 challenge with Sprinkles and Bandit.

The Saufleys and the Andersons are two of the most notorious hiker refuges on the PCT. Although they are only separated by 24 hiking miles, they are about a thousand miles apart in their approach to hiker hospitality and trail angelics. The Saufley's are the first of the two that you hit on the trail and they have an efficient operation where you roll in, take of your clothes, put on some "Saufley Electric" sweats while they wash all your stuff. They have racks with at least a hundred mail drop packages in alphabetical order (including my brand new sleeping bag), tents with cots that you can stay in and by the time you're settled in, your clothes are done. They have a lot of resources for you there, information boards and gentle music playing out over the "Compound." There's a piano, a guitar, and it's all very well organized. It's very nice and they've made it very convenient to stay there. They have a rule though, you can only stay for two nights.

The Andersons have a similar rule: You have to stay there at least 2 nights and to be honest I think they'd rather see you stay there than finish the trail. Their place is called Casa De Luna and is also affectionately referred to as "The Vortex." They have a couple of couches out front and a large back yard with a big Manzanita Forest with campsites strewn throughout. You basically just plop your stuff down and sleep wherever you end up. The booze is flowing, the people are loud and it's basically like a big hippie compound. Joe and Terry Anderson are crazy and fun. There are hammocks, instruments, a frizbee golf course and strange games like chocolate syrup wrestling and the 24 in 24 challenge.

The 24/24 challenge is where you hike out from the Saufley's with a case of beer and you consume one every mile until you reach the road that goes to the Anderson's. I don't drink so I was just going to accompany Sprinkles and Bandit as they did the challenge but it was so hard to get back to the Saufley's after I got my car there and so, instead of asking Bandit's girlfriend to drive all that way and back, I decided to stay at the Anderson's and skip that 24 mile section and wait for Bandit and Sprinkles. Meanwhile I would help trail angel and shuttle some hikers.

That night I pulled out a bunch of instruments and we had a great jam session and about 25 hikers sat around the fire and we sang all night long. There are a few good guitarists and singers here and this cat Pepe is a really good guitarist and we are able to do jazz tunes. Virgo was there and he filmed it and even sat in on my drum kit. It was an amazing night and everyone had a great time. I passed out on the futon in the front yard in my brand-new Exped Dreamwalker 20 degree sleeping bag.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Cries of the crows

The crows were relentless with their cackles and cries of the future or whatever it is they yell about in their half-human voices and unintelligible prognostications that only the medicine man and his ilk knew how to decipher. This is the kind of thing I peruse as the Crows' mumblings intermingle with my own inner voices which usually start their litany of fear mongering even before I'm fully awake.

The birds are always waking me up with their impossible melodic intervals and shrill tweets that are not limited to 140 characters and especially not a common musical scale. I've been known to get out of my tent to throw pine cones and even water bottles the them just for five more minutes of wrapping my head in my bag.

The campgrounds had a community center and a pool and a jacuzzi so we went down there and the people were trying to wrap their head around a Marine in a kilt. I guess this campground allows you to be a member or something and they had community events and karaoke and steak dinners and stuff here.

Back at the campground I was soon hunched over coloring books with Bandit's Nephew and Niece, Liam and Luna in washable crayola markers of unbelievable hues. I remember when it was just the primary colors but these days they have all kinds of colors and I was trying to figure out how I could use lavender and orange highlights in a lizard's scales and to convince Liam that eagles normally have purple feathers and blue beaks.

He wasn't buying it.

We decided to go pick up my car from the Saufley's and we were going to shuttle it up to the Anderson's but it turned out that only 24 miles walking turns into over an hour of driving in this part of California. That makes about as much sense as my coloring theory. I wanted to walk the two sections, but it was going to be a logistical headache so I brought my car back to the campground and figured we'd do the Harlem Shuttle Shuffle tomorrow.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Road Walkin the 2 to Memorial Day

We got out of camp pretty late as usual. After a few miles we found ourselves down at the permanently closed Angeles Crest Highway CA Rt 2. Much of this road has been closed on and off since 2004 due to landslides and fires. According to the locals, they are supposed to open it back up any day but it was closed for now. There are two re-routes for the PCT in this section due to a protected frog's habitat and for landslides. Looking at the maps, we noticed that the reroutes added quite a few extra miles and using the road instead of the old trail so we decided we were just going to walk the closed HWY 2 all the way in to three points. I'm starting to get sick and tired of the way this trail has been routed here in Southern California. There is an awful lot of unnecessary walking going on. This may sound like a stupid statement coming from a person who has decided to walk from Mexico to Canada but the way I look at it is this, I've already committed to walk 2600 miles or more this summer but there's no reason why I should have to walk unnecessary miles for no reason at all. These trails have you walking back and forth and back and forth for no reason. It's extremely frustrating.

I am totally down to walk to exciting views and interesting geological structures or historical points of interest. That's actually what I was hoping that the people who created this trail had in mind. I also understand the ecological significance of switchbacks as well as the benefit of not having to walk straight up a hill; however, I'm frequently wondering to myself, "Were the hell are we going?" and inexorably the trail will go three miles out of the way for no reason at all. I find myself staring at the same mountain or desert view over and over again as I go around corner after corner for what seems like no other reason than to add miles to the trail. Some guys are like, "It's just the trail man, you're gonna do the miles anyway, why does it matter?" and to that I say, "Balderdash!" It does matter to me because if I was navigating to Canada without the PCT, expediency and conservation of route as well as other resources would be contingent upon my success. Anyway, we decided to hike the road instead of wasting 18 extra miles on re-routes. If it's a re-route anyway, we decided we would do our own re-route. I think it's my new philosophy. If the PCT re-routes, I'll decide which way I re-route. I'm starting to think that I can't wait to finish this trail so I can start badmouthing it but hey, why wait?

We spent all day hiking down the road, spearing pine cones and launching them at each other and walking this surreal, deserted road. There were tunnels going through the rock and I was singing Gregorian chants in the amazing echo chamber. We discussed doing a rave or a wedding or something like that right on the road or in the tunnel. I got some great footage of a rattler that we would have just walked right by but he got all ornery and started shaking his tail when we were practically past him.

