Day 7-9 (april 13-15) mi 76.3-109.0

 

Day 7 was my first zero day on trail. Zeros are days where you don’t hike at all, just to  simply rest your body and do chores around town. It was very good timing to take a zero as there was a wind storm passing through. Wednesday night into Thursday morning had very strong winds that was beating up my tent all night. Stagecoach RV park is very exposed, and the sand got blown up and into everyone’s tent.

I was originally thinking about resting at Stagecoach for most of the day, but with a sudden great gust of wind, one of my tent stakes got ripped out of the loose sandy ground, even with a pile of rocks weighing it down. After that, myself, Chris, and Mark from Scotland decided to pack up camp and head to Julian for the day. Hitching to and from Julian is extremely easy, as there is a network of “trail angels” that arrange rides for pct hikers. All you need to do is wait at either stagecoach, scissors crossing, or Julian, and sooner or later someone will pick you up. 

A woman named Fossil Lady gave us a ride to Julian. She is a very dedicated trail angel that sometimes makes up to 8 trips a day back and forth from Julian. The drive takes about 20 minutes, and she was a great tour guide. She dropped us off next to 2foot adventures, a gear store that caters directly to pct hikers. It is  a big hotspot in Julian, as everyone is scrambling to make changes to their setup after the first 75 miles. Resupply is cheaper there than other grocery stores, and the whole staff is former pct hikers. 

Before shopping at 2foot for two more days of food, we went to Mom’s pies, a famous destination that gives pct hikers one free slice of pie, ice-cream, and a drink. By then, Scottish mark and Chris decided to hitch back to trail and start hiking. I stayed, eating lunch at the Apple Alley Bakery. I had a turkey sandwich, split-pea soup, and another slice of pie (Julian is clearly famous for its pie).

I then decided to walk to the library, a quiet place to rest and recharge my electronic devices. Then I was able to find a ride back to Stagecoach with a different trail angel named Professor. Him and Fossil Lady seemed to have a bit of friendly competition to be the better trail angel. 

With more winds in the forecast, I decided to stay the night in a dedicated pct hiker dorm at Stagecoach. 8 bunks are in the room and i was joined by 3 hikers.

On day 8 I got back on trail. Taking zero days is really weird because when you start hiking again, you all of a sudden start seeing all new people. In the days around Mt Laguna I felt like I was seeing the same hikers over and over again, as a “hiker bubble” forms made of people that go around the same pace as me. 

I waited in front of Stagecoach for a trail angel to come by, and it took less than ten minutes. He went by Rangel and he dropped me and two other hikers off at scissors crossing (77.3). The hiking started off with a 13.7 mile water carry, so I had 3.5 liters in my pack. There were some incredible wildflowers and a lot of new plant life that I never saw before. At mile 91.2 there was a water cache, which is basically a huge pile of water jugs left there by trail angels. There I rested for about an hour and was joined by Alashua and a woman named Val from Portland. 

I then decided to hike another couple miles to 93.2, where I set up camp with a small group of some new and old people: Megan from England, Farout from Oakland, Sigrii from Norway, Genika from Quebec, and Alashua (who’s from Nunavut).

Day 9 was probably my favorite day on trail so far. The air was cool, the terrain was fairly easy, and the views were spectacular. The first 7 miles were similar to yesterday, but finally we entered into a neighboring valley that was much more interesting. I passed mile 100, with the marker formed with small rocks on the side of the trail. 

Near Montezuma valley road the trail entered forest that then broke into beautiful meadows filled with wildflowers and California poppies. Cows grazed just off trail, and I encountered the first travelers on horseback. I felt like I was making much more progress in this section because the trail moved in a straighter line, rather than switching back and forth with the contours of the valley. 

At mile 106 was Eagle Rock, a formation that sits prominently in a green, open field. The site holds cultural significance to the local native population, who ask hikers to respect that while visiting. 

I set up camp at mile 109.0,  with about 12 other hikers eventually stopping there as well. Camp was interesting because the large proportion of international hikers. 2 from Canada, 4 from France, 1 from the UK, 1 from norway, 1 from sweden, and 4 from the US. I have been getting better about using the metric system around so many foreigners as it makes everything much simpler.