Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - Day 1 April 8th
Day 1: Monday 8th April Campo – Hauser Mountain
I’d stayed last night with Greg and Irene. This generosity in opening up their
house to a complete stranger was typical of the reception thru-hikers received in
California. Greg had very kindly offered to get up at 5 am to give me a lift to the
start at Campo and allowing me to start walking in the early morning before the heat
of the day.
By 7am I’m standing at the border fence, rucksack already on my back ready to
start my 2700-mile trek to Canada. Then I realise that my hands are empty! I’ve left
both my walking poles (upmarket walking sticks) and my camping mat in the back of
my hire car in San Diego. Now Greg, without showing any sign of irritation, took me
back to San Diego where I managed to find my missing equipment. We now hit the
rush-hour traffic and it wasn’t until 11am that we got back to the border and I was
ready to start again.
The early morning mist had burnt off and it was already beginning to feel hot in
the unseasonably warm weather. I lifted the pack onto my back. The basic weight of
my pack was a comfortable 20lb, but with food for 3 days and 6.5 litres of water
(weight 15lb) added, it was feeling very heavy. The water had to be carried because
the first water en route was a hot 20 miles away and I wasn’t going to reach it today.
An 8ft high fence stretching along the border to the horizon had been built by the
US Government had built to help control the flow of illegal immigrants into
California. This seems to be a losing battle with an estimated 6,000,000 Mexicans
already living illegally in California. Campo was a major base in the prevention of
smuggling of both people and drugs, with several hundred Border Patrol vehicles
parked at the Border Patrol Station. Hikers are warned about the danger from armed
smugglers near to the border and later on in the summer we heard that drug
smugglers had murdered a USFS Ranger in the area.
Less than a mile down the trail three girls asked me where I was going. The reply
“Canada” was quickly given with more optimism than I felt. Shortly after leaving
Campo, rounding a bend on the trail, I almost stepped on a rattlesnake. I was
expecting to see a lot of rattlesnakes, as they tend to bask on the trail in the
morning, and then hide away in the heat of the afternoon. If they stay out in the heat
of the day they can cook as ground temperatures can reach 150ºF. I wasn’t really
concerned about them as most people bitten by rattlesnakes are bitten on their
hands, either because they pick them up or because they are searching under
boulders. I quickly discovered that if you kick up the dust rattlesnakes beat a quick
retreat, as they don’t have eyelids and don’t like dust in their eyes.
For the first few days the trail traverses gently undulating hills through unimpressive
chaparral. Chaparral, the main vegetation in the region, is an assemblage of shrubs
that find the long dry summers and cooler wetter winters ideal for growth. The most
common shrubs are Chamise, Mountain Lilac, Buckbrush, Sagebrush, Mountain
Mahogany and Holly-leaf Cherry. All these shrubs have small, thick, stiff, evergreen
leaves and several have waxy surfaces. Their roots are long to reach deep into the
rocky soil for scarce water. The plants go into near dormancy during hot dry summer
spells but react within minutes of rain falling. The shrubs are very vulnerable to fire
because most of them contain highly volatile oils, but they are good at regenerating
after fire and actually benefit as the fire kills off other encroaching species. These
bushes were frequently head-high and intertwined, so that the terrain would have
been impenetrable without the trail. Only by the dried up streams was the ground
damp enough to support conifers and oak trees.
In the afternoon my old foot injury was hurting and my hips were already bruising
from the heavy load on the waist belt of my rucksack. I decided to call it a day in late
afternoon. I expected a lot of aches and pains early in the walk and hoped I would be
able to walk through them. If I continue at today’s rate I’ll still be in California by
the time winter arrives!
I camped on a small sandy clearing just off the trail, hopefully out of sight of any
smugglers. In the desert, this early in the year, the temperature drops rapidly as
soon as the sun sets and after dinner I disappeared into my sleeping bag for an early
night.
Day 1: 8.8 miles 3.51 hours Camp: Hauser Mountain.