There looked to be a storm front coming in soon and it was getting cold. When we got to Three Points we knew there was a restaurant a couple of miles from the trail. We walked it down to Newcomb's Ranch and got some food, played pool and waited out the storm. Bandit got a hold of his girlfriend and she offered to come pick us up because his family were going to hang out at a campground for Memorial Day Weekend. Bandit didn't have to try hard to convince me to come and stay with them. Actually he didn't even have to ask...

I felt a little guilty at taking all this time off but I figured I'm a vet and it's Memorial Day so I can take a little R&R.

We set up our tents and I got to take a cold shower. Me and Sprinkles met the whole family. I decided to take a walk around the huge campground. There were hundreds of campsites and a lot of different kinds of people hanging out here. It was weird. There were a ton of Mexican families partying and listening to Latin music. There were a couple of Church groups and a couple of campsites with all black families watching Def Comedy Jam on an improvised projector screen.

One thing that struck me as very strange: I didn't hear a single musician playing any live instruments. It really bothered me. Nobody was so much as strumming a guitar. I walked around to every campsite that night and didn't hear a harmonica, guitar, or even a person singing around a campfire. It was kinda depressing. The next day I saw a dilapidated guitar leaning up against a trailer but I think it was probably only used as a prop.

I slept in my tent in the campground. It was kind of weird being there with my ultralight gear and thru-hiking, spartan efficiency in the midst of all these huge luxurious tents and $ 500,000 RVs with satellite TV and Internet access. I was amused, imagining how none of these "campers" had any idea that there were three international men of mystery in their company, unobtrusively nestled in these meagre little tents with stinky, dirty clothes and scruffy demeanor. I drifted to sleep, feeling like the alter-ego of some strange super hero with no real powers. Like Forest Gump or something.

Just some guy dumb enough to walk across the country.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Summiting Mt. Baden Powell

We sat around the campground all morning waiting for some of our friends to show up. Kevin said he was driving them up in the morning but he drove up on his scooter and told us he'd be bringing a bunch of people up around noon. They started at a different point and Kevin came back with his camper and slacked us down to the Rt 2 parking lot before you climb up to Baden Powell. It was going to be the a heck of a climb and we ran into a few people on the way up. We knew there was a lot of snow up near the top and we wondered how much it would affect the climb. About three miles up, the snow completely obscured the trail and Sprinkles and I were constantly scouting around to try and find it. Eventually we gave up and just decided to start climbing straight up the hill. It was steep and difficult to climb in the deep, soft snow. I kept post-holing up to my thighs which were freezing since I was wearing my kilt commando. Near the top, we ran into early girl and Water Boy who were doing the same thing that we were, trying to climb a really steep section. They're one of the older couples out here on the trail and I was worried that they might not make it up the hill. Early Girl looked really worried so Sprinkles and I hurried up the hill to help them out. I tried to cut some steps as I climbed the nearly vertical wall but it was tough and even though I'm not a very tall guy, I was still cutting them a but too far apart for Early Girl. I took some video of the section that I was trying to climb and it's hard to see in the video just how vertical the slope was but trust me, it was pretty tough, especially without crampons or any other climbing equipment. Here's another Video

We all made it up the tough section and the slope got more gentle near the summit. We came upon a very old Limber Pine tree called the "Wally Waldron tree" which is supposed to be about 1,500 years old. We got a couple of shots of that and then set off to summit Baden Powell. The wind was severe at the top and I have a video of my hat flying off of my head. It would have been long gone but I was lucky enough that it hit the only tree at the top and I managed to recover it from the scree-strewn slope where the wind was less severe. We stuck around until a whole bunch of us got up there, ate lunch and finally the cool wind was annoying me enough that I took off before everyone else.

The slope down was covered with deep snow and I tried to "ski" it in my sneakers. I managed to pull it off sort of and descended very quickly. the snow on the trail was making it really tough to find the trail in some spots. Bandit had mentioned that it was "all downhill" after the Baden Powell summit so I ended up getting pretty lost thinking I should keep descending when I lost the trail. I had to bushwhack up a really steep hill and it took me forever. I finally found the trail and ended up being behind al of the people I had left in front of.

The hike seemed to take forever, considering it was only about 6 miles. At one point I was trying to find the trail and I went through a big snow field and I suddenly post-holed, and I felt my shin begin to scrape against a boulder. I thought I was going to break my leg as my weight was coming down on it. I jammed my trekking pole down quickly, getting my leg out of the way. Fortunately I got my leg to the ground safe, unfortunately I snapped my uphill trekking pole in half over the boulder. It took me a minute of so to get back on top of the snow and it took me a few minuted to find the trail but I eventually got to Little Jimmmy Campground" where I met up with a ton of people. Someone started a fire which about 20 people sat around, eating food and talking about all sorts of things. A few heated discussions ensued about Canada denying a few of us entry due to previous DUIs. One of the hikers was very adamant about Canada not wanting "Stupid Americans" in to Canada and so any excuse to deny entry would be exploited, especially not letting "Convicted Criminals" in. This thru-hiker was confident that we would never be granted permission. It was pissing me off and since I'm actually going through the complicated and expensive process of getting "Rehabilitated" I was trying to explain that there was a procedure in place and she wouldn't have any of it; adamantly insisting that we would NEVER be let in to Canada under ANY circumstances. Eventually everyone went to bed. I was really full because one of the hikers was trying to get rid of some food which I happily ate.

It was going to be a cold night. There was snow all over the campsite, in fact, we scooped up a lot of snow to put out the fire. Tomorrow was going to be a long road hike because the PCT is rerouted due to a recent firs and also a protected species of frog has made the original PCT off-limits. I need a warmer sleeping bad BADLY.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Out of Wrightwood

We woke up eventually and Kevin drove us down to the Evergreen restaurant to get some breakfast. If you ever go there I recommend the "Evergreen Breakfast" you'll never finish it and it's got everything except pancakes. I couldn't finish it.

