PCT WEEK 3 – Wear and Tear – Myles From Nowhere

May 17, 2025

I’m writing this blog a good bit behind schedule. It’s been getting harder and harder to find the time to write and to edit pictures. Typically, by the time I get to camp I’m pretty focused on eating and getting to bed. This may end up being the last long format style blog I write, at least for now. I may consider doing weekly recaps instead of day by day breakdowns for future posts. I’m starting to see the quality of my writing and story telling deteriorate, so I think my best move may be to try to keep things brief. More on that later.

Week 3 tested me. It was painful in many different ways and left me feeling absolutely defeated. From a tough, mentally draining and physically straining climb up a washed out creekbed to days on end fighting the relentless sun, I was starting to feel like I was fighting a losing battle. With nearly constant pain on my blistered toes and a food bag that never seemed to get lighter, I also started to question my planning and preparation.

However, by week’s end, I faced an even more difficult challenge – the decision to say goodbye to my newly formed trail family and to head out solo again, a decision fueled by a moment of frustration and a choice nurtured by a lifetime of isolation.

DAY 15

I spent last night at an old friend’s mom’s house. He lives in LA but his mom lives fairly close to the trail, so it worked out nicely for both of us. He got to visit his mom and I got a chance to get off trail during some particularly nasty weather.

After a lazy morning sleeping in, working on last week’s blog, and answering every possible hiking-related question imaginable, I eventually got back on trail around 1pm. The weather was not looking too great, and unfortunately, the forecast hadn’t changed much since last night. It looked to be snowing to the south on San Jacinto, as well as to the northwest on San Gorgonio. Thick rain clouds painted the sky in pretty much every direction.

I got on trail and passed through the small community of Whitewater. The plan was to hike about 16 miles and meet Biped and History for camp – both of whom had already started hiking much, much earlier. The rain spared me for a few hours, but I had to deal with some pretty heavy winds as I made my way through the Mesa Wind Farm.

Once I passed the office for the wind farm, the skies seemed to clear. I unzipped my rain jacket for some ventilation, but was weary of removing it just yet. I made the right choice, as it started raining just a mile or two past the wind farm. I trudged through rain and heavy winds for another few miles, as I made my way up a ridge, and then down to Whitewater River, the largest water crossing in the Desert Section of the PCT. The trail was a bit washed out at this point and it took a few minutes to find a decent place to cross the river. It was nothing compared to river crossings I’ve done on past hikes in the Sierra, but the water was swifter and deeper than anything I’d seen so far on this hike.

After crossing the river and somehow managing to keep my feet dry, I pushed onward up into the hills to the east of Whitewater. The trail climbed up yet another ridge, before flattening out for a couple of miles. I could now see the cloud-engulfed, snow capped San Jacinto in the far distance behind me. I couldn’t have been more grateful to be off that mountain today.

Unfortunately, even as far away as I was, it was raining a lot harder at this point and I was starting to get a bit uncomfortable. I was committed to meeting Biped and History tonight, as I didn’t fancy the idea of tackling the dangerous washed out portions of trail alone tomorrow.

The trail eventually dropped down into another canyon and began following the famed Mission Creek upstream. After crossing the creek, I spotted my friends’ tents. I somehow managed to get to the same tentsite, although i had started at least 4 hours after both of them. It was 7:30 by the time I got inside my tent, and I was absolutely elated to be out of the cold rain. I hung my jackets to dry on my pole in the vestibule and began preparing dinner.

I was just started to unwind when I realized the unimaginable had happened. My spoon was missing. It must have fallen out in the car. What a sad way to end an already miserable day. I guess I’ll be making all my meals into soups the next few days..

DAY 16

It rained pretty much the entire night. My rain jacket and pants never really had a chance to dry from yesterday’s hike. I packed up my gear and chatted with History, Biped, and their buddy Ed, who was also camped nearby. Everyone was a little shocked that I didn’t start my hike in until 1pm yesterday, considering the distance and the weather.

We all set out around 7:30 am, but after crossing into the notorious Mission Creek wash-out section, the group quickly fell apart. Biped and I stuck together for the rest of the day though.

We hiked through at least ten miles of washed out riverbed where the PCT and everything surrounding it had been completely obliterated by 2023’s Hurricane Hilary. The trail now only existed in small segments, 10 plus feet above the riverbed. I’ve never seen such intense erosion. I really struggle to imagine what the trail even looked like before the hurricane.

