Day 0 – San Diego to  CLEEF

Good nights’ sleep at the Best Western. And a very nice breakfast buffet. I chilled in the room until I checked out at noon. Put on my pack and walked about 1.4 miles to a UPS store to ship my duffle bag and travel clothes home. Got to the Old Town Transfer Station about 12:45 to wait for my 2:00 shuttle to  Camp Lockett Event & Equestrian and Facility (CLEEF) campground.

Southern Terminus Shuttle

There were two other hikers there waiting. Both from Canada. Brad from British Columbia and roughly my age. Titus from Montreal. We chatted until the shuttle arrived.   Four other hikers joined us and we left right at 2:00. We stopped at REI and I bought my fuel canister. From there we drove about 45 minutes to the general store near camp and picked up sandwiches for dinner. Checked into camp about 3:30 and pitched my tent.

Tents at CLEEF

The group of 7 from that shuttle hung out and socialized most of the evening. Hoping to build a trail family out of this group, but time will tell. 

Shuttle crew at CLEEF

The camp volunteers gave a 60-minute lecture on things like safety, water, hitchhiking, etc. Good info. Of the 25 of us here, only 5 have prior long-distance hiking experience.

CLEEF pavilion

Everyone signed the 2026 hiker banner.

My name on CLEEF banner
2026 CLEEF Banner

Hiker midnight is 9:00 and everyone is in their tents and lights out by 9:15. I worked on today’s blog and read until midnight.

Tomorrow is the big day. First day on the PCT!

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