I thought some people out there might be interested in hearing about how my wife (Kelly) and I got into long distance hiking, the 600 mile “sampling” of the Pacific Crest Trail in 2009 and our plans to thru-hike the entire 2700 miles of it in a few years. So over the next few weeks I will try and chronicle it all, even if the tale is still a work in progress.
Now even though this is a story without an ending; it does have a beginning and I remember that exact moment, that instant in time with crystal clarity. It was late summer/early fall of 2007 and we were on a day hike in the San Jacinto wilderness where the trail we take just happens to coincide with a small part of the Pacific Crest Trail. I was telling her about this fellow named Andrew Skurka who in the previous year had hiked the 1711 mile California portion of the trail at an average 43 miles per day as a “warm up” hike for his epic Great Western Loop hike. Curious, she asked about the Pacific Crest Trail, usually known just as the “PCT” and I told what I knew of it.
It was then; just starting the descent down a long stretch of switchbacks towards The Saddle she said that we should hike the PCT. I swear my jaw dropped open and in hindsight I’m surprised that I didn’t fall on my face.
My astonishment at her statement can be better understood if I relate the story of our first hike together. We had just begun dating, this would have been Los Angeles in the summer of 1997 and I asked her out on a hike-date to the San Jacinto Wilderness. She couldn’t understand why we needed to drive 2 hours when there were plenty of trails in the hills around LA. Once we got out of the car in Humbar Park she started to “get it” right away. It was about 6 miles into a 12 mile hike that she noted that she had to pee really bad. I of course stopped and said, “Okay, go ahead, I’ll stay here” to which she replied that she couldn’t possibly do that. After a short and humorous discussion it turns out that regardless of distance and line of sight, unless there was a door between us she felt too exposed. I did the only thing any guy could do in that situation, I tried to make her laugh as much as possible for the next 6 miles.
Day hiking became a favorite summertime activity for us but every time I brought up doing overnight trips she steadfastly held that she had no interest what-so-ever in sleeping in the woods, on the ground like a filthy animal without a hot shower available in the morning. No sir, that was not for her. So after a while I gave up on the idea and accepted that we would forever be limited to day hikes.
So here I am, 10 years later near the same place we made our first hike with her getting all excited over a 5 MONTH hike. Seriously, I was standing on a mountainside wondering who is this woman and what has she done with my wife? Determined not to lose this window of opportunity, an overnight hike was planned for the near future.
In the meantime, for some reason, we decided the best thing to do first would be a 14 mile day hike that we had thought of for years but never did since it was a through hike requiring 2 cars. So after luring some unsuspecting friends out for “a little September day hike” in the San Jacinto Mountains, the hike was completed in 8 hours. Now, I may have forgotten to mention the 5,000′ of elevation gain while convincing them to come, but then again I was the one who was in the worst shape and I trudged along without complaining.
And no, wheezing, groaning and sweating profusely do not constitute complaints. Anyhow Josh and Danielle seemed to forgive us within mere weeks and they did make a good looking couple while bonding through unexpected suffering.
Kelly and I had used the opportunity to test our new lightweight packs and damn did we look good in them!
Feeling cocky about our accomplishment, we planned our first overnighter together. Gear was purchased, plans were made and we headed back up to San Jacinto once more on the 1st week of October to the Little Round campsite. We hiked up the mountain in rain and thick fog then froze our butts off all night through a light snowfall and topped it off by breaking camp in temperatures that hovered in the teens. I really figured I had blown it, it was a fairly miserable trip and there was no way I thought I’d get another chance. Surprisingly Kelly remained undaunted in her determination to learn to long distance hike so we planned yet another trip for the next weekend. I thought the odds of it snowing 2 weekends in a row in October were pretty remote.