PCT!!

Up early and loaded in vans by 6 am to head to the trailhead.  So weird to see the monument in person. 

The Mexican border is right there and there were border security cars all over the place.

There were 11 of us out there starting together . 

Everyone spread out pretty quickly.

So one of the challenges of Southern California is water. Or lack of water.  On this first day, we knew the closest water was 20 miles away. So options were carry A LOT A LOT of water and split that into two days, or carry A LOT of water and do the whole distance in one day. We opted for plan b and still my pack was heavier than I have ever carried it. I'm not going to lie... It was a tough first day. In a few weeks, 20 miles will be the norm, but we aren't in trail shape yet. We did have a 'snake delay' as we saw our first rattlesnake of the trip

And this cool little fellow...

And FYI, the desert isn't flat :) At mile 15, we came to a pretty big climb. It was a butt kicker. We were planning to camp at Lake Morena and when we saw this,we were very happy.

Got into camp about 6:20. Rinsed off our extremely dirty legs, ate a little and climbed in our bags. Water is a little more accessible tomorrow, so we won't have to carry as much and we're planning a shorter day.  A great way to get  injured  is to push too hard at the beginning.

It's chilly here tonight. Sleeping in my woolies and my friend Beth, made me a wool hat, and I'm sleeping in that too. So tired !!