Day One – May 25

MEXICAN BORDER TO LAKE MORENA
20.0 miles

We spent Tuesday and Wednesday night staying with a legendary trail angel in San Diego. He picked us up at the airport and provided us with lots of good trail info. This morning, he gave us breakfast at 4 a.m. and drove us and five other hikers to the southern terminus on the border with Mexico. 

 

We arrived at the terminus just after 5:30 a.m. just as it was getting light enough to see the trail. The temperature was comfortable, almost chilly, in our shorts and sun hoodies. We took pictures with the monument, and pretty quickly got hiking. 

The trail was surprisingly beautiful all day. It was far more green than I expected for the desert. Several streams that are usually dry by this time of year were still flowing thanks to the exceptional rainfall Southern California received this winter. The wildflowers were amazing -- lots of colors and shapes and sizes that I didn't know could exist! 

 

We had lunch at the bottom of Hauser Canyon, a nice shady spot after many miles in the sun. We ate bean, cheese, and turkey pepperoni burritos for lunch. After lunch, we had five miles to Lake Morena county park campground (I was disappointed to learn there was no swimming allowed in the lake). The climb out of the canyon was hot, but we got it done by 3PM and enjoyed lazing around in the shade for the rest of the day. 

 

It was a treat to have a real bathroom for our first night on the trail! The campground had a big PCT hiker site, where we met several cool people, including a girl from Vancouver who rode her bike from there to San Diego and is now hiking the PCT back to Canada!