April 13th, 2022 by Jon
Today we woke up to blue and violet hues filling the sky. What a treat to start our day with. Our mornings have become a little more routine. We start by putting our clothes inside our sleeping bags so they aren’t really cold when we put them on. We doze for another 10 minutes or so, and start mentally preparing ourselves. Clothes go on, and we start to pack our things inside the tent. We both leave our packs outside the tent, under the rain fly, for easy access. Once the tent is empty, we get our tent packed up and by then all we have out is our food bags and a stove that we share. One of us will start getting water ready for oatmeal/coffee. We eat quickly and usually try to throw some snacks in our hip belts of our packs so we can access them while walking or once we take a break.
Breakfast eaten, snacks stashed, stretching endured (we’re pretty stiff every morning), we were off! We were headed down to the valley we have seen for the last few days so that we can get to the highway where Nicole’s sister, Megan, will pick us up. With the extra miles we put in yesterday, we only had 11 miles to go today. We started with a small climb out of a saddle we were camped at last night before realizing we were high up on a ridge where we could see we were at the end of a long valley. From there, we could see the desert floor where we were headed! We cruised along the ridge for a while but we were noticeably losing elevation as we headed down towards a water tank that was way up on an old forest road.
During our hike today I actually caught up to Nicole for a brief moment and I had to give her a hard time for that afterwards. Let it be known that it happened at least once during our hike. After 4 miles or so, we arrived at the water tank, and each tried to drink a bunch of water before we left, so we would have to carry as little as possible. After filtering, I carried about a liter and a half for the remaining 7 miles to scissors crossing. The rest of the day would be filled with lots of downhill hiking with loose rock. We looked up when we remembered, but it was difficult not to lose our footing with the terrain we were dealing with. One thing we enjoyed was seeing some of the desert cactus flowers starting to bloom! It’s beautiful to see something so delicate grow out of something that looks so sharp and menacing.
We finally reached the desert floor and had 2 miles of walking across hot desert before we finally arrived underneath a very shaded underpass. Some kind trail angels had left beer, water, camp chairs, and chips, which meant there was a large number of hikers hanging out. Some people were waiting for a ride into town, others had just come from town and were waiting for it to cool down before making the climb into the next mountain range. While we were there waiting for Nicole’s sister, other hikers we had been around for the last few days arrived! Everyone was very excited to get to town and we made plans to grab dinner together at a brewery.
Nicole’s sister Megan arrived, and we all jumped into her car to drive the 20 minutes to Julian. The town is small, with a downtown of about 2 blocks. It’s famous for Mom’s Pies, which offers a free slice of pie and a scoop of ice cream if you show your PCT permit at the counter. It’s an incredibly kind gesture from them. Ajia had the strawberry rhubarb and I had the apple boysenberry. Everything was delicious.
As we walked around town there was a lot of head nods being thrown around. Thru hikers have a certain look about them and it’s fun to have an immediate connection with someone because of it. It kinda reminds me when bikers give each other the head nods or waves, but instead of leather, bikes, and that stuff, it’s puffy jackets, and people covered in dirt. I love it.
We booked the hiker trailer at the Oak Hill Inn, which is run by Laura and Mike, who just bought the inn from Laura’s family. They are incredibly kind hosts and welcomed us warmly. We each enjoyed a hot shower, lots of soap, and then relaxed by the pool for a while and enjoyed some complimentary snacks. It was a very enjoyable few hours.
The three of us each did some repackaging and prepping for the next section to Warner Springs to make the morning a little easier. Our plan right now is to have a slow morning and get out later in the day to hike a few miles. That way we can enjoy some town rest and give our bodies a little more recovery time. We want to stay within the under-10-mile range. We will see what happens.
Dinner was absolutely fabulous. Thru hikers took over two large picnic tables at the brewery and they served some really great barbecue/bar food. Nicole ate half a large pizza, Ajia had the brisket sandwich, and I ate almost all of a half rack of ribs. Our hiker hunger is coming but not quite there yet 🙂
We enjoyed seeing Woods again who we hiked with near Mt. Laguna a few days ago and met Rachel who was from Australia. Great conversation, beers enjoyed, and stomachs bursting, we walked back to our trailer around 8:45 since we were used to going to bed even earlier. Another great day on the PCT
Shout out to Mom’s Pies at https://momspiesjulian.com/. I’d like to enjoy a slice one day! Thanks for being such a great sponsor to so many of the PCT thru hikers.