We tooled around Wrightwood for a few hours, picking up supplies and generally trying to psych ourselves up to get on the trail.

We piled in to Kevin's camper and he took us up to one of the campsites and we settled in without hiking. We just decided to stay there. There was water and firepits so we figured that was a great place to stay. At least we're out on the trail and not ini town again. These towns are tough to get out of. Especially when you have great great hosts like Kevin and Linda to make you all comfortable and clean and fed and on top of comfortable mattresses.

I'm sitting at a picnic table right now with Bandit, Sprinkles, Dusty and Camel. We're lighting a fire and heading to bed. This is actually the first time that I've used my iPad on the trail instead of in town. I have to buy a new iPad charging cable though, we should be at the Saufley's in about four or five days and I can get all the stuff I left in my car.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Surviving into Wrightwood

IT was a good night's sleep and I felt much better. I was still having diarrhea but I got out of camp by 7:40 with hopes to reach Guffy campground and a fresh spring by 11am

Nader and Bait got out of camp about an hour and a half before me. It's crazy how some people get up at like 4:30 in the morning. Crazy.

hiking was rough. My cell phone was dead and I know there were some people worried about me from my texts. I spent a lot of time resting in the shade and taking it easy. I think the amoxicillin actually messes with my cardio-vascular system too. I seem to be out of breath much more than usual and sweating more than usual too. I ran out of water about three or four miles before the campground but the hiking wasn't very tough. I passed the turnoff to the spring but I finally found it. It was a steep climb down and then back up but the water was amazing. I ate a ton of food and drank a ton of water. I had another six miles to get to CA RT 2 which was supposed to be an easy hitch in to Wrightwood.

I pushed on and found myself at the top of Mountain High Ski resort. Apparently it's at Wrightwood and I didn't know that. I've never skied there but I'll have to go this winter.

Right before I got to the highway, I ran in to a king snake, the kind that looks like a coral snake. It was cool, I got some footage and kept going. I really needed to get in to town.

I got a ride from the second car that come by, although that still took about 30 minutes. Rt 2 is not a very busy road.

Wrightwood is great, it has everything you need all within a block of everything else. I found Bandit and Sprinkles at the Yodeler Tavern and soon all my old pals were there. They had gotten a ride from Kevin and he and his wife Linda were hosting them, I asked if he had any room and he did so I ended up going with them back to their awesome house. They cooked us dinner and we watched the final night of American Idol. If you ask me, casey should have won, not that fake basso country douchebag but hey of course I'm going to be partial to a jazz guy.

ANyway, I feel much better and now we're trying to figure out whether or not I'm staying in Wrightwood for another day...

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Running on empty and crashing.

Today could have been my last day on the trail.

I started out by getting up really late. I didn't get out of camp until about 10:30. I had to deal with some uncomfortable bowel movement before I could even get my tent down. It had me worried that I might have been dealing with a mild version of Giardia or dysentery. I finally got moving and I knew that Bandit and Sprinkles would be a couple hours ahead of me so I was going to try to push to keep up. I realized I hhad stopped short of the actual campsite and I found a cool water cache that was being resupplied by Joanna. I left my name at the book and drank about a half a liter, I thought about filling up but I figured I would have an opportunity to get some water later. I would be wrong.

I was having a tough time climbing and although it wasn't hot, I was sweating like crazy. I wasn't really drinking much water or eating. I just couldn't seem to get my pace going. Every step seemed like a chore and I was trudging along, felling pretty bad. Eventually, after about six or seven miles I decided to take a break. My pack felt really heavy and I sat it down on a rock. The trail was very narrow here and the sides were steep going up and down on either side of the trail. there was nowhere to sit really, so I tried to find a rock or something. Normally I feel better as soon as I stop but I just couldn't get my breath. I sat on this rock but it wasn't really comfortable and then I heard the ringing in my ears start. I know that means I'm going to pass out so I tried to lay across the rock.

I came to with dirt, rocks and plants in my mouth and I was sliding down the hill to the trail. I was delirious but I was trying to get whatever was in my mouth out and spitting and dry-heaving. I was afraid I might fall off the side of the trail so I kind of sat down and laid back on the only flat spot: the trail. I don't know how long I lay there in and out of consciousness. I eventually tried to get up and got really dizzy again so I lay back down. At some point a couple of people came by and stepped over me, asking if I was alright. OIf course I said "Yeah man I'm fine!"

It took two hours until I was able to get my pack on and walk a little. I got about a half mile up and got woozy again so I pulled out my pad at a wider spot and plopped back down. I wasn't sure how much water I had but two angels came by, Spoonman and Cerveza. They insisted that I take some of their water and they sat with me for a bit. I thought I had giardia for sure. I tried some texting. I was so angry and beat down that all I could think about was getting off trail and going home. I texted some people and was planning to get off trail if I made it out of there. Nader and Mosquito Bait showed up and they told me they were camping at a spot about a mile ahead. I eventually got up and made it to that camping spot while they were setting up. We spoke for a while and Mosquito Bait told me some more about amoxicillin and how it wears you down, gives you diarrhea and makes you way more sensitive to the sun. I was so relieved! I thought I had Giardia but here it was probably just the antibiotics. I had some dinner and tried to hydrate slowly with what water I had. I knew I had to go another 7 miles in the morning until I could get a good water source. I had about a liter left and I was just hoping the trail wasn't too bad. Nader and Bait gave me some of their couscous and I lost my spark so I had to try and eat with my drumsticks as chopsticks.

