Day 30

Day 30
17 miles 
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Today marks 1 month on trail for me! 
Holy crap I can’t believe it. I’m doing it. It’s happening. I’m hiking the Pacific freaking Crest Trail. I’m starting to think I can actually do this now.

I started off with a slow morning because I slept pretty well last night and it was a little chilly so I didn’t want to leave my sleeping bag quite so early.

The first 3.6 miles of the day was filled with absolutely breathtaking scenery with a trek around Silverwood lake. At the 3.6 miles mark we arrived to a water source and had some breakfast and filled up our water for the next 14ish miles. The following 3.5 miles immediately after was grueling because it was mostly uphill and my calves were cramping again. We made it through the next 7 miles uphill within 2.5 hours so we were kicking the trail’s butt in the first part of the day. 
The final 10 miles were very hard for me physically. Which in turn started to drain me mentally. 
I listened to music to keep my spirits high. Every time my feet start to hurt I get extremely worried that my injury will come back. So I made sure to rest every two-three miles today. Taking off my shoes during most of those rests definitely helped my feet stay as happy as they could with this grueling day. 
When I had about 5 miles left I was in a lot of pain. A concerning amount of pain. Not just in my foot, but my hips and knees too. But I still had an extreme amount of motivation to get to Macdonalds for some fast food and a hot tub at the hotel for my aching sore muscles.
By the time we were 3 miles away I was having to stop every half mile. God, my feet hurt so bad. And then my knee and hamstring started to hurt on my left side and that really concerned me too. Just 2 miles away. I can do this. I have to do this. Time to change the song. Led zeppelin? Alright bring it on PCT. 
The views the last 2 miles were so pretty. Pretty sure I saw some hoodoo’s (my geography teacher will confirm) 
The wind while hiking was crazy strong. I was pushed off my feet and onto my butt once. And that was while we were ridge hiking so being knocked over was a little scary.
Oh and every break we took today we were surrounded by flies so that sucked haah 
But I saw a bunch of beautiful butterfly’s and a long cute snake (gardener snake maybe?)


When we rolled into Macdonalds I fully collapsed face first on the grass and teared up a little bit from complete exhaustion and pain. After a few minutes I picked myself up and called McDonald’s. I ordered a sundae, cinnamon bun, and 20 nuggets and fries. Yum. 
While we ate our food I checked how far the hotel was… another 20 minute walk. That was not happening today for me so I went next door to the gas station and found a nice couple who I asked if they would give us a hitch and they thankfully said yes :) It was only a 3 minute drive compared to that 20 minute walk so we were very thankful. 
The moment we got to the hotel room I stripped down to my underwear, grabbed a towel, and cannon ball jumped into the cold pool. I quickly moved to the hot tub because the pool was so cold. We chatted with a family of hikers from 5-7:30pm. I felt like no time had passed. They are a family of a mom, dad and 3 kids. 
Funny enough I saw them back at the CLEEF back on march 29th or so. Turns out the dad, Ryan, had an injured foot as well and they also had to take time off trail. 
It was very cool to see them again :) 
Tomorrow, I get to shower before hitting the trail again. Hard next 2 days before we hit Wrightwood, but I’m ready for the challenge :) ​