The hiking was rough, to say the least. Every step required careful planning, so as to avoid rolling ankles or slipping into the creek. We must have crossed Mission Creek 50 times today. Previous hikers had laid cairns along the riverbed, but they weren’t always useful and often contradicted one another. It was easier to just follow the creek upstream and look for the path of least resistance – ie less boulder hopping, less creek crossing, and more flat ground.

To make things worse, the sun was only out for maybe the first hour or so. The rest of the day was on and off sprinkling and ominous storm clouds gathered up creek from us. We eventually got to point where we saw fresh snow from the night prior on the hills above us. This was certainly disconcerting, as we knew we’d plan to camp at something like 8k ft tonight.

We pushed on. Eventually, we were back on trail (mostly) and started a rapid ascent up switchbacks above the creek. We were exhausted. Boulder hopping, mud sliding, tree hurdling, and creek crossing for 5 hours had broken us. We were desperate to get to camp.

At around 3pm, we’d finally made it. 14 miles and 5200 ft of vert later, we were at Mission Creek camp. This would have been light work three years ago before the hurricane, but now it’s arguably the most difficult section of the PCT in SoCal. No wonder so many people talk about skipping it.

After talking about food all day, we were ready to feast. Both of us had overpacked food, not knowing how long it would take us to get to the next town and both of us were obviously not eating enough anyway. I have a bad habit of just pushing through a day’s hiking without stopping to eat, and I worry it’s rubbing off on Biped. I crammed as many calories in as I could at camp, but it was almost too cold to even stand or sit still.

Snow clouds continued to gather in the hills behind our camp and a nasty wind kept ripping through as soon as things started feeling comfortable. Within another hour and a half, the rest of the group showed up and we paced around discussing our approaches to the day’s challenge. I also got caught with my pants down, mid cat-hole for the first time so far on this hike – hopefully this isn’t leading to any unfortunate trail names..

I can only hope the rest of the desert section is only half as demanding as the last few days have been!

Day 17

It was absolutely freezing last night. I could hardly sleep. It didn’t help that another hiker, an older gentleman who had never backpacked prior to hopping on the PCT, set up camp directly next to my tent just as I was getting ready for bed. He was in his tent rummaging around for hours on end before finally laying down and grunting the rest of the night.

Temps got down to the mid 30s, and lingering snow in the vicinity led to more moisture buildup in the tent and on my quilt, so long story short – it was a rough night. Fortunately, the sun made a delightful return this morning. Biped and I dried some of our gear out while moseying around camp. It’s remarkable what 30 minutes of sun exposure can do to remedy wet gear.

We weren’t in any rush to hit the trail, as the upcoming miles were anticipated to be a lot milder than those hiked the past few days, at least as far as terrain and elevation gain.

The rest of the day on trail turned out to be just as expected. We passed through some patches of fresh snow here and there, and climbed a few ridges engulfed in some sort of cold, foggy mist (I’m from the desert – I don’t understand these things..), but it was overall a really enjoyable, mellow day. We didn’t have many captivating vistas or remarkable landmarks, apart from the snow-capped summit of San Gorgonio behind us, but it was an easy, relaxing day that felt very well-earned after the mission creek nightmare from yesterday.

The only listed natural water source on trail today had apparently been contaminated by a dead raven about 2 weeks prior, but we lucked out finding an unlisted water source directly on trail, most likely resulting from the rapid snow melt in the area. Dead raven jokes continued for the rest of the day, regardless.

Biped and I hiked just shy of 20 miles, my longest day in over a week at this point. It felt good to put in some low effort, longer miles again.

After we got settled at camp, we were joined by an older German lady who we met the night prior as well as History and our new friends Rookie and Ed who we met at Mission Creek. We all enjoyed a beautiful sunset over Bug Bear Valley. I used a rock to eat my dinner, hopefully for the last time, as we’d be having a much needed resupply day in Bug Bear Lake tomorrow!

Day 18

We got up early and had a pretty uneventful 7 mile hike to the highway today. We couldn’t wait to get into town. The town food cravings were starting to get painful. I was also excited for a hot shower and laundry.

After getting to the highway, we got a ride from an angel waiting for hikers at the hitch spot. He gave us a very detailed grand tour of the town we’d never have the time or energy to see anyway.

