Day 3 Hydration is Important

March 19, 2023

Last night I had a headache it just did not go away. I had let myself get dehydrated both on day one and day two. I had not yet caught up with the hydration needs. I think I also had underfed myself a little bit. I woke up at 3 AM still with the headache and drank a liter of water with electrolytes. I felt a little better fairly quickly, but of course and then I had to get up and pee at six today. My goal today is to eat more food and drink much more water. 

I woke up, packed up, and took a short walk back up to the Malt Shop for breakfast. I had a bacon, potato and egg burrito and large coffee. 

While there I met Ryan who is from Maine. He is also hiking the PCT for the first time; although, he has done portions of the Appalachian Trail previously. 

We had good conversation at breakfast and found we had a lot in common. We started off hiking together, and our personalities quickly clicked. He’s got the same faith that I do and it’s just two years younger than me we both hike at the same speed and enjoy taking a little bit of time for pictures. He had planned to stop at Boulder Oaks Campground @ 6 miles, but Hiking was good, company was good, and he opted continued on with me to tonight‘s camp site at Kitchen Creek.

Today’s trail brought us out above Lake Marina opposite of where we came in. We are beginning to notice a change in the vegetation and the trail. This is more typical of high desert.

Today had our first two real water crossings, although compared to the Sierra, both of these are babies. Less than knee deep, and refreshingly cold. We did stop and takeoff her shoes put on water shoes for the 

We went through Boulder, Creek Campground and under interstate 8. We then wound up into the hillsides with some moderate trail slope. We were able to look back and see where we had crossed on the interstate  8. I am always amazed at the distance, covered in just a few miles of Hiking. 

The final couple of miles were above a river with a fairly significant flow. It gave us beautiful views, and a calming sound. God is good.

We finished with a half mile road walk down to kitchen creek, which fed the river we walked above. Our trail app said they were good campsites here. NOT! 

There is rain forecast tonight from 12 AM to 3 AM and as we arrived, there was a light sprinkle starting. With scattered around the area and found someplace we thought was a little better than the apps suggestion. It is still a beautiful spot though.

We quickly set up tents dug a small moat on the uphill side, in case rain is heavier than expected, and settled in for dinner and bed. 

by the way, I did meet my hydration and food goals. I think I stopped about every mile on the trail to lose a little water weight. 

Today’s hike 10.8 miles total Trail miles 30.2