Written Monday, 26 April 2021

As usual, when I need to be up to catch a ride back to the Trail, I didn't sleep terribly well last night. I woke up every 15 minutes, checked the time, and went back to sleep for another 15 minutes.

0430 finally rolled around, and I got up and looked outside. Sure enough, it was raining. And cold. For the rest of the time I puttered around and AirBnB house, cleaning, I was dreading hiking in a cold rain.

Headed out into the blue morning light, at about 0650, to meet my ride for the morning. Not only was it raining and cold, but the wind was whipping...

My pick-up point this morning was just across the street from Mom's Pies, and the morning crew was already visible, making Monday's pies. My driver, a trail angel named Rayngel, was right on time, but we had to wait for two other people who were heading back to the Trail. After 10 minutes, Rayngel decided we could go. " We get a lot more no-shows on a day like this," he said.

As we drove back to Scissors Crossing, Rayngel explained the local weather pattern to me. The mounyains around Julian would, Rayngel believed, block most of the rain. "You won't get much rain until you hot Barrel Springs, and that's more than 23 miles down the trail, so you might not even catch up to it."

Sure enough, by the time we reached Scissors Crossing, the rain has stopped. It's still chilly and windy, but I can deal with that.

As soon as Rayngel drops me off to head up the hill for more hikers, I get my pack on, still with more food than I need (including about a pound of candy from the Julian Cider Mill... don't judge!) to carry me to Warner Springs tomorrow, where I will pickup up a resupply box and set out.

The day starts, of course, with a climb, but it's not too terribly strenuous. If I weren't carrying a groaning pack on my back, the gentle rise wouldn't be much of a challenge at all, but I am, and it is.

The treadway itself is hewn into the side of Grapevine Mountain, and the path continues for several miles the the Anza Borrego Desert Wilderness under a threatning sky, but with the cool temperatures, I make good progress. I feel an occasional spit of rain, but nothing serious. The scenery here is much the same as it was last Friday--views of valleys and the desert floor below--unfortunately without the grand sweep of last week, owing to the low overcast.

By early afternoon, I'm surprised to find myself 13 miles down the Trail at a spot called the Third Gate Cache. This is a water cache that is just beyond the third gate you pass through on the way from Julian (yes, gates in the desert...somebody go back and get a s---load of dimes!).

In these long, waterless stretches, trail angels sometimes buy bottled water and cache it at strategic locations in the dessert to make sure hikers don't end up in dangerous situations. This is helpful for everyone, but especially tenderfoot desert hikers like me who don't know yet how to manage water out here.

The Third Gate Cache is one of the biggest and most reliable of these caches. Just a quarter mile off Trail, it is routinely stocked with hundreds of gallons of water, and, although the trail angels do take contributions from hikers, I doubt the money they collect comes close to covering there expenses. i need to find out who organized this particular effort and send them a "thank you."

Arriving at the cache, I find about 19 other hikers enjoying a late lunch while refilling their water bottles. Among them is Longshot, whom I last saw at Pioneer Mail Picnic Area, early Friday. Great to see him. Also met a couple (Price Point and Honey Bear, I think) who met in 2018 while hiking the Appalachian Trail and recently got married. Nice story.

I leave the cache even heavier than I arrived. Of course.

The afternoon Trail is relatively flat. The weather is cool, and the clouds begin to thin a little, showing occasional patches of blue sky.

For the first time on this hike, I get into a state that I call "hiker hypnosis," in which my pace just falls into rhythm with the Trail. All distractions vanish, and I just walk without thinking about anything at all. There is nothing but me, the Trail, and the hike. It only happens occasionally, but it's a great way to cover miles.

Without realizing it, I roll off another 9 miles by late afternoon, and I'm only snapped back to reality as the Trail starts to descend into another lovely pine grove, so unexpected out here in the desert. A short distance into the grove, we also pass the 100- mile point. Not bad for the first week!

I start to think about where I might stop for the evening, and I am eyeing a campsite another mile and a half down the road. I'm trying to position for an early, quick trip into Warner Springs tomorrow, so the closer I can get, the better.

But, just as soon as I have that figured out, I hear a familiar laugh coming from a small clearing, not too far from the Trail. It sounds like Karolina, the Czech hiker who I have seen many times, most recently in Julian when she stayed with us at the AirBnB.

Sure enough, when I reach the clearing, Karolina is there, along with Florian, Lauren, and Silke.

There really is no better feeling on the Trail than an unexpected meeting with friends, and this is a great surprise. I immediately toss my plan to hike further, drop my gear, and set up camp. Those extra miles can wait until tomorrow.

I'm safe, dry, and warm in my tent tonight.

Miles hiked today: 23.8 Total miles hiked so far: 101.1

Sea Otter Fact of the Day: Southern sea otters are the keystone species of the kelp forest ecosystem. They predate the sea urchins that eat the kelp. Without the sea otter, the urchins over-graze and destroy this delicate marine sanctuary. Some marine biologists refer to the southern sea otter as "kelp forest engineers"