Day 5: Feelin’ Hot Hot Hot
Date: Sun 4/22
PCT Start Mile: 61.5 – (on trail camping)
PCT End Mile: 77.3 – Scissors Crossing/Julian
PCT Mileage for Day: 15.8
Off-Trail Hike Mileage: 0
Total PCT Mileage: 77.3
Total Overall Mileage: 81.9
The Highlights: the BEST trail magic, Carmen’s, and Mom’s Pies
Soon after turning in last night we heard coyotes yipping in the distance. Their song didn’t last too long and soon all was quiet. The night remained calm, thankfully, and we didn’t have to deal with the annoying noise of tents flapping in the wind.
We attempted to get an earlier start today, anxious to get into the town of Julian, a popular stop along the PCT. Julian is home to the famous Carmen’s and Mom’s Pies… but more on that later. First we needed to hike around 16 miles to get to Scissors Crossing, from where we would hitch 13 miles into Julian.
After packing up and snapping a few shots of the gorgeous sunrise, we were on the trail. It wasn’t long before the sun grew hot… and then very hot. I mean, we are in the desert and we know that we will have many hot days, but this was the hottest day we’ve had so far.
We made good time for the first half of the hike, driven forward by pie on the brain. As the sun grew higher and hotter, our pace eventually slowed. Trekking along the mountainside, we could see the roads we were hiking to far in the distance for a very long time and felt like we were never getting closer. We gulped water and I attempted to hit my umbrella against every spikey tree and bush possible. It is remarkably resilient, thankfully, since I apparently have zero awareness of its real estate needs when deployed. Who knew there was so much green stuff in the desert! I kid, but really- you’ll notice in my pictures that the desert is certainly full of vegetation – cactus, trees, scrub brush, wild flowers, a carpet of green in a dry land.
We finally descended from the mountains to the last stretch of the hike – a flat trail through cactus that seemed to stretch forever along a fence line. Forever was really about three miles… but it was a very long three miles.
Eventually we reached a sign that pointed toward Scissors Crossing, where we would get a hitch into Julian. “Trail Magic – .8 miles”, it said. “Under the bridge”. Walking through the heat, I imagined the trail magic to be some coolers of water… maybe some cold Gatorade if we were lucky. I was so hot, I didn’t even care… I thought, when we get there we can grab a drink and head to the road to get a hitch as soon as possible.
Finally arriving at the bridge, we were totally dumbstruck by the scene underneath. An entire smorgasbord…. trail angels with hot dogs, ice cream, cold beer, fruit, and all the fixings. It was unbelievable.
Several hikers sat in camp chairs and on blankets in the shade of the underpass. Out of the goodness of their hearts, an awesome group of people had loaded up their truck on a Sunday and were serving a cookout feast to the weary hikers dragging themselves in from the desert. “Can I get you a hot dog?”, the guy by the portable grill asked. “Actually,” he said quickly, “you probably want ice cream first”, and he produced two chocolate-almond covered ice cream bars. Is this heaven?
While we ate our ice cream he cooked up hot dogs for us, with BACON! We sat in the shade, so happy, chatting with other hikers, none of whom we’d ever met before. It’s always inspiring to think that you are on this big long adventure that so many others are on – many ahead of you and many behind you, and as you travel forward, the bubble of hikers around you changes and you meet more and more people all progressing toward the same goal.
We stayed in the little oasis under the bridge for about 45 minutes until someone called out, “Anyone need a ride to Julian?”, we jumped at the offer, much better than waiting for a hitch, and were soon squeezed into a truck with Applejack, Hoosier Daddy, and Sasquatch, another hiker we have been leap-frogging with from Day 1.
Sasquatch has actually attempted to thru hike the PCT several times but has not yet made it all the way. He is tall, skinny, and bearded and just looks like a thru-hiker. He also hikes in Vibram Five Fingers, and many hikers referred to him by something to do with his shoes – Five Fingers Guy or Vibram Guy – before learning he already had a trail name. I referred to him as Blue Shirt Guy. Now I guess I’ll use Sasquatch.
In Julian, our kind driver dropped us at Carmen’s. Carmen’s is a small restaurant in town where the owner – Carmen – opens her business to the PCT hikers, providing an area out back to relax and regroup. She also offers up one free beer, free use of her laundry machine, and plastic tubs for foot soaks. And, most importantly, a giant hug for each stinky hiker that walks through her door. And man, do we STINK. She doesn’t care though, she wraps you in a giant bear hug and welcomes you.
In the back, we dumped our packs before grabbing our free beverage of choice and loading up plastic tubs with hose water and Dawn dish soap to wash and soak our weary feet. Shawn and I have actually been quite lucky in the foot department thus far. While our feet are sore and tired at the end of the day, like everyone else, we’ve been lucky so far to not have any blisters or other major foot ailments. We have seen some grotesque looking feet, and several people we met in Julian had stayed there an extra day or more to attempt to heal up their feet a bit before moving on. We don’t doubt that we will eventually get some blisters… but so far so good. Hopefully we can keep it that way for awhile.
After soaking our feet, we headed down the street to Mom’s Pies. Julian is a tiny town, with most everything along a cute little Main Street about two blocks long. Mom’s Pies is an institution among PCT hikers because they give all PCT hikers a slice of their choice of hot pie with ice cream and a beverage, all free when you show your PCT permit.
I’m not big into fruit pies, but I was lucky enough to get their last slice of pecan pie. We washed down our pie with cold lemonade and chatted with a couple other PCT hikers that were there for their pies, as well. They were from the LA area and planning to hike in Nepal next year, so we had plenty of information for them.
After our pie, we took care of town chores, resupplying our food for our next short section to Warner Springs and getting our laundry going at Carmen’s. Shawn (I should say, Hot Mess) tended the laundry with Hollywood, another hiker who had his clothes in the same load, while I went across the street to Romano’s to get us a pizza for dinner (Carmen’s having already closed for dinner). Many a pizza was brought back by hungry hikers.
The other great thing about Carmen’s is that she lets hikers camp out on her patio and inside the restaurant after closing for the night, so tonight we are camped out on the patio – with fresh clean clothes! Our little piece of the patio… (sign needs updating)
Tomorrow we plan to rise early to head back to the trail. The first section will be a long climb and there has been rumor that temps will rise to over 100F. We hope to hike early and then break in the shade during the hottest hours of the day. Hopefully we can find an early hitch back to the trail. For now, it’s way past hiker midnight and time for me to get some Zzzz’s.
