Cibbets Flat CG (mile 32 + 1mi off trail road walk) to Mount Laguna (mile 41)
When I make my way out of the tent I discover that our camp mates Sparky and Ghost Hiker – two hikers who met on the AT last year and are tackling the PCT this year – are gone. With our early start date and intentionally leisurely schedule this doesn’t alarm me. What does however is the tightness in my right foot. I had hoped I’d get at least a week before hiker hobble set in. It’s come early but luckily not severely.
It’s an hour and a half later when we finally make it out of camp. The morning is spent climbing along the sides of baking desert hills until suddenly we’re deposited into a fragrant pine forest. What was once a hard packed dirt track is now a cushioned ribbon leading us through the forest. Tall pines provide the first shade we’ve felt since leaving the border.
When we arrive at Mount Laguna we find a dozen or more thru hikers crowding the tables in the small cafe. Our fellow early starters.
Since before the start of the trail people with similar start days to ours have been adamant about keeping their days short. Staying healthy early on, not stressing; a casual pace is the name of the game. But already the pull of Canada is drawing people out. As I watch folks from lunch stream up the road and away from the campsite where we’ll be spending the night I feel like I’m missing out. Though unspoken, the pressure to hike bigger miles is there. Burbling under the surface is a tension that is not quite competitive, but close.
This sort of hiking is a balancing act between not getting injured on the one hand, and moving fast enough to complete the trail in the available five month weather window. So early on it’s impossible to tell if you’re perfectly balanced, or if you’ve already starting to slip to one side.
