Day 1:

No sleep (well, 1 1/2 hrs , but that’s worse than no sleep in my opinion), 11 miles. 

Here’s me jumping at the Southern Terminus (that wall behind it is the Mexican border).

  

Was beautiful but felt oh so hot. With no sleep, the 11 miles felt like 25 miles. Not kidding. We had to take a siesta mid day. It took soooooooo much effort but  I DID it!!!

Here are some pics from day 1:

 

Bad ass railroad we had to cross  

👆🏻 just because…. 🙂

    

Thank goodness I speak Parseltongue!!! (That’s a snake in case you can’t tel 😁😆)

  

Ally and Tango, her dog.

    

Hot but beautiful out!

  

Stoveless dinner champions (ramen with garlic and spices and tuna packet in oil).

 

Day 1 wounds (why on day 1 do I get these gosh darn hot spots/blister to be)? It’s like I’m day hiking – but I never got blister on day hikes so weird.

Day 2:

Camped off mile 11, off some dirt road. Got tons of sleep. Next day, tent had serious condensation. Everything was wet. Oh well!! Life must go on. Have my cereal, we do some yoga and stretching, pack up. Packs are MUCH lighter since we drank a few liters the day before. Thank god!!

Sunrise was pretty. We got a later start than anticipated – kept snoozing so finally left around 8am ish. 

Got to Lake Morena by the afternoon sometime. Met up with some cuties who I shall just refer to as “The Girl Gaiter Gang” since they all had some splashy Girl Gaiters on. We’d seen them the night before… They camped below us on the dirt road but passed us when we took our break at Cottonwood Creek below Camp Morena at mile 15.4 or so.

We all hung out, walked 1/4 mile or so to the market, where they had cheeseburgers and pizza (yum!!! 😋). I picked up some cheezits and a ramen for next day’s dinner. They decided to get a campground up the trail. My feet stung and I was exhausted so I told Ally I just wanted to stay at Lake Morena campground. I felt bad since she had mentioned she wanted to get a few more miles in but I just couldn’t bring myself to do any more mileage and I have to listen to my body. I don’t want to be one of the many people that drop off after the first week due to injuries from over exerting myself.

I’ll get into some more emotional experiences later but phone is about to die and the Suntactics 5 solar charger I have doesn’t charge my phone at all apparently. Super bummed since I spent like $150 on it and it was recommended by someone else.

So here are some pics from day 2:

   

Sunrise stretching 

  

Tango!

  

Why are sun hats always so unflattering?? Lol

 

Coming to Hauser Creek, I believe 

   

Lake Morena!!! Was so happy to see it!!

 

Siesta time!!