Day 3 by Rob
Mile 20 to 37
Today was our first and smartest wake up time at 6am to get started while it was cool. We really need to start even earlier. We have already met 3 people who start at 2:30am. We leap frogged with Angela all day 3. She’s starting her collection of section hikes with this segment. I’m sure we will see her more. This day came in little sections for us, too. The first was all the way to a small spring. The second to an oasis called Fred’s Canyon. The previous 12 miles of big desert hills with the tallest Manzanita “trees” topping out at about 5 ft didn’t offer much shelter but the views at 5000+ feet were awesome. Fred’s was a perfect place for us to reach at 1:30 for a siesta by a fast running creek under the only 3 tall Eucalyptus trees we’ve seen so far. Some lunch and a little nap were great. Our last stretch of 5 miles of the day took us to Long Creek. We found a great camp site but the creek was a steep brier filled 25ft down from camp. We hit bed by 8pm, ate a very romantic dinner in our tiny tent and reminisced about our trek thus far. The temperature dropped quickly so we snugged up and I was out cold soon after.

Lacy:
The way we hiked today was so much smarter. I felt so much stronger today and more hydrated which makes all the difference in the world. Knocking out 17 miles in a day is closer to what we hoped but we still need work. We keep seeing these tiny white butterflies with orange tips that make me smile. The best part of my day was about 6pm when the sun started to set and we came around a bend to wide mountain vista. My eyes welled up with happy tears.

Break in the shade

Filtering water

Rob

Today was our first and smartest wake up time at 6am to get started while it was cool. We really need to start even earlier. We have already met 3 people who start at 2:30am. We leap frogged with Angela all day 3. She’s starting her collection of section hikes with this segment. I’m sure we will see her more. This day came in little sections for us, too. The first was all the way to a small spring. The second to an oasis called Fred’s Canyon. The previous 12 miles of big desert hills with the tallest Manzanita “trees” topping out at about 5 ft didn’t offer much shelter but the views at 5000+ feet were awesome. Fred’s was a perfect place for us to reach at 1:30 for a siesta by a fast running creek under the only 3 tall Eucalyptus trees we’ve seen so far. Some lunch and a little nap were great. Our last stretch of 5 miles of the day took us to Long Creek. We found a great camp site but the creek was a steep brier filled 25ft down from camp. We hit bed by 8pm, ate a very romantic dinner in our tiny tent and reminisced about our trek thus far. The temperature dropped quickly so we snugged up and I was out cold soon after.

Lacy
The way we hiked today was so much smarter. I felt so much stronger today and more hydrated which makes all the difference in the world. Knocking out 17 miles in a day is closer to what we hoped but we still need work. We keep seeing these tiny white butterflies with orange tips that make me smile. The best part of my day was about 6pm when the sun started to set and we came around a bend to wide mountain vista. My eyes welled up with happy tears.

Written by Rob
My posts are going to be a mix of our experiences and notes to fellow n future PCTers. My thanks to bloggers from PCT class of 2016 that I followed last year while prepping for our trek this year. Claudimoon, Blazer, Hammer n Corky. Hiker Harrison caught up with us just in time to go up a desert canyon at high sun time. It was a challenge in the heat but we found refuge under a huge boulder for an hour before going the other half up and over. We camped at Lake Morena with 10 others. A few seasoned hikers had made the first 20 miles in one shot. The rest of us rookies took two days. Since our first day was really a half day, it was just right for us. Beautiful desert flowers because of all the recent rains and “extra” streams that would normally be dry by now are a blessing. Topping a hill to see what is beyond or even a rabbit that decide

View from campsite

Campsite #2- Rob making dinner

Giz loves a view

Campsite #1

Sunset from where we camped

s to run in front of us for a bit are proving to be little inspirations too.

Lacy:

A lesson I quickly learned today is that shade and water = 😊.  On the other hand, the ☀️ between 2 and 4 is BRUTAL. We got up from our secluded campsite about 9 and hiked through the morning when we met up with Harrison. We had stopped so Rob could tape up a blister on my heel. It was nice to hike with someone and chat. He works as a fisherman 4 months of the year and travels the other 8. Living the dream. He did the AT in 2013 and has a faster pace so he is ahead of us now. Maybe we will see him later. He huddled up under the boulder with us seeking shade in the middle of the day. We met up with him and several other hikers at Lake Morena campground. I was so exhausted at then end of the day and apparently everyone else was too cause everyone was in their tent by 7:30 and vowing to wake up early and get in miles before the heat of the day. It was a great day‼