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EP8/Title: “Laura AKA IG’s We Need Wilderness | PCT Section Hiker & Trail Angel”
Date Published: Feb 16th, 2022 / Length: 1Hour & 53 Minutes / Hosts: Dan Deveau / Guests: Laura Peterson, San Diego /
Topic/Summary: In this episode, we do our second interview with someone that is a resident of San Diego and she hikes up and down near her home in Section A and B on the Pacific Crest Trail. Her goal is to section hike the entire PCT and while on the trail she delivers Trail Magic and helps out the people starting their hike at the Southern Terminus.
We get right into the episode at the 5 min mark with Laura.
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Show Notes:
- 0:00 / Opening commercial from one of our sponsors for this show Thru-r
- 0:40 / Opening funny… when watching virtually The Holeshoes 2015 PCT Hike on YouTube together online.
- 2:15 / Podcast Violin Theme Song: Artist – Trampled By Turtles / Song: Wait So Long
- 3:14 / Opening intro with Dan
- 4:38 / Segway song… Only The Wild Ones by Dispatch
- 5:15 / Dan’s segment with Laura starts. Her Instagram is We_Need_Wilderness Check out her saved highlighted stories and you will see some National Park trips and hikes on the PCT. Dan asks her where did she grow up and Laura talks about what she does for a living.
- See… this is what I said about the hair tuned a little. She said off the mic that it still has a little bit of colour left.
- 9:50 / She moved to San Diego with $600 in her pocket. That’s like around $971 in today’s money 20 years later. There is a website called Couchsurfing and Dan’s a member of it and has used it.
- 11:00 / Dan asks her who she likes to hike with and also about hiking alone.
- 13:20 / Dan asks her who is a faster hiker… her or her husband Rob.
- 14:15 / Laura talks about how and when she got into hiking and the outdoors growing up in the midwest. Going out with her Sisters and her Dad. Doing a hike with a charity hike in Yosemite and Half Dome. Here is the tunnel photo of Yosemite below:
- 18:00 / Laura talks about taking a wilderness course. She urges people near San Diego to check it out. She took a 10-week course and she was taught the basics and also went out to practise her skills with the other classmates on four outings. The last outing was in Mammouth in the snow and building a shelter to sleep overnight in the mountains.
- 23:00 / Dan asks Laura before getting into the PCT… her trips and experiences in National Parks that she loves to visit. She talks about her top Parks.
- 26:30 / Laura talks about some of the best hikes she has done in National Parks.
- 28:30 / Dan talks about a Roadtrip with his Son after the PCT hike with his Daughter. He plans to get a van and take off for 4-5 months discovering the United States and Canada.
- 30:00 / Dan asks Laura about the PCT and Laura talks about the sections that she has hiked on the PCT. They talk about Section A
Section A: Summary & Google Earth Fly By (Click Here)
- Barrel Springs to Warner Springs is her fave part of Section A
- 33:08 Is Eagle Rock Fake?
- PCT Trail Angel Groups on Facebook.
Dan & Chantal’s Trail Notes
- Campo (Mexican Border) to Lake Morena – Leg 1 is 20miles
- Lake Morena to Mt. Laguna – Leg 2 is 22.8 miles
- Mt. Laguna to Scissors Crossing (Hwy 78 to Julian) – Leg 3 is 34,2 miles
- Julian to Warner Springs – Leg 4 is 32.5 miles
- 37:00 We talk about Julian and how Dan and Chatal will take our first Zero. Laura talks about Julian and about the famous Pie in Julian. As well she names where you can get a meal and also the gear store for supplies with 2FootAdventures. Click the link above to view Leg 3 to learn more of this leg.
- 39:00 Dan asks Laura what her fave day hikes she likes to do. She then moved into talking about Mt. Laguna.
- Only three countries – the U.S., Liberia and Myanmar – still (mostly or officially) stick to the imperial system
- She talks about how Laguna is the only town right on the trail. They talk about Tiny Houses that you can rent in Mt. Laguna.
- 44:30 / Laura asks Dan about any sidetrips he has planned. Summit Whitney, San Jacinto and Trailcation in Yosemite.
- Our Trail Notes are found here.
- Dan talks about YouTube vloggers he has liked to watch.
- 51:40 / Dan’s pro-tip of following this year’s class on the PCT by making them a “close friend” on IG so he can focus on this year’s PCTClass.
- 53:00 / Dan asks Laura what other sections she would like to do next.
- We mention the destructive fires in the past couple of years.
- Laura wants to get to Paris, France one day… she didn’t mention it on the podcast.
- Laura mentions the magical place where Mayor Max lives. Dan talks about a gentleman who reached out to them for us to stay at his Cabin where we double zero. We need to go see Mayor Max!
- Rob (not her Rob)… but PCT hiker made this tour of where Mayor Max lives.