I climbed into bed with a full stomach and some horrible gas that smelled like I was dying inside. I wonder if I'm going to have this gastrointestinal issue the whole time I'm taking my ABs

I feel better but I'm still a little sour on the trail. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Back at Cajon Pass

I ended up going to San Diego and the VA Hospital doesn't do dental so they gave me some amoxicillin and told me to go find a dentist. I'm not sure when I'm going to have time to do it but at least it'll take care of the abcess in the meantime. The gig at Big Bear was great but there wasn't a ton of attendance because the Hostel was closed to hikers for the weekend so basically it was just people I already knew from Big bear and guests of the hotel. Craig let me crash at the resort. I dropped in on my old stomping grounds and Murray's. The next night I had a gig in Newport Beach which was cold as hell, we were outside on a hilltop and the fog came in. It sucked pretty bad. That night I was going to go up and drop my car at a hiker hostel called the Saufley's in Agua Dulce but I decided to detour out to Vegas and spend the night with Laura before I get back on the trail. It'll be a while before I get to see her again.

The next day I drove out to The Saufley's and stayed there. I slept in one of their tents and the next morning I found a cool hiker named Blaze who was willing to do the shuttle thing with me. He and I drove out to the REI in Rancho Cucuamonga to see if they had a pair of shoes for him. Then we went to a Henry's and a Ralph's to pick up supplies. At Cajon Pass there is a MacDonalds and we had some burgers. I met a guy named Soft Walker who apparently hikes barefoot a lot. I bid my car and Blaze adieu and used the bathroom and then got on the trail, planning to hike a few miles in the dark. It was looking like rain and I was really not looking forward to a climb up in rain and possibly snow but I really needed to get back on the trail.

Soft Walker was ahead of me and I had to turn my headlamp on to go under the bridge of the I-15. it was a little strange doing that in the dark, wondering what was under here and there was some running water that turned into a regular stream. I had some difficulty not stepping in the water in the dark but once I was out from under the bridge and re-found the trail, I was able to hike with my headlamp off. I hadn't intended to get all the way to the first campsite at 5 miles but somehow I managed to get there... around midnight. I found a bunch of tents on the side of the trail and just pitched my tent in some low bushes because I thought it was the campsite I had been looking for. It wasn't. It was close though, just about a 1/4 mile away. I have been experiencing some gastrointestinal abnormalities lately and I'm hoping it's not Giardia which is one of the reasons why people treat water. It comes from Raccoon Feces and it's like Montezuma's revenge on steroids. It takes about 7 days to ferment in your body before symptoms show up and I had some untreated water about a week ago so... I just hope that it's not a problem. I guess we'll see.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Zero in Vegas...

I stayed at the Big Bear Hostel and woke up with a toothache. I've been feeling something in there for a couple of days but today it was really bothering me. coincidentally it's was the same tooth that I had root-canaled beck before I did the Appalachian Trail. I hope it's not an abscessed tooth but it's feeling like it might be. I decided to go visit Laura in Vegas before my gig on Friday and maybe I'll check in with the VA in Vegas and see what they can do for me.

I stopped at the trailhead on the way out and ran into Sprinkles and Bandit. They were getting a ride already so I just drove out to Vegas and found Laura's apartment and we went and ate but the tooth was killing me. It turned out I forgot to pack my sound system so I'm going to have to go to San Diego anyway. It turns o ut they don't have VA clinics there in Vegas so I will go to the VA in La Jolla. I have to get back on the trail but it's so tempting to just blow it off and enjoy the civilian world.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Slackin off to Big Bear Lake

That was the coldest night so far. This 40 degree sleeping bag isn't going to cut it very long. I'm pretty sure I need to get a warmer bag most kosh or sooner. I've been looking at this killer bag, the Dreamwalker from Exped. It's the warmer version of the bag I have which is unlike any other sleeping bag I've ever seen. You can put your arms out of it and wear it like a jacket so you never have to get out of your sleeping bag to get up and get ready in the morning.

Check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBjPVoAYV0o

Anyway, I lay there freezing, I think it went down to like 20 or 25 and I waited until the sun started to melt the frost on my tent before I roused myself. I started walking, I was hoping to get 27 miles to rt 18 by nighttime but when I get to this cabin I see Natural (a guy I met the other day on the trail) and he's there with his car. We start talking and he tells me it's supposed to snow tonight and maybe tomorrow. My car is in Big Bear and I'm thinking, "this would be a good time to hang out in Big Bear for a couple of days."

SO I caught a ride from Natural and it's a good thing I did because apparently i forgot to load my sound system in the car! I'm going to have to head back to SD and pick it up and then back up here. I have to figure out how I'm going to afford to buy a warm sleeping bag. Laura's in Vegas for the week and Vegas is about the same distance from Big bear as San Diego is...

Maybe it's a good time to hang out in Vegas for a day, head back to SD to pick up the gear and then head to Big Bear for the gig on Friday...

I think I hear a Hunter S. Thompson quote coming on...

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Climbing into the Blizzard

I had probably my best night of sleep on the trail so far. The temperature was great and I was on flat ground. It was going to be a long hike today uphill all the way. I was climbing up toward Big Bear and there was rumor of weather. In two or three days I should be in Big Bear so I wasn't too worried about it. I didn't realize what I was in for...

It's interesting to not how the mind works. I knew from looking at other people's maps and elevation profiles that it was a 20 mile section of almost all climbing but once you get on the trail you're thinking, "I wonder what the trail has for me today?" Then it's almost like you're surprised when the maps are right. An all day climb is kind of unbelievable. when you're on mile 14 or 15 and you normally get 20 - 25 miles you get frustrated as the landmarks come by much more slowly. In your hiking head you're thinking that you have come 7 miles and then you come up to some hikers at a stream and find out you've only gone 4. Nearing the end of the day, the last few miles into camp are excruciating as you come around another turn and there's another stretch of uphill that turns toward a peak you couldn't see earlier.

I've heard that the climbing section into Big Bear is one of the hardest on the whole trail and that it's the reason that many people get off the trail permanently in Big Bear. Well, I can definitely see that. I thought I was lucky because it was an overcast day with a lot of wind when typically this part of the trail is extremely hot; however, in the afternoon the temperature began to drop very quickly. As a ski instructor and frequent traveler in the mountains I pride myself in being able to tell the temperature without a thermometer. I'm rarely off by more than three degrees in the 10 - 50 degree range, even with wind but as I climbed and the temperature dropped I was afraid to believe my guesses. It felt like 40 degrees at 4pm! It couldn't be! It felt like 35 degrees at 5pm as I pulled in to a campsite that had some water. There were a couple of packs sitting by a horse "burro" or "Hitching Rail" and a tall hiker there. In my kilt and thin shirt I was quickly shivering.

