April 10th, 2022 by Jon
Today we woke up in Lake Morena to a frozen ground and lots of condensation on our tent. Some of it had also even made its way inside! Our alarms went off around 5:30, and while I slept pretty well due to my earplugs, Ajia did not. Apparently, the rest of the campground (not the PCT section) was pretty loud. We had a quick breakfast of some bars since we didn’t want to wait until 8 for the restaurant to open, and we were off by 6:45
The trail started off with some flat sandy walking trails through a small manzanita forest. Even though we were relatively close to it, we couldn’t see the lake due to a huge cloud that covered it. Eventually, we hiked up onto a ridge and could see the next valley that lay beyond. We had great views, and without stopping, we continued down to the valley floor and walked through an oak-filled meadow. There was a lot of grass everywhere, and it looked like we were walking next to a seasonal creek bed.
Eventually, we walked through Boulder Oaks campground after walking 6 miles in about 2 and a half hours. When we got there, we saw a huge oak tree with a bunch of hiker stuff laid out everywhere. Everyone seemed to have the same idea, dry out everything that we had to pack up wet this morning. As we finished, we began to wonder where everyone was. Eventually, another hiker walked by and let us know there was trail magic at one of the campsites! It was fun to hang out and commiserate with other hikers. Talking about the death March out of Hauser Creek and the dumb mistakes we have all made so far made for excellent conversation.
For those who don’t know, trail magic is when a kind person goes and sets up food, a ride, or some other kindness for thru-hikers. This morning, they had apples, oranges, soda, Gatorade, and beer. It was so nice to sit around and see many of the same 15 people that we had been seeing since we started. It’s funny how you think someone is way ahead or behind you, and then they pop up somewhere you are. The kindness went a long way, and we were sure to thank them.
Eventually, we had to leave and we quickly crossed underneath I-80. From there, it was a steep climb out of that valley to get up on top of a ridge that we walked on for a long time. We had views in all directions of the mountains near Mt. Laguna and eventually headed into the end of one valley. Looking down a steep canyon, we could see a small creek flowing. We decided to take a break further up the trail, where we could get down to the water a little easier. There were a few hikers there already and 5 of us managed to cram into a small shaded area under the one tree that was available. It was around 11:30 when we arrived, so we had some lunch and ended up just relaxing for another hour and a half.
After a long, hot day yesterday, we were kind of aiming for a shorter day today. There was a tent site marked on our map near a creek that was already dried up this season, which was only a few miles away. We tentatively were shooting for that site and began our last climb out of the end of the valley, crossed a small highway, and then began a new section wrapping around some nameless large hill. It was cooler today, somewhere in the high 70s, and the breeze on that part made for some excellent hiking. It was a long, steady uphill before a short descent to the dry creek. It was easy to see why so many people liked the campsite; it was large, usually had water, and was well shaded. We took a stretch and snack break there, but since it was only 2:00, we decided to push another 3 miles or so to another campsite a little farther up. It will set us up for a quick 7 miles into town tomorrow so we can get some town food (I want a burger so bad) and pick up a box of food we had mailed to ourselves. We plan to hike a few miles out of town tomorrow,
Overall, we are doing well. A little sore, a little sunburned, but in good spirits and enjoying the start to our journey.
I love the trail magic idea!!! I hope that you will be blessed with that kind of magic many times along the way!!!