Adventures of Drama Queen and Simba

"If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine. It is lethal." - Paulo Coelho

I'd like to apologize for the lack of blog entries, things have been crazy and this will be my(Curtis) first post on the blog. Big Bear City brought some big changes for our group.  Having made it 266 miles we decided to split our group for awhile to get our individual legs under our feet and feel a better sense of how we are individually interacting with the trail outside of our group. Cameron and I took off from Big Bear a day earlier than Andrew and AJ and circumstance has kept us apart still (we hope they catch us soon). We have made it to Agua Dulce at mile 454 happy and with our bones still working. We feel like we are finally starting to chip away at the miles and can see a little dent out of the tremendous amount of miles yet to come.  We've had some great times and some rough experiences. One of our mantras has become, "Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." This trek or journey is much more of mental exercise than an athletic physical endevour. As Cameron's ankle and knee have healed up (many thanks for your prayers and fasting on his behalf) we've been able to start hiking at a quicker pace and have been hiking an average of 20 miles a day. Some of our longer days have been draining as those miles seem to drag on at the end of the day or during the heat of the day.  The terrain has played a big role in how quickly we hike as well, for the desert portion of Southern California has not been anything close to flat as it has taken us from mountain range to mountain range. The trail wears on your feet pounding them into submission and at times pretty constant pain. I often have to stop and stretch out the tendons in the bottom of my feet. Going uphill is often welcome, although physically straining, going downhill wears on your joints causing a lot of aches and pains at night as we settle in for bed. It is amazing though a midst the lows how simple of things can bring back up to a state of elation. Coming into camp three nights ago we had seen the sunset become more vivid and stark, showering the desert floor with a pink and purple hue as we climbed the last of the San Gabriel ridgeline. We'd had a rough day with many ascents and descents and dodging poodle-dog bush around every corner(a poisonous plant, more on that later), when we got to camp we threw our packs down and ran to the top of the hill to get a full view of the sunset, it rejuvenated us in a way that nothing else could, we simply sat in silence and remembered why we were hiking this trail.    

Splitting the group has allowed us to hike with some new people we've hiked with Matan from Israel and RainMaker from California. We are constantly running into other hikers, laughing with them can lift your spirits and makes the miles pass by so quickly. Its amazing how social of a trail this is. Thru-hikers are a crazy breed we are all a little weird, possibly deranged for choosing to hike this far for fun, and definitely unique. We get to hear some many different perspectives on life and listen to what motivates people to get off their couch and live life.

I can't catch you up on much of our highlights from the past few weeks so i'll write a few and possibly come back to some later.

Coming down from Big Bear on our first night we were able to come into camp with a welcome fire(we rarely if ever have fires, too much time and dangerous in the dry climate). We thought it was from a other PCT hikers but it turned out to be two friendly older gents who were camping in the area to pan for gold. Big Bear started out as an old mining town.  They were super friendly and we were able to swap food for good conversation and a fire to sit around and cook on.

We spent the next day trying to get as close as possible to the upcoming hot springs so we put in a big mile day almost stepping on multiple snakes, none of which were rattlers(although we have seen a couple) or poisonous but enough to scare us and get me to jump whenever Cameron thought he saw one.

Waking up to the Deep Creek Hot Springs once one of the best highlights of the trip. There are multiple pools or tubs of varying degrees of temperature. This place is nestled among rock outcroppings overlooking the deep river which has cool water deep enough to jump into. We spent the whole morning bathing there.  I left my backpack unattended at this popular place and a squirrel bit through my waste belt pocket and pulled out my Butterfinger. I was slightly upset about the hole in my pack but livid about the lost candybar, didn't that little punk know that I packed that out and was stoked to eat it, lost calories! We hiked out and on our way out of the canyon we spotted another local swimming hole. This one much less attractive as the rocks were spray painted in an riot or apocalyptic manner with shattered glass strewn about the rocks. But that couldn't take away from the 40+ foot cliff that we were able to jump off of into the pool below. That topped off one of our funnest days on the trail yet.

We dropped into one of the first familiar places for me along the trail I-15 at Cahon Pass were there was a lone McDonalds. I rarely if ever eat there as there is nothing there for this vegetarian but I can't describe the excitement we felt for seeing that building and contemplating what we were going to get. Food talk is a common topic along the trail. We got picked up by a fellow thru-hiker named Kelso an ex military officer who lived down in San Bernandino and threw a big barbecue at his place and let us spend the night even taking us to REI.

