Jim, Sagebrush – Page 177 – Sagebrush Trails

Momentum Mori

PCT 2018 Day 2, April 24, Tuesday.

Start mile 20 Lake Morena Campground

End Burnt Ranch Campground, mile 41.5

Miles walked: 21.5

Challenging long climbs today, now at 6000 feet. Boulders thinning out, shrubs thick and thriving, and now in forest at the campground. In this area within the Laguna Mountain Recreation Area, camping must be in a campground. No sites are reserved for PCT, but groups of up to 8 people rent sites together. I ended walking just past 4PM because the next campground was a few miles away. I did try taking a break today around 1PM to escape the sun. Starting back again, my body had stiffened up.

Finished audiobook Fatal Flight– The True Story of Britain’s Las Great Airship by Bill Hammack.

Hero’s Journey

PCT 2018 Day 1, April 23, Monday.

Start Mexican Border near Campo, California, mile 0

End mile 20 Lake Morena Campground Miles walked: 20

[Note: My daily miles for this thru-hike are higher than average, and should not be used for planning purposes.]

My brilliant number one best daughter drove me to the airport last week, and I fly to San Diego and visit brilliant number one best son for a few days, playing tourist. Leaving the apartment in early morning, I make my way via two buses and one trolley to the small community of Campo and the start of the Pacific Crest Trail. On the last bus I meet 4 other hikers of varied backgrounds, Uncle David, Bryan, RJ, Pippin, Bryan. We walk a short distance to the border and start of the trail. Fools gold specks sparkle in the dirt of the pathway. The terrain is rounded granite boulders with a thick planting of shrubs and a few scattered trees. The temperature is a challenge, and I pass many scattered clumps of hikers taking a break from the heat of the afternoon, taking refuge in shady nooks along the side of a mountain. Water sources are infrequent, so I press on to Morena Lake campground, with faucets and even a shower. I overhear several hikers who ran short of water and had trouble with the heat.

Joseph Campbell talks about the standard story template we know from myths and movies in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. He describes 17 steps to the story cycle where a person begins a quest, undergoes challenge, struggles, and returns home changed. So how will I be changed by journey’s end? Not that I am a hero, merely a protagonist in my own tale.

Apps for Trail Part 2

(Warning, shameless self-promotion ahead.)

Caption. I take many photos each day with the phone, and the problem is remembering why I took a particular picture four years later, and what is the name of that mountain anyway? Caption allows me to easily add text information to the caption property of the photo that does not normally display, but can be read by most photo editor programs and some WordPress plugins.
Some slideshow programs can also display the caption text. I will also refer to the Caption app while inserting photos into my hiking blog each night using the WordPress app.

The app also allows a short audio clip to be embedded in the JPG image file, while staying compatible with all image viewers.

I wrote the Caption app to help document my photos on long hikes, and I hope it can help you, too.

RecAll. A few years ago I wrote an audio recording program that has enjoyed a certain amount of popularity in certain circles, particularly ham radio operators and telephone call centers, where the voice-activated recording feature was used. Now I have ported RecAll to Android, and will use it to make an audio journal for my next long hike.

A Secret. I wrote another app, useful for taking impromptu photos while hiking, that is not quite ready to release. I am not ready to provide details yet, but if field-testing goes well I can talk about when the trip is complete.