4/9 – Day 2 – Lake Morena and Beyond
We started out pretty early; it was sunnier today but still windy. I hiked vigorously during the 5.5 mile mostly uphill stretch to Lake Morena, leaving Meta in the dust. At Lake Morena there was a nice campground, where I dried my gear (wet from bit of rain) and made some awesome blueberry pancakes. While waiting for Meta I met my second PCT hiker, a woman named Lucy Sue from Mount Baker, Washington. She had hiked the full 20 plus miles from the border the previous day, so she was taking her time leaving Lake Morena. She was 36 and had been living Georgia (the country) for the last 4 years. I told her I was waiting for Meta, and we’d swing by her campground when ready to hike on. After waiting almost 3 hours for Meta, I gave up on him and went down to Lucy’s camp. She watched my gear while I took a shower. That was sweet!
Met another PCT hiker, a 50-something year old wearing his father’s military gear. His parents had recently died. Meta never showed up. Lucy and I hiked through some wonderful country to the Boulder Oaks campground which is right near Highway 8. Soon after arriving at the campground, a guy on a bicycle came over to us – Derek from near San Diego who was riding his 10-speed bike to Tennessee by himself. We all camped together and had a good time. Both Lucy and Derek were very interesting and well-traveled people. Derek was spiritual and had been to China, while Lucy spoke Russian and had spent a lot of time in eastern Europe. Lucy and I were a bit concerned for Derek, as he had this idealistic notion (like Forrest Gump) that everyone would help him on his cross country ride. He’d already been dehydrated from not carrying enough water. I hope he’ll be OK.
Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/BfOxI/32.72906N/116.48351W