Calvin's PCT Adventure : April 2015

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

A Very Dirty Break Into TownEating as much as you can

Grapefruit, Banjo, and me (Burgundy) Eating

4/23-4/25

Bolder Fields Coming Down into Idyllwild

A random trail magic location


Big Oaks Leaving Warner Springs

Guys! I know some of you were planning on sending me stuff! There is a couple of things I forgot to mention. If you go to my Itinerary page it will tell you how to address my package! Try to send it at a time where it will arrive about a week before I get there! Also make sure you write this on all four sides: Calvin Rhodes, PCT HIKER, Expected arrival: **/**/**
My next resupply is Big Bear City, their address is 120 W COUNTRY CLUB BLVD BIG BEAR CITY, CA 92314 and I will be there around May third!
If you sent me a box to Mt. Laguana I did not get it! ): The post office will return it to sender hopefully so make sure you put the return address down!

Day seven pictures

Coming down into the valley

Banjo at the RV Park

Banjo checking where we are

Break time!

Great place for dinner!

Feet at the end of the day! DIRTY!

Day four pictures

Just out of camp

Banjo and I just south of Laguna

Banjo Walking Northbound

Southern Terminus

Day seven

We woke up around 8:00 to the sun coming over the east ridge. Another friend , Joule, came into camp shortly after we woke up. We hiked through some very dry heat and made it to Barrel Springs at mile 101! WE PASSED MILE 100! once we got into Barrel springs it was like an oasis. Banjo and I came down playing his guitar and my flute into a bunch of trees and other plants (nice change from dead shrubs and cacti), and turned the corner into the campsite where a person yells at us "HEY! Do you want a cold beer?" We reply, "F*** YEAH!" as we get a little closer she says "What about a chocolate chip pancake?" again we respond "YES!" We sit down and open our beers and ask who she is. She introduces herself as Veggie and we learn that she has hiked the Appellation Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail before and is spending her time living out of her car offering Trail Magic to hikers while collecting data for her Grad School Theses. She was a god send. Afterwords we hiked to Eagle rock and had dinner. about 10 hikers stopped there for dinner. Half of us packed up and made it to Warner Springs were we woke up to running water and a warm breakfast!
I apologize for the lack of posting. I will be going into L.A. On Friday and will replace my phone. But I am having an amazing time. I just figured out how to upload pictures from my camera so expect some awesome pictures in the next post. I am so grateful for all the support you guys have given me and I am loving every second of the trail! See you guys North Bound! <3

- Burgundy

P.s. I got my trail name, Burgundy, the other day because of my flute. Ron Burgundy from Anchorman, I guess it is fitting!~~

Day Six

We started at Scissors Crossing, where two highways met, and Nails (Amanda) came right behind us as we finished packing up. The three of us found our first trial magic, some ice cold sports energy drinks waiting for us at the trail head! We decided to go into an RV park 3 miles south of the PCT for Deli Sandwiches, Showers, and Laundry. We got a hitch from a local guy within 5 minutes of walking down the highway. After we cleaned up and rested for a bit we hitched it back to the trail. Banjo, Nails and I hiked 18 more miles, most of which at night to a campsite at Mile 91.

Day Five

The next morning I was reviewing the water report and didnt see any promising water sources until mile 101. That was a 42 mile stretch from mile 59. It was pretty overwhelming packing 10 liters of water out for the next three days but I did it. Nails and Banjo joined me as we left and we made it about 6 miles down trail until the heat got too intense. We stopped hiking around 11:30 and got to meet up with a lot of the people that were hiking through. Banjo and I started again 6:00pm. we hiked until mile 68 and had dinner around 7:00. Banjo and I took off from mile 68 and ran into Jess night hiking around mile 71 and she joined us for about 4 miles and then went to bed at 11:00P.M.. Banjo and I carried on until 1:00 A.M and then went to bed at mile 77.

Day Four

Day Four the Eight of us took off for our next camp. I decided to split up from the group for a little bit and got to know a couple people a little bit better. I already knew Banjo (Will) from hiking with him before. He is from London and is a bio chem major. I ran into Nails (Amanda) about 10 miles down trail and found out she is a Social major who has worked in a day home in south Cali for the past couple of years. We hiked to a small park and I took most of the day off waiting for Banjo to catch up. Afterwords we hiked to mile 59 and met up with Nails again. We walked up and she looked pretty concerned and asked if we wanted to see something disgusting. Being two guys we said yes and she shows us her badly worn feet. She had a massive blood blister on her middle toe and four of her toe nails are working their way off. I helped her pop her blisters and we had dinner out in the stars. We were in a huge field and Banjo broke out a star map and we found most of the constellations. I got some amazing pictures of the stars and then we all went to bed!

Day Three

Day three Will and I walked into Mt. Laguna resupply point, about a five mile hike. a total of 41 trail miles. We spent the day at a outdoor outfitter and the general store stocking up on food and gear. Afterwords we picked up a couple of beers and went down to the campsite and started a fire. We had a big group, Will (banjo), Elizabeth, Skyler, Amanda(Nails), Jess, Ryan, Evan (Breaks), and me (Burgundy). By far my favorite part of the trail is the community. Everyone is happy to come up and say hello and talk about your feet problems!

Day one and two!

The PCT is amazing! My uncle Alan dropped me off early Monday morning and I started my hike with two other hikers. I stopped to rest around mile 6 for a quarter of an hour then continued on. Around 10:00a.m. I met a man from London named William and we have been hiking for a while. We took a break and talked to a couple hikers as they passed. After a brutal hike in the afternoon Sun we stopped under a tree to wait out the sun with Big Fish and Firecracker. A hour after I took off from our shady oasis I arrived at my first stop 20 miles in. We set up camp and made a fire witch attracted many of the other PCT hikers. The next day everything was frosted over from the freezing night. We hiked another 10 miles and set up under a tree with two other hikers to wait out the sun.

Day Zero

Sorry there has been no updates as of yet guys! On the drive down to Campo California I used most of my phone battery and when I went to plug it in my phone wouldn't charge! So this is the first time I've had access to a computer!

Saturday, April 11, 2015

MCCA trip to Mexico

Today, my uncle Alan invited me to join him and his church's mission to deliver food to several orphanages in Mexico. My group had two vehicles filled with rice, beans, oil, milk, eggs, chicken, and flower and we visited seven different orphanages. There were five groups that went to 30 orphanages. We met up at 5:00a.m. on a Saturday and went past the border to a local super store to pick up the food. It was an incredibly humbling experience and I am grateful to the Mission for letting me be a part of their team. I am lucky to make such an amazing impact in our world. Here is the missions link.