This morning I woke up pretty early at the room. I didn’t get all of my writing and video work done last night. So I promised myself I would wake up around 5:30AM to give myself time to finish. It worked out pretty perfectly timing wise. I got some of my stuff packed away, ate something, and then finished up all of my writing.
Right before 7 AM I headed out of the room to the parking lot. Last night, the lovely people at 2 foot gear shop in Julian arranged for me to get a shuttle ride this morning with a Trail Angel name Fossil. She was in the parking lot just before 7 AM waiting for me. It was super nice of her to come and get me because apparently she doesn’t do morning shuttles. But the other Shuttle Driver in town already had a full load for 7 AM. And the people at the gear shop knew how critical it was for me to get an early start to the day.
Making my way up the climb out of Julian.
I was back at the trailhead by around 7:20 AM and got moving. I saw a big group of hikers standing out by the road trying to hitch into Julian. I passed by them last night about 3 miles before getting to scissors crossing. They looked like they were having so much fun all hanging out and camping together.
My morning began with a very long but gradual climb. It was about 14 miles to the next water source and also 14 miles to the general top of the climb. Though after leveling out briefly, the climb continued for another 5 miles, making it a gradual 20 mile climb. I had plenty of water to go 14 miles. And I knew that the climb wasn’t going to be too bad. Over the course of three or four hours it was only maybe 2000 feet of gain. Honestly, I was loving it and it felt really good on my knee knees. The grade was absolutely perfect and I could’ve kept doing that all day long.
A big beautiful flowering plant.
Over the course of the morning, I wound up running into a bunch of hikers. I talked to many of them for a while. And I even got passed by my first hiker along the PCT! This kid was going so fast and flew by me. But he said that he was actually going to catch up with a couple people. So once he caught up to them, I eventually caught up to him and passed him by. His name was Tiger and he was walking with two other girls whose names both started with L’s. But I met so many people over the course of the day. I just cannot remember all of the names. One of the girls actually watches my YouTube videos and I wound up talking to them for a while. They were so nice.
Over the next couple of hours, I saw a ton of more hikers. It was already starting to heat up a lot for the day. I have a feeling it’s going to be a lot hotter today than it was yesterday. So maybe in the high 70s. I mostly ran into people when they were sitting in the shade, enjoying a break. Depending on where in the country you’re coming from or if you’re an international hiker, the desert heat can be pretty intense. Even this time of year when it’s a lot more moderate than what it could be. It’s very smart to break and get out of the sun. And if it was hotter than it is right now, it would be a good move to not hike between the hours of noon and 3 PM. Depending on how hot it is, you might even want to extend that an hour in both directions honestly. This time of year though the weather is pretty perfect.
When I was a few miles away from the next water source, I came upon two more hikers. It took me a second to realize that they actually had a dog with them! I had my sunglasses on and for some reason I just didn’t notice the dog. Once again, I’m terrible with names and met way too many people today. So I cannot for the life of me remember what the two girls names were. But they were so ridiculously nice! They recognized me off of Instagram or YouTube. I got to put their dog who was an absolute sweetie. The dog had little shoes on to protect its feet from the hot sand. I talked to them for a few minutes before continuing on. All of these interactions have really been making my day so much better.
Early on in the day the weather was perfect in the desert.
Today has been one of my favorite days when it comes to socializing! I’ve met so many nice people today and had the opportunity to talk to a ton of them. I can only imagine that I will see even more over the course of the day as well. It’s also nice to not really feeling rushed for any reason today. I’m not heading to town or trying to get to a store before it closes. I’ll be passing by Warner Springs this evening, but I’m not going to make it there in time to buy anything. So I’m really just taking my time today and not stressing about anything. Which means I’ve had a lot of opportunities to chat with other hikers.
The next few miles were a little bit more uphill. Then eventually, I got to the junction for the next water source. This one is a water cache, and I recall it’s a decent distance from the trail. But boy, it was even further off trail than I remember. I only had about a half liter left, and it was the last water for 10 miles. So I had to go over and grab some. The end of the spur trail was all downhill, which is the worst. But the climbs here in California have been so forgiving to me that I can’t really complain.
The junction for the upcoming water cache.
When I got down to the water cache, there were probably six or eight hikers there. A handful of them were hiding in the shade of one bush. Then there were two guys over by the actual storage for the water. I immediately recognized one of the guys off of Instagram. He just messaged me last night and he was asking where I was. He got a ride into Julian with the same guy who gave me a ride. So we corresponded back-and-forth and I figured I would definitely be seeing him today. I believe his name was Jay. He was sitting there with another hiker, who apparently has been following my blog for a long time, whose name I believe was David. Apologies in advance if I get any of these people names wrong. It’s a lot easier to remember trail names than remember regular names. And I’ve met so many people already over the course of today.
Jay, who I met at the water cache!
I talked to those guys while I filled up and a couple liters of water. They’re both so nice and it was just delightful to sit and take a short break with some other hikers. Getting out here onto the PCT has really been feeding my soul. Honestly is exactly what I needed. Sure, it’s hard passing by nice people and not being able to spend more time with them. I would love to be taking longer breaks with some of these hikers or camping together. That’s just an unfortunate side effect of what I’m doing this year and what my goals are.
That was such an awesome break there at the water cache. I didn’t stay there super long, but just long enough to enjoy myself. Then wound up continuing on and getting back on the trail. From there, next up was about 5 miles of gradual uphill. The climbing itself was pretty easy, but it was really hot out. It was the hottest part of the day and I was definitely feeling it. I was so glad that I stopped off and brought extra water. I’ve been drinking way more water of the last few days and I have all year long.