"How cold is it man?" I asked Pepe who was getting ready to go further up the trail
"Pretty cold, somebody had a thermometer on their pack and it said 39 about a half hour ago"
"Man I can't believe it!" It's gonna go below freezing tonight and yesterday I thought I was going to get heat stroke!"
"Yeah man I'm trying to get to 146 to some shelter they have there."
"Man I think I'm just gonna wrap up in everything I have and pass out. Is there water here?"
"Yeah, it's about a 1/4 mile past the campsite. Catch ya later"
"Later"

There were a couple of people at the campsite and I started gathering raking up pine needles with my trekking poles to try and get better insulation to sleep on. It was going to suck tonight.

Seahorse and her boyfriend who doesn't have a trail name yet walked up, he was the one with the thermometer. He told me it was 35 and dropping quickly. Shit

I got a bunch of water and then collected wood and we all started a fire with pinecones. I stayed up late with the fire, not wanting to face the cold. I was guessing it was now about 28 degrees at 9Pm which meant it could go down to 20 or even lower by 3am. I got into my tent and put on everything I had and tried to go to sleep. I blew all the water back into my bladder so my drink tube wouldn't freeze and I was not looking forward to this night cause I only have a 40 degree bag and a Patagonia down sweater. Shit.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Whitewater Trail Magic!

I awoke to the sounds of the I-10 and the screeching brakes of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe on it's way to St Louis from somewhere beyond San Diego. I can only assume it was using it's brakes to rouse we hikers for there is nothing but desert and uninterrupted track for many a mile. We had a lofty climb in front of us, eventually to 9000 feet on the way to Big Bear. The wind was howling but I hardly noticed because the howl had been a constant since I arrived here the afternoon prior. I knew I was headed toward the wind farm up the hill and then to some river beyond that but I had no idea what was actually in store for me.

I climbed quickly the stiff and windblown flora and passed the defunct carcass of the Pink Motel, which was for a short while a hiker hostel and junkyard. The corroded corpses of cars and what looked like a former Hostess delivery truck stood out from the various flotsam of you-name-it and what-did-we-used-to-call-its. There was a hiker register there on a lonely post beside the trail and I stopped with a few other hikers to sign it, like Seahorse, Chili-dog and Bubbles, Das Boots was ahead and I ran into him at the wind farm office which was closed. The wind was dangerously close to blowing my sun helmet off and into the sky so I took an extra shoelace and lashed it to my pack strap. It saved the day on several occasions. The wind was relentless and I peeled a sour apple blowpop, wrapper fluttering violently, while I tried not to let it litter the hills and destroy my hiker karma.

After a goodish climb and the regular meander, I descended into a canyon where the wind was not so severe. When the winds blow strong, the perspiration is evaporated and my chafing is cured; however, in lesser winds, the rubbing and stinging sets in. I walked past a few civilians, out for the day with their rottweiler and doberman and they were surprised to hear about the enormity of the PCT. Shortly after that I saw a note, a glorious not in a ziplock bag laying in the center of the trail.

"Trail Magic Ahead at the Trout Farm.
Hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, sodas
Buck-30"

There was a junction and a nice, new sign that said Whitewater Preserve 0.5 mi and under that it said, "Hiker's Welcome"

There would be more trail magic today! I didn't know how much though...

I hiked the half mile in to the preserve and there were a few others already there at a wading pool that you could do some stealth rinsing in. Ninja, Drop&Roll, K-Bomb, etc. they directed me to the pavilion where Buck-30 (a triple crowner) was grillin up burgers and other delectables and he had a book about he CDT. A triple crowner is someone who has hiked all three of the long trails in the US: The Appalachian Trail (AT), The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) which goes up the middle and is the most remote of the three. Buck 30 lives in San Diego and decided to come up and do trail magic for a few days and he is the man! I'm starting to think about the CDT now... Ahh shoot. get back on the PCT!

There were a lot of day hikers and casual campers with lots of kids there and trout pools with HUGE trout in them. They were so docile I put my hand in there and they would actually rub up against you.

After that, just about a million people showed up at the magnificent preserve with our Ranger Jose who pulled out a scope and let us check out bighorn sheep on the hillside. Rain was looming and we still had a big climb ahead of us...

Just as we depleted Buck-30's trail magic, another trail angel dropped in with pesto tortellini, baked chicken, watermelon for days and pies of various flavors. It seems we are not going out to hike any more today... The moon was nearly full and the wind had the smell of rain on it...

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Sleeping under the Bridge

Got up early because I heard it was going to be a hot climb. We had to drop 8000 feet into the desert and it was going to take about 19 miles, so I knew it would be a typical PCT indirect route.

The PCT is starting to irritate me with it's rambling, meandering route that unnecessarily winds back and forth and over and around ridges for seemingly no reason at all. Unlike the Appalachian Trail, it doesn't take you up to every peak and scenic view. Instead it takes you around every little canyon and hill so you can see everything from every different angle. In a word: UNNECESSARY. I would be much happier if we would just go to ur destination or go to something interesting. The AT might have been like this except you could never really see it because all the shrubs and trees were too high. Out here you can see where the trail goes and you're thinking, "Why the hell am I going all the way over there to come back here just a few feet below?" There's nothing wrong with switchbacks, just make them shorter, a LOT shorter.

I was right, this trail did in 15 miles what it could have easily done in 8 and I spent all day fighting heavy brush and descending into the hot valley below. It was so strange, yesterday I was hiking through five feet of snow and today it was 94 degrees at 10 AM. I cut a few switchbacks and bushwhacked a little. I'm not ashamed to say it. I cut up my legs and probably risked some Rattlesnake encounters but it was worth it. F the PCTA and their ridiculous switchbacks that go a half mile out and back to put you 50 feet lower on the same slope. Total BS!

