Today was awesome! Jake and Sarah dropped me off at the start and it was go time. So grateful for them. Day was beautiful, sunny, full of desert. I did run into a rattle snake within the first four miles, had to dance around that one. He wouldn’t move no matter what I did, even throwing a few things to his sides. So I had to bushwack through some thorns, which led to some leg bleeds, but all was gravy.

Met a few hikers, and ended up camping up with Cat Dog. Awesome guy from Colorado! Hoping to keep leap frogging eachother.

Today was a bit wet and rainy. I was grateful for it tho, knowing some pretty hot days were ahead. Second day on trail and already hit a trail town around Lake Lorena. Decided to stop and have lunch. When I walked inside, the place was full of other hikers. A trail angel Cowboy invited me to eat with him and he gave me tips and tricks he’s seen over the years.

After a delicious burger and hot chocolate, it was time to head back into the rain. A few miles and wet socks later, decided to call it and set up camp. Another hiker named Jerry setup camp with me. Super cool dude out here for a month on trail. Spent the night somewhat wet, but still warm. Leap frogged with Cat Dog again, which was a nice surprise.

The rain left, leaving behind a stellar sunrise. First thought, a beautiful morning to dry out all of my wet shit. Stayed later at camp than I would have liked, but was able to get it all dried out. Saw a few hikers in the morning and none in the afternoon. I was wondering where everyone was and if covid kept people off the trail again this year. Ended up camping with Joe and John. There’s a lot of dudes with J names on this trail. It was a nice way to end the day, swapping pot tips and how to properly cook ramen noodles.

Another awesome day! Ended up hiking with Jo for most of the day. Got to know him a little bit more and about what he’s doing out here. We came to the fork in the trail that takes people to Mount Laguna. Originally I was going to skip but then Cat Dog showed up and the trio walked into town for a nice meal. Had a veggie burger with some fries. And a fruit cup. Amazing how delicious food is when you just hiked from Mexican border just a few days ago.

Got back on trail after the meal, where he stopped a few miles later at a picnic area to camp. There ended up being about 10 of us that showed up. The farther I go, the more hikers I see it seems.

Holy crap the desert is hot. I knew a hot desert day would come, but damn. Woke up from the picnic spot I stayed at with a few folks around 5:30 and hit the trail shortly after that. I wanted to have a more solo day so I took off before the majority of the group had split. I ended up meeting up with the picnic group for a siesta from 1-5 at a fresh water pipe randomly coming from the side of a hill. We were able to soak our feet in the water and lay under an oak tree. Thank the lawd for oak trees in the desert.

My feet needed the rest. Ended up leaving the crew a little bit early and found a beautiful spot to camp. An overlook with an epic sunset view. Stoked to see what it’ll look like in the morning. Tomorrow is a town day in Julian. Pretty excited about it because it’ll be 91 tomorrow and ain’t nobody got time for that.