I have had my eye on this trail for a while, having hiked a 12-mile stretch of it once before. The trail is relatively close to the Bay Area, traversing the Ventana Wilderness near Big Sur. Prepping for the PCT gave me the perfect excuse to give it a whirl. At 24 miles one-way, an out-and-back hike puts it close to 50 miles, which made it great for a more thorough test of my new pair of shoes and new (lighter) pack, which had both only seen a few casual miles up to that point. I was hoping to use my rain gear before getting on the PCT, and the weather in Big Sur was looking like it would cooperate. So here we go...

I started out from the trailhead in Big Sur on Thursday afternoon around 3pm. I was scheduled to meet Brett, one of my most consistent hiking buddies, at the other trailhead at 11:30am on Friday, so that gave me just over 20 hours to go 24 miles. After being reminded by the rangers that there was rain in the forecast (and me being more excited about rain that I probably should have been) I was off. I was planning to spend the night at Redwood Camp, about 12 miles in. Fortunately the trail was well maintained, and it was smooth going despite the constant uphill grade and almost stepping on a rattlesnake that was sprawled out in the middle of the trail (after it buzzed at me I caught myself eyeing every snake-like root for the next several miles…).

I made it to Redwood Camp, dry, in about four hours. I had the place all to myself and eagerly set about gathering tinder and firewood to get a campfire going. Then the little voice inside my head convinced me to set camp up first so I didn’t have to do that by fire light. One thing led to another and before I knew it I was lying in my tent under my sleeping quilt, dozing off while reading my book (On The Shortness of Life). So maybe I was a little ambitious with the campfire.

The new body-length sleeping pad worked great, and while it wasn’t the same as sleeping in my regular bed, it will get me started. I did wake up around 2am, but that was due to a steady drizzle of rain, and the fact that I didn’t put my rain fly on the tent. I guess I need to be more conservative in my forecasting, because when I pitched camp I thought “I don’t think it will rain tonight”. It did. So I had a 2am fire drill that involved me running around the tent in my long underwear staking down the rain fly. With how many times my dad and I have made this same mistake while hunting, you think I would have learned to always put the rain fly on when there is any likelihood of rain. Maybe I’ll learn one of these days. Or maybe I just like the mad scramble in the middle of the night in the rain.

The next morning was damp, but the rain had subsided. I was eager (that might be too strong of a word…) to experiment with a new breakfast combination of powered coconut milk and granola. My eagerness was dampened when I realized that there was one piece of gear that didn’t find its way in to my pack: my spoon. Turns out eating cereal without a spoon can get a little messy. Fortunately it is doable, so I wasn’t going to starve. The dehydrated meals that I had planned for lunch and dinner were going to be more interesting though… Hopefully Brett had an extra utensil.

I rolled out of camp around 7:30. It was another 12 miles to the trailhead where I was supposed to meet Brett, so I was planning to keep a good pace, which I soon realized would be challenging given how overgrown the trail had become. Still passable, but definitely less pleasurable. It was even less pleasurable once I was soaking wet. In hindsight it sounds stupid that I didn’t stop and put my rain gear on before getting to this point, but I felt kinda like the proverbial frog in the boiling water. I started by getting the bottom of my pants wet by brushing up on some dew-covered grass, then I passed through a brief overgrown spot on the trail, which got my upper body a little wet. Then I hit another overgrown spot and thought “Aw, I’ll just push through this thick part and then it will clear up.” It didn’t clear up. Twenty yards later my clothes were mostly soaked through and I thought “Well, my rain gear isn’t going to do me any good if I’m already wet” so I just kept walking/bushwhacking. About a mile in and I couldn’t get any wetter.

I spent most of the next four hours walking through some pretty dense clouds, constantly beating back soaked bushes. Occasionally it would open up a bit and I would get an idea of the scenery I was missing, but for the most part I was socked in. I made it to the trailhead about fifteen minutes late, and was very glad to strip out of my wet clothes and let them dry a bit.

Some of the views that I am sure I was missing

Ready for the last 24 miles. Note the rain jacket that I now have on!

An hour later we were back on the trail, this time headed in the opposite direction. By the time we had made it the twelve miles to Redwood Camp, I think we were both very glad to stop for the evening. Both of us had soaked feet and soaked pants. I smartened up a bit and had my rain jacket on for the return trip, and I’ll be damned if it didn’t keep my upper body dry! Funny how that works. We pitched the tent, with the rain fly this time. See, I learn.

We camped the same spot I had the night before. Since someone seemed to have conveniently gathered tinder and firewood, but not actually used it, we took it as an invitation to have a campfire. So Brett got us a fire going and we enjoyed some warm meals in our dry sets of clothes. After pulling two ticks off my legs and one out of Brett’s leg, we checked in for the night.

Getting dressed Saturday morning was probably the most unpleasant part of the hike. My underwear, pants, socks, and shoes were still thoroughly soaked, so getting out of my warm, dry sleeping clothes and into those cold, wet hiking clothes was miserable. The rain gear went on immediately after. I’m learning. Slowly.

It was twelve miles to the Big Sur trailhead where my car was parked, and we spent the morning on cruise control. We rolled in to Big Sur a little after 2pm, grabbed a bit to eat at The Maiden Publick House (which I’ll definitely be visiting next time I’m around) and snuck in a few short “cool-down” hikes around the area. The sun finally decided to come out and we even got a few nice views.

So, my biggest takeaways from the hike:

The new pack is a keeper (and more waterproof than I expected)
The shoes are also keepers (and just as waterproof as I expected)
Don’t overlook the little things (e.g. utensils)
Having soaking hiking clothes sucks. Don’t underestimate the value of staying dry.

As we got to the car I had a new thought really sink in. My time on the PCT is going to fly by. 2,600 miles seems like a massive undertaking and a time-consuming journey, but the fifty miles I had just hiked went by in the blink of an eye, and I caught myself thinking “Where the hell did the last two days go?”. It’s a reminder to enjoy that time on the trail, and savor the experience while it lasts.

For how quickly my time on the trail is going to pass, May 4th can’t come soon enough.

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