Day 4: One Hot Mess

Date: Sat 4/21

PCT Start Mile: 41.5 – Mt Laguna

PCT End Mile: 61.5 – (on trail camping)

PCT Mileage for Day: 20

Off-Trail Hike Mileage: 0

Total PCT Mileage: 61.5

Total Overall Mileage: 66.1

The Highlights: epic views, trail camping, and Shawn gets his trail name.

We packed out of camp around 7am, the Wolverines busy making pancakes for hikers. We had already eaten some Pop Tarts and weren’t hungry enough to hang around for the pancakes, but in another few weeks if someone offers us pancakes we will probably say, “yes, please”, and then ask for more. As it was, we thanked them profusely for everything they’d already provided and hit the trail.

Many of the water sources on the map for today were tenuous, so we were full up on water heading out of camp. For us, that’s 6 liters each, or just over 13 pounds of water. This can be slightly uncomfortable on the hips and we made a few stops in the first couple hours to make some pack adjustments in attempts for a more comfortable carry.

Heading out of camp, someone had mentioned that the day would be mostly flat, and later on the trail another hiker said “it’s all downhill from here”. As we weaved our way over countless ups and downs I thought, where in the f*#$ are they getting their information?

Just before Penny Pines Point, we met another hiker named Carburetor. He was a big dude with a big beard, big boots, and a big pack. I could only understand about every other word he said, maybe some engine maintenance needed.

Finally, by late morning, a bit after heading out from a short rest and snack break at Penny Pines Point, the trail did indeed become relatively flat, with short well-graded ascents and descents between flat ridges that hugged the mountainsides. Expansive views of the surrounding mountains greeted us from every angle.

Around noon we made a lunch stop at the Pioneer Mail Picnic area, which would likely be our last opportunity to get water for the rest of the trip to Julian, a 24.4 mile stretch. Arriving at the picnic area, a friend of Applejack had driven out to meet him and he graciously offered us beer and Gatorades. I downed a cold yellow Gatorade on the spot before topping off my water supply from this awesome source:

We ended up spending about an hour at the campsite, eating lunch with other hikers. We ran into Debbie and Jan again, who we hadn’t seen since Day 1. They are probably in their 50s or 60s and rock some major miles each day. You see a wide range of ages on the trail. The youngest we have met so far are two high schoolers who graduated in December.

The best part of lunch was Shawn acquiring his trail name! While eating his ramen, Shawn spilled his pot of hot noodles and was given the trail name Hot Mess. I’m not sure if he loves it, but he did accept it.

Unfortunately this pic doesn’t capture the spill that well.

Heading out from the picnic area, not too far down the trail a paragliding outfit was set up, prepping for a flight off the cliff into the valley below. “Are you hiking to Canada?” one of the workers asked me. “Yes, can you take me there?”, I asked, motioning to the glider. This drew some chuckles. After walking away, Shawn mentioned all the memorial plaques that were mounted along the cliffside near the paragliding operation. I had completely missed these. I think I’ll just stick with plan A and walk to Canada.

The rest of the afternoon brought more remarkable vistas. And some temps that could be described as hot as balls. The sun umbrella came out. For some reason I couldn’t get it attached to my pack comfortably and it was mostly angled away from the sun. I fidgeted with it until it annoyed me. The umbrella went back in the pack. Did I mention the awesome views though?

Around 18 miles of hiking, we came across some well placed trail magic at the Sunrise Trailhead Junction. While we had originally planned to camp at the meadow at Sunrise just a bit off the trail, after some grapefruit, we felt energized enough to head another 2 miles down the trail to camp. This will make tomorrow’s hike into Julian a bit shorter.

This is our first night camping on trail, and we’re in a great little spot surrounded by bushes, which we’re hoping will help to block any wind we get tonight since this area can get pretty windy. It’s been calm since we arrived though, so hopefully this will continue through the night.

Later after we’d set up, Debbie, Jan, Hoosier Daddy, Banana Boat (one of the high schoolers, so dubbed due to a first day sunburn), and about four others slowly trickled in and also set up camp nearby. We wiped the day’s dust and grit off as best as we could and ate dinner in the tent. My gourmet meal: