Wednesday ended up being a 26 mile day out of the gate. It started at 7 AM touching the monument and I pulled up to camp at about 4 PM. This includes a 20-minute lunch mid-morning and 10-minute beverage break early-afternoon at 20 miles in. There was a new Base Camp PCT Trail Angel/whatever you wanna call it at the equestrian center just a couple tenths of a mile away from the terminus where I had booked a camp spot. Said reservation proved unnecessary, but I am fine with the $15 donation. I was not expecting such hospitality, since it only began last week. It was fun to camp with others and eat spaghetti at night with pancakes in the morning. Thank you Legend, Mark and Eric.

I definitely was not trying to haul super long miles but my intended average per day non-Sierra is 22.5, even though I know I’ll surpass that, and my goal for today was 24.1. The 24.1 mile creek I arrived and previously thought to camp at was right under a highway so clearly that wasn’t gonna happen. I pushed on and found at 26 a really nice campground and met some new people. It’s 5 PM and in my tent, laying down letting the feet breathe and shoes/socks/insoles air out. My split pea cold soak soup is ready to eat and I’m going to go drink up some more water.

Today’s scenery was nice but unremarkable. Lots of rolling hills, gentle scrub, small forest if you will, but more like tall bushes. The tread was generally soft packed sand, which was obviously a different start than the Arizona Trail. The cloud cover was modest. The trail is definitely way wider than the Arizona Trail and I basically did not need to navigate at all unless there was a junction in the road that had no sign.

Tomorrow is basically 14 miles of climb from 3000 to 6000 feet so, yeah, there’s that. I’ll probably push onward to end about 50 miles deep into the PCT. Sunday morning I’m meeting my buddy Jonathan and depending on any number of circumstances I might arrive Saturday night to camp and at least until he arrives or I’ll do a few miles Sunday morning into our rendezvous.

Thursday Today’s goal was to hike a comparable 26 miles as well. It ended up being 28. I carved myself a little campsite topside of the trail overlooking a beautiful canyon that has your typical Native American/White man history. It faces east, so I anticipate a first light start with the tear down. That’s some wisdom learn from the AZT: Just don’t bother if it’s dark. There is increasingly enough daylight at the end of the day to get extra miles in that way. Also good about this campsite is that all I hear is wind. Last night the campground was tucked between two decent size roads and under a flight path for San Diego, so sleep was intermittent at best. Sorry folks, I don’t have a picture of the campsite because I am creating this entry and it’s already twilight.

The day, however, was surprisingly and unwanting marked by aches and pains in both IT bands. Granted, I may have put on a little bit of weight in my Flagstaff and Phoenix and Sedona downtime between trails and I am carrying a bag with food for ~5 days, and I did 26 yesterday. Still, the entire Arizona Trail had may be a tingle of pain in my right IT band on a rare occasion at best.

My hope is keep using the poles to absorb some of the impact. Keep the water carries as light as possible, although the next stretch of 20 to 30 miles has few water sources so I will have to carry full capacity which is a 4L, and keep stretching/use the massage ball at night. Ultimately, I am hoping this is just a renewed get-your-trail-legs-re-introduction that will quickly subside.

Other highlights from today were passing many folks, chilling with new folks, eating a totally not good for you array of pastries with a beverage at 41.5, some beautiful forest, and just being safe. Having fun, of course.

Friday Wow! Today was something else. Camped at mile 54 from last night, today I am in my tent and at mile 83.1. That means I walked 29.1 miles to this campsite. When in actuality, I walked in additional 2.2 miles round-trip for off-trail water. Total: 31.3 on Day 3. I am glad I got that water as this day was heavy sun, lots of climbing, a solid three miles across a baking valley floor, and similar aches and pains to yesterday‘s IT band concerns, albeit more stiff than painful.

Of course there are going to be aches and pains throughout these 2700 miles, but the surprising piece is how early some are coming.

The plan for Saturday is to push hard on the 17 remaining miles, hitting the first 100 and then veer right four miles (hopefully they will give me a ride) to a store/shower/battery charger/bucket laundry/whatever and hang there for a couple hours before getting back to the trail and walking upwards of the additional 10 miles to 110 (Warner Springs) where I will have completed Section A of the PCT and the meet Jonathan Sunday morning for breakfast and my second resupply box.

Saturday A really mixed day. First of all, I do want to say that the trail so far has been so nice with aromas of flowers and trees and soil and sun, and yes my own sweat. There have been an immense amount of birds and song and little rabbits darting across the trail as well. Head to head on first section experiences between the Arizona Trail and the PCT, I’m going to have to give it to the Arizona Trail. There was just more novelty.

Now, this IT band issue is something I can’t ignore and hope will work itself out. It was seriously painful today, especially in my left leg. Stiff like wire. But then other times okay. My tune is no different than anyone else. I have my cork ball, I’m stretching, I’m hydrating with electrolytes, and the one thing which I need to do, which is rest, I cannot really do until mid next week in Idyllwild. I have friends who are meeting me there/more or less and at 179.4 , I’m fine taking a zero and maybe a double zero (HT: Scott).

I also accept I’m caring too much water. I have a total capacity of 4L and like having some extra but there really is just no need to carry more than I’m going to drink. So I’m going to cut that weight. I’m also carrying a day’s worth of extra food. Again, I like having food for an emergency and the unforeseen, but maybe I can lighten that load too.

As to the trail today, I moved from high canyon to low land forest to open meadow/a prairie that was just simply gorgeous and historically home to First Nations. Wait...I hear a few raindrops coming down. I need to check my tent fly as it’s already 8:14 and dark.

Sunday It’s 6 AM and I am sitting in my tent cozy, everything unorganized and this is the first time since leaving Maui I have a moment of indulgence on trail. I typically like to be up and out, as you have learned. No condensation (no rain last night by the way) means happy chilling for an hour or so listening to the morning song of unfamiliar birds until I gear up and meet Jonathan at 8 AM.

Overnight I kept the cork ball rotating around my legs and butt. While I can certainly feel the tension in my IT bands, I am hopeful about today and the next few days.

I read a few blog posts from past hikers who have experienced similar aches at this point in the trail. The short story is that I’m going to downshift my miles to the 22 planned or slightly less and simply coordinate accordingly with my next set of friends in a few days. I am also thinking of taking some alternate routes into Idyllwild, as there’s really no need to mount a 10,000 foot climb with steep downs when the body says otherwise. There have been years where reroutes were mandated and they still exist as choices even though those closures are no longer in place.

Okay. This wraps Section A.