Our first stop was at a breakfast diner. The food was okay, but the cook was amazing. I’d never seen someone single-handedly prepare so much food so quickly and efficiently. Working in tourists towns must require a lot of patience and drive.

Biped and I were absolutely exhausted after eating. Outside the diner, I talked with another hiker about the a much dreaded detour around a fire closure in the Wrightwood area. We exchanged info and plans for walking around the closure. Most hikers seem to be planning to hitch or get angels to drive them around the fire. Personally, I’d like to maintain a continuous footpath for as long as possible – in other words, I’m not willing to skip any miles at this point.

Afterwards, I went to the post office to pick up a package that Tiphane had shipped me. Biped and I grabbed some empty boxes to prep food for the next couple towns as well. We got some ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s (hiker discounts rock!) and I stopped by a gear store to get a new spoon – yay!

Everyone in town was very hiker friendly. We were approached by a number of people on the street and asked about our hike. Locals and tourists alike seemed genuinely interested and invested in our adventure. We were offered ride by a stranger while walking to our hotel and all the local shopkeepers were very generous with discounts and suggestions as well.

Once we got to the hotel, I did sink laundry and listened to some music on the TV. This felt so good and really lifted my spirits, as I haven’t been listening to any music on the trail. So refreshing.

Biped and I spent the entire afternoon grocery shopping. We got an insane amount of food, both to to pack out for the next leg and to mail forward first the next three trail stops. We walked around so much, it didn’t feel like a nearo. Our town miles combined with this morning’s trail miles basically made fir a full day.

After our shopping spree, we had dinner with the whole crew – History, Ed, and Rookie. I’m happy to say that I’m feeling very at home hiking and camping with a group now. I feel like we have a nice little community forming, even if we split here and there.

Looking at the full spread, I have no idea how I’m going to handle this food in the morning. It’s honestly overwhelming to imagine packing this all up, mailing it out, and then hitting the trail. I’m going to have a nice little epsom salt soak and unwind before bed. Town days arr the best!

Day 19

I scrambled to pack up my resupply boxes all morning. I was seriously going crazy. There was just too much extra food. The boxes ended up being a lot bigger than originally planned and my food bag for the week was mighty heavy as well. I knew I’d regret this later, but I didn’t know what else to do that didn’t involve spending more on postage. Biped and I both set aside some surplus for the rest of the crew after packing our boxes to max capacity.

Before leaving, I took one last shower. We then found out about a hot tub and sauna on site AFTER checkout. (And free laundry too, what the hell!)

After checking out, we finished taping and labeling our boxes in the hotel lodge. I was so tired from staying up late that messed up address on the first box three times. We got a ride from the hotel owner to the post office in his giant lifted El Camino – compensating much? Regardless, we felt like VIPs for the whole 1.5 mile drive to the PO. I mailed my boxes out, then grabbed some post cards to send to family.

Biped and I got a Lyft back to trail around 3pm and decided to hike in about 9 miles. Our bags were so heavy. The extra weight is so not fun with a frameless pack. I felt stupid for overbuying. It was the longest 9 miles uphill with, disappointingly, no good views of lake. At camp, we ran into some other hikers Biped knew and we all had dinner together. I did not eat as much as I wanted. The plan was to knock some weight off my food bag, but my appetite was low and I was a bit tired of my food already. We are planning to push 20 miles tomorrow and start finally catching some longer days moving forward.

Day 20

It was freezing cold all night, that was so not expected after our two warm days in/near town. I had a pretty tough time sleeping and woke up soaked from condensation in my tent. It was apparently only 31 degrees at 7am, so I’m assuming it was much colder overnight.

We stayed at camp till 8ish to get all of our stuff dried off. I had a big breakfast- something I’m going to make an effort of doing everyday now, moving forward. I’m adding protein powder to my oatmeal now and making PBJ with tortillas.

Today was a tough day, although we had some arguably very easy trail. My toes were just really hurting. It looks like my blisters were probably coming back and my pack was just too heavy with food still. Additionally, we are hiking west towards the sun now. (For the next couple hundred miles) Oof.

To switch things up, Biped lead the way today. It was the first time I had hiked behind a partner on the PCT. He raced ahead of me, not really trying to match my pace. Regardless it was nice to take my time a bit and to not feel the pressure to lead.

