"Starting the trail!" 3/31/22 7:35 AM
Here at the southern terminus would've been a great place to take some more notes. Luckily, I still remember this day well. I started the trail with three high school buddies from back home. We staged at my grandparent's house in San Diego for a couple days prior. Early in the morning, we drove out to the southern terminus outside of Campo. I ate leftover Indian food in the car on the way, and mistakenly left my brand new long-handled titanium spoon in the car (which after much effort, was never recovered). My grandma, Barbara, officiated an awesome sage ceremony among my companions and all of the other hikers who happened to be around at the start. It was a great way to begin the trail.
The hiking that day was pretty straightforward. We took our time, drank and ate plenty, and generally cruised all day until we made it to camp.
"Made it to first camp at Lake Morena. Great first day." 3/31/22 4:57 PM
Once we arrived at Lake Morena we set up our camp at the hiker campground. There were tons of hikers around who had just completed their first or second day, and the vibes were good. I made a short trip down to the local deli where I was able to get my hands on a plastic spork to replace my ti spoon for the time being. Ate dinner, hung out for a bit, and hit the hay.
My dry loadout, Buddies and family at the start, Making our way down the trail, Camp setup at Lake Morena:
