Trail names, Walking "100 miles" and crazy meet ups!

I'm a hundred miler!!!

They say the first 100 miles are the toughest and I am thankful I made past mile 100.  Somewhere around Warner Springs was the 100 mile mark.  Since I didn't do the typical rock formation picture, how about great scenery to celebrate 100 miles of hiking?

Trail names are something that goes along with a thru hike. Normally the trail name indicates something about your personality, occupation, or something crazy you did to be dubbed the name in the first place.  I have already met several hikers with trail names - Doc the Marine physician, Bucky - carpet cleaner and skateboarder extraordinaire, Aviator, Tex and many more.  No too long after hiking, I started to be known as Dr. Fresh! because of the fresh home cooked meals my mom and dad graciously made for me.  Having fresh meals out on the trail has been great so I fully embrace the Dr. Fresh moniker.

The marker to Mike's Place

After the knee issues, I rested in Warner Springs to recuperate.  The rest definitely did the trick and I felt great on Sunday. I was able to get in a solid 17 miles before 3pm with the other hikers I joined. Along the hike the day turned into a scorcher and we dreamed of making it to Mike's place to rest up, get some fresh food and water.  Mike has been serving hikers pizza, hot dogs, and supplying water for the last 10 years.  It was great to relax and meet new hikers and develop friendships with ones I had already met along the way.  After that we got stranded at a water cache between Mike's and Paradise Valley Cafe for several hours.   I can't wait till the water is no longer an issue.

I had 2 days to get to my next resupply Paradise Valley Cafe so I was able to take it easier with only 14 miles per day to hike.  After that, I will need a series of hitches to get around two major fire closures on the trail.  I am hoping once I get to the Sierras the path is clear to Canada!  The weather has been gorgeous the last few days with highs in the low 70s.  Perfect weather for hiking.

How ironic is it that you can travel over 2,500 miles from home only to meet up with someone that is from your area or someone you know.  I met Liam from Wyoming, OH also a suburb of Cincinnati. I live about 20 minutes from Wyoming.  And now for the crazy part, I actually came across a hiker that is friends with my cousin Merrie Emmons from Seattle WA! Shout out to Merrie!   I did a lot of hiking with Liam, Puma, Zach Alex, Doug and Brian. We seem to be in the same pattern and pace so it made the hike easier to have someone else hike it with you.

I am still getting my trail legs under me and figuring out the best way to do things. One thing I learned is it takes longer to get places than you expect. I was ambitious on the number of miles I thought I could hike the first week. My family sent the first resupply packages before I hit the trail and I was wrong on the ETA. That coupled with my injury, put me behind by at least 4 days already. This is important because you put an ETA on all your resupply packages.  Once the date passes, the maildrop place may think you have abandoned the trail and may open your resupply to put in the hiker box for other hikers.  When I finally made it to my 2nd resupply stop, they couldn't find my food box.  The only explanation is they thought I wasn't showing up. That box had 3 days of homemade food, snacks, etc so whoever got 3 days of Dr Fresh meals - you are welcome!  Lesson learned.  Be more accurate on your ETA.  Don't send them out too early.

Paradise Valley Cafe.  One of my resupply stops and a great place for a good meal.

Next up, I will be hitching to Idyllwild try and find a hat after the hiking umbrella I purchased broke. I am hoping Anti-gravity gear will be able to send me a replacement.  It lasted a total of 2 days on the trail.  I was able to get a temporary hat to use but as you can see in the picture below, it won't be my permanent solution. 

Somewhere along the first 100 miles of the PCT.