3/21 – 3/24
I left Fred‘s campground at mile 32 after saying goodbye to Tarot, who I am not sure I’ll see again (but hopefully will), and began to head up the hill towards Mount Laguna. It was during this section that the trail began to open up.
The first three days felt like they were winding in smaller canyons with rocky climbs up and down and I always saw Mexico when I looked behind me. Now I was able to look ahead toward long winding ridges and see where the trail would take me.
As I climbed, the first pine trees peaked over the ridge in the distance.
Not long after, I was deep in the woods and almost to the top of Mount Laguna.
Although I was moving step by step, I didn’t have time to really grasp how quickly I approached a new view or a shift in ecosystems.
I was suddenly looking east into the valley with the Salton Sea that lies south of Palm Springs. It’s one of my favorite views since summiting San Jacinto in 2019. The Cactus to Clouds trail up San Jacinto was my first substantial solo hike and one of my all-time favorites.
I had no idea how much elevation I had gained until this moment.
I had a burger at the Pinehouse and grabbed a few snacks but I didn’t hang around in town for long. Mount Laguna didn’t have much to offer and I wanted to continue increasing my mileage day by day.
Not long after heading out of Mount Laguna, a hiker named Ryan caught up to me. He’s from Riverside and has been traveling a lot over the last year or so since he closed his business. He’s been to Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and might continue with a road trip down the coast after the PCT.
Out of everybody I’ve met so far, I’m most confident he’ll finish the whole trail and probably do it in good time. Most hikers out here are optimistic and easygoing, but others get bogged down by small or far-off things and don’t seem to have the right mindset. The daily tasks on trail are pretty simple and focusing too hard on the ‘what ifs’ is not useful if you take measures to be safe.
Some have already been fear-mongering about the snow in the Sierra mountains (even though it’s an average snow year so far). That will probably be a growing point of discussion over the entire Southern California stretch until we get to Kennedy Meadows South.
I was kind of humored talking to two women around mile 12 who were concerned about this very thing. They had struggled to get up the first climb of the whole trail but were sitting in the shade saying “the Sierras will be closed – they just got snow.” There were so many mountains and rivers and valleys and deserts away from that point on trail but they got to worrying right away.
For the next 12 miles after Mt. Laguna, there were no places marked for camping in Far Out. The Cleveland National Forest did not allow dispersed camping in this area but we didn’t have time to do the 10+ miles to get to the next permitted zone. Ryan and I picked some flat spots to camp here anyway and it was the most beautiful evening view so far.
You can tell hikers use this space despite the regulations because there are flattened areas with big rocks left where stakes once were. Campsites are marked on FarOut so you know where to expect patches of flat ground.
I woke up to the usual condensation in my tent (a little treat for choosing a single-wall tent).
I planned out the next day based on the forecast of rain on the weekend. The weather was going to dip into the 30s with rain throughout the day on Sunday (two days out) so I decided I would stay the night in Julian and hopefully do some laundry. Julian was 31 miles ahead so my goal was to split the mileage depending on where I could camp that night.
Just a mile from my site, all the pine trees had retreated and the usual scrub oaks, sages, manzanitas, and yuccas took their place.
I had to backtrack because I skipped a water source and only had half a liter for the next 8 miles. On the way, I ran into David and Paul. David is from Scotland and is just visiting for a couple of weeks.
They stayed in the same room with Tarot last night! Apparently, she broke her phone and is going to get a new one in Warner Springs:( The word from them is that everybody is trying to get to Julian before the rain. I gave them my number and offered to share a room in case they couldn’t find anything.
For lunch, I thought I’d get clever and add dry teriyaki noodle mix to my chicken burrito for some crunch. I started soaking the rest for dinner. It tasted pretty good but the mouthfeel was the same as chomping through fish bones. I’m choosing to ignore that the meat packets from Walmart look like cat food.
Other hikers trickled into this rest area off the trail and we ended up in the biggest group I’d been a part of so far. Two of the hikers started at the southern terminus an hour before me on Monday but I didn’t meet them until that day. They all planned to take two nights to get to Julian which would leave them hiking through the storm. I haven’t seen any of them since so I’m not sure where they ended up.
The trail continued to sprawl out and was more beautiful and easier than all of the days before. It coasted along and I couldn’t believe how far the views were from the trail. The trail on the east side of Mount Garnet was easily accessible by road at a couple of points and I would definitely come back to it. As amazing as the Sierra will be, I love the big dry views of Southern California.
