Green Hills, White Peaks & Clear Creeks
I’ve been on trail for seven days now which equates to 77.1 PTC miles, but who’s counting? Today I’m taking a zero (zero mile day) to rest up, do some trail errands, and resupply in the quaint mountain town of Julian.
Already, the range of landscapes, thoughts, relationships and experiences is pretty incredible.
Just the experience of seeing the Southern Terminus Monument was incredibly emotional. To finally be at the place where this journey that I had spent almost a year preparing for would begin was totally overwhelming. The five grey pillars stood out from the dessert scrub and were a stark contrast to the imposing austerity of the border wall. It is ironic that a journey already marked by camaraderie and connection begins at a place whose main purpose has become one of exclusion.
I got a late start on Monday, around 11 a.m. It was an easy walk through horse farms and agricultural land before starting an easy rise into some low desert hills. As the elevation got higher and the border wall further, the way the structure hugged the rise and fall of the horizon reminded me of the Great Wall of China, though one that I hope won’t stand or be remembered for as long.
After solo camping that first night, it was a relatively easy jaunt into Lake Morena where it felt a little early to indulge in a burger at the Malt Shop, but indulge I did and it was delicious. On the way out from the shop I ran into Trevor and Sydney and then Kyler. Unbeknownst to us we would spend the rest of the week hiking together.
After leapfrogging with a large group of hikers through the mixed use land that follows Lake Morena, about a dozen of us made camp past a creek at Mile 25. It felt like that night was when the hike and the community around the hike really began. After making camp, we all sat in a circle to eat dinner as strangers but went to bed that night with a bond based around this common undertaking. It seems that there is an innate positivity to the relationships that form on trail. I’m really excited to see how this evolves.
The next morning I passed through Boulder Oaks campground where Kyler directed me to my first hiker box. I was getting low on food and was still a day out from my next resupply at Mount Laguna and was thrilled for the first time in my life to find a box of Raisinettes.
The trail then rose up into some foothills where Trevor and Sydney caught up to me before we found Kyler stopped on the trail. He mentioned that he thought we had just passed the turn off to the Kitchen Creek Falls and that he was going go back to go check it out. We all thought that was a fine plan, so we went back with him and headed down about 200 feet to a beautiful secluded falls that ended in a pool perfect for a dip. We took turns taking cold plunges (my first!), talking and basking in the sun. We weren’t back on trail for long before we went back down to Kitchen Creek for lunch and more lounging. How we even made 12 miles that day, I have no idea.
The rest of the afternoon was a stunning ridge walk with occasional views of Tecate Peak in Mexico and ended with a beautiful campsite under a live oak about five miles from Mount Laguna, our next resupply. Even better were the conversations. I may have been with three hikers half my age, but we had the easiest of times rating candy and talking about life.
The five miles into and out of Mount Laguna were some of the best hiking yet and we had views of snow covered Mount San Jacinto, which is about a week away, as well as the San Bernardino mountains a bit further on. All the while, there’s been so much rain that it was hard to believe this section is known as the dessert. The hills are green, lush even and everything is blooming. Even after two and a half years of hiking in Southern California, I’ve never seen it like this.
Before heading out of one of the Mount Laguna campgrounds I was thrilled to see that Barney “Scout” Mann, author of Journeys North, was there with some trail magic (treats for hikers). I couldn’t eat the brownies but I was thrilled to be able to tell the author of a book that I love how much it means to me. The meeting was an auspicious start to a two creek day with plenty of soaking and meet-ups and leapfrogging.
The day that we headed into Julian dispelled any illusions that we were not in the dessert. For the first time there were no more surprise creeks between water sources. The sun beat down relentlessly and shade was wherever you could squeeze in under some manzanita. Combined with some new and truly epic blisters, this was the first trying day on trail.
Even then, when we got to the bridge at Scissor’s Crossing, we found some phenomenal trail magic in addition to the much anticipated water cache: Beer! Gummy Worms! Hard kombucha! It was one for the books.
We still had room to feast at the Julian Brewing Company. Trevor, Sydney and Kyler went on to do a little night hiking to make a deadline for Warner Springs and I went on to a much needed shower at the Stagecoach RV Resort. I’ll meet up with Matt and Jess and some other hikers in Julian today and be back on trail tomorrow for the longest water carry yet.