This cactus’ flowers were all beginning to bloom.
I didn’t see anyone for that entire climb up. I just listened to a couple podcasts and kept my head down. I’ve been making pretty good time today even considering I’ve stopped off a few different times to chat with people. Ideally I’m going to do about 38 miles today to set myself up for a “shorter” day tomorrow. Which is actually going to be like a 36 miles still. Which is not short. But, I’ll be able to get in to Paradise Valley Café at or before 6 PM. Then the guy Ryan aka Detour is going to pick me up and host me for the night.
Wide open desert views.
Because of all that, it looks like it’s going to be a later day today. I’ll probably wind up hiking in the dark for at least 20 to 40 minutes. I could definitely be walking a little bit faster today. But my body‘s been feeling really good just sticking to a 3 mph pace. Two days ago I was flying and going way faster than that. So I’m trying to just take it easy and treat my body a little bit nicer. Then it’ll set me up for a slightly shorter day tomorrow.
The trail went right past this cool cave!
Once I got up to the top of that climb, it was pretty much downhill to the next water source. This water source was by a campsite and just before a road. It was probably 7 miles before Warner Springs. On my way to the water source I passed a couple more hikers. Two were going southbound on section hike. Then when I got to that next water source, was surprised to see one other person there. It seems like the trend lately has been that the longer I go without seeing anyone, the more people I’m going to see soon. The hiker who was there was named Becca. She was so nice and we talked for a few minutes. She’s only 19 and setting out on her first hike. Which is so exciting!
It brings me back to being 21 years old and coming out to the PCT for the first time. I think it would be very life-changing to do something like that so young, when you have your whole future ahead of you. I hear a lot from older hikers that they wished they would’ve done something like this sooner. Just because of how much it would’ve changed them and their outcomes most likely.
Making my way to Warner springs.
I sat there and filtered a couple liters of water. Then continued on the trail. It was really nice and flat for the next handful of miles. With only a gradual climb in between. I passed by Becca again after a mile or so. I really hope there’s some people camping where I wind up tonight. I know it’s going to be late, but it would be really cool to see some hikers and camp with people.
The trail passes through this beautiful meadow.
The trail winds up going through a big meadow for a while before Warner Springs. Then I dropped down to the next creek around 5 PM and there were probably 20+ people camped there! Once again the FOMO was real. Everyone looked like they were having so much fun hanging out and camping together. It was a really nice tent spot too. There were four or five different large tenting areas along the creek. But unfortunately, I’m still very far from my destination for the day. Obviously, if I really wanted to, I could set up camp there with everybody. But then there’s zero chance I make it to Paradise Valley Café tomorrow. So I won’t be able to get hosted by Ryan, and charge my stuff and everything like that. And I know in reality I would really only hang out outside my tent for maybe an hour or so. Then would want to lay down and get working on video stuff and writing anyway. I’ll just have to wait for it to lineup for me to give people naturally.
Over 100 miles in to the PCT!
There is a small climb coming out of that creek. Then I popped back into other Meadow and made my way toward Eagle rock. An incredibly cool rock structure just off the PCT, which looks just like an eagle. I was surprised when I walked over to it that no one was there. I figured some people might be camping there because it’s a really cool location. But it is also only 2–3 miles from Warner Springs. So maybe people would’ve just kept going to make it to the hiker building before it closed. I believe you can shower and possibly do laundry there. And they sell some drinks and resupply stuff. But they close at 6 PM and I’ll be getting there closer to 6:45 PM.
Eagle Rock!
It’s looking like I’ll arrive at camp right around 8:40 PM tonight. Which is definitely a little later than I prefer. But I did spend the night in town last night and didn’t get hiking this morning until closer to 7:30AM. Plus , I’m doing about 38 miles today. So the combination of all of those things means getting to camp a little bit later for the night. But I’ll have a nice early start tomorrow and should definitely be able to get to paradise Valley Café fairly early tomorrow evening.
The sun beginning to set as I walked through another meadow.
In between Eagle rock and Warner Springs I passed by a few hikers. Then there were a bunch of people hanging out at the community center by Warner Springs. I could see a bunch of hiker gear and stuff hung up and a ton of people. But I just kept on going because I still had about six more miles until camp for the night. The next hour or so went quickly and was super flat and easy. I was just hiking as fast as I could so I could get to camp fairly early.
It felt great as the sun dropped and the temperature began to drop as well.
When I was about 2 miles out from camp, I planned to stop and get water. There was a water source right by where I planned to tent for the night, but I just wanted to get it now so I wouldn’t have to worry about it later. I was already carrying a couple liter, so adding on one more really didn’t seem like a lot. The next tent site right by the creek actually had a ton of hikers too. There were probably six or seven tents set up and people hanging out. I just blew by because at this point I had maybe 20 or 30 more minutes of daylight. Then I grabbed some water and continued on the camp.
It gets dark right around 8 PM so I didn’t have to walk very long in the dark. I wound up getting to the next tent site around 8:15 PM and there was one tent set up there. So I found a flat spot and very quietly got set up for the night. I was so excited to be sleeping in my tent, honestly. I definitely get more restful sleep in my tent. And it’s been nice by myself to worry about keeping me up all night snoring.
Once the sun set I had to walk for about 20 minutes in the dark.
Once I got my camp set up, I boiled water and had a mountain house dinner. Today I did a really good job getting calories in. I do think I could have eaten even more snacks over the course of the day. But I probably ate about 3000 calories throughout the course of the day. Then had a mountain house dinner at the end around me out a bit. After I ate, I did my stretching and did a teeny bit of writing and video work. But I was super tired and didn’t have the energy to do much more.
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