The Hunt for Water and Julian (starting at mile marker 47.2)

Due to a late day start from Mt. Laguna, there were not many miles trekked that day.  The next day, I made a concerted effort to put on some more miles. The hiking was easier, still rocky areas, but overall, a less rock-cluttered trail running along a ridge.  Had to watch my steps.  The trail is narrow and a slip would mean a very long fall down a steep incline of cactus and various other thorny things.

Hit the 50 mile mark.  Only 2600 to go!

Getting water is a problem this late in the spring.  Had to take a 1/4 mile hike off trail to fill up at road side parking area.  Later, I could fill again at a horse trough. (Many parts of the PCT are horse trails as well). 

Horse trough in the desert.

This water is not potable, so does require filtering, and sometimes, chemical treatment as well. The next water was supposed to be 1.1 miles off trail to a water cache supplied by Trail Angels at a rest stop.  However, after hiking to this cache, Claudia and I discovered the cache empty.  Therefore, we had to contact some wonderful Trail Angels to take us into Julian for water.  The couple that picked us up are from San Diego, but have a cabin in Julian.  As Julian is a tourist town (famous for apple orchards, apple pie and apple ciders), they choose to come to Julian during the week, rather than the very busy week-ends.

Going into Julian turned out to be a blessing.  The people in this very sweet, small town are gracious and very welcoming to hikers.  We were treated like queens.  The first thing we looked for was a place to eat a real meal.  We decided on the Julian Cafe.  It is a cute restaurant with a long history of great food and hospitality.

Yummy chicken pot pie with the flakiest crust ever!

Claudia & I, well-fed and happy!

People were so friendly and it was getting late in the day, so Claudia and I decided to get a room at the Julian Hotel and B&B.  They will even do hiker's laundry for free.  The lady was so nice and showed us around.  All rooms except the wedding suites have showers only and we really wanted an Epson salt soak in a tub.  (I will definitely stay here if I'm in Julian again without the RV.  She suggested we try the Julian Lodge as she knew they had tubs in the rooms.  We secured a room there, washed our clothes in the tub and washed what seemed like pounds of dirt from our bodies.  It was pure luxury to sleep in a real bed.  My air mattress had died the night before, so I had slept on the ground.  While at the lodge, I found the hole and patched it. 

Dining area-breakfast included.

Our room door is right behind Claudia.

Information Sheet for PCT hikers.

Packed up, ready to hike.

After a restful night, a trip to the store for a few more food stuffs, we found a ride with a Trail Angel back to Scissors Crossing to hit the trail again.  Our ride was a retired Hot Shot, 25 year resident of Julian with a degree in philosophy.  We had a wonderful 35 minute conversation as he told us a lot of history of Julian, the people, wild fires that have threatened the town, among other topics.



Our hike started with what else, a long, hot climb up, up, up through the desert mountains. 

Up, up, up!

It is a long way down.

Our crazy camp on an extremely windy ridge

The night found us again on a high ridge.  It was a struggle to pitch our tents in the wind.  What we didn't know is that as the the sun set, these winds would become gale force.  I spent the night with my knees and outstretched arms giving the tent extra support.  I was afraid it could collapse on me during my sleep and suffocate me.  I had also read that there were mountain lions in the area.  At first I thought, the flapping tent would scare them away.  Then I thought about how much kitties  like to swat, pouch and paw flitting, moving things, which was not reassuring.  I kept my whistle close at hand, as though that would frighten a cat away!!  Of course, with the wind, using bear spray would be a bad idea.  Toward morning, I finally wedged my back against the sidewall where the wind was hitting and went to sleep.  At 5 am, like magic the wind went from gale force to nothing in a matter of a couple of minutes.  I crawled out, packed up and hit the trail while it was cool, eating a protein bar as I walked.  I poured a Starbucks via packet into one of my water bottles, shook it, and drank cold, black coffee as I hiked.