By the time I got to the bottom I was waxed and chafed and pissed. I refilled my water at the fountain they have there at Snow Creek and I saw these crazy clouds coming over San Jacinto. I knew it was going to rain so I waited til the clouds were in the right spot and I headed across the steaming valley with cloud cover to cool me. It was a good idea and as I got to the bridge where the trains and the I-10 pass over a desert wash I saw some strange birds like owls or hawks burrowed into the desert bluffs along the RR tracks. I shot a picture but it turned out pretty bad.

The wind through that valley is extremely strong nearly 100 percent of the time (which is why there are all of those huge windmills there) and the old creek-bed wash I was walking in was hard to move against the wind while hiking in the deep, loose sand but eventually I got to the bridge where some awesome people had dropped off sodas and beers and other snacks for us PCT hikers. I was chillin there cause I had some cell service and then Bandit and Sprinkles walked up. Bandit and I decided we were going to hitch to the next exit down on the I-10 where we heard there was a Burger King: Cabazon. Some students from Redlands were filming a zombie movie nearby and after sticking our thumbs out on a deserted frontage road for an hour I decided to ask them if they would give us a lift. They did. There were cool and all bloodied up for the filming so we really made an interesting combination. Lots of other hikers had showed up at the bridge so Bandit and I decided to conjure up some of our own Trail Magic. We got in to Burger King in Cabazon (where those huge dinosaur replicas are) and ordered 25 cheeseburgers, 12 Chicken Sandwiches, 6 big orders of fries, 12 dutch apple pies and lots of condiments. We had no idea how we were getting back but we had our hands very full of food. Bandit got us a ride from this guy Jeff towing a sand rail and when we arrived back under the bridge, there was a cacophony of adulation that barely rose above the highway drone.

We feasted all night and fell asleep in the dirty sand under the bridge, about 20 of us, fat, warm and happy, with another day of climbing toward San Gorgonio ahead of us...

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Snow Trekking the Ridges

Getting out of Idyllwild was tough but I managed to get breakfast at the Red Kettle again and get a ride up from the owner of the Idyllwild Inn around 8:15 AM I was worried about the hike back up devil's slide but it proved to be not so bad. I ran into Ninja and Drop&Roll after Saddle Junction and we all headed up to San Jacinto. I decided I didn't want to summit San Jacinto despite John Muir's glowing recommendations. I was experiencing a lot of chafe from the kilt but the feet were fine as we came down toward the feared "Fuller Ridge" where we hiked through a lot of snow which really slowed me down but wasn't very dangerous. Once, I post-holed all the way in and my bare bottom and balls were treated to the exhilarating sensation of a frosty cradle since I'm going commando under my kilt. WOW! That was something I'll never forget (I'll bet I just gave you a visual you won't soon forget either).

After fuller ridge we came into the Fuller Ridge campground and I was just too tired to keep going. I really wanted to because there was a lot more daylight left but the chafing was just to intense.

About a million people showed up and we had a great campfire with Seahorse, New Homes, Side Track, Sprinkles, Bandit, Ramblin Rose, Half Step, Roger, Bubbles, Murphy, Dump Truck, and a bunch more I can't remember.

I took some great video of me on top of a rock formation on Fuller Ridge and you can check it out here:
Rotary view of San Jacinto and San Gorgonio

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Back to Idyllwild

I have been feeling pretty good lately and I've been getting big miles but today I felt the strain. I've been climbing up at much higher elevations so I am finally starting to slow down, not to mention I ran into a ton of snow today, so much that I actually lost the trail and bushwhacked a half mile up a mountainside, pretty much lost, until I found a trail which I assumed was the PCT (it was) but I ended up going the wrong way on it until i ran into some people who set me straight. It may seem like it's hard to go south instead of north but it's actually pretty easy because I don't have a GPS to tell me where on the trail I actually am and even when you're going north on the PCT, a lot of the time, you're going any direction BUT North. It's frustrating but the trail is dictated by terrain so you just have to deal with it. Today had amazing views though and it's evident that the people who work on this trail have done so much hard work to maintain and build this trail. It's amazing.

The altitude climbs and the snow hiking made for a really tough day and I had to drop back down into Idyllwild to pick up enough food to make the next 130 miles to Big Bear. It's going to be rough because in two days I descend 8000 feet into the desert, only to have to climb it all again after I cross the I-10.

When I got into Idyllwild I was planning on resupplying and then going right back up but I had to hike an extra 5 miles just to get in to town and I decided to just take a break and tackle the re-entry (2.5 miles straight up) in the morning. I piggybacked in a cabin with 5 other guys and I hit the market to resupply. 6 days of food is heavy and I have a lot of altitude to cover both up and down. It'll be rough but the views are spectacular. You can follow my progress on my website at http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT For some reason the GPS map isn't working in some browsers but if you give the page a minute to load it usually works.

Tomorrow also has a lot of snowy and icy spots that have a lot of hikers worried. I don't have crampons or micro-spikes but I figure enough people have gone over that the footprints will be easy to hike in. We'll see! If my GPS tracker loses a couple thousand feet of altitude in less than a minute, you better call the coroner to come pick up my body.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Windy Strollin to Apache

We got a late start after breakfast that the Red Kettle and met the owner's dog, Cody Bear or something like that. It was a long-haired Akita. It was HUGE and it was a really cool dog. Now it's Laura's favorite kind of dog and she wants one. We finally got out to the trailhead around 11:30am after picking up Sweet Pea and taking him with us. The climb wasn't too bad but I got a late start so I knew I wasn't going to get too far. Near the end of the day dark clouds were coming in and it was getting very cold. It wasn't supposed to do that! I sat at a switchback and cooked some ramen and salmon so I could just keep hiking until dark but that didn't happen, around 6pm I holed up in a really cool tree alcove just off the trail that I later discovered (after getting up to pee at 3 am) overlooked all of Palm Springs and the desert.

