After the epic ascent and descent of San Jacinto Peak and walking across the 2.5-mile long desert dry wash of San Gorgonio River in 50 mph gust wind, the PCT took me to the first major river crossing at Whitewater River, followed by over 30 crossings of Mission Creek. Then it continued to Big Bear where it was pleasant, calm, high in 70s and lows in 40s, the first time I felt normal and easy since hitting the trail. Lots of wild flowers greeted me along the way. The best and the most memorable part of this section is the Deep Creek Hot Springs, a nature’s gift for my tired body after hiking over 300 miles.
Appreciation: for honeybee and bee keeper (trail names of two people) for being trail angels to provide water. For Michiteru, a BIPOC PCT hiker, for keeping up with me for 6 miles and having a meaningful conversation with me during our hike. It was the first time I felt a sense of connection with someone on the trail. Thank you. For Deep Creek Hot Springs for healing my body. I bumped into Yucca and cactus so many times because I cannot help going off-trail and I had so many wounds from it. It is a miracle that the hot springs cured these wounds overnight! What an amazing medicine nature provides for us.
Best friend, teacher and learning: The more you look, the more you see! Look at the photo below. Can you see my friend?
Look at the landscape. Listen to the birds. Listen for the water. Smell the flowers. Although I’m just passing, I am constantly building connections with the land and everything that belongs to her, but only if I look, listen and feel what’s around me.
Challenges: Whitewater River Crossing day. The river was raging even in the early morning when the potential water volume is at the lowest. My senses were all opened up to look for the safe crossing. The last time I taught and did a major river crossing was in 2006 when I was a NOLS instructor. It has been 17 years since then but everything came right back to me. I knew exactly what to look for and what to do. I felt the power of experiential education that evokes somatic memories of learning after many years. After going upstream for about 3/4 of a mile, I found a 5-inch wide log that was partially wet that I could hug and crawl over to the other side. When I crossed, it was probably the most serious moment I had on this trip because making a mistake would lead to a big consequence. At the same time it was probably the most hilarious thing I did! After that, I spent all day crossing the Mission Creek. First I was counting then once passed 20, I stopped counting. I was simply exhausted!
Disappointment: one of my Zpack’s hiking poles failed on day 12 but their customer service didn’t. They expedited the replacement, a better quality pole, to me here at Cajon Pass. I’m still disappointed because I value a long lasting equipment to reduce waste.
Equity: I think about equity many times a day every day, especially when I’m seeing very few BIPOC PCT hikers or I have not yet to meet anyone at my height or shorter. I’m not surprised at all for various reasons. There is a basic minimum weight you have to carry no matter how tall you are, like stove, gas and headlamp. Most crucial gear like tents and sleeping bags are usually made for people who are 5’6” or above. If you are shorter than 5’6”, you’re more likely to carry the extra weight that you don’t need, which increases the pack weight/body weight ratio. I am 5’2” and weigh 110-120 pounds. I’m usually carrying a pack that is somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of my body weight. No wonder why it’s rare to see thru-hikers at my height or shorter. I see a lot of tall white men with small packs (their packs look small because it’s like 1/4 of their height). I wonder how it feels like to carry something between 1/6 and 1/4 of body weight pack all the time. It must be wonderful. I also think that it is unfair for small folks to pay the same price for the small gear. I wonder what happens if all pizzas are sold for the same price. We pay more for the extra large pizza, right? I’m already thinking about working with brands to create gear that benefit smaller people so that backpacking is not such a painful experience for them. When I met Michelle, a 5’3” tall woman who was section hiking the PCT in the San Jacinto wilderness, we connected on this issue immediately. She said, “If you start a company which designs high quality ultralight backpacking gear for small people, I will definitely be the one of the first to buy gear from you!”
There are many images to explain the difference between equality and equity. This is what I drew based on my observation on the trail. I attempted to illustrate difference in strides as well. The taller you are, the longer stride you have, which is another advantage on trails since many trail steps and stairs are designed for horses.
