Journal Entries

April 28th- Day 7- 8.3 miles from Scissor's crossing at mile 77 to campsites at mile 85.3

Sleep is delicious. I wake up and want more of this sleep, unpunctuated by cold or shifting around to find a comfy spot on my egg-carton foam sleeping pad. Colleen isn't in the room. We take turns using the bathroom and text her to find out where she is. She's waiting for the continental breakfast downstairs. We sit around on the two beds looking at our phones and half-heartedly pushing our piles of gear around. Finally we get the will to go down. I pull my windpants over my sleeping pants to look less pajama-y and follow Twerk and Karma downstairs.

It's a great continental breakfast. Yogurt, big pieces of fruit, lots of breads and cereals, instant oatmeal, orange juice. I go back for more.

Then more puttering around with our gear and talking about upcoming water sources. Colleen isn't sure how reliable the two sources between here and Warner Springs are, and this convinces everyone to fill 6 liters worth of water. I groan dramatically as I pick up my water-heavy pack. I leave last and go over to Carmen's to drop off my little moleskin journal and my tornado tube I tried to use for a gravity filter system in the hiker box. I order a big breakfast burrito and sit around in a confusion of hikers arriving and leaving, coming and going. I feel like I need to get going but I also feel I need one more meal before heading out. Carmen seems annoyed in general even though she breaks into smiles for incoming hikers and I feel uncomfortable being here.

The burrito is huge and delicious. Gluten tortillas and burritos are probably the things I've missed the most, a big gooey and stretchy and supple pocket stuffed with potatoes and eggs and cheese and salsa spooned on top. It's gorgeous and heaven.

Then I sit around and wait for someone I can hitch out of Julian with, antsy to leave. I walk down to the Post Office with Colleen and meet Karma there. Karma shows us a Facebook post Carmen made yesterday, complaining about hikers not tipping her waitress and wanting 2$ in change for the 3 dollar breakfast burritos. I feel even more uncomfortable now. I would have paid 5 dollars for that burrito, gladly. But I don't think I did anything wrong? Aghhh!!!! The amount of generosity we've received at towns and roads is astounding, but sometimes I feel like it can be a little bit too much. For both the hikers, and the trail-angels who have welcomed hikers, now in ever-swelling numbers.

I stick my thumb out and the first car stops, a couple on a business trip down to San Diego who are visiting the Anzo Borrego Desert for a few days before going back home. They know about the trail and the husband is currently section-hiking.

They drop us off and we walk to the Scissor's crossing underpass to wait out some of the heat. We meet one of the people who maintains the cache and he says that both of the water sources we were worried about are very reliable. I drink one liter and dump another one over my head in celebration so I only have to carry four. There's a trash can, recycling, a log book, and bins of water jugs and bins to leave the empty jugs. The pillars are graffitied with charcoal. Someone drew smiling cat faces everywhere.

I eventually leave, Karma and Colleen packing up behind me. I'm stopped by an eager couple trying to do trail magic and I accept some tangerines, then point them to the underpass where all of the hikers are. They're hiking next year. Then up! All of the plants are different on this side of the valley, barrel cactus and prickly pear and ocotillo with spiny snaky branches reaching up to the sky and tasseled with orange blooms. The switchbacks that looked so scary from yesterday's descent are actually quite nice and gradual, winding around bends in the hills.

We cruise and leapfrog each other. I try to text my friends that are still back in Julian to see if they're staying, but no-one replies. I'm up ahead, the sun setting, less than a mile from our tent site, when I have to stop and break out my poop kit. I scramble up the hill to find somewhere private. Colleen and Karma walk by below. I'm digging my cat hole when I see them walking along the other side of the ridge. (They can't see me). "Amelia, we heard a rattlesnake by the bend so be careful," Colleen shouts. "Okay!" I say back. A hummingbird flits by and stares at me. "It's on a ledge," She says. "Okay!" I shout again.

I finish up and start walking. I'm watching for the snake, looking for it especially at knee level where there are some ledges.

It's right there by my foot. Stretched out about a foot away from me by the side of the trail. I utter something and run back several steps. I scream for 15 seconds, staring at it, and then scream for 15 seconds more. Then the sheer reaction wears off and I stab the trail with my poles, insulting the snake and yelling. It still hasn't moved at all. I throw a small rock at it to see if it's alive and it still doesn't do anything. I take a picture. I talk to it as I'm doing this, calling it a good snek-snek and telling it to go away and asking it if it's alive. There's a orange rock cliff right against the trail and a steep drop off below, so it would be difficult to get around. It's a dusty orange just like the rocks. I throw more rocks at it to try and make it move and suddenly it realizes I'm there, and is hissing and rattling and coiling up. Fff fff ffff f.

I text Colleen. Halp, I say, It's right on the trail and it's pissed. I stand there for a long time. Finally two other hikers show up, Aaron and Ashleen, and we try to figure out what to do. It's getting dark and I've been sitting here for 10 minutes. Luckily it's not cold. It won't move so eventually we go below the trail to get around. We have to throw our trekking poles up onto the trail and pull ourselves up some rocks. The snake is still right there but we're around it. The sun is down and we walk the darkening trail in our headlamps. There's a sliver of the moon and the valley below is maroon with dusk. I walk in front and jump at every stick or round thing or striped object. It's fully dark when we get to Karma and Colleen, and they help me set up my tarptent in the wind with my headlamp on. My tent stake breaks and I hold my tent up while Colleen gets the extra stake I gave her back at the Boulder field. Then I sit in the dirt in front of my tent and eat things from my food bag. Two babybel cheeses, and Almond Joy, handfuls of trail mix and granola and chili cheese Fritos. "Am I hungry or am I stress eating?" I ask. "Hungry," says Karma, and I realize I've only had two oranges in the past 5 hours.

It feels kind of sad and lonely for all of us this evening and we talk about it as we rummage through our food and eat it. Most of our trail family is not here anymore, either ahead several days or probably still in Julian, and we'll probably spread out soon, too- I might want to start trying for 20 mile days after Warner Springs in a few days, and would probably start sooner if it wouldn't be Sunday when I'd hit it, with my first resupply boxes. It's inevitable but it's hard. I want to stay with my trail friends for a long time, because they really are like a family and I love being around them and laughing with them about silly things, but we have different bodies and speeds and needs for mileage. This trail for me is about saying goodbye to people. I hate saying goodbye and I think I'm going to cry just thinking about it. I think I'll have to get used to it, though.

April 27th- Day 6- 13.5 miles from dirt road crossing at mile 63.6 to Scissor's Crossing at mile 77.

I don't sleep well. Even though I'm not afraid of cowboy camping, I think I'm still more alert, so it makes it more difficult to sleep. There is no moon and I wake up several times, blurry eyes trying to focus on the stars. It's a warm night, the cold air sinking down the canyon towards the spring we filtered water from during the day. The wind ruffles over my sleeping bag and crinkles my dirty polycryo groundsheet. I slept so well every night on the JMT, but I haven't on the PCT, and it kinda sucks.

We all wake up at 4 ish and start packing up camp by the light of our headlamps. Bugs fling themselves into my face towards the light. Rachel and Nirvana head out first, then Twerk and I follow, leaving Colleen and Karma to finish packing away their things at our camp. It's dark and the wind blows us around. I'm glad I'm not alone. The dark and wind brings my mind to weird places. I think of all the horror movies I've been exposed to. I turn to Twerk and ask him if it would be super creepy if one of us was a werewolf. He just says yes. Later he suggests the trail name "Random," and I seriously consider it, and even shout it down the mountains to taste the way it feels, but it's too self-depreciating and negative and I turn it down. They've been throwing trail names at me left and right, eventually one will stick.

It becomes light enough that we switch our headlamps off and I race across the back side of a ridge to catch the pink curtain of flame that is the sunrise before it disappears. I sit down and watch and Twerk and Karma and Colleen join me.

It starts to get hot and we spread out. I've heard that the trail down to Scissor's crossing is frustrating, so I'm only bemused as the trail stays up on the ridge for miles, the road we are hitching on in a few hours cutting across the dry valley below.

Karma is ahead and starts leaving us messages with rocks in the middle of the trail. Food, says one, bed, showers,then a heart, and U followed by a rock. They keep my mind off of the long hot trail. I finally catch up to her as she's building a sign that says "10 by 10" for all of us.

The sun heats my skin and makes my arms damp with sweat and dusty. Finally the trail veers off of the mountains straight for the road, blooming cacti dotting the landscape with delicate pink petals, and juniper, cheat grass nodding in the wind, heavy and red.

Down here on the valley floor it's hot. I look to the junipers for shade, imagine myself clinging to the dirt at their roots, but it's too close to Julian and food for a break. I walk with a woman named Heidi for a while.

