The Wonderland Journal

Miles hiked: 21 miles 

Mile marker: 20 miles

Day one begins with the most amazing walnut pancakes, a cup of black coffee, and a very cold morning. 

When it comes to pancakes, I’m not always the biggest fan. If you add walnuts and top it with banana slices, syrup, and butter? Now you’re talking. 

Thank you, Papa Bear for a delicious breakfast. My only regret is that I didn’t eat more. 

It takes me about quadruple the amount of time to pack my bag compared to Dad packing his. I know, I know, it’s not a completion and I’m new to this whole backpacking thing. Let me just say, trying to get the air out of an inflatable sleeping mat is a lot harder than it sounds. 

It’s a cool day to start, and I weigh my bag in at 34.45 lbs. I don’t know what’s in there to make it so heavy (that’s not even a full food carry), but I will definitely be thinking of ways to bring that number down.

Cleef, the campground where we’re staying the night, is led by experienced thru hikers who spend much of their time supporting the hikers trekking the PCT. 

One of the ways they do this is by creating a banner designated to that year’s hikers. We all get to sign it! It goes into the local REI, so Dad and I grab a photo pointing to our names so we remember where we signed. With a banner that large, it’s challenging to find where your own name is. 

A couple of young ladies come out and give us our PCT tags. This is a great memento for the trail, but often times they get pretty beat up from the journey ahead. 

Backpacks on. Trekking poles ready. And we’re off!

Not ten minutes in and I pull my fleece off. I’m warm already. We saved about a mile by starting at the terminus yesterday, and we have about 19 miles ahead of us. I feel good. Hiking isn’t my favorite thing in the world, but I feel alright and don’t have any anxieties about the trail ahead on my mind. 

We soon catch up with a young woman, Violet Rose, and her and Dad connect over music. Dad is really into music — he has an ear for it. Violet actually writes her own stuff, so you can check it out on Spotify! 

The day grows hotter. Before I know it, we’re almost five miles in when I see a coil of stripes with a milky colored tip. 

Rattle snake. 

“Dad, look at this,” I say. 

“Back up, babe!” he says quickly. “He didn’t rattle! That wasn’t courteous of him.”

The most effective method Dad has found to make rattle snakes go away is to throw dust or pebbles at them. 

His method worked. 

Dad later found two garder snakes. We saw lots of lizards, squirrels, dung beetles, and a horned lizard. Other than that, it’s pretty quiet out here.

The dirt paths are bordered by low brush. Everything is either tan or orange. Soon it’s rocky terrain, and the sun umbrella I’m using is catching on all of the branches.

That’s going back in the bag. 

It’s hot now, at 97 degrees. It was supposed to be a cool day. The weatherman needs to go back to his drawing board. This heat is pressing down on me, and I’m going through all four and a half liters of my water like a camel. 

Dad and I meet new people and say “see you later” to others who prefer to have a longer rest from this wicked sun. 

Alas, we have reached the big ascent: Hauser Canyon. My heart rate is at 170 bpm as we make our way up the hill. The sun beats down on us, and I trudge up the switchbacks like a snail. 

Our new group has morphed into Dad, myself, Rafiki from Texas, Dennis from Ohio, and Thomas from France. We left some others behind, but this crew chose to undertake Hauser Canyon before the day’s end. 

It is an endless ascent. My feet drag over rocks and my trekking poles click forward like a deoxygenated insect. I pause multiple times, take a lot of water breaks, and find respite in any of the minuscule shady spots I can find.  

I find the rest of my crew waiting for us at the top. It’s a miracle we make it through! Even after that treacherous hike, there’s still another couple miles left. 

We fly down the hill and hit a few more ups and downs before we arrive at Lake Moreno for cheeseburgers from the Malt Shop. I choose a pineapple and coconut milkshake, which is amazing. 

Even though I was promised showers at our campground and we end up having to pay for them with quarters (which we don’t have, so no shower for me), I fight with my sleeping mat because I don’t know how to use it, and my tent turns out flimsy because I put it up and not Dad, it was a good day. 

My proudest moment?

I didn’t think about the future today. Normally I get caught up on my next goal or even would have been deterred to do the rest of the trail with all of the challenges we faced. 

But I only thought of today. Thought of the end of today, getting to the next check point, and was able to stay present and enjoy the people and lizards around me. 

I don’t know how, but it’s by the grace of God that I wasn’t discouraged by the challenges. 

At 9:15 I close my eyes. It was a long day and a hard day, but I’m proud of what I did. Now I really need to get some good sleep!

https://thetrek.co/pacific-crest-trail/day-1-hauser-canyon-and-lake-moreno/