Day 2 – A long climb to Mt. Laguna
Originally published on Mason Hikes the PCT 2017.
Mileage: 24 (currently 1.9 miles outside Mt. Laguna)
Oh boy… Today started early and ended late. In the same way someone convinced me not to push it on day one, someone else convinced me to push it on day two. I spoke to two girls that said they were trying to hit Mt. Laguna today, so I figured I could do that too. While correct, that was a terrible idea.
I started the day at a reasonable 5:45am, at which point I quickly realized that there are a ton of spiders in the desert. I took one for the team and single handedly de-webbed miles and miles of trail until people started waking up to walk in front of me. At least the scenery was pretty.
By 10am, I had gone a bit over 10 miles up some pretty big hills, so I was feeling good. I eventually stopped at Kitchen Creek for some laundry/shower/lunch, where Steve the trail angel found me. He led me to his car which was full of amazing surprises, like ice cold water, fresh fruit, peanut butter and jelly supplies, etc, and we sat for a while to chat.
Once I left Steve, things got harder. My thermometer was reading close to 120° F, and the rest of my day was uphill.
It was a long and difficult process, but I eventually made it up to a campsite a couple miles outside of town and curled up in my tent to avoid all the blood-sucking skeeters.
Best part(s): sunrise, 10 miles by 10am, Kitchen Creek, Steve’s trail magic
Worst part(s): Holy mother of God, the flies. I cannot take anymore of their trying to have babies with every orifice on my head or whatever it is that they’re doing. They must be stopped.