Posted on March 23, 2014
Mexican Border to Lake Morena
Mile 0 – 20 (20 miles)
The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) starts at the Mexican Border and runs approx. 2,600 miles to the Canadian Border. We wanted to start at the beginning, but the 20-mile (32 km) portion from the border to Lake Morena County Campground is dry and remote, with no water available on this section in a typical year. Carrying all our water in the desert, as well as the difficulty of finding transportation to and from the trailheads put us off it for some time, but we felt we were ready to tackle it this weekend.
Posted on March 2, 2014
Ultralight hat
It gets quite cold on the trail, especially at nights. So it’s nice to have a warm hat to keep your noggin toasty while you catch some z’s. Jess made some really warm knit hats with fleece linings, but they’re a bit heavy at 4.1 ounces (116g). So today I sewed up an ultralight synthetic hat from another kit by Ray Jardine. 1.2 oz (34g) is the weight of the new one!
Posted on March 2, 2014
Tarp Repair
During our hike at Wilson’s Prom, the tarp got a little bit damaged during a windy storm. I’d set it up with heavy sticks for lifter patch supports and when the wind blew, the weight of them ripped the lifter patch a bit. Definitely a case of user error! I sent away for some spare parts and they arrived last week. Yesterday I did the repairs.
Posted on February 9, 2014
Kitchen Creek Road to Chibbets Flat
Mile 30 – 33 (3 miles)
Back in town for a month? Time for a walk! We found a bit of the Pacific Crest Trail only about an hour away from home – around 30 miles north of the Mexican border, just past the 8 freeway at Kitchen Creek Road.
Posted on January 11, 2014
Wilson’s Promontory, Australia
We visited family in Australia over Christmas and the 2013 / 2014 New Year break. It was a much-needed break, and while we were there we tested ourselves and our equipment with a four-day backpacking jaunt around Wilson’s Promontory National Park in Victoria, Australia with Nanna Pam, starting on New Year’s Eve 2013.
Posted on December 3, 2013
Mt Laguna Hike Success!
Thanksgiving weekend we headed back up to Mt Laguna for a do-over. It was quite cold, but really fun. Gabriel did not stop talking, singing and or dancing the whole time…. he was so happy to be riding on my back in the mountains.
Posted on November 25, 2013
Sailing socks
Just in time for the drizzle, I made some new socks for Simon. I designed these myself which was so fun! I ran out of the blue yarn but instead of using a mismatched color like I would normally this time I actually went back to the store and got more (there is something so gratifying about finishing a skein of yarn that it is difficult for me to buy a whole new one in the same color… now I have to do another project with the same blue-weirdo!). And since he wore holes so quickly into his last pair I decided to sew on leather soles to this pair. We’ll see how they hold up…
Posted on October 26, 2013
Dehydrated Mum’s Tuna Casserole
Our dehydrated camp meal stash was decreasing so we’ve started adding to it again in preparation for next year. As Jess just made a new batch of Veggie Curry, I decided to make another round of Mum’s Tuna Casserole, the old classic that came with us to Big Bear and ended up powering Noleen Read on her PCT Thru Hike after we gave her some at Tahquitz Peak. Here’s the recipe:
Posted on October 24, 2013
Ultralight Quilt #2 – Alpine Version
It’s been really tough to get away to go hiking over the past few months, and even sewing has taken a back seat to work recently. So finally I’d had enough and decided to bust out the threads and bobbins and sew up another quilt, this one warmer than our original ‘Woodland’ quilt. Both are from kits by Ray Jardine.
Posted on October 17, 2013
Dehydrated Veggie Curry and Rice
Veggie curry is so warming and scrumptious it makes a perfect meal at camp as the sun sets and evening chill sets in. We brought some along on our trip to the San Jacinto wilderness and it was beyond tasty after our arduous climb up the steep devil’s slide trail.
Posted on July 27, 2013
Mt Laguna PCT Hike Fail
We were exhausted and feeling a bit down after a tough week at work and home and so we decided to have some natural therapy by hitting the PCT near Garnet Peak. What ensued was hardly therapeutic.
Posted on July 18, 2013
San Jacinto Burning
The Mountain Fire has consumed a large amount of wilderness on the PCT and nearby, in the vicinity of Idyllwild. It’s still burning right now and is barely 15% contained. More information at the incident information website. We’re holding our breath because it is currently less than a mile away from where we camped when we went to Tahquitz Peak.