I climbed up out of Whitewater on Friday, after a two hour delay when I had to stop about three miles into the trail and re-pack Takoda's pack saddle; apparently I hadn't done quite as good of a job that morning as I thought, or needed a little more practice for "the real deal." But eventually I got things straightened out, and we proceeded to Mission Creek trail camp. We arrived after dark, due to that delay, so it was a little difficult to find the springs and the horse corrals and set up everything, but I managed. It was a very cold night, however, for a first night on the trail, and I shivered my way through till dawn, when it finally got a little warmer (then, just as I should have been getting up, it was finally warm enough to sleep soundly). So I got a slower start in the morning than I would have liked, and once again we found ourselves riding in the dark during the last few miles of the trail. But there was a brilliant almost full moon to light my way, so that helped a lot. Mom parked the trailer where the PCT crossed the 18 near Baldwin Lake outside Big Bear City, and she walked down the trail to meet me. Then we trailered the horses back to Shay Meadows Stables, where I was going to board the horses for the next couple of days. I was very late when I finally climbed into bed (a real one in the camper!) and I have to say that it sure felt good after that cold night on the trail.

#2014PCT