Day 7 - Is it Winter??

Warner Springs to Mikes Place 18 miles. Distance from Mexico 127.2 miles.

Yes - it does rain in California. Started raining during the night so packed a wet tent. Broke out the wet weather coat & pants until mid afternoon. Climbed in to the clouds so couldnt see much up to 5000 ft. New  Zealand conditions then with lots of manuka type shrubbery. Went through this great boulder outcrop though

At 3.30 pm I came upon Mike's Place - a trail angels place but he was not home. But Tom & Josh were & offered up hot dogs & pancakes - why leave?? So we didn't. Later it was cheeseburgers & beer & this morning - breakfast burritos & coffee.....oh yeah.  A group of us are trekking at the same pace. Here are most of the crew waiting for a burger

From left to right - Richard (California USA), Sebastian (Switzerland), Bastian (Quebec Canada), Joe (Ohio USA), Plugger (USA), Jessica (Germany), Geoff (Oregon USA). Only missing was Israeli Ben & Daniel the German.
We are cutting back the miles over the next few days as there are a few bodies starting to break. Until next time Weta

Day 6 - Nero Day

Barrel Spring to Warner Springs 8.1 miles. Distance from Mexico One Hundred & Nine miles.

What's a Nero day?? A near zero thats what. Walked the 8 mile to Warner Springs this morning through some different open country

From a distance it looked like sand but in fact was fields of the weed that looks like stunted wheat - cocks foot maybe??
Arrived at Warner Springs to pick up my resupply box. The local golf club had a cafe meaning that most of us ordered lunch. I was hanging out for fresh food so got A BLT with avocado - damn good.
Then I headed for the Warner Springs Community Centre where they host PCT hikers - all 60 of us!!!

They provide free camping, bucket showers, laundry, fruit, computers etc. Just great service so decided to stay for the rest of the day to rest a dodgy shin which I might strap up tonight. Am sitting watching the locals playing slow pitch softball - could be in NZ given the banter going on.
That's all for now Weta

Day 5 - A Long Slog

Scissor Crossing To Barrel Springs - 24.1 miles. Miles from Mexican Border - 101.1 miles.

This was a tough day - physically & mentally. The first 17 miles were spent in the San Felipe Hills. After an initial climb we spent the rest of the time sitting just under the ridge line so that we were constantly rounding spurs to see the same track view time and again. The real killer was that we always had the valley view on the left of us - with all the weaving in & out of spurs it seemed we were making no progress against our points of reference in the valley. When we finally topped the ridge in to the next valley we made a few choice verbal offerings to what we endured. Topping out at 4500 feet we then dropped down to our campsite after 24 miles - I am shattered. Did manage to see another snake as below

Also saw the weirdest fly type creature given that it was a good 3 cm long & completely blue with orange wings.
Another milestone was passed today

Yes - that's One Hundred Miles done in 5 days - or 160 km to give it some perspective.
Short day tomorrow with only 8 miles to Warner Springs for a resupply. Also am having to see what poison oak looks like as it is the campsite we are in. Until next time Weta

Day 4 - Wind Wind & More Wind

Like 56 to Scissor Crossing -  21 miles. Distance from Mexico 77 miles.
The wind has picked up yesterday to make my real estate at the top of the mountain a bad investment - it dropped my tent 3 times through the night so had minimal sleep.
Today was no different with brutally cold winds tossing is around all day. Dropped out of the Laguna Mountains on to come really dry land near Julian. Looks like bandit country

We were buzzed by Navy choppers & jets all day as there is a base near by

I'm camped under a bridge with a dozen others to get out of the wind when a guy turned up with beer food a charcoal burner & heaps of other stuff. You got to love these trail angels.

Water is the big headache here as you have to rely on troughs tanks & remote springs to keep hydrated but all good so far. Until next time Weta

Day 3 - Wilderness Camping

My Laguna to Mile 56 - 17.2 miles. 56 miles from Mexico.
Two extremes of camping today. Woke to freezing temperatures with an iced up tent & finished the day perched on a little nook on the side of a mountain range where the wind can drop any time it likes. Great view though :-)

Hiking wise it was dominated by the heart in the mouth views of the Anza Borrego Desert - just stunning stunning stunning

I have not seen anything like this before but all day we traversed the ridge with this view - just magical. Also found some more trail angels who fronted with a coke, Snickers  & the biggest apple I'd ever seen.
Otherwise the body was a bit more battered today. A couple of little niggles that I will manage. Until next time this is Weta

Day 2 - In To Laguna Mountains

Morena to Laguna Mountains 18.8 miles
Miles from Mexico 38.8 miles

Great day with tough climbs of almost 4000 feet - we camped at 6000 feet. Absolutely magnificent views over the surrounding area - even a bit kiwi in places with trees etc. Met a few trail runners as well. Crossed a large highway & began the climb as below

At the top I got my first taste of trail magic

This guy was handing out iced tea from his chilly bin - just brilliant :-).
Spent the day hiking mostly solo but got some good rhythm. More lizards  & another snake but no rattlers. Camped the night in a beautiful spot with some mad Canadians & Americans. Sorry this is brief but am doing okay. Doing this quickly before heading off again. Weta

Day 1 - Up Up & Away

Campo to Morena 20 miles
Oh yes indeed - this is really happening!! A 7.30 start at the Mexican Border for one anxious kiwi but this is for real

One mile in & the standard photo with Ben the Israeli & a guy from Atlanta. Ben & I hiked together all day. Beautiful weather with breeze to keep the edge off. Terrain is like Abel Tasman without the water - lots of small stubby scrub with big boulder strewn hills. One big climb after 15 mile which is on the right of this picture below

I was happy to stop at 15 miles but water was an issue. Body held up okay.

