May 8

Dear Friends, Misfits, Colleagues, and Allies:

This is a mass email. My apologies for being unable to write to each of you individually, but time constraints force me to address you all at once. This marks my first communication from the Pacific Crest Trail. Seven days ago, I left the Mexican border (a long wall of corrugated iron) with a full pack of gear and seven liters of water. I have been camping alone and hiking alone. This has been a very desolate trail so far. I have made it to a town called Warner Springs (population 207,elevation 3,327 ft.) that lies 110 miles north of where I started. Just 50 miles north of here is San Jacinto peak, which currently hasalmost ten feet of snow at its summit. The forest rangers will not allow us to cross the high country unless we are equipped withcrampons and ice axes, which I am not currently carrying. Already, my plans are having to be changed as most of California's peaks are dangerously iced-over. I will most likely be forced to circumvent the high peaks that are snowed in. I know that discretion is the better part of valor. Eventually, I may go around the Sierra Nevada's (where they are still receiving snow even this week) and jump ahead to Oregon by mid-June. For now, my plans are to keep hiking as long as the weather and the health of my body allows.

You are all in my thoughts.

All my best, Bill