5/23/2023
Section: Mile post 77.1 to 80.6
Distance: 3.46 Miles
Moving Time: 1:33 hrs
Elevation Gain: 1,230 ft
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On the PCT we have now learned that there are ZERO days and NERO days. A ZERO day is truly a day where no hiking happens and a NERO day is a day where only a little hiking is done, usually to maximize time off your feet while still getting to a strategic spot on the trail for the next day. Today was a NERO day.
We slept in…as much as we could but it only amounted to about 7 am, though the bed was so nice we lounged for a bit before making our way down for breakfast. Breakfast was two courses, granola and milk before maple peach waffles. Everything was excellent. After eating we went back up to our room and collected our things. I did some research on San Jacinto to understand if we were going to need some snow gear in Idyllwild. Looking like we might, I called my parents to organize a box for us then ordered new water bladders off REI to replace the 15 year old ones that had just started leaking on us. Finally, we grabbed our bags and returned the key back downstairs.
We had a few errands to run today including mailing back some items that we weren’t using. These things included headphones, pole protectors, straps, and an extra shirt I wasn't using. After the post office Amanda and I stopped briefly at the Julien Wolf Center and were devastated to find this was only a gift shop for the actual wolf center that is 5 miles outside of Julien. From the fake wolf center we went to the Julien Gear shop to find a stand-in water bladder until Idyllwild. Here we also found that they were selling decently priced dehydrated meals and purchased 6 for the long stretch in front of us - remember how we had run down to exactly zero in the stretch here from Mt. Laguna. We also purchased a number of snacks and fresh gas canister before shoveling our haul into our day packs and bidding adieu to the lovely lady at the counter. After, we headed to Jack’s grocery to complete our food. 3000 calories a day for 6 days equates to quite a bit of food but cheese definitely helps fill that gap.
Back at the hotel we organized the food into our bags before reheating our pizza from the day before and enjoying it in the common room.From the hotel we did one last lap around town and stopped once more at the Julien Beer Company for one more watermelon salad. Here we ran into a girl named Jane from Cincinnati, Ohio. We talked with her for a while about the trail and how tough it was to get the 6 months off needed to do the PCT. Once we had eaten it was time to hit the trail again!
We walked out of town the way we had come in. Amanda stopped by the post office to send a few more things home and i went to the Julien Public Library to print our California fire permit. Evidently the rangers like to check to see if you have the physical copy on you. After, we played the Bride Ride game again and hitched back down to Scissors Crossing with an equally nice guy from town. After arriving we forced 10 dollars on him before saying goodbye and heading down under the overpass where we reconnected with the trail. Here we found two German sisters who we talked to for a while and who indicated they were going to wait for the sun to set a bit before setting off. We wished them luck and started up.
The trail out of Scissors is fantastic. Someone did some excellent work planning and building the trail. It turns what is a terrible climb into a nice, steady grade back up into the mountains. We worked on the climb for about 90 minutes before finding a nice tent site in a drainage which was already shaded and set up our tent. The German sisters came by and then 2 guys also passed by speaking a Slavic language. We heated up some ramen and ate and eventually Phillip from Cologne arrived and asked if he could stay by us for the night. We said of course and then talked for a while. Amanda pointed out that the Yucca currently growing long stalks out of the ground looked like giant asparagus which we all agreed it did.
Night came on quickly and I saw my first bat. Eventually we all decided to head to bed for the long trek to water the next morning.