We finally caught some lake views for a bit, but spent most of our time hiking through burn zones and scattered bits of forest. There were no more Joshua Trees, unfortunately. At our midday break, we saw Ed and Rookie. They had spent an extra night in town, but took a side trail out of town to catch up with us. I soaked my feet in a cool creek and took a much longer break than usual. This felt amazing. I have to do more of this.

The last 10 miles of the day were absolutely painful. The sun was just too much and my toes were really hurting at this point. Near the end of the day, the trail crossed the creek a few times. We crossed on logs and rocks, and I ended up falling in during last crossing.

I got to camp exhausted and soaking wet. For once, I actually ate a bunch of food. Unfortunately, my toe blisters had returned after all. They were pretty bad. I’ll need to keep my toes wrapped better and use start using cream to reduce friction. I popped the blisters and covered them for the night.

Afterwards, I had a second dinner and lay down in the sun. Biped and I didn’t talk as much today. I guess we were just kind of in our own heads all day.

I was delighted to see several bats flying around our tents after sunset. This was definitely one of my favorite camps so far. I’m a big fan of the more isolated, lonely sites like this one. The less hikers, the better.

Day 21

I woke up feeling amazing. I had such a great sleep last night. It was the perfect temperature all night and, for once, there was no wind and no condensation.

Good sleep helped me to get moving a little faster this morning as well. Also, doing big breakfasts now is definitely making a difference as far as motivation to hit the trail.

It got hot pretty quickly into our hike. Throughout the day, we pushed on through the desert along Holcolm Creek towards Deep creek. Around mile marker 300 (yay), we caught up with Rookie and Ed again and enjoyed some time dipping our feet in the creek. Some guys on dirtbikes showed up and sort of ruined the vibe of the spot, so we got moving again.

We pushed on northward along Deep Creek. The trail was great until it wasn’t. The views of the creek were fun at first, but started to get really repetitive after 5 miles or so and the hiking started to wear on my toes. I was also beyond tired of walking in the sun already. I didn’t miss the rain, but I certainly wasn’t feeling too hot about walking directly towards the ball of fire in the sky.

We pushed the last couple miles to hot spring with the group and made it around 2pm. Unsurprisingly, it was super crowded. The pools were full of naked old men and local partiers. I got in the closest hot spring pool and instantly regretted it. My poolmates were loud, obnoxious Trump supporters blowing cigarette smoke all over. I waited till they left and got back in. It was very refreshing to soak in the hot water, even on such a hot day. My muscles really needed it, I guess.

After 40 minutes or so, I felt a bit of pressure from the group to start packing up. Nobody else got in the hot springs (favoring the cool creek instead) and they were waiting by our bags. I made my way back up and packed my stuff up and we hit the trail again.

I decided to walk behind the rest of the group because my toes were still bothering me a good bit and I didn’t want to rush the last 6.5 miles. We had already hiked 13 miles to get to the hot springs. Pretty quickly after leaving the whole group blasted ahead of me. Biped was easily a mile or more ahead at one point. I get that everyone wanted to make camp and get out of the sun, but I was also disappointed that nobody waited for me.

Our plan was to stay at the Joshua Inn and get a $5 campsite tonight. As the group got further ahead, I wondered if they would just get a ride without me. The sun was driving me nuts. I was beat and over it and was starting to lose my head around bit. As I thought more about the group not waiting for me or checking on me, knowing I was struggling, I started to get a little bitter. I started to wonder if I should leave the group tonight.

I eventually found them sitting by the creek 6 miles and two and a half hours later. In the heat of the moment, I walked passed them and informed them I was splitting from the group and hiking ahead to camp a few miles further up the trail. I’m not sure they understood, but I just wanted to be alone.another fifteen minutes later, we got to the road leading towards the Joshua Inn and they asked if I was joining – I said no and that I felt offended by the whole not sticking together style of hiking.

I painfully pushed on another 4 miles to find camp near a water source. I hiked just over 23 miles today. Ouch. By around 7:30, I set up camp near some people I’d never seen before. I felt bad about making camp so close by and so late, so I tried my best to move quietly while I made dinner.

It was pleasantly warm tonight. I’m hoping to catch up some rest after an exhausting day. I guess I now have a lot to process and think about after leaving the group behind. It’s going to be a little tough moving on on my own again, although that’s always been my style in the past.