Arrived at the border fence late courtesy of my sister Jill’s shuttle. Took the obligatory snaps. Hope the septic truck that pulled up was not an omen.

Then turned north and took a step.

And started thinking about the fence. What’s the point. As a practical matter, fences/walls between countries don’t work unless they are extensively manned. People cross the Mexican fence at will, which is obvious from the amount of debris on the trail. Maybe it’s just emotional succor. Here’s the line. You all stay over there. We’ll be over here, sleeping just a little bit better. Let’s keep it that way. Funny.

The terrain was undulating boulder fields interspersed with scrub. Lots of pulverized granite. Very beautiful. Lots of wildflowers painting their landscapes. Not overly warm, unless you didn’t grow up in it.

The miles slid past. As it was the first day, lots of tweaking was going on. Which gear to put where, adjusting the pack as well as gait. One blister, but the big whine was my food poisoning/stomach virus/Irish flu’s refusal to stop ricocheting around my gut. Took the pep right out of the step.

Some have asked if I’m hiking alone. Yes and No. Yes, I am on my own and was so all day, with two exceptions. The father carries the son, then the son carries the father. Just a wee bit of what is left of my Dad is along for the ride prix viagra sublingual. He’s still excellent company. And, two, because we are all in the same social subset, fellow hikers are much more open and accepting than regular society. Today I met seven hikers heading north.

The songfection of the day was a song by Smashing Pumpkins about the killer in you. For those of us who grew up with MTV and believe there should be a constant soundtrack playing in the background as we make our way, you understand what I am talking about. For the others, a songfection is a single song that infects your brain and plays over and over again in a continuous loop. It is maddening until you just accept it and just listen. Actually, needed music today as I was running down at mile 15 just as a big climb presented itself. I had put my 16 year old niece, Madison, in charge of my music selection. So I popped in the earphones. Don’t know about techno in the real world, but it sure as (Mom censor) gets you up a mountain. If there were rattlesnakes, I didn’t hear them.

Mystery of the day. Many of the rocks along the way had holes drilled in them. There was no reason to do any blasting that I could see, nor any reason to take core samples. Couldn’t figure it out so I went back to the Pumpkins.

Arrived at Lake Morena Campground after 20 miles. Maybe a little less than my starting weight of 193 lbs. Had Vietnamese ramen, Japanese curry and seaweed soup for dinner. All systems worked great. Went to bed listening to coyotes. Woke up to wild turkeys. All good.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

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