5/22/2023
Section: Mile post 63.1 to 77.1
Distance: 13.7 Miles
Moving Time: 6:11 hrs
Elevation Gain: 2,254 ft
Click here for location
We considered giving ourselves a bit of a sleep-in on this, the 6th day of our PCT experience but decided the mornings were just too nice to give up so, at 4 am we were back on the trail. The path started off with a climb up the same road I had descended the day before to get water. I had to catch Amanda and turn her around as she went down the road in the wrong way.
Once we were righted we headed up away from camp climbing about 200 feet before turning off the road and back onto the path proper.The day proceeded to meander in and out of ravines as it made an effort to reduce elevation change. As we continued a slow ascent I looked back into the valley where our camp was and noted a small spot of light ascending behind us. “I wonder if we woke up Joe and he just decided to get on with it,” I mused to Amanda. “I bet he did,” she joked back.
In the same way many of our mornings had gone we traveled for about 4-5 miles before calling a stop to snack quickly. This was day 2 out of Mt. Laguna and we had estimated food about perfectly, being down to just some snack nuts and dehydrated peanut butter. We stopped and I brought out one of our MSR camp mugs, added some dry peanut butter and water to the correct consistency. I took a first bite and, honestly, not that bad. We ate for a bit and sure enough, Joe did show up making a joke about how he didn’t see the point in going back to sleep. We wished him luck and said we would catch him in Julien before he continued on and we made ready to leave as well.
The trail continued it’s wandering path along a ridge heading due north before turning north-west. In the distance as the day lighted we could see traffic making its way through Scissors Crossing - a scissor-like confluence of roads from which we expected to hitch to Julien. As the day started to heat up, the trail took on a frustrating habit of wandering either down into drainage trenches or way back into them to keep the elevation constant. This, combined with the heat, made for a challenging stretch of trail. We fought on through the heat of the day, the flat approach across the valley to Scissors Crossing always just below us but the trail seemed to never descend into it. Finally, after dipping into one final drainage it made a hard turn north and dropped dramatically onto the valley floor.
From the valley floor we crawled through cactus and low bushes, our feet on fire but encouraged by the increasing sound of traffic. Just before we turned west along the road we were passed by a younger Australian guy named Andrew and then Old Chris flew by us with a smile and encouraging word. 10 more minutes delivered us to the road where we organized our bags and swapped trail runners for sandals. Andrew came down the road and asked if he could hitchhike with us and we said of course and then Amanda got to work getting us a car.
We had experienced this in Yosemite backpacking with my sister. Getting cars was difficult when i was visible on the road, but when it was just Katie and Amanda with their thumbs out, things seemed to get much easier. We had learned on this trip that this method was called - Ride Bride - where a female hiker could get cars to pull over at which point she would ask if there was “space for just a few more friends.” After about 10 minutes this method bore fruit as an older lady pulled over in a 15 year old Chevy 2500 and we jumped in. I took shotgun while Amanda and Andrew jumped in the back seat. As the truck began up the grade to Julien we shared our story so far with our ride. While we never learned her name we found out that she lived down in the valley near scissors crossing and had worked at the San Diego Zoo’s animal park which is not far from Julien. She said that she usually drove a small Fiat and couldn’t usually get hikers but that this time she was able to because of the truck. Also in the front seat with me was her dog, which was the Target dog and after getting in promptly laid across my lap and drooled on my hand the rest of the ride. Super nice dog and actually was on it’s way for a check-up in Julien which is why we had the ride at all.
About 20 minutes took us up the grade to Julien. Our driver showed us where we could get free pie as Julien is known for its pie and asked where we wanted to be dropped off. We said we wanted to go to the Julien Beer company which, as it happened, was where she was headed. At the end of town she pulled over and we all got out offering her 10 dollars for gas which she said “Absolutely not” to. I said, “Well, at least let us buy you a beer!” Which she did acquiesce to.
Julien is a fabulous little town, very similar to Sisters, Oregon or Winthrop, Washington, with it’s own selection of adorable little bars and pizza places and Julien Beer company is the jewel of the strip. Amazing beer selection and incredible pizza, bbq and watermelon salad - though, a hungry PCT hiker is probably not the best judge of culinary quality. In any case Amanda and I both ordered a 16” pizza and I got their house IPA which was excellent. We sat at a table with Young Chris, Old Chris, Nikola, Whatever, Jannes and Andrew. I brought our driver her beer and we all sat around for about 2 hours talking and laughing.
Amanda eventually called a hotel called the Goldrush on the main strip and got us our room and after everyone had wandered off we took our things down the street to get situated. A nice lady let us into the hotel and got us checked in. I asked about laundry and she explained that, because all of Julien was on septic, there was no laundry mat but that we could wash our things in the basin in our room. She also took the remnants of our pizza to a fridge in the back before leading us up to our room.
Though tiny, the place was comfortable and quaint. We dropped our things and took the most wonderful step of the day so far - a shower! We washed our clothes, amazed that so much dirt could come out of such a small amount of apparel and then had to go get our free slice of pie. There are 3 pie shops in Julien but Mom’s Pie serves free slices of pie a la mode to PCT hikers! Amanda got a berry mix crumble with vanilla ice cream and i had been dreaming about Strawberry Rhubarb which i was extatic to see was available so i went with that. After pie we went back out onto the street and saw Joe sitting in front of Jack’s Groceries. We sat and talked with him lamenting that he had not been at the great pizza fiesta earlier that day. He smiled and gave us a hard time about not inviting him but then said he had eaten at the Italian Place down the road. We talked for a bit under an hour before he stated that he was on his way back up to Scissors Crossing to continue on. We said we would miss him and that maybe our paths would meet again.
This is one of the bittersweet things i am noticing about the PCT - you make connections but, because everyone is moving at slightly different paces, those connections get broken as people move on or fall back. It makes for a fluid set of friends but, eventually, i think we will fall into more or less a groove.
Back at the hotel, we took care of our usual nightly activities and then headed down to the common room to write and chat with a few folks that came down. Joining us were young Chris and Don showed up having hitched from Mt. Laguna. Another hiker named Hazel also came down to chat as well as Dale from South Carolina. Finally the parents from a group I am calling “The Swiss Family Robinson” because they are Swiss and hiking with a 10 and 12 year old son and daughter, showed up. I talked with them about climbing for about an hour before we all decided to turn in for the night.
The first town was an absolute success. Julien is not to be missed even if you are not hiking the PCT - wonderful food and people.