“Pines to Palm Highway”
Light my fire spoons DO break if handled by Buckeye
Melissa and I were picked up this afternoon by a friend, Jackie, whom I used to work with at Boojum Institute for Experiential Education. We stopped by the grocery store before coming to the “base,” a small lot containing a few trailers, a large gear shed, and a communal staff house where we have done our laundry, showered and prepared a meal of pasta and zucchini, followed by warm gooey brownies and cookies-and-cream ice cream: a dream come true. My increasing appetite has slowly snuck up on me and today I found myself eating larger portions of my snacks, so it was a good thing we made a stop by the store before our next resupply in Idyllwild in
another 30 miles or so. In our many hours of walking and chatting, food seems to be a topic that receives a lot of attention.
Boojum Buddies
Somebody made brownies…
The past few days have included some cooler than normal temperatures and we even received a few snowflakes yesterday afternoon as we descended from Combs peak, around 5600 feet. The winds were quite strong in the m
orning and the cloud cover made it difficult for Melissa to warm up. The highlight of yesterday came during our lunch stop, when we came across a familiar home and place of trail magic. Just up a road at mile 127, there is a home that has become a hiker favorite. Big Mike owns the home, but was at work at his full-time residence in Los Angeles. He managed to get a fill-in, Gourmet, to tend to hikers’ needs. Gourmet, a 2009 hiker, sold his company and donated his suits to charity after discovering the magic of being on the trail. We spoke with him at the PCT Kick Off Party while he was giving out free hamburgers. Gourmet, drives up and the down the Pacific Crest Trail providing “trail magic” to fellow hikers and giving words of encouragement and advice. We enjoyed the conversation, the fire in the wood stove, and the amenities provided.
Thus far we have managed to move at a comfortable pace, hiking mostly by ourselves but encountering many as we zig-zag at different paces. I believe we 
are both adapting quickly to the workload but not overdoing it. Today was the first day that Melissa complained of slight knee pain and my feet ached a tad. Maybe it w
as due to yesterday’s 20 miler with some serious gain and loss. Some nights we sleep better than others, mostly due to the campsites we come across. For example, last night we both did some downhill sliding, leading to dampness on the end of our down bags. For the most part, we are roaring to go and get early starts (6:15ish am awake, pre-7:00 departure) each day.
Working on Blog at Boojum Headquarters
I am aware that change takes place slowly, but each day that we are out here, we are making the most of our experience. I know that we are both grateful that we are able to have this opportunity an
d thank our families and friends for the work they are doing to help us along the way. Hiking allows us all to be at the same level, on the same trail, and it is obvious that the trail does not judge and knows nothing but footprints. There are so many different people out here walking, each has a story. Varieties of sizes, (we hung out with Bigfoot he is 6’5″ and wears a size 16EE shoe, he says he hates gear shopping) ages, and professions, all with different motivations, but still seeking the feeling of freedom and bliss that the experience provides.
We continue to share our mission and cause with those we encounter and hope that more will become inspired and root us on as we encourage and enable more children to explore and appreciate this magnificent place that we call home. So as we both wake, know that more than walking is taking place. Thanks for reading and hope to see you out there.
~Justin
[Melissa addition here – Justin so eloquently put what we have felt and learned thus far on our journey. I just wanted to add a little site work additions. We now have a trail stats pa ge to show our pace. We will soon have a GPS radar of some sort showing our progress along the trail. And soon more pictures will be posted as we head to a Idyllwild which should have cell service. Thank you again for all the support out there!]
0 Comments