Day 4, continued: left campsite around 11 and headed to the general store in Mount Laguna. Bought a few things to get to Julian. Had a couple beers and loitered for a couple hours outside the store before hitting the trail around 2. The views from this section of trail were incredible, including views down thousands of feet to the desert floor. It was very windy on the ridge that the trail follows. Ended up hiking to mile 48.7, where there were ample spots to illegally camp. About 20 or so hikers there last night; camped near the usual crew of Lubos, Teresa, Jason, Joren, and Rainer. It was a fairly windy night.
Day 5 was cold, windy, and wet. We hiked through clouds all day, sometimes with precipitation. There were several sections that had us walking directly into sustained 50 to 60 mph winds. In typical years, a very appetizing non-potable faucet at mile 52.6 can be the last water source until mile 77. Because the comments in the navigation application Guthooks weren’t very recent, we filled up enough to make it to 77 if needed. In my case, this was 5.5 liters of water (12 lbs). Of course, this turned out to not be necessary. We hiked 15 miles total to mile 63.7. The plan for tomorrow is to hike 13.6 miles to the highway at 77.3 and hitch a ride into Julian to eat food and resupply. The rain and wind is supposed to clear overnight, thankfully.
Day 6 was a 13.6 mile hike to Scissors Crossing, a highway junction where it’s easy to hitch a ride into Julian. The day was hot but beautiful, with the trail following a mountainside as it descended steadily to the desert floor. Many sections were rather precarious, with steep drop offs to the side. Joren and I hitched very quickly. Julian is a cute little mountain town, several thousand feet up from where we were picked up. We enjoyed a burger at Julian Cafe, then free pie and ice cream at Moms. We grabbed some beer and then spent 45 minutes trying to hitch out of Julian, before a very nice lady who saw our attempts took pity and gave us a ride. We camped at Stagecoach RV park.
Today on day 7, we are taking our time heading out, planning on a short afternoon hike. Took my first shower and doing laundry now. Left foot still hurts a bit but it’s manageable.
Mellow Travels 