2019 looks to be another record-setting year for number of northbound PCT thru hikers. Here are the number of daily permits for the Southern Terminus issued, as of 3pm PT on March 1.

I had an opportunity to chat with the first person so far in 2019 who started at the Southern Terminus and identified himself as a PCT thru hiker. With lots of snow ahead on the trail in the SoCal portion of the PCT, this will be a tough year for anyone trying to get through to the Mojave this early.

Good luck, Roundup!

After the “Pineapple Express” dropped six inches of rain on the PCT near Anza, the temperature dropped and the precipitation turned to snow. I dug my ancient snow shoes out of storage

and headed off up the trail.

Depending on location, there was 5-8 inches of snow. Mt San Jacinto showed a coat of white in the distance.

Some manzanita appeared to have bloomed a bit early.

(Manzanita is very hardy, so I bet this plant will rebloom once the cold recedes.)

My hiker oasis also sported a coat of white.

I was the only one on the trail, but, on the return leg, the snow was already starting to turn to mush on southern exposures, so we should be back to mostly bare soil within a few days.

A SoBo thru hiker from South Korea, trail name Baram 304 passed by my hiker oasis, just as a PCTA trail crew started a one-day project from my property.

The hiker explained that he was dedicating his hike to commemorate a ferry disaster in 2014 that deeply affected him, along with many other South Koreans. The banner he has carried in his hike includes pictures of the many students who died in the tragedy. More info at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_MV_Sewol.

I was riding my horse a few miles north of my place and noticed this new marker, likely placed there by one of this year’s southbound hikers.

With the temperatures warming up in SoCal, the number of nobo thru hikers decreases with each passing day. I decided now was the time to dismantle those portions of the hiker oasis that are not year-round. The outhouse had served its purpose, but the pit was filling past the half-way mark and it needed to be filled in and retired.

I found it quite easy to disassemble.

Everything but the frame was loaded into the back of my pickup and deposited about 50 yards away on the property.

Two thru hikers helped me load the frame into the truck and unload it 50 yards away.

The pit was filled in. (I opted no to include pictures showing the contents. — Trust me, you don’t want to see them.)

I partially re-assembled the outhouse (but without the shower addition)  on a different part of the property, as this was easier than trying to store the pieces in my shed. It went together again very easily.

It should be safe here until I am ready to dig a new pit and put it back up near the hiker oasis in early 2019.

By coincidence, the date for my annual Celebrate Anza event coincided with Cinco de Mayo — May 5. The weather forecast called for calm winds, sunny skies, and a high temperature around 85: perfect weather for a trailside barbecue. Everything went off without a hitch. Fifteen invited guests (mostly Trail Gorillas — PCT trail volunteers in southern California) enjoyed the festivities, along with 23 hikers during the actual “grill open hours” of 11-3 and a couple dozen more who ate up the leftovers that evening. One invited guest hiked in from Highway 74 and one invited guest rode his horse in from Highway 74, so it was a great mix of people and stock.

As usual, I offered hikers this weekend the opportunity to mail a postcard to their mother for Mother’s Day on me. I got 38 takers: 31 domestic and 7 international. I mailed them all on Monday, May 7.

2018 isn’t quite the superbloom of 2017, but there are plenty of flowers along the PCT near Anza. These photos were taken on April 6.

March 21 was the first day with over 20 hikers by my place.  Since Wild (the movie), I have become increasingly ambivalent about the herd. Group dynamics among hikers change dramatically when there are so many of them, and they seem less interested in engaging with non-hikers in any meaningful way. (The herd is also dominated by younger men, who often have less to share of interesting life experience and seem increasingly fixated on their smartphones, at the expense of direct human interaction or experience of the natural world around them.)

I was glad last week to have two PCT thru hikers staying over at my house, waiting out the rainy/snowy weather. They came as strangers and left as friends. I just don’t seem able to have those sort of interactions when the herd is moving through.