I wait for my friends at the road and then we walk the last 3/4s of a mile along the road to find a good spot to hitch. We set our packs down and stick our thumbs out. Karma makes a sign on her Tyvek groundsheet that says "Help a Hiker" with a lopsided smiley face. We use Twerk's speaker to play Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop This Feeling" and we dance in between cars. Most of them are going the wrong way or turning. Heidi hops in with an already-loaded car of thru-hikers. Finally a car pulls up to drop some thru-hikers off, and turns around to go back to Julian, but not before picking us up. The driver is a super cool woman named Connie, who's retired and has hiked portions of the AT and has day hiked Whitney tons of times. That hike is brutal, so I'm super impressed.

Julian is green with trees, the Main Street lined with trinket shops and restaurants. It's mostly a tourist town but it's super cute and there's food. Connie drops us off in front of the lodge and we split a room 4 ways. We go in and explode our packs, sitting on the floor so we don't stain the beautiful white comforters. I take my shower last and put on my rain/wind gear and sleeping shirt. I put all of my dirty clothes that I need to wash in my big net, and then head off to Soups and Such across the street with everyone. I get a huge salad with a side of sweet potato fries. And fresh lemonade. It's a ton of food and really delicious. The vinegar in the salad dressing burns my lips.

The we go to Carmen's, a trail angel in Julian, who lets hikers sleep on the patio of her business and use her washing machine. We put all of our clothes in together with a bunch of other thru-hikers and then go to check out the market. I do my resupply and head back to Carmen's, then go with Nirvana to let him have a shower in our room and drop my food off. I leave him there to join everyone for free Apple-cherry pie and lemonade at Mom's. I'll see how my stomach reacts to the gluten and see if I can wean myself onto it again. They want to give me the trail name of Surprise, because my hair sticks up like in anime and I'm apparently full of surprises. I like it a lot, but not sure if it fits me enough.

Then we all hang around, check our laundry, enjoy the beds. I go with everyone (Twerk, Karma, Colleen, Rachel, Nirvana, Rachel, Jesus) to Romano's, the Italian place. We have to sit at two different tables, which is lonely even though Twerk and Jesus are both sitting with me, and the only thing I can eat is the Zuchinni frittata, and honestly when I think about food I'm still so full from lunch that I want to barf a little bit. So I head back to the lodge and sit on the bed and talk with my mom on the phone until they all get back. Twerk and Colleen fall asleep and Karma comes back inside. I'm so tired and get halfway through my blog post before putting my phone down and falling asleep.

April 26th- Day 5- 7.8 miles from Boulder field by Orriflame Canyon (mile 55.9) to dirt road crossing (63.7)

We take our time waking up. I didn't make a warm dinner last night so I decide to make this polenta dinner. It's literally just instant polenta with an instant pesto packet. I chop up some of my nice block of Parmesan. I'm sitting there and I catch a whiff of burn. It's disgusting. I sacrifice a packet of tuna, olives, and the last of my Ruffles to try and make it taste better. It doesn't. I have to put it back in its ziploc to pack it out.

I leave Tommy/Twerk and Karma and Colleen behind and walk the 3 miles to the Sunrise Trailhead and the water trough there. The faucet is running luckily so I don't have to dip from the circular, corrugated metal tub of green water. I filter and then sit with Twerk and Karma and Colleen in the shade of the water tank. Roadshow stops and talks with us, and Jesus leaves, and Nirvana and Rachel text to say they're two miles away. (Jesus is not a trail name obviously). I'm offered the trail name of Polenta. I say nope.

As we're heading out, I get a soda from Tom from Kennedy Meadows, who is setting up burger trail magic. I leave my polenta in the trash can, say hi to Nirvana and Rachel as they come up, help Karma build a message in rocks pointing to the trail magic, and trudge up the trail to our camp in 4 ish miles. I stop for an hour or so to sit under a tarp with Bridgett and Alex, who have just been dubbed Sprite and Soulshine by Roadshow. Then off down a steep descent into a canyon. My feet are definitely feeling the last few days, and are tired and not as new as they were. No blisters, though.

I explode my pack at camp and hang out with what is now my trail family- Twerk, Colleen, Karma, and Rachel and Nirvana. Alpo has left us- all of the AT hikers are super fast. Farkle and Kathleen are either with him or behind us. Karma and Twerk leave to scout out some water down a road, and come back with plenty. Everyone else walks down together to fill up for our hike into Julian tomorrow. We talk about religion and existentialism and other deep things. We find out that all of 4 of us have been homeschooled and 3 of us have been in a Montessori school. I'm offered the name Water Report because I've been sending out text water reports to Halfmile. Again I say no.

We all make dinner and I offer everyone use of my condiments ziploc. Then it's sunset and we have our stretch and dance circle to music. Everywhere is purple and pink. "Nature!" we say. "Nature sucks! I'd rather be in jail!"

I settle into my cowboy camp. Another horrible day on the PCT.