Michael is walking north

GUEST BLOGGER MEGAN HANLEY, New York, NY
Well, hello, everyone! Social Media Intern Megan Hanley here.

As some of you may know, Michael has now been on the PCT for three days. This first stretch will take about another four days, so hopefully we'll hear from him this coming weekend. I'll post updates from him then. Until we hear from him, you're stuck with me. Actually, for much of Michael and Erin's PCT hike, you'll be stuck with me! What a journey you and I will take, dear reader.

Michael and Erin have been telling me about the PCT for the past several years, but the truth is that I just absorbed the gist. I tuned them out when they started talking about the benefits of one brand of sleeping bag stuff sack vs. another or how much average snowfall one can expect in the Sierras in junohohiw0-'w3-0' oh sorry fell asleep there for a moment. This means that I have to rely on Google to tell me where exactly my beloved siblings will be. Here's what I learned in my research today:

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

The Southern California section of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is a 900 miles. The PCT begins on a low hill near Campo (elev. 2,600’), a small town near the Mexican border. It passes through Lake Morena County Park and beneath Interstate 8, then climbs through chaparral, scrub oaks, and pines to the rim of the Laguna Mountains. The trail dips into Anza-Borrego Desert State Park at Scissors Crossing, then winds up, down, and around the San Felipe Hills and lesser mountains of the Cleveland National Forest before crossing SR74 at 4,900’ and climbing the backbone of the San Jacinto Mountains. It reaches its highest point in this section at 9,030’ shortly before it plunges to its lowest, crossing beneath US10 at elev. 1,190’ in broad San Gorgonio Pass.

For details and printable maps, please visit:http://www.trailsource.com/pacific-crest-trail/index.asp#ixzz2Qfbfnq00

I thought about filling this whole first entry with some musings on how borders affect our ideas about ourselves, our countries, and the people on the other side of the border, but then I decided that that might be a little much for this first entry. Instead, here's some information from Wunderground about current temperatures near Campo, California:

And here's a video of me hiking in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in 2008. Let this video answer the question, "Why isn't Megan hiking the PCT with her siblings?"



Much love, and more updates soon,
Megan