Sunrise Trailhead, California, USA — April 23, 2012
We aren’t the last to leave camp this morning. Unusual for us. We leave behind the pines and walk through the chaparral. The Anza Borrega desert spreads out below us to the east.
Making our own shade at mile 50. Photo by Brett Fisher.
We reach a trail marker announcing we’ve hiked 50 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail. We celebrate by making our own shade under umbrellas and drinking water. Who’s laughing now at the umbrella-bearers? We have shade in the desert.
Late in the day, we watch as clouds from the west spill over the ridge. Soon we are walking in the clouds. Cold, wet, and windy.
Hiking through chapparal above the Anza Borrega Desert. Photo by Brett FisherClouds flow over the hills bringing chilly, wet conditions. Photo by Natalie Fisher.
At Sunrise Trailhead, we use the water tank as a windbreak, set up our tent behind it, then pile in. Natalie reaches out the tent vestibule to heat water for dinner.
Walk, eat, and sleep. Life of a hiker.
Wet and cold inside the clouds. Blaze wraps herself in our tent rainfly. Photo by Natalie Fisher.
May 13, 2012
Day 26 of my 2012 hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. 8.5 miles hiked. Left Ziggy and the Bear’s. Stopped by the Mesa Wind Farm. Camped at the Whitewater Preserve a half mile from trail mile 219.
April 25, 2012
Day 8 of my 2012 hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. Four miles hiked to Scissors Crossing and a hitch to Julian, CA. Seventy miles hiked so far.