- Dan talks about how he will take the PCT slow with his Daughter. He made this cheesy homemade video for our Patron peeps explaining how slow we will start out. Don’t laugh at this video.
- 1:05:30 / Laura mentions that the PCT McDonalds is famous to hikers on the trail in the early days of their PCT Hike. Dan and Chantal are excited to stop and they will do the McDonalds Challenge.
- Laura then asks right after about Night Hiking
- 1:06:30 / Laura asks us about Mt. Whitney and if we will try to summit.
- 1:08:30 / You can find the grave of a 27 year old Doctor at the end of the meadow where the pit toilet is. Keep walking past the toilet on your left until the meadow narrows and forms a tiny spit of land. You will see a wooden cross & rocks outlining the grave from 1946. He died climbing Mt. Whitney. They got permission for him to be buried in the National Park and they used dynamite to help dig the grave since the dirt is shallow and they could only get to 3ft. down.
- 1:09:30 / Dan told his story again of his Daughter thinking that this video was the whole PCT and she said “I’m in. Let’s do it!” When the video was the first 20 miles from Campo to Lake Morena. He bought her a poster for her wall so she can understand it’s a huge walk.
- 1:13:00 / Dan asks Laura what she likes to eat on the trail hiking.
- 1:15:30 / Laura talks about Perfect Bars.
- 1:17:00 / Dan asks her about sleeping cold and what she does to stay warm.
The rest of the links and talking points below are for the last 30 minutes of the podcast:
- They talk about burgers and we talk about the first place Dan and Chantal are going to stop at will be the Malt Shop below in Lake Morena. Laura laughs and warns us they take their time.
- Dan & Chantal are going to have some beers after our first 20 miles to celebrate being on the trail and we will knock out a podcast from the campground. I’m sure we will order a pizza to eat.
- Laura talks about how she loves burgers too. Dan mentions that Chantal is such a picky eater that we need a shakedown food tour so she can learn to eat new foods.
- Dan asks Laura about hiker boxes and if she looks in them. She tells us that she leaves things in there and she teaches Dan there is such a thing about a summit box.
- Laura asks Dan if he will fill out the trail registers.
- Dan has an idea for Laura to try a social experiment to get a crown all the way to Canada… one person at a time.
- Dan asks Laura if the wind in the desert pisses her off.
- Holy shit they have fly’s that bite like they do here in Ontario.
- Dan talks about how he bought professional earbuds to help with wind tent noise at night.
- Dan asks Laura about falling on the trail. I think you will see that in her saved IG Highlights when she fell. Don’t fall like her. 😉
- She talks about foot care and how her feet hold up on trail.
- Dan asks her if she gets freaked out camping alone in a tent overnight. LOL she know’s Jason’s last name from Friday the 13th.
- Pro-Tip… don’t be on a Missing Hiker Podcast.
- Becareful of this guy. People keep posting that he was lurking around in 2020 and last year also. Google image his name and study his face.
- Dan & Laura talk about getting out of Idyllwild and the climb heading towards San Jacinto. Devils Slide Trail.
- Laura and Dan talk about this Mountain that they are not sure how to say it. It’s also can be very scary due to bad weather of snow and ice. Dan hopes to summit this mountain if it’s safe.
- Laura talks about loosing the trail under the snow.
- Dan talks about a hiker that got lost in the mountains on a day hike. Worth a listen. (apple link but you can find it on Spotify if you search Episode 62 from “Lost In The Woods Podcast” While Dan is talking my guess is Laura is eating a vitamin from a plastic bottle.
- Laura talks about about the 6 mountains to summit. Dan segways about the 2 year anniversity of Trevor’s Accident. Here is the post from the Trek that Trevor’s Dad Doug wrote. Check out what Nomad Ventures is doing this year helping hikers with “Trevor Spikes” with the safety and logistics of having the gear you need leaving the Paradise Cafe. More about Trevor’s Accident on the PCT in 2020.
- Dan asks them about how they will deal with the crazy heat of the desert section and the crazy heatwave last year for the classof2021.
- Laura talks about her story of being in the desert and being in a situation where it was challenging for her.
- Dan asks Laura about Trail Magic and she talks about Trail Angels and the help they do for people in the Desert Section
- Dan wraps up the segment and thanks to Laura for coming on our podcast.
Thank you for listening and if you listened on Apple or Spotify, please give us a rating if you can and remember.
Other Links:
- Trail Lingo
- Our own Trail Notes for the first 14 Sections
- Our Side Trips we plan to take
- Thru-R – The online community about new and alumni PCT hikers | Website
- Town Days On Trail
- YouTube Channels To Watch
- Our Gear List
- Pacific Crest Association’s Website
- Sponsors for this show are Triple Crown Coffee, Purple Rain Adventure Skirts, and Thru-r.
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