Day 9: Scissors Crossing

 Wednesday, April 13th

Climate: hot, stagnant, low desert

Days since last shower: 4

Morale: confused

Miles: 68-80

“Was the burger really good or was it just hiker hunger?” -Animal Style

Ah, day nine. The few times I awoke in the night, I felt comforted in my sleepy state by the great expanse of stars overhead. I love sleeping without the rain fly.

We were the first ones up and the first ones out of our communal campsite overlooking a ridge. The miles took us down into the low desert, and for the first time in days we were reminded just how deserty the desert can be. Stepping over cacti, the sun beat down on us, and very little breeze passed through the canyon.

The last two miles were a death march directly through the flat expanse between the mountains and the highway. We reached Scissors Crossing before too long, and as we hiked up and out of the trail, a kind lady swerved to the side of the road to offer us a ride. We hopped in, learning that we were hitching with the postal lady who contracted with the Julian Post Office to deliver mail to the folks living out in the desert. She was on her way back, and we were in the right place at the right time.

[Morning views from the tent, lizzy posing next to some large rock, more selfies, a lifesize asparagus?, chillin with Chz-it on a trail angels porch, lizzy in the back of a cruiser]

She told us her teenage daughters did not approve of her hitching habit, but she told us she had “never met a dirtbag PCT hiker,” and in fact, she met some really nice, interesting people. She educated us on the Julian school system (the elementary and middle schools are good, but the high school is struggling), and she gave us a good lunch recommendation, where we met up again with Chz-It and Elizabeth.

They had caught a hitch in an RV with two Trump supporters. At one point the driver accelerated so quickly that Elizabeth’s unbolted leather chair flew backwards, leaving her helpless and flailing in her green pack. Later that day, we combined two trail names into one ultimate trail name: the Sunshine Turtle.

After a delicious lunch, Adam and I made our way to the library where we attempted to be discreet about brushing our teeth, drying our sleeping bags, and using a bit of wifi for work. It was tricky to be discreet when an elderly gentleman who was apparently hard of hearing walked over to where I was working and yelled loud enough for the whole library to hear: “are you hiking the PCT?!” When I quietly answered, “yes,” he responded “WHAT!?” Cover blown, the librarian came over and offered us oranges from her garden and assured us that the Julian library is hiker friendly.

We then made a stop at Carmen’s, the restaurant of a trail angel in town, where a bunch of hikers were chilling on the roof with shoes off, eating burgers straight from the grill (even though the restaurant was closed), drinking beer, and basically just shooting the breeze. Carmen even offered use of her laundry and “showers” in her industrial sink. We didn’t stick around too long because we were aiming to make a 2,000 foot climb before nightfall.

Chz-It, the Sunshine Turtle, Adam, and I walked to the post office where we posted up attempting to hitch a ride back to the trail. We got passed over enough times that we were thinking it might be time to split up our group of four, when a nice lady pulled over and offered to take two hikers. We deferred to Chz-It and the ST. They climbed in, and the sheriff pulled over. Uh oh, we thought. He rolled down is window and asked if that lady had picked up our friends. We said yes. He said, “climb on in. I’ll take you two.” And that’s how we road with the sheriff for 12 mile back to the trail.

After climbing 2,000 feet in the pleasantly cool evening, Adam and I stopped at the first campsite and slept, once again, under the stars.  

Lizzy posing with our ride, the sheriff!

[Cool scenery (we're getting better at taking pictures while walking), last two picture are the view from our campsite.]