Well here we are. First day in and already did my first 20. I am exhausted. I should have done more training. I did more hiking in the winter than I did in the month prior to the hike.
The first 20 is a bit of a challenge and a bit required. There wasn't any water between the border and camp. There was a cache of water at mile 15 but its not something you can count on. So you have to carry enough water for the entire 20 miles on your first day of hiking in the desert. If you don't make it the 20 you pretty much need to do a dry camp. There were two people I passed that ran out and had to get the rangers come rescue them. I actually hung out with the second guy while we sent another hiker on to get the rangers. Afrer a few hours resting in the shade he started to feel better so we hiked a bit toward camp to try get cellphone signal. The medics said he was ok just suffered from heat exhaustion.
As fun as it was hanging out with a sick hiker for a few hours there was an even more interesting thing that happened. Last year when I did the AT I started out on katahdin with one other hiker. Guess who I saw on my first day of the PCT. Yep the exact same guy. I have a feeling that this trail will go the same as the last. I won't see him again. He was the guy I sent for the rangers and was in bed by the time I got to camp. I didn't get to camp toll 930 which is way past hiker midnight.
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