We just finish hiking over the San Gabriels, resupplying in Wrightwood. Climbing to our highest point yet on the trail, Mt. Badden-Powell(the founder of the boy scouts) While hiking this portion of the trail we must've passed at least 100 boy scouts all with packs twice the size of their frame packed for only a 2 or 3 day stay. I felt bad for them and remembered when I had to do the same as I am hiking for 4-5 months and my pack was easily half the size of theirs.

Coming down of the San Gabriels we passed through a lot of burned areas. They often have a post-apocalyptic feel as there blackened skeletons of trees for as far as you can see as if a bomb went off.  These sections are barren and have little to no relief from the sun and no shade.  It is neat though to seen the new growth taking root. Although the new growth brings its plagues. As I mentioned earlier we have now been hiking through miles of trail strewn with Poddle-dog bush. This plant grows almost exclusively in burn areas. It look partially scary and part appealing with its purple topped flower. However the reactions that it can cause are worse than poison ivy and poison oak (both of which we have encountered already too) This plant can cause blisters the equivalent of a third degree burn and possibly lead to respiratory distress. At times we are literally in a maze of this bastard plant our progress slows and we enter video game mode dodging and wriggling around it, all we can do is laugh and hope for the best. No rashes yet! And I believe the worst of it is behind.

We have now had two easy days one chilling at a KOA campground that happened to be close to the trail which had a hot tub and pool with ice cream. So amazing and relaxing. And now we are in Agua Dulce at the Saufleys, an amazing trail angel couple who have there place set up with everything we need and more. Even offering bicycles for us to ride into town to get groceries. So we turn into a biker gang of patchwork hiker trash cruising the streets on old run down bikes. Loving life! And so we hike on!

Day 7 "Warner Springs"

We woke up early and hiked through some beautiful oaks into some plains. Took a side trip to eagle rock(first picture), and spent some time hopping on rocks with the boys. Than we hiked into our first resupply at Warner springs. Some of the elderly in Warner Springs created a resupply station out of a community center for the hikers. They employee troubled teens in the meighborhood as a way for them to earn money for college, it's a great idea, cuz it's a win win for the hikers and the community. As we pulled up we met two other hikers from UT that we've gotten really close with since. They're names are "Dirt Bag" and "Chosen One". They are both recovered addicts hiking for recovering addicts. "Dirt bag" got his name by being a dirt bag. In the rock climbing world, a dirt bag is someone who lives out of there car, so they can save money on rent, and climb as much as possible. "Chosen One" got his name because a lady approached him in Julian (a city with 8 different witch covens) and told him how great his life would be if he accepted Jesus, then put her hands on his head and started praying over him, so the hikers there started calling him chosen one.

After we had ate and met with all the hikers holding up at the resupply, Aj and I saw a baseball game at the far field and decided to head over there. We realized as we approached that it was a girls game, and that we looked like creepy old hobos, so we headed back. We hadn't showered in a week, we both had beards, and we were gimping over to the field from our blisters, when all the day's started giving us stern looks.

Once we had retreated to the safety of the hikers. We found "Chosen One" and "Dirt Bag" filling blisters with medical grade tree sap. When they took off my shoes everyone shuddered and "Dirt Bag" dubbed me "Wolf Paw". After that Curtis found a guitar, and a big group of us started singing songs ranging from Beatles to Taylor Swift. Then we all hung around a camp fire till it was time to crash.

(Here a pics of all of us as of week one, I threw Cameron's in on the Drama Queen post)

Day 6 Ascension

Today I busted out some Hugh Nibley on the iPod and was listening to his pearl of great price lectures. Throughout his lectures, he kept bringing up the theme of ascension texts. For those who don't know what an ascension text is, the most famous example would be Dante's Divine Comedy (any story of someone ascending the heavens to throne of God). Hugh Nibley focused on Horus (an egyptian God he associates with Christ) and Moses. But while he was talking about both of their journeys/visions through/of all of Gods creations (which in turn, helps them understand God), I couldn't help but feel the same way about this trek.

