Day 0: 5/16/2023
Los Angeles, California to Campo, Califorina
Click here for location
Amanda and I woke early on the 16th - PCT Eve - in order to get back to Union Station and catch the Surfliner Amtrak service to San Diego. At 5 am we ratcheted ourselves out of bed and got busy organizing our things before heading down to the lobby and checking out of the room. Once outside we headed for the subway system, dismayed to find the nearest entrance closed. As I prepped Uber, Amanda asked a nearby security guard if there was any other entrance open. He pointed across the street to a more conventional entrance.
Once inside we purchased a ticket and then frantically fumbled around the various platforms until we found the red line back to Union Station just as the train was pulling up. We hopped on and rode 4 stations back to Union Station where we once again fumbled around until we found the correct platform. Gotta give it to the Germans, they knew how to organize a public transit system. A kindly looking man motioned us to a coach car where we stepped up and inside and found a west facing set of empty seats.
Unfortunately, I had learned the day before that, due to a landslide, the Surfliner was running a bypass bus from Irvine to Oceanside, California which would split the trip into 3 legs. None-the-less, 10 minutes after the train embarked I headed down to the cafe car to grab a coffee and then settled in for our 45 minute trip to Irvine.
The misty coast flew by and before I knew it we pulled into Irvine and were jockeyed off to a set of waiting buses. From Irvine, a bus took us down 101 to Oceanside while I neared the end of the 1st book in the “Wheel in Time” series. At Oceanside we transferred back to another Surfliner Train and headed on down to San Diego which we arrived at around 9:30 AM.
In San Diego we had coordinated to meet an old friend, Mark, who had moved while we were living in Germany. We had decided on meeting at a cafe called Madi in north-central San Diego, so Amanda and I hopped on the #10 bus and then walked 8 city blocks north to a very hip looking cafe.
We sat on the porch and enjoyed what we both felt would be our last artisanal coffees for a while before Mark showed up and we both got up for hugs. We caught up at the cafe for a few hours before our schedule necessitated a departure. Mark graciously agreed to take us to a nearby transit station where we said our goodbyes and embarked on a streetcar back to the Old Town Transit station.
At the Old Town Transit station we spotted a group of people decked out in hiking gear and backpacks. “I bet that’s our pick-up spot” I told Amanda and we headed that way. Once there we met a retired couple, Tammy and Steve, from Lower Michigan who were doing the first 500 miles or so of the PCT and also working on the AT. We also met a girl from Quebec and another from Elensburg, Wa. Just as the white transit shuttle showed up, another guy in his mid-to-late 20’s showed up jovially holding the largest burrito I had ever seen in a hand, smiling and saying “just made it!” He introduced himself as Calvin from Denver and at that point, one final guy stood up from a bench and also came over to get in the van.
Together we were greeted by our driver, a nice man who ran the shuttle service who indicated we would be making a stop at REI and then at a grocery store an hour later in Campo. We piled in and drove about 20 minutes before landing at the San Diego REI. Here, I purchased another multi-adapter cord to replace the one I broke on the train the day before and Amanda got some fruit leathers. We all returned to the van and put in an order for sandwiches at the Campo store as we pulled away from the parking lot.
For the next hour I talked with Steve about our respective industries until the van pulled off onto increasingly dusty roads and eventually deposited us in front of the Green Store in Campo. Inside we purchased cold drinks, candy and picked up our sandwiches before returning to the van and driving the last five miles to the equestrian camp run by the shuttle.
Once at the camp, we offloaded our backpacks and organized them under a nearby shelter. There were a few other hikers in our small cohort nearby and we made easy conversation with them, while reorganizing our things and eating the sandwiches. After we were organized, Amanda, myself, Calvin and another guy from Portland, Oregon named John (Long Trail) played Cornhole, which Calvin and I won. Amanda and I then picked a spot to set-up our tent before hiking up to the southern terminus to take some pictures and stick our hands through the border wall.
After we came down we both did some writing before the shuttle staff gave us an orientation on the trail and some information about tomorrow's breakfast which they would be providing. I only heard about half of it as i watched a small tarantula inch closer and closer to my backpack
After the orientation Amanda and I sat and talked but eventually headed to our tents with the others to brush our teeth and organize for bed - excited as any Christmas Eve I can remember for the great adventure to start!