These memorials were put up on a part of trail that cuts next to a road. It seems some of them were bikers and the QR codes are for songs that family members or friends must have chosen. I scanned one and it brought me to “Carry on Wayward Son” by Kansas:(
The trail had lots of gradual downhill ahead so I decided to hit some extra miles. Every mile done was one I didn’t have to do the next day when the storm would be looming.
To wring out the last bit of light, I ate my dinner while walking and got to a gorgeous spot at sunset. Knocked down 20 miles that day!
Looking at the weather ahead, I was grateful I had decided to hitch into town for the next night. There was a later wind advisory for all of Sunday. I added it to my to-do list to check out the gear store in town in case I needed some extra warmth for the weeks ahead.
I considered cowboy camping but didn’t want to deal with bugs quite yet. The wind rattled me out early in the morning and I was on trail by 7 am.
I only had 11 miles to make it to Scissors Crossing where the 78 and another road intersected. From there, you can hitch into Julian. Some hikers were also going to Banner and Stagecoach RV Park. Nobody I saw planned to stay out on trail and there was a silent hustle to get to the road before the late afternoon.
This is a water cache. It will probably be refilled by a trail angel when the seasonal creeks dry up.
I really enjoyed the last few miles to the road crossing because they wound through the Anza-Borrego desert. All I knew about this desert was that it holds the only variety of native palm trees in California that are tucked away in some canyons.
I think many hikers expected all of southern California to look like this section since we refer to the whole 700-mile stretch as the desert. Instead, the cacti have been infrequent and were an exciting break from the mountainous stretches.
Being in the desert without the scorching heat was relaxing instead of oppressive. The birds were chirping and the cool wind was blowing up the canyons with an occasionally sweet smell like star jasmine. I tried but couldn’t find which flowers were the source of the smell.
I’m fascinated by plants that grow best in harsh conditions and I didn’t know these agaves were native to California! They can take up to 20 years to flower and then they die immediately after.
Although they looked to be hours off, the clouds began to encroach on the clear day just as I got to Scissors Crossing. It was time to try my luck at hitchhiking.
Many cars and trucks drove past and we made eye contact in silent agreement that we were both uncomfortable with me soliciting a ride.
It took less than 10 minutes for somebody to pull over. He had a thick accent, drove a blue Tesla, worked in application engineering, and had a small property out in the desert with chickens. Some of these people I’m meeting sound like they were made up using Mad Libs!
He told me grew up in Russia and is giving California a try after living for multiple years in Florida (too green + reptiles) and Michigan (too cold).
I arrived in Julian just 45 minutes before the rain and grabbed a BBQ brisket sandwich. I met Brian sitting outside because we both had 2 hours to kill before we could check in to our places for the night. We exchanged gear notes and stories of the trail so far.
It’s funny how much you can relate with a stranger on trail. Most have watched the same YouTube videos, read the same gear reviews, and joined the same groups on Facebook. There has not been a single surprising piece of gear but it’s exciting to see what everybody pulled together.
Brian has lived in San Diego since being in the military and Kim is a river rafting guide from Maine!
By 3 pm, we were all very grateful to be in town instead of on trail. It was getting colder and rainier. Mount Laguna (mile 40) even got a good amount of snow.
After the free PCT pie and coffee from Mom’s, we set off to stay at the Julian Inn.
You can really trust other hikers out here and easily forget that you met only hours before. There isn’t one so far that I would be uncomfortable splitting a room with and it’s common to all split costs and jump in where you can.
There’s a saying that ‘the trail provides’ which is really just people looking out for each other. I’ve seen some offering up medicine to help with altitude gain, sharing water, and giving encouragement to other hikers at the time they need it most. We keep tabs on each other by word-of-mouth updates as hikers pass by which makes you feel like you’ll be looked after even if you spend the majority of trail time alone.
The rain persisted on Sunday so I had my first zero (zero miles hiked) and hoped to hitch back to trail on Monday morning.
We used the downtime for some regular town chores like food resupplies, laundry, and mileage plans for the next few days. Hikers congregated at various Airbnbs, the brewery, the lodge, and the 2 Foot Adventures store.
Since the weather was looking cold for the next week, I picked up some wool socks to sleep in. Wool retains heat better when wet so I may need them if I get caught in rain.
After days of downhill hiking and then resting in town, I am excited to get back out and tackle the next climb towards Warner Springs (mile 109). Apparently this ascent has lots of rattlesnakes and tarantulas and I’m hoping to see a few if they aren’t all hiding from the cold.
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