Trail angel Cindy Brinkmer let me park my van at her ranch where her 3 friendly dogs will keep my van safe. She and Richard took me to Aqua Dulce where the trek started.
Lovely view.
Cindy and Richard.
Nice start but it soon got warm and solid uphill
Got to milk a baby goat while waiting to sleep. Pretty cool.
Great day.
Getting warm. Windmills usually in view.
Very smooth trail.
Nice water. Surprisingly, since it’s the desert, there has been tons of water due to the rains and snows.
Pretty good signage. Only a 13 mile day planned.
Met Danele at the Bouquite Creek. Decided to join him for an additional 3 miles uphill. It was hard but worth it. We ended up hiking together describe itfor 5 days (together is the optimistic way to describe it. He races ahead and I eventually catch up and we camp together. He is a 69 retired Canadian with a replaced hip whom is also an expert mountaineer. Interesting fellow. If you want to here how he warms himself at night for a few minutes, you have to message me.
At mile 468.2 we camped under some power lines. Good 1st day. Feet feel pretty good.
Tomorrow should be fun!
Tom hikes the PCT 