The night was REALLY cold, the coldest yet but I managed to stay alive.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Zero in Idyllwild = Conjugal Visit

I caught up on blogs at the coffee shop in town and Laura decided to come out so I got a cabin at the Idyllwild Inn. Cabin #9 where literally hundreds of people have carved their names over the years in the walls, ceiling and even the fireplace. It's one thing to imagine how many people have had romantic encounters in your hotel room. It's another thing altogether to actually see their names... We ate dinner at Cafe Aroma and it was really nice I had the Angels on Horseback. I recommend it highly.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Trail Magic mambo

On Saturday Jeff brought me back out to the Casa after I BSed all day, washing my clothes and getting food. I made it out to Mike's and it started to get really cold. There were no spots in the shack so I camped outside on the ground and it rained. I hate getting started in the rain so I dallied finally getting out later with a long hike ahead. I wasn't sure where I was going to stop but my blisters were gone and I was feeling great physically. It was pretty cold but great weather for hiking so I was cruising fast. The day sweetened up and I got in a great groove. In the afternoon it started to get colder and storm clouds were looming so I picked it up, so fast, in fact that I actually strained my hamstring and got a gnarly shin-splint on my left leg. I hobbled in to the Rt 74 campsite at 6:40 and saw an RV there. More trail angels! Boomer and Dr. Sole were there and they were about to shuttle a group of thur-hikers to the Paradise Cafe Boomer did the PCT b2b 2008 and 2009. He's a private chef and it turns out we've done events together. I didn't have time to set up the tent and I just hoped it wouldn't rain until I came back. WRONG!

We got to the Paradise Cafe and I think I had the biggest damn burger I've ever seen. It was the Motherlode Burger with 2 half pound patties of meat. They also had Bunderberg Ginger Ale and I couldn't have been happier at that moment. That is, of course, until I looked outside and saw that it was pouring rain. My pack was just sitting under an awning and from the looks of the blowing wind, would be doing nothing to protect my pack and it's contents. SHIT!

My leg hurt so bad I didn't really care, I just wanted to chill. When I got back the rain had not totally soaked my pack but the outside was pretty wet. Luckily I had waterproofed most of the contents but I still had to set up in the rain. I bent a tent stake and had a little trouble but finally got the tent up eventually I was pretty wet and climbed into the tent and began the process of setting up for wet, windy, sleeping conditions. It took forever to get situated and I hoped my bag was dry enough to keep me warm in the night. I really hoped the sun would come out in the morning. I knew that I wouldn't want to get out of the shelter unless it was warm and sunny.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Long way around

It took us all day to figure out how to get to Mike Herrera's house. Jeff took a guy back who was having some knee issues and this is when I met Sprinkles and Bandit.

I'm no longer wearing this damn Flyers sweater. Those guys don't deserve it after getting swept by the Bruins...

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

San Diego Magazine Party

In the morning we waited for Jeff and at 8am he wasn't there so we decided to try and find a ride back to the main HWY. There was a trail crew working from Mike's Casa and this cat Lyle showed up in a blue jeep that was converted to carry tools in the back. He graciously consented to drive us out to the road but he only had one seat so Dave and I threw our packs on the back and both of us jumped in the front seat. Dave was kinda on my lap for 6 REALLY bumpy miles and then we convinced Lyle to take us even further out to the main road where I had some cell service. It turned out that Jeff had been driving all over those roads with his faithful companion Flo. trying desperately to find us when some hikers told him we had split in the blue jeep. When Dave and I got to the road we decided to try to walk and hitch to Warner Springs where his bike was parked. We finally got a hold of Jeff and he picked us up and we all got where we had to go. I had a gig for San Diego Magazine's "Best of North County" that night and I was really looking forward to all of the amazing food that the restaurants cook for the event. Ramen wasn't going to cut it for me that night. Ahi sliders and the chocolate fountain were what I was waiting for. It took me about an hour and a half in the shower to get the grime off, scrub the blisters clean and shave everything. The gig was great, the lines for the food were too long though and Jeff and I went to Bully's East in Del Mar to get some steak. It was mediocre, they gave him the wrong thing but Flo ate great the next day. Still, mediocre steak beats ramen noodles any day of the week. I get to crash in a bed tonight and see my girlfriend Laura and her dog Mieka, maybe watch some TV. The Flyers got swept in the series by the Bruins so my hockey hopes were dashed. I'm going to burn the Flyers sweater I was wearing every day out there. Maybe that was the problem.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Headin to Herrera's Casa with Mr.Davis

We got up and went to breakfast at the cafe. It was great but it seems they celebrate Cinco De Mayo on Siete De Mayo around here. We got on the trail eventually and it turns out Dave is a pretty fast hiker so I figured we'd try to make it all the way to Mike Herrera's Casa by nightfall, then Jeff could just pick us up there as early as he wanted to (he had to work at 10am and we were about an hour 20 out of SD)

We followed a Agua Caliente Creek for the first five miles or so, leaving it once for a nervous hour (I forgot to fill up) but we came back to it several more times before finally climbing up to the ridges. It was a hot day and I really wanted to jump in the creek and soak but I didn't want to foul up other hikers' water source. We hung out for an hour or sow in the midday to avoid the heat and I made some ramen. that stuff just never seems to get old to me.

Back on the trail the climbs where hot and dry; but Dave was really killing it so we just kept trudging on. It took us till nightfall to get to Mike's Casa where we had heard there was trouble between the caretaker and some Thru-Hikers a couple of days ago so we weren't sure what to expect. When we got to the road we still had a frustrating half-mile or so to walk and it was really hard to find the house. We could see the lights but we couldn't figure out how to get there. Eventually we figured it out. Cell service was unavailable all day so there was no way for me to communicate to Jeff our location. It turned out that we were 6 miles down a remote dirt road that was very hard to find and so I had to beam my satellite location up and message my emergency contact list to contact Jeff with our location but since it's not a 2-way link, I would have no way of knowing whether or not it was actually working. I guess we would know in the morning. Dave and I got the last two bunks in the little barn house and we crashed, grateful to have a spot to sleep that wasn't full of rocks.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Ancient Indian Sacred Hot Springs

My earliest day yet, I was off at 6:30. Unbelievable! It was gonna be a long one though. I had about 2 cups of water for 5 miles until the water cache at "Third Gate" and it got hot early. By mile 3.5 I was shuffling, a little delirious from dehydration and sucking at the sweat on my hands and face for a little relief for my dry mouth and cracked lips. This girl Keilly came up behind me and gave me a little bottle of water. She could tell I was all messed up and shortly thereafter I made it to the cache. There was a little left and I wanted to get out of there because I needed to do 24 miles today to get to Warner Spring to meet David Davis. We agreed to meet there and hike a section tomorrow. My blisters are still open and burning and I have some weird pain in the millde of my foot whenever I stop. Simple solution: Don't Stop.

