Campo (mile 0) to Laguna (mile 41.5)

March 29th PCT update:

So by 3/28 -- I made it 42 miles to mt. laguna by 10:30am to meet my dad, daughter kim, and gravy (dog) for the first resupply from my trail crew. 2608 miles remaining, temporarily delayed due
to weather.

My crew arrived a bit early and got to experience the awesome pct hiker culture that I've been immersed in.  We went into the only cafe+tavern in town where the owner explained they are normally closed but open during PCT hiker season and serve hiker oriented foods.  Interesting fact: apparently 100% of hikers say "yes" to whip cream on their hot chocolate and mochas, whereas about 70% of non-hikers say "no thank you".  The vibe in the resturant is one big community, the conversations move across tables since it's one hiker community.

By the time I arrived my crew already had situational awareness on where everybody was and what was going on. I had left early in the morning and so throughout the day other people I'd left behind
started arriving in town.  Nobody could leave because there was a storm coming, and everybody was hoping it might miss the mountain. 

By noon we knew it wouldn't miss and we'd have a night of 100mph winds + snow (aka "type 3 fun"). Most hikers either got a room at the lodge, often sharing with others, sleeping on the floors, etc.  or hiked another 4.5 miles off trail to a semi-sheltered campground.

I'm a pretty social and fun guy so I've already made a lot of friends, which is very easy to do
when you happen to be walking with somebody for a few miles at a time, or sharing a small campground with them. My new hiking friends got to meet my family and dog who they'd heard about. My dads logistical knowledge of the local area geography, history, and flora was appreciated by all. 

After that I followed advice I had received in Lake Morena from Reebo and went to see Dave at Laguna Mountain outfitters for help reducing my pack weight/eliminating things I don't need. 
Laguna Mountain outfitters is a little store in the mountains with a cooler outside full of free cold beer and soda for thru-hikers, and a well equipped hiker box.  Inside it's packed wall to wall 10 ft
high with every piece of gear you can imagine. this store sells all the serious ultralight packs made out of materials like sail cloth, etc.  Even the bathroom is packed full of gear.

Dave and his staff have each done the PCT several times they are all rock stars in the PCT community. Dave and his team are considered "must see" gurus for proper gear shakedowns.  A great guy, super patient, and we spent a few hours going over my pack configuration with various friends coming by and offering their advice.  During a shakedown your entire life (pack) is laid out on the
floor and you need to justify each piece of equipment. The goal is to reduce my gear volume BEFORE selling me a smaller lighter pack.  He'd like to make sure everybody who he outfits is able to finish and have a great time.
The optimal goal weight to be considered "ultra-light" is to be below 15 lbs gear, including pack,
before food and water. 
Ultra-light (as I learned from Heath) makes the hike so much easier on the body,
thereby allowing the body to avoid take such a beating while walking.

The running joke on the trail was that REI loves to sell big packs because they are so easy to
fill with crap, and so shakedowns are a pretty common thing for him.  He offered to send all my
crappy REI gear back to their returns dept. by mail which was very tempting, and it was nice to
have that option. I think figuring out how to get crap out of my pack is sort of a metaphor for life, and ultralight hiking seems to great for teaching lessons of simplifying life. I had just done my own shakedown in the back of my truck so my configuration was pretty lean and so there wasn't a lot for him to do.

Dave did NOT like my tablet, but was supportive of me working on the trail (he said he'd only met
one other guy 'a graphic designer' who had actually done it). Dave suggested I put tabby in
a bounce box which is a basically a 5 gallon bucket with a lid that i send from town to town ahead
of me and then pick up from the post office.  I explained I planned to work at night from my tent,
and he was even less of a fan since it meant i needed a bigger and more sturdy tent than the 1 lb
ultralight tarp that uses my treking polls for infrastructure. Sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

While in the outfitters other hikers are coming and going, most of them I'd already met,
everybody was waiting to see if anybody else would be fool-hardy enough to brave the storm.
In the afternoon the Forest service stopped by to learn if anybody was out there.
(Interesting note: Dave and his staff are often the ones who need to go out and save lost+frozen
hikers on Mt. Laguna.)

Dave had told me earlier in the day that this was going to be one of the worst storms he'd seen
and that I should *absolutely* under no circumstances contemplate leaving.
Since this was only my third day of backpacking -ever- I have nothing to prove,
and 100mph winds+snow seemed more than a little advanced for my meager skills.
I'd risk losing at least a few thousand dollars worth of gear, possibly my life.
So I'd be staying at the lodge, or getting a ride back to valley center.

Several other hikers asked if I wanted to share a hotel room at the lodge, $75/night -- split X ways.  I'm not really into sharing rooms, or campsites since it's been my limited experience tired hikers often snore.  The slow mountain dsl internet was overloaded due to 3-4 hikers per room and frankly with the number of people coming behind me and the fact i had an 'easy out' made me feel it was more responsible to grab a ride home leaving room for somebody else. I'm sure the hiker parties in Laguna would have been fun.

But was even more happy to be home, and surprise my 95yr old Grandmother and share my
wonderful tales of adventure with her and eat a few more of the cookies she had baked for my trip
that I couldn't bring due to weight.

The plan is to be back on trail Friday morning at 6am, the remainder of the "A" section is
only about an hours drive from my parents house.

Although this was only day 3 of hiking, I realize I'm stronger and more fit than most of the people
who are currently doing the PCT, although I'm not hiker ripped yet, so if I put my heart into this
in a month or two I'll be a badass able to do 30-40 miles per day.  My body and heart are already
ready for that, my feet and pack weight were my only limiters, otherwise I could have run.

My starting body weight was 199 lbs/90kg and I'd really like to drop about 50 lbs/22kg. So far I dropped 4 lbs in 3 days while eating candy and other crap. I'm going to switch to healthier more natural foods for the next leg. I need to find healthy food that is about 100 calories and ounce
and not too bulky.

I'm happy to be home for a few days and reflect. I started this hike super early in the season
so these types of delays are more or less expected. I would have liked to have gone further but my
feet can heal up.  Several trail names have been suggested for me including "the office", "snake
sweeper" and "duct tape", though I'd like to go for a few hundred miles before choosing.

Taking breaks is totally allowed on the PCT, as long as I hike the whole thing within a calendar
year I'm still considered a "thru hiker" (instead of a "section hiker" who does different sections
each year) .. and at this point I can't wait to get back.