Day 6 -28 Mar 19. Hills and Flats on the way to Julian

Today 18.3 km (11.14mi), Total Distance 124.1 km (77.1 mi). 4 hours 35 minutes 0725-1200)






I woke up any early because my neighbours were having conversation at 0600 and started to get ready shortly after. I lay there for a little while but then decided the sooner I go to up the sooner I could go into town. I did a very quick morning routine and was on my way by 0725.




It was not as cool as the previous morning but it was windy so I still needed my wind jacket on and I was in the shade for the first 10 minutes.











The trail continued along the side of the hill climbing slightly and then started heading down to Rodriguez spur.




Gerry on the trail ahead







My body felt surprisingly good considering the long day yesterday. Even my knees are not achy like they have been previous mornings.



I caught up to Jerry as he was taking his jacket off and then shortly afterwards caught up to Len. There were some more of the beautiful flowering plants and a small patch of Californian Poppies.




Yucca










At Rodriguez Spur there was a water cistern with a hose where the water was dripping very slowly.



Len at the water point



Luckily there were some water containers that people had put under the drip so by the time we arrived the containers were full. I only took half a litre as I didn’t want to carry the extra because it was going to be a short day. The other two guys were filling their water and I noticed Jerry had a clean water container so I told them that the water was not filtered and had come from the system despite the water bottle saying pure water. Luckily they had a town stop so they would be able to sanitise their water bottles.




We then continued and now the track was going along the side of a steep hill and in some places the track was quite narrow. To the left were amazing views looking out over a flat plane and then the hills and mountains rising dramatically behind that. Jerry stopped to wait for Len and I continued.




Yucca










I could see the trail continuing along the hill in the distance and I could see one hiker far ahead but I managed to stay disciplined and not increase my pace.




As the trail continued around the hill I could see a small settlement which I thought was scissors Crossing. The trail kept going around the side of the hill and I thought it would never make the turn onto the flats. My energy was a little low as I had had a small breakfast so I ate some muslea bars and perked up shortly afterwards.









As the track descended the vegetation changed and they were a lot more cacti including a new plant, Aloe, which I saw for the first time.








Aloe



Cholla Cactus



I caught up to the hiker that I had seen in the distance and he had injured his knee so is taking it slowly. He had camped at the bottom of the big hill yesterday and had a really early start this morning.




I took a rest under a neat overhang in an area of lots of big rocks. Shortly after the trail made the turn and now it was a straight line for a couple of miles. The trail was in good condition and I was making very good progress.




There were lots of flowers in this flat bit; purple, pink, yellow and white so this kept me occupied looking at the different flowers. I also saw a new type of cacti called Hedgehog Cactus and a plant that had a shoot coming up the middle to me looked like an alien coming out of someone’s stomach. This plant was called a Spanish Bayonet.







Spanish Bayonet






At a gate the trail turned and continued straight for just under a mile to reach a road. At this Junction was a choice to go right to a place called Stagecoach or to go left which took me to Scissors Crossing and the opportunity to hitchhike into Julian.










Hedgehog Cactus



Now it was another strait 0.8 mile, then we crossed a road and after couple of hundred metres arrived at the underpass. There was a large cache of water and rubbish bins set up under the overpass by the local Trail angels.





They were some hikers resting in the shade including Cardinal who I had had lunch with a couple of days ago.




After a quick talk I climbed up to the road and started trying to hitchhike. I walked up the road to the intersection where they were three male hikers waiting. I suggested to them that trying to get a hitch for four people would be difficult and asked if they minded if I went up the road and try to get a hitch and then I could ask whoever picked me up if they could take one or two more.




It took nearly 40 minutes to get a ride and I was starting to get worried that no one would stop. A small car with two older men pulled over for me and I asked if they could fit some of the guys in. They agreed to take one but then when they drive up to the guys they agreed to squeeze all three in the car and Jordan was the unlucky one to be in the boot. They would not have stopped for 4 hikers so my plan worked.







It was a 12 mile drive on a very windy road climbing in altitude to get to the town of Julian. The driver of the car used to do a lot of hiking and that is why he picked us up.




After thanking the two gentlemen we all headed to Mom’s Pie Shop who do a special deal for PCT for hikers by giving them free pie ice cream and coffee. It is an incredibly generous thing for them to do. We put our packs at the back of the restaurant and claimed the long middle table. The Pie was really nice – my first american pie.








The table filled quickly as more hikers arrived including Andrew who I had now seen every day except one. It was interesting conversation and there was a hiker book to fill in. Two of the guys I had shared the car with had attempted PCT last year and they found their names in the book. One of them had signed the book on the exact same date last year.






At the same time we were all trying to sort out accommodation. Most of the motels, hotels and B&Bs were full so it was a challenge to find somewhere to stay. I managed to get the last room at the Apple Pie Inn but this was 3.6 miles out of Julian.




I went to the small Market to buy my food for the next resupply of 2 days and then hitched to the motel.
I got a ride within 5 minutes with a man who used to hike when he was younger.




The motel had cleaned my room first so it was ready for me as soon as I arrived.



Picture above my bed

I put my pack in my room and headed straight across the road to the pizza restaurant and ordered a large pizza which I consumed rapidly and it was really good. For drink they had lemonade which was really nice and more like squeezed lemon then the lemon flavoured fizzy drink that we call lemonade in New Zealand.




Back in my room I put all of my clothes in the bath and then had a shower stomping on the clothes at the same time to start cleaning them. The water turned brown very quickly from all of the dirt and dust of the last 6 days. I then hand washed the clothes and set them to dry. I also washed my ground sheet and got my tent out to fully dry.




I then relaxed until dinner and went back across the road and had a huge salad for dinner.

The evening was spent relaxing and charging all of my electronics and I enjoyed my sleep star fished across the queen sized bed.

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