It might sound cheesy on a blog, but it was a deeply moving experience, being able to more fully realize the magnitude of this opportunity to hike the PCT. I had to stop and compose myself on some of the mountain views so as not to completely breakdown weeping at the beauty of everything around me. We descended a desert (symbol of death and the duat) mountain into a water cache (which was like an oasis in the 103 degree weather), and then ascended a mountain to the next cache. the descending and ascending of the conical structure (mountain) can be a strong symbol for ascension experiences. The inverted cone is cyclical, the circle being the symbol of perfection and deity, but the inversion showing a turning away to a point that is completely restricted (Dante uses the ascending and descending spiral or cones to help explain hell and heaven). The ascending cone (or mountain) is the opposite, it is a symbol of the restrictions of the world in a circle around you, but as you give up more to god and ascend closer and closer to him (the mountain peak) you can see more and experience more until you are freed from the bonds of the world. During our ascension we came across cacti that were blooming flowers(these cacti, supposedly only bloom once a year, and it only lasts a couple days) and the divine became clear for brief moments of clairvoyance as we looked over how far we had traveled.

We also met a hiker from Israel whose trail name was "the messenger". He got it last year because he was hiking the pct north to south (most people hike south to north) and so he would take messages from hikers pushing ahead, to their friends behind. That night Aj and I split off from Cameron and Curtis to hike, and right when we crested the ridge of the mountain we ascended we were hit by a beautiful sunset that changed colors from yellow, to purple, to red within minutes. We later found out this was due to some wildfire smoke that got blown through the canyon. It gave us the extra bit of energy we needed, and Aj and I chanted and danced for the next 8 miles that we cranked out under the stars with our headlamps, until we reunited with the group.

Day 5:Dave Christensen, White sage, and a Pow Wow.

Today was a hike through the desert. We dropped down from the mountain vistas into the desert heat. I was expecting to be miserable and it to be an ugly desert compared to Utah. I couldn't have been more wrong, the desert is beautiful.

I wish I could post raw photos from my camera through my phone. As Curtis pointed out, some of the plants out here seem to have come straight out of a Dr. Seuss book.

We felt Dave's presence when we found some white sage by our camp site. For those who don't know white sage is the Native American equivalent to the Jewish Ketoret used in there temple rituals. It is a sacred white plant that when burned has a sweet smell. The smell is symbolic of purification and the smoke is a symbol of prayers ascending to heaven. We used some that night under the stars and had a Pow Wow dance around a camp fire to some Native American pow wow songs I had brought on my phone. The dancing and singing slowed as we ran out of energy and ended up with us singing les Mis and some hymns before we crashed. There is nothing better than falling asleep under the clear starry sky in the desert.

Day 4-"View from the Mountain tops"

Day 4 was spent traversing mountain top to mountain top overlooking the desert we were about to descend into. The view got me talking to Cameron about the origin of the word temples. The greek word Tempulem and similarly the Hebrew word for temple (I'm probably spelling this wrong, I am no etymologist) both mean the sacred cut. It comes from when the Greeks who would go away from society (cut off from the everyday world) and on a hill or mountain (exactly like we were) look up at the stars and contemplate man's role in the cosmos. Temples are sacred spaces cut off from the mundane, and consecrated to the divine. Cameron was loving this because that was exactly what he was doing.

So we stayed up all night talking about the stars, Hermeticism, and tying in Egyptian and Greek Gods to temple rituals. It was our first, long, solid, spiritual discussion without Aj and Curtis, So I was grateful to develop that bond with Cameron.

Day 3-"Drama Queen"

So we had our first trail name given to Cameron on Day 3, but before I go into that I figured he deserved an intro other than Curtis' little brother.

Cameron was the wild card on this trip. I had spent some time with him before coming out here when I was hanging out with the Allred's, but he had always been quiet. I was nervous he wouldn't fit in, seeing that Curtis, Aj, and I had spent a long time developing our friendship and
sense of humor. On top of all this, Cameron injured his ankle just before we left on this trip and I was afraid that nursing his ankle might take away from our trip.

Cameron has put all those fears to rest. He joined in on Aj's and my nerdy jokes day 1. He has been a champ, crushing the hikes on the high mile days. The only times we have rested for his ankle are the days Aj and I are too ashamed to tell Curtis we are sore, so we ask Cameron how his ankle is feeling.

On day 3 Cameron was dubbed with the trail name "Drama Queen". A trail name most hikers would veto in hopes for something more flattering, Cameron owned it, with a smile on his face, as soon as it was proposed. While we were cooking dinner with some other hikers, Cameron freaked out and was yelling something incoherently. Once he calmed down, we figured out the cause of all the commotion had been a little spider. One of the other hikers named him "Drama Queen", and he has lived up to the trail name ever since (in the best way possible). There is never a dull moment with Cameron, he adds drama, humor, and a personality that is uniquely his own. Our little party of four would be incomplete without him.

