Day 9 – 31 Mar 19. Monotony, Variety and an Eagle

Today 25.4 km (15.8 mi), Total Distance 172.2 km (107 mi). 7 hours 40 minutes (0800-1540)

The guys in my camp site started talking at 0630 but this time I managed to get back to sleep for another 30 minutes. For breakfast I was trying Pop tarts for the first time and I am not a fan. It was sickly sweet and I struggled to eat it. I need to try out different options next time.

I was on my way at 0800. It was straight into a hill climb that lasted 1 hour 20 minutes. The gradient was gentle so it was not difficult climbing but it was frustrating. I thought I saw a hiker above me but thought that would not be right as we were heading around the hill. I found out that the trail did head around the hill a long way but then turned sharply and headed back to above where I had been 20 minutes later for an elevation gain of around 50 meters. A little frustrating and this was the theme of the morning.

The 4 guys from the campsite caught me fairly quickly as did a couple with tiny packs. After an hour I caught one person and that was the last person I saw for the next few hours.

It was warm early but there was a light breeze keeping the temperature ok. I was feeling very lethargic and my legs were slightly achy, though no specific issues. I was stretching often to try and get some life back into them. I also had a snack after an hour as breakfast did not give me as much energy as normal.

There were much less flowers in this section, and they were smaller flowers and not as concentrated as yesterday.

Once the main climb was done the trail went along the side of a steep hill and the views across the valley were nice.

Chafing caused by prickle in shorts

The trail then crossed to the other side of the hill and the flat valley floor on that side was revealed.

Just as the trail started going down a lady came towards me. She looked like a thru hiker. She asked me “is there still water?” It was a rather vague question but I assumed she meant the cache so said it was about 5 miles away and the cache had a good amount of water. She grunted and rushed off.

Now the trail started descending, at a tediously slow pace as it followed the side of the hill. I looked down at where the trail disappeared around the corner and thought it would only take 15 minutes to get there. Instead it took an hour. Just as I thought this was the corner heading to where I had seen the trail, the trail kept heading around the opposite way.

It was getting warm and there was very little wind. I was just plodding hoping to eventually reach that unattainable corner. The one consolation is that there were heaps of Shrub Jays which were neat to watch as they were flying. There were a couple of other types of birds as well.

I finally reached the unattainable corner and then the trail seemed to progress in a more direct manner, though still meandering.

Not long afterwards I had the most bizarre encounter. An overweight man in his 50s, wearing fluorescent yellow top and hat approached and started talking. He explained he was walking to Scissors Crossing where he would hitch too his car. Normal so far but then the bizarre started. He told me he was looking for work in the medical field and could provide instant cure and recovery for any illness and this was proven for ADHD. It was something to do with pheromones. He then went on to tell me about how Hollywood had approached him in medical school for stories so he provided the stories for Avatar, Titanic, Shawshank Redemption and he kept listing movies. Finally he stopped and then asked me if I could give him a job. When I mentioned I lived in another country he was not deterred and said that was fine. I pointed out that I had nothing too do with movies or medicine and he seemed to accept I would not hire him. He did recognise my accent as from New Zealand which impressed me. He said he was sorry about Christchurch (referring to the horrible Mosque shooting) and went on to tell me if all young boys were given the pheromone treatment they would not be violent. Somehow it was about sniffing their fathers and building up a reservoir of pheromone. Very strange and I finally disentangled myself from the bizarre conversation and started walking again. Now if I see him at the Oscars or winning a Nobel prize for medicine I will feel awful for calling him bizarre but I think I am safe.

I came around one corner and there was “100” marked in rocks on the side of the trail. Yay another milestone. A few meters on there was another marker and then shortly afterwards a third marker.

As I was taking a photo the guy I had been seeing in the distance in front of me appeared behind me. He had ducked of trail for his morning business and was now back. I pulled to the side to do stretches and let him get ahead. I quickly caught him and then walked in front the short way to the water point.

It had been 10 miles from the last water source by the campsite. I was pleased to see that despite feeling so lethargic I had still made good time getting there at 1230. 4 ½ hours for 10 miles. I will probably laugh at that in a few months but for now it is good.

There were quite a few people sitting around having lunch and as I put my pack down one of the guys I camped with last night pointed at some yellow and green boxes. Trail Magic! It was cans of Lemon and Lime fizzy drink (Soda) that a Trail Angel called The Scoutmaster had left for us. Thank you Scoutmaster.

Trail Magic!

The drink revitalised my energy and rather than stop for lunch I decided to take advantage of the sugar boost and keep going for another 30 minutes before having lunch.

Now the trail crossed the road and was on the flat for a very short time before slowly climbing. After 30 minutes I found a nice patch of shade and had lunch. I had not specifically brought lunch for this short section and just snacked on beef jerky, nuts and lollies.

After a bit of time in the scrub, during which I saw two new types of flowers, the track dropped to a short flat bit over a green meadow filled with tiny flowers. This is only the second time on trail that can remember it being flat for more than a few meters.

Once across the flat there was a small hill and then on the other side was an even bigger meadow. Looking around you could see different colours where the different flowers were more concentrated. In the distance was some cows.

It was really nice to be walking in a different environment for a change. Next the track entered a small bit of forest. The shade was lovely as the temperature had been increasing. It was also nice to see proper trees again.

The trail turned and then was going parallel to a small creek, San Yisidro creek. I filled up some water and noticed gold flecks in the soil. I would love to know what they actually are because they sure looked like gold. They had accumulated in some areas and it was like gold glitter.

Shortly after the track crossed the stream with plenty of rocks to hop across.

Now the trail left the trees and went up to one of the most deserty looking areas so far. There was sand everywhere under the vegetation and a bit deeper on the track. There were more cacti again and strangely some of the shrubs looked like they had moss on them.

This was a short section and now it was across meadows again, rising to Eagle Rock which was visible in the distance.

The meadow had largely purple flowers but there were patches of yellow and a lone California Poppy, much bigger than the others I have seen. Gradually they became more frequent. I thought to my self how rare this sight must be for PCT hikers. All the videos I had seen showed this as a brown field and I had all these flowers to walk though. Yay the super bloom.

I turned of the trail and made the short walk up to Eagle Rock. It was much bigger than I was expecting it to be and it was one of the few places that looked just like the photos. I took some photos and then one of the two men, who were sitting in the shade with their dogs and a young toddler, offered to take photos which I was grateful for as my self timed attempts were not working. Unfortunately the sun was behind the rock so pictures were hard to take.

I then walked back down the same track to the trail. Most people would just take the track from the rock over the other side but I am a bit pedantic about walking every step of the trail.

Now I was looking for a campsite in around 1 mile. I had just dropped down to the last rock outcrop when I saw a strange animal sitting on the rock.

Now I followed the trail until it climbed up and there were some trees to the right of the track. I veered off and found a lovely campsite overlooking the valley, just above a hillside covered in flowers.

I knew I could have easily done the extra 2 miles to get to Warner Springs but I did not want to push from a long day to a really long day.

As I was having dinner I could hear some Coyotes which sounded like they were just below the hill behind me.

I am happy my body seems to be adjusting to the increased week 2 distance and I will continue at a max of 16 miles a day until Idyllwild, though it may be less as there are some big hills ahead.

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