It seemed like it took forever to get to the next water area (Barrel Springs mile 101) which was purported to have a questionable water supply. As I came in I noticed that there were a couple of RVs parked on the roadside plus Spring Guy's shortie. It looked like a party was developing and a couple of people were holding a camp/cookout for PCT hikers. It was a bunch of retired pilots who did this every year and cooked all kinds of stuff including chilidogs, sodas etc... I ended up staying there for about three hours with all these people that kept coming in off the trail. We set all of our packs down by these bushes and a big Pacific Rattlesnake showed up to check them out. I put my helmet cam on a trekking pole and got some footage of it all rattlin and stuff. The footage wasn't that great but I'll probably post it later.

I had 8 miles or so left and I had to get to Warner Springs by 8:30 when Dave was going to meet me there. Warner Springs is a place they built on hot springs and they actually have an olympic sized pool fed by the hot spring. I couldn't wait to try it out but if I didn't get there in time it would be closed.

By the time I got in it was dark and David was already there. He had driven his motorcycle. It turned out that I still had to hike another 1.2 miles on the road to get to the resort. I called him and he offered to pick me up so he rolled down on his bike and got me to the resort on the Harley with my backpack and all. it was cool. Fortunately we go in in time to enjoy the hot pool for an hour. Unfortunately we weren't in time for a steak...

I was hobbling around so badly that Dave was thinking, "How the hell is he gonna hike tomorrow?" but I know that there's a big difference between tonight and tomorrow when it comes to hikers' feet. Besides the sulfurous pool was gonna fix everything (or so the Indians say). I wasn't sure how fast Dave was going to be able to hike tomorrow but hopefully we can get close to a road so Jeff can pick us up the next morning because I have a gig tomorrow night.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Cowboy Camping on the Ridge

Woke up and got out an hour earlier than the day before. O don't think I've ever started hiking at 7:30am without major provocation before. I wasn't sure where I was going but I have just gotten used to listening to other people talk out here and following their directions. I have maps in my iPad but I don't ever feel like looking at them.

It turned out I was going for a place called scissors crossing at the 79 where you could go in to Julian if you wanted to. I know how these towns acan suck you in so I wasn't trying to go into julian and waste money on a hotel; however, as I got closer I kept thinking that lunch would be nice if I could get a hitch in pretty quickly. When I finally got to scissors crossing it was extrememely hot and I didn't see a good way to hitch in at all. I walked down the road a but and so many others were trying to hitch that I would have to wait until at least three cars stopped. Out of frustration I decided to start walking to Julian; however, the more I thought about it the more I realized I had no plans to actually walk the 12 miles in and there was much less of a chance of a car stopping because there was no real shoulder on the road here. I was about a mile down the road when I decided to go back. Just about the time I got back there, two trucks showed up and we all git rides in to Julian.

Ate lunch at Mom's Cafe and it turns out they give a free lunch to PCT Thru-hikers! Awesome! I grabbed some candy in the general store for the walk and went down to the post office to see if I could get a hitch back to Scissors Crossing. As I got in to the post office, a short RV pulled out and stopped for me. It was the notorious "Spring Guy" who maintains many of the springs here on the SoCal sections of the PCT. There were already a bunch of people in the van and I piled in for the trip back to SC

Back at SC there were a ton of Thru-Hikers lounging in the sun. Sugar Mama came up with some oranges and I learned that orange peels don't degrade in the wild. I wasn't too sure about that but whatever, I threw them in the trash instead of the bushes anyway. I BSed for a bit and then finally headed out.

The climb was rough. It was hot as hell and I really didn't bring enough water. I was caught by a crew of 5 fast hikers including two girls that hiked way faster than I was capable of with my beat-up kicks and dehydrated head. I caught them again just before we decided to camp. I was going for "Third Gate but it was still 5 mikes away so I just dropped with them at a bare spot and didn't even bother to pitch my tent. (cowboy Camping for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term) The stars were amazing; but there was some light-pollution from San Diego so we couldn't really see the milky way. Maybe later as we get closer to the remote wilderness.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone

Long day to Rodriguez Truck Road

Jeff drove me to a campsite just off the trail in Mt. Laguna at 2 am and I pitched my tent in a maelstrom of wind but thankfully no rain. At some point in the night a tent peg came up and the tent sort of collapsed on me and I had to re set it; but other than that the night was uneventful. I don't think I was supposed to be camping in that campsite but I was up and out by 8:30. Met up with a few thru-hikers along the way and decided to make it a long one all the way out to Rodriguez truck trail. while we were hiking, in the distance you could see a snow-covered peak. I'm assumuing it was San Jacinto or Gorgonio. both of which I'll climb within the next two weeks. I'm not looking forward to the ice climbing but that's too far away to think about yet. I hooked up with a few guys that were super fast hikers and got some mileage. Stopped for lunch at some dry creek and decided not to camp. Came in to RTT in the dark because I got some cell service on the ridge and spent too long texting and emailing while I had the chance. There was a weird spigot thing at RTT and I got some water before setting up the tent in the dark. There were a lot of people there cowboy camping, but I wouldn't be shamed into it. I set up the tent and crashed.

David AKA “Mister F. Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.davidpatrone.com/PCT
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/davidpatrone