Lake Morena to Julian

57 miles – 4/4/18 to 4/7/l8

I woke up at 4:30 and next thing I knew I was packing up all my gear to start hiking again. Some hiker that was up all night started telling me about how all the rabbits started running around at the same time and how it reminded him of the Teletubbies.

Once I started hiking I did see a good number of rabbits as set out to put in an 16 mile day. Luckily starting early meant it was nice and cool. The first 6 miles were pretty flat and ran along a highway before leading to a campground. From there the trail started going up. Nothing crazy but once the sun was in full effect it was a little tedious. A few miles later I made my way down a short side trail to a small waterfall, which I immediately swam around in.

After an extended break at the waterfall I continued along the edge of the canyon where I ran into a bunch and navy dudes walking down into the canyon carrying rifles. Must have been training. The trail then crosses a highway and continues to climb, fully exposed to the sun. While I was taking a break a naked man hiked by and said hello as if was something he did everyday.

The trail became rocky and continued up snaking through the hills. Looking down into the valley I could see the highway I crossed earlier off in the distance. At one point the trail crossed through an area that may have had undetonated explosives. After a bit more uphill hiking I started looking for a camping site and eventually stopped after hiking 17 miles.

I set up my tent, filtered some water from a nearby stream and had a delicious dinner of instant mashed potatoes. It ended up being pretty windy all night but was fairly warm. Also, no condensation in my tent!

In the morning I packed up, ate some breakfast and headed out around 5am. Hiking in the dark is a nice break from being oppressed by the sun. I passed a bunch of hikers still asleep in their tents on my way up the trail. Shortly after it became light I entered a forest with a bunch of pine trees. It wasn’t quite possible samples as the ones back home but it was a nice change.

Instead of heading into Mt. Laguna I stayed on the trail and filled up my water at a somewhat random water fountain on the trail. The pine trees gave way to hillsides of short bushes (I should remember what it’s called but I don’t) before arriving at a view point overlooking the desert, which might have been the windiest place on Earth. After following the trail back down, and up, I arrived at highway viewpoint, which provided some nice shade underneath. When talking to other hikers I heard that the faucet at one of the upcoming water sources was broke. I’d need to summon my inner camel to make it though the following 24 miles. I continued on and just before the dry stretch filled up 6 liters of water at a picnic area.

This is where I met two notable hikers. The first just went by “Rick”. He kind of reminds me of Cotton from King of the Hill. He went on about he’s hiked the PCT 9 years in a row (although never completely) and gave constant unsolicited advice most of which I already knew. He was a crotchety old man who hated the book Wild and thought trail names were dumb. Enter “Metric Ton”. As soon as Rick told Metic Ton his thoughts on trail names and he just went by “Rick” without missing a beat he responded “Hi Rick, nice to meet you, they call me Metric Ton”. He had earned that name for a reason, his pack was 90lbs, after cutting down from 100 lbs, well more than twice what I’m carrying. Metric Ton was a really friendly guy, who kind of reminded me of Anthony Bourdain, he was like the anti Rick.

In full camel mode I continued on unit I hit 19 miles for the day. The camping spot I was aiming for was extremely windy, no way I could set up my tent there. Luckily, I was able to find another one nearby that was somewhat protected from the wind. I set up my tent and cold soaking some pasta for dinner. This time I didn’t allow enough time for it to soak so the past was a bit crunchy but ok otherwise. I went to bed a bit early knowing that the goal for the next day was Scissors Crossing, which was 21 miles away.

I woke up at 4:30am packed up, had breakfast and started hiking around 5:15am, in the dark. Hiking as the sunrises is magical, watching every thing light up and glow golden as you make your way down the trail. As I came to the top of a hill I spotted Metic Ton on the side of the trail. He said that it was way too windy to set up a tent and that he ended up cowboy camping. He also mentioned that he plans on dropping 10lbs from his pack, taking him down to 80.

Further down the trail I started to be passed by trail runners, it was simple sort of race apparently. I kept hiking and hiking, and it kept getting hotter and hotter. The trail was pretty consistent with occasional views of the desert below. I ended up in some sort of hiking trance. My feet were tired but I pushed on. Eventually it became hot enough that I got out my umbrella. That, however, was very short lived as a gust of wind flipped it out and broke one of the spokes (after further inspection it will still work). Knowing there wouldn’t be a water source until mile 21 of the day I rationed my water as I struggled with the heat. I discovered a hat with a mesh back wasn’t my best decision as my head is pretty sunburnt.

The last 4 miles of the day seemed to stretch on forever but I reached a junction where a trail angel had left some water and fruit. I drank some water, ate an orange, and pushed through to the scissor crossing where I’d planned to hitchike to Julian 13 miles away.

At first it seemed like getting a ride might a while until a guy in a beat up pick-up truck pulled over and waved. He told me that he wasn’t trying to give me a ride but did anyway. I’m guessing he wanted to give Sisse a ride. We hopped in the back, which was full of random junk and rode until he had to turn off the highway, leaving us with 2 miles to go. We started hitchhiking again and a guy named Matt gave us a ride the rest of the way into town. He had hiked the PCT in 2015 and was planning on hiking it again next year. He said he was giving hikers rides trying to build up his trail karma.

It took me some time to find a place to stay but ended up at Orchard Hill Country Inn. It was a bit more than I wanted to spend but it was well worth it. I arrived at happy hour and got a couple free beers and snacks. The staff was extremely friendly Later I made my way into town and grabbed a burger for dinner, which came with a slice of apple pie, before returning to my room, taking a showerand passing out.