Day 2-"Trail Magic"

Anyone familiar with the PCT is familiar with the term "trail magic". It's pretty self explanatory, times on the trail when things that seem miraculous occur. People kept telling us about "trail magic" or sayings like "the trail provides", but it wasn't until day 2 that we came to know trail magic like the hikers before us.

A little background to our first of three "trail magic" experiences on day 2. So when we went and bought food for the PCT, I was the only one who didn't buy peanut butter, I realized the error of my ways the first night. (We will do a separate post on the ways hikers try to down 6,000+ calories a day, just to not lose too much weight) before I went to bed I said to everyone, "I wish I had bought peanut butter, I will have to figure something out before we get to the next town." The next morning, while sitting in a grove after our first few miles of hiking, a fireman walks by and offers us a few items including a jar of peanut butter! Trail magic in the flesh.

Then right after this, we climbed a mountain in 100 degree weather. We burned through our water supply, as we hiked right through the hottest hours of the day, and right when Cameron wants to take a break he said, "I wish we had some more water", and we came upon a water cache with cold waters and beers provided by anonymous trail angels. It was incredible.

After we came down from the mountain, we arrived at where the PCT kickoff is being held, and our greeted by dozens of unknown hikers and trail angels who clap for us as we finish the first twenty miles. We are offered cold sodas, water, and treats. It is an incredible feeling to be loved so freely, by so many strangers. This is a taste of Zion to me.

During our hike in the desert heat Curtis told us about a sweet straw hat he saw some random guy wearing that Curtis would love to have for the trail. Once we rolled into camp we meet "Chili". A 14 year old who has already completed the PCT and the AT (Appellation Trail), and just biked from the south east tip of America to the southwest tip for the kickoff. Next year he is planning to get his triple crown (people who complete the PCT, AT, and CDT(Continental divide trail). It turns out Chili's Dad, "Pepper" is the person who was wearing the hat Curtis talked about, and as soon as Curtis told him how much he liked it, his Dad gave it to him. We had Trail magic in spades day 2.

After hanging out with "Chili", we met another awesome trail angel named "Jackelope" who had a energetic 5 year old named Julian after one of the trail towns. Julian chased all four of us around, wearing us out one by one, with his pet spider named "fang".

Then for dinner that night, a trail angel couple, the Anderson's, made everyone dinner. It was 3 giant pots of some of the best chili I've ever tasted. So we ate till we were sick then left everyone at the kickoff site for a night hike through the desert.

Quick disclaimer: I can't reply to comments from my phone, so it will have to wait for town days, but we are all grateful for your comments.

Day 1-PCT Kickoff

We spent the day at the PCT kickoff event with all the other PCT hikers, trail angels, and some of the PCT celebrities getting the inside tips on how to make it to Canada. After checking out everyone's beard size (the standard measurement for how good you are at living in the mountains), we realized all of us were scrubs compared to these Gurus. We met people like "Yogi", "Jester", "Major Upchuck", and "Posse." Hikers go by their trail names, new names given to you by the trail for your journey/pilgrimage (sound like anything familiar?). All the names have a story behind them, and it is fascinating hearing all these tales as we prepare for our pilgrimage. I can't express the amount of love, sacrifice, selflessness, and service that was felt in this large of a community. We didn't pay for food for three days. Trail Angels had been preparing meals for all the through hikers for this event, everyone was open, kind, and loving-offering food and copius amounts of weed and alcohol for free, although we don't drink or smoke, the love in the gesture was felt.

We got antsy at the Kickoff and decided to start our hike, so we got "Bayou Bandit" and Richie (two trail angels) to give us a ride to the border so we could start our hike. The wall at the border to mexico felt dark. We passed tons of border patrol cars and a helicopter on our way to the Wall. We even got stopped and questioned by border patrol for a few minutes after a few miles into our hike. We didn't start till late, so we only hiked 9 miles, then set up camp. On the hike we saw a peregrine falcon being eaten by a larger bird (we have no idea how it caught it), and took it as an omen. It turns out the PCT has a %70 attrition rate, and young single males is the highest dropout demographic. They push themselves too far, and too fast, out the gate, and usually have to go home due to injury. So we decided lest we end up like the peregrine falcon, we'll take the first couple weeks slow. Other than that, the first night felt like a night camping with the boys, the magnitude of the journey still hasn't sunk in.

(I don't know how the pictures work from my phone, but those are the stoves we made out of coke cans,and that is a tree that has red bark, which is symbolic. We felt Dave's presence while checking it out)