20240428 San Diego to Campo
"It's starting to get real now."
How many times have I said that in the last 3 months?
At least three times since arriving at Scout and Frodo's place; once when we filled in the remaining gear-gaps needed for the trail (tent stakes, hiking poles, knives etc cannot be taken as carry-on on flights) and once again when we got back from the grocery store with enough food to get us to the town of Julian, 72 miles up the trail. I said it a third time that evening, sat around the trestle table set up for us in the back garden with a handful of other hikers who would also be starting the trail the next morning.
Scout and Frodo, or Barney and Sandy Mann, live in northern San Diego and have been offering up their home for hikers for the past 14 years. After completing their own thru-hike in 2007, they became not only deeply involved in the Pacific Crest Trail Association (the PCTA does many things including trail maintenance, permit administration, and educational campaigns) but also with the hiker culture around long trails in the southwest US. As international hikers, Grace and I were allowed to stay two nights while we got our affairs in order, given two square meals a day, and all the help and resources we needed to get our food supplies packaged, sent ahead down the trail where necessary, as well as being shuttled to the mythical 'REI' outdoors store.
In addition to this we also had the opportunity to meet other hikers, calm common anxieties, and listen to Scout and Frodo's entertaining "after dinner talk", a well-rehearsed double act covering some of their own history and motivations, good trail etiquette, as well as the practical principles of Leave No Trace wilderness backpacking and responsible stream crossings.
The morning of our departure I packed away my things, winched my bag shut, and hauled it on to my back. Pleasantly surprised, considering that I was carrying my fair share of mine and Grace's shared gear, I weighed it on Scout's 'scales of truth' and registered the 7.1kg with disappointment. Barely 'lightweight', let alone 'ultralight'. But enough to get started!
The bus arrived and we piled in, and set off an hour south to Campo, the Mexico border, and the southern terminus.
