Date: 5/3/16
Miles: 20
Total Miles: 20
Today began at the oh-so-early hour of 4:45, when we woke up at Scout & Frodo's, packed, ate breakfast and were off to the start of the trail just before 6.
Getting to the monument was surreal, as was seeing the border wall that President Trump will surely replace with a bigger more beautiful version (insert sarcastic tone here). After snapping a few photos for posterity with both Emily and Rich, we were off.
The day was beautiful, with not a cloud in the sky—something we would soon tacitly curse. I can't say that starting this trip with a hot 20 mile shade-less, waterless day carrying 13 pounds of water was the most enjoyable thing on the planet, especially when you couple it with the fact that the air frame of both our backpacks completely failed, but we persevered as best we could through the heat. When you then toss in Emily's usual dose of blisters, it made for a challenging though rewarding first day on the trail for the both of us.
We finally rolled into Lake Morena campground just after 6pm along with Rich and Gazelle, only to find a crowd of other hikers who had put in their own long first day to reach the relative comfort of this campground with running water and even a coin operated shower. For hiker world, that's about as luxurious as it gets.
After tending to Emily's poor feet, and sharing some conversation with other hikers over a dinner of smoked salmon tortillas, it's off to dreamland to rest up for tomorrow.