Day 4 - Julian

We arrived in Julian today after a sweltering 21.6 miles in what I can only imagine was 90+ degrees of desert heat. We finally understand why past hikers have complained about lack of shade—we would walk for miles before finding a patch of shade cast by a large shrub or boulder that would allow both of us to sit off trail. Today we truly felt like we had entered the ‘desert’ section of the trail; I’m going to miss whatever the rest of it was.

One rattlesnake and one scorpion sighting so far—no injuries associated with either! Tim was punctured by a cactus but that’s about the extent of our environmental injuries (the rest are self-inflicted due to over-use ?)

We had previously planned on fewer miles, but due to lack of water sources, friends’ plans, and the desire to spend a good long while off our feet, we decided to push into town and we’re SO glad we did. We finished the last three miles with another PCT couple and the four of us immediately caught a hitch into Julian with a trail angel named Professor. We got a free slice of pie, ice cream, and lemonade at Mom’s Pies. We got beer and pizza at the local brewery. Doesn’t get much better than this! We are now spending the evening with 20 other hikers in a trail angel’s backyard. The trail provides.