Day 7, mile 118

Monday, April 29, 2013

Leg 2: Warner Springs to Idyllwild, California
Overnighting: side of trail

Lesson learned by command central: boxes held at a post office for PCT through-hikers are stored under the last last-name.  For example, in addressing the first cache drop to "A.Flanagan or A.Mathes," the post office will store this box with the "M"s.  An important point, when Andrew Flanagan asks to pick up a box and it cannot be located under the "F"s.  Although, the box was completely miss-filed so knowing this tidbit of information would not have helped this morning.

Red opens the first cache drop of the summer.

NOTE FROM COMMAND CENTRAL
If mailing a package, remember to enter "c/o General Circulation" and a note that says "Please hold for PCT hiker - ETA April 28, 2013."  Future cache drop locations and dates are listed on Flanagan's "PCT Section Itinerary" spreadsheet.  Please email me for a link to this spreadsheet.

Day 6, mile 109

Sunday, April 28, 2013
Layover between Legs 1 and 2: Warner Springs, California
Overnighting: Warner Springs Community Center (in a horse pasture!)

Right on schedule.  The Andrews finished Leg 1 this afternoon.  Flanagan sent this photo enjoying a shady break off trail.  Tomorrow (Monday) morning they will collect the first cache drop -- a box with resupply of meals and maps -- from the post office and then tomorrow evening they begin Leg 2.

 

 

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More pictures will be added in June!

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Day 4, mile 79

Friday, April 26, 2013
Leg 1: Campo to Warner Springs, California
Overnighting: side of trail

Surviving the mid-day heat by finding shade.  Sometimes days finding shade is more challenging than others.  See how resourceful our Andrews are?

Day 3, mile 59

Thursday, April 25, 2013
Leg 1: Campo to Idyllwild, California
Overnighting: Sunriseth

Day 2, mile 41

Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Leg 1: US-Mexico Boarder to Warner Springs, California
Overnighting: Burnt Rancheria Campground at Mt. Laguna, California
Friends on trail: Andy Pelz (first 8 miles)

The boys made camp about an hour after sunset.  The moon is bright and illuminates the campsite (or so I'm told by Flanagan).  Tonight was the first foray into instant-pre-packaged-with-love dinners.  Mathes was delighted by the aptly names Couscous Chicken Delight.  Let's hope they enjoy the meals after eating the same 10 dinners for eight weeks.

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Pictures will be added in June!

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Day 1, mile 20

Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Leg 1: US-Mexico Border to Warner Springs, California
Departing: US-Mexico Border in Campo, California
Overnighting: Lake Morena
Friends on trail: Andy Pelz

And they're off!  After camping near the trailhead last night, Flanagan and Mathes begin their five-month, 2800 mile journey in good spirits.  I received a call from Flanagan at 7:40am; all is well and Andy Pelz is joining them for this first day.  Good luck and Godspeed!

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More pictures will be added in June!

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4 Days to Start - depart Portland

Friday, April 19, 2013
Pre-Hike: Portland, Oregon

One last meal in Portland, before the road trip to California in the Flana-van (Flanagan parents' van).  A quick stop by Pok Pok for delicious Thai take-out, which we took to the Lloyd District.  Andy, Flan, Mathes, Dru (aka SubHub), and Becca enjoyed a "tailgater" lunch in the KP parking lot.  Mere minutes after this photo was taken, the Three Andrews --Pelz, Flanagan, Mathes -- began their road trip to Campo, California.

Map of the Pacific Crest Trail

PCT hikers have a wealth of support and experience from which to draw when planning their trip.  And we "boosters" also have many great resources to help us track our hikers, mail cache drops in advance, and plan rendezvous along the way.  

For example, the great maps below are from http://www.pctmap.net/p/mapdl.html.  

For no-so-real-time tracking of Our Hikers, use this handy interactive map created by Jonno, a computer wiz and friend of the Andrews.  Jonno's map highlights the entire trail, has pre-loaded pin-points for expected re-supplies between legs, and drops pin-points when one of the Andrews announces their location through text or phone call.  If you can navigate Google Maps, you can navigate Jonno's map at http://www.backnine.org/~jnicol/pct_map/map.html.

Chronicalling the PCT

The Pacific Crest Trail.

A footpath from Mexico to Canada.

A summer of backpacking.

Five months of walking.

Childhood friends Andrew and Andrew -- Andrew Flanagan (my husband) and Andrew Mathes -- first dreamed up walking the entire PCT at age 14.  Years passed and other adventures ensued,* but the idea of a summer-long backpacking adventure remained. 

While communication with the Andrews is limited, I will post all updates I receive on this blog. so family and friends may follow the adventure.  Expect the entries to be brief, as they may be as short as a text message and accompanying picture.

Enjoy!
Rebecca

* In 2004, the Andrews spent eleven weeks traveling the Pacific Rim -- Japan, Thailand, Great Barrier Reef, New Zealand, and Cook Islands.  The picture above is Flanagan (left) and Mathes at the summit of Luxmore on the Kepler Trek in New Zealand.