I’d stayed last night with Greg and Irene. This generosity in opening up their
house to a complete stranger was typical of the reception thru-hikers received in
California. Greg had very kindly offered to get up at 5 am to give me a lift to the
start at Campo and allowing me to start walking in the early morning before the heat
of the day.
By 7am I’m standing at the border fence, rucksack already on my back ready to
start my 2700-mile trek to Canada. Then I realise that my hands are empty! I’ve left
both my walking poles (upmarket walking sticks) and my camping mat in the back of
my hire car in San Diego. Now Greg, without showing any sign of irritation, took me
back to San Diego where I managed to find my missing equipment. We now hit the
rush-hour traffic and it wasn’t until 11am that we got back to the border and I was
ready to start again.
The early morning mist had burnt off and it was already beginning to feel hot in
the unseasonably warm weather. I lifted the pack onto my back. The basic weight of
my pack was a comfortable 20lb, but with food for 3 days and 6.5 litres of water
(weight 15lb) added, it was feeling very heavy. The water had to be carried because
the first water en route was a hot 20 miles away and I wasn’t going to reach it today.
An 8ft high fence stretching along the border to the horizon had been built by the
US Government had built to help control the flow of illegal immigrants into
California. This seems to be a losing battle with an estimated 6,000,000 Mexicans
already living illegally in California. Campo was a major base in the prevention of
smuggling of both people and drugs, with several hundred Border Patrol vehicles
parked at the Border Patrol Station. Hikers are warned about the danger from armed
smugglers near to the border and later on in the summer we heard that drug
smugglers had murdered a USFS Ranger in the area.
Less than a mile down the trail three girls asked me where I was going. The reply
“Canada” was quickly given with more optimism than I felt. Shortly after leaving
Campo, rounding a bend on the trail, I almost stepped on a rattlesnake. I was
expecting to see a lot of rattlesnakes, as they tend to bask on the trail in the
morning, and then hide away in the heat of the afternoon. If they stay out in the heat
of the day they can cook as ground temperatures can reach 150ºF. I wasn’t really
concerned about them as most people bitten by rattlesnakes are bitten on their
hands, either because they pick them up or because they are searching under
boulders. I quickly discovered that if you kick up the dust rattlesnakes beat a quick
retreat, as they don’t have eyelids and don’t like dust in their eyes.
For the first few days the trail traverses gently undulating hills through unimpressive
chaparral. Chaparral, the main vegetation in the region, is an assemblage of shrubs
that find the long dry summers and cooler wetter winters ideal for growth. The most
common shrubs are Chamise, Mountain Lilac, Buckbrush, Sagebrush, Mountain
Mahogany and Holly-leaf Cherry. All these shrubs have small, thick, stiff, evergreen
leaves and several have waxy surfaces. Their roots are long to reach deep into the
rocky soil for scarce water. The plants go into near dormancy during hot dry summer
spells but react within minutes of rain falling. The shrubs are very vulnerable to fire
because most of them contain highly volatile oils, but they are good at regenerating
after fire and actually benefit as the fire kills off other encroaching species. These
bushes were frequently head-high and intertwined, so that the terrain would have
been impenetrable without the trail. Only by the dried up streams was the ground
damp enough to support conifers and oak trees.
In the afternoon my old foot injury was hurting and my hips were already bruising
from the heavy load on the waist belt of my rucksack. I decided to call it a day in late
afternoon. I expected a lot of aches and pains early in the walk and hoped I would be
able to walk through them. If I continue at today’s rate I’ll still be in California by
the time winter arrives!
I camped on a small sandy clearing just off the trail, hopefully out of sight of any
smugglers. In the desert, this early in the year, the temperature drops rapidly as
soon as the sun sets and after dinner I disappeared into my sleeping bag for an early
night.
Day 1: 8.8 miles 3.51 hours Camp: Hauser Mountain.
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Greg High
Ancient Brit at the
Mexican Border
Mexican Border
Ancient Brit at the
Mexican Border
Mexican Border
Disused railroad