Lots of lizards insects birds but only one snake - a King snake. Keeping this short as coverage lousy & I am finishing this on day 3. Weta 

It Never Rains In Southern California

Or so the song goes. Greetings from San Diego where we are less than 24 hours from being let loose on the PCT. I won't bore you with the details of the trip over, only as far saying 20 hours of travel takes it out of you. The only blemishes being the delightful border control lady at LA Airport - that's a joke as she was Miss Personality of 2016 - not. And my pack arriving in San Diego ahead of me on an earlier train - the heart rate went through the roof when I didn't see my pack on the baggage trolley but all good in the end. Finally a friendly greeting here at the amazing home of Barney & Sandy Mann who host up to 25 hikers a night all over their property. The photo below is of Barney while the back yard
has 3 catering tents for hikers. I got the best spot in the tree over the back complete with a fully treehouse with power, mattress etc

There is a real United Nations of folk here with  Japanese, Germans, French, British, Israelis, Swiss, Czech, Canadian, a Scot living in Alaska, Americans & heaven forbid, an Aussie :-).  Barney & Sandy would get the QSM or OBE if they were in NZ given this is all done for free.

I spent the day yesterday getting my phone switched to AT&T while sourcing extra gear. Also did the food run at the local supermarket. Spent today finishing some food purchases for resupply packs & testing out a fully laden bag with 6 litres of water - no water for the first 33 k tomorrow. Am okay with the pack weight but it will be pushing 20 kilo fully loaded so that's my house for the next 6 months.

I'm not sure when I can post again as coverage will be patchy. So if you don't see anything for a day or 6 I would hope I haven't been eaten by a rabid scorpion. Its a 7.30am start on the trail tomorrow with forecast low 5 high 25 so I think we can cope with that. Until then :-)

Ground Control To Major Tom

Don't know why I put that heading on - I always think of that before hopping on a plane to temporarily leave the planet. A couple of hours away from leaving and the bag is packed:-

Thanks to everybody that has wished me all the best - I will reply to your comments once I am up & running in a day or three. By that time I will have switched to a US based phone company. So bon voyage until I post again in a couple of days from San Diego!!!

PCT Gear List....or not

For all those gear junkies who thought that this was the tell all gear list, you have lucked out. I am just testing uploads via my phone including posting photos. I have attached a photo of an ever mounting pile of essentials including the big 3 - my Aarn Featherlite pack, my 680 gram Six Moons Luna Solo tent & my awesome One Planet sleeping bag

Until next time.

So Why Am I Doing This Again??

Hello everyone!!! Well - those two or three people that might take time out of their lives to see what I am up to. Roger Morrison that is if you haven't worked that out :-).
The adventure begins on 19th April 2016 when I leave Napier en route to Los Angeles to tackle the Pacific Crest Trail - all 2600 miles of it. After a couple of days in San Diego I start the trail on the Mexican border on 22nd April 2016.
There are numerous blogs and journals set up by people tackling the Trail - all far more professionally presented & updated than what I will be capable of, so I'll be learning as I go. The other noticeable thing is how organised these people are!!! I have enough trouble working out what I'm doing tomorrow let alone 3, 4 or 6 months down the track. Never fear, I have most things sorted, provided the US border security allows me access to the home of the brave and the land of the free.
Why am I doing this?? Apart from the stars aligning in terms of no work commitments, finances and support from back here in New Zealand, I can only really answer that question by the desire to always know "what is over the next rise, around the next corner and through that bush". Otherwise I'll let you know if I have any other light-bulb moments as I work my way though this challenge.
Other blog sites have sections dedicated to gear lists, planning, training, more gear lists etc etc. Yeah - nah. This site is really a way for people to see what I am doing from a New Zealander perspective. If anyone is ever interested enough to want to know more I'll answer the questions as I go.
So this is my initial post for the journey that is the equivalent of walking State Highway One from Cape Reinga to Bluff & return (with a few 100 kms thrown in at the end).
I'll put together a couple of more posts over the next week & practice adding photos and the like - believe me, my technological skills are pretty pre-historic. Talking of pre-historic, the practice is for hikers on the Trail to have a pseudonym to use. At this stage I am looking at using "weta" given that they are pre-historic, ugly and slow - but tough (not sure about whether that will apply to me but lets' hope so).
Until next time.