Julian To Warner Springs

32.5 miles 4/8/18 – 4/10/18

After some great sleep in the hotel I made my way down to Mom’s for the free slice of pie they give to PCT hikers. I got it to go because I had other plans for my hunger. At approximately 8:30am I destroyed the all you can eat buffet at the hotel, bacon, eggs, sausage, fruit, all went in my stomach. I then went back to my room so I could wash my clothes and soak in the tub. As I was leaving I ate the piece of pie from Mom’s.

On my way out of town I stopped by Carmen’s, a restaurant that let’s hikers sleep there after closing, but I just stopped by for the free hug and see some puppies. I also saw a few other hikers I started out with. I then hitchiked with much more success than the day before. A nice woman was shuttling hikers to and from scissors crossing, no sketchy pick-up truck today. At the water cache under the highway two former hikers we’re making quesadillas and handing out donuts. As good as that sounded my stomach was still full of breakfast and pie.

The trail started with a bunch of fully exposed switchbacks up the side of a hill. While sleeping in was nice starting to hike around 1:30pm wasn’t. I was able to use my slightly broken umbrella but the wind kept catching it. The plan was to only go 9 miles before setting up camp. Something that seemed so easy ended up being strenuous because of the heat and elevation gain.

I drank through most of my water and wasn’t feeling that great. The rested feeling had gone away comep at about 4pm realized that I hadn’t eaten anything for breakfast. After a Snickers bar and a couple spoonfuls of Nutella I started to feel better. I set up camp and talked to a hiker from San Diego named Steve (not to be confused with Steve the unicorn) over my dinner of tuna in a tortilla and called it a night.

The next morning I started hiking at 5:30am headed to a water cache 5 miles ahead, which I arrived at just as I ran out of water. Luckily there was more than enough.

I took a short break and then continued down the trail which seemed to snake through the hills forever. Just as I thought I was going to go over the top it would just go around another hill that was hiding behind the first. While it was still warm it wasn’t as bad as it had been. I put on podcast and powered on, remembering to eat snacks along the way.

I was so focused I missed the 100 mile marker on my way into camp at Barrel Spring as the trail dropped into a lush green valley. I thought about pushing the extra 8 miles into Warner Springs but decided to take it easy for the night instead, my feet were a little sore.

I set up my tent and relaxed, grazing on all the extra food I had as I’d be picking up a resupply box the next day in Warner Springs. A number of hikers that I had met previously made their way in camp and we all ended up eating together. As I crawled into my tent I started hearing a bunch of frogs being extra loud. I still managed to pass out right away.

It was difficult to get out of my tent the next morning even though I slept in an hour. The trail entered a pasture full of cows that didn’t want anything to do with me, I just wanted to pet one. Feeling rejected I moved on through the green pasture and gentle hills, a very welcomed change. I moved through flat open meadows with fantastic views. A little while later I made my way to Eagle Rock, which I think looks more like a dragon.

The trail then dropped down next to a creek with plenty of shade from the surrounding trees. I saw a couple rabbits run across the trail in front of me. A short while later I made it to my destination, Warner Springs. The Warner Springs Resource Center was set up for hikers, you could take a bucket shower, charge anything that needed to be charged or just sit in air conditioning.

As soon as I got inside someone was getting a group together to go to the Post Office so I jumped on the opportunity and went with. I picked up my resupply box which somehow ended covered in stickers and quickly realized I had too much food. So what did I do? I ignored the problem and went to have pizza and beer at the restaurant next door. When I made it back to the resource center I set up my tent and sorted through all my food. I put a good amount in the hiker box but still ended up with a lot of food too carry. How could I part with my gummy bears and Cheetos?

I took the coldest bucket shower ever (on purpose), charged up my electronics and visited with other hikers, some of which I hadn’t seen since the day I started. Still full from lunch I made myself eat some of the heavier items in my food bag for dinner. I was still left with too much food. Luckily I only have to carry two liters of water for the next stretch, which should help with weight.