PCT Day 9 - The Great Bloom

We woke up this morning in our Julian hotel room. It was nice to wake up in a warm bed and access to a shower, not that I've longed for it.The hotel staff made a great breakfast and by 9:30am we were checked out and off to find the Trail again. We had to hitch back to Scissors Crossing where the PCT crosses under the highway, which was 12 miles away.

By the time we arrived and filled our water from the cache stored under the overpass (and refreshed by trail angels daily), it was close to 11am. We wanted to do 13 miles today so as to stay on track for our next town which we needed to arrive early Saturday, two days from now. We have mail arriving and we MUST pick it up before the Post Office closes.

Today was really hot and sunny. We had to carry enough water to sustain us all day and into tomorrow. Madelyn and I both carried 5 liters of water, and had just resupplied on food last night so this meant our packs were heavier than ever. The hike today was 2,000 plus elevation gain, so we knew it would be a hard day before it even started.



The desert today was blooming and full of plant life that usually is dried out most of the year. The cacti were blooming with red and pink flowers. We saw mountain sides of yellow flowers and green tall stalk plants that looked like giant fresh asparagus. The fact the desert was so colorful kept us going today as the heat and the sun were unrelenting. We were also conserving water so in general this day was not as fun as others.

We hiked along the side of several mountains but the view in the distance did not change much and the heat was really getting us. We both just wanted to push through and finish the hike so we could set up camp and get a good night sleep.

We're told some of the best parts of the desert lay within the next 20 miles.

As we were pulling into camp tonight the distant mountains are becoming more visible and appear to be covered with green vegetation, hopefully the trail will lead us to these green pastures tomorrow.

Tonight we are camping without our fly, which means we can stare at the vastness of space until sleep overcomes us.