Seasonal work at the best CPA office in the world wrapped up the 2 1/2 months of my employment for 2014.
Having my own Trail Angel supporting me has been a blessing! Robin I could not do this without your support, I love you! Your encouragement means the world.
Waking early the next morning (4/16/20) Robin drove me south for 11 hours and finished the drive the next morning (4/17/20) in Julian, meeting Peggy at the Julian Library around noon. She had started at the border at Campo 4/11, arriving at Scissor Crossing where I had stopped hiking last September after finishing the Washington section with her.
Caty, Peggy and I under the bridge on Hwy 78. A hiker hangout before starting into the dry hills and 14 miles to another water cache.
Beautiful fuschia colored cactus flowers and a tall Yucca plant that blooms once, releasing seeds and dies.
We crossed the 100 mile mark today, someone else set it up and we took a photo of it.
A very fun surprise on the trail!
Meet up with Peggy was great, she had another hiker with her named Caty who joined us for lunch and the ride back to the trail.
There was a group of hikers waiting out the heat under the bridge, resting and chatting. We ate bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon before taking off 4.5 miles up the trail.
Thanks Susan for the salmon, what a decadent treat to eat under the Hwy 78 overpass!
After 4.5 miles that evening we pitched tents in a wash and were wakened in the night by a loud border patrol helicopter patrolling the area.
4/18/20 Friday
Caty left early and we've not seen her since, she's a thru hiker and is headed for Canada. There are lots of hikers on the trail, young and old.
It started off cool and clear but heated up fast. We hiked 10 miles and stopped at
3rd gate where there is a water cache supplied by a trail angel, no running water for miles, there is a 2 liter limit. We are all so grateful for the hard work it takes to keep it supplied, on this drought it can become a necessity. We pitched tents just in time for a thunder & lightning storm that rained for 20 minutes and evaporated before it could really wet the ground.
A full moon made the night seem like there was a floodlight turned on my tent.
4/19/20 Saturday
We made conversation prior to setting off this morning with Scott from Boulder, Co who is hiking for a few weeks as far north as he can go. It soon warmed up enough for us to get out our umbrellas for shade while hiking. I need to work with my set up but shade was welcome!
We hiked 10 miles to Barrel Springs, a concrete trough fed by a piped spring. Tadpoles were swimming in it and of course we filtered the water!
We rested 3 hours in the shade of large live oak trees & talked to many hikers coming through going both north & south. Scott was resting there so we picked up conversation with him as we waited out the heat.
We began hiking again around 2:30 as the cloud cover looked enticing. Winding through boulder strewn, cactus & coyote brush covered hills we were surprised to cross green meadows with one or two live oaks standing sentinel. Really lovely.
We came to a small stream with benches made up of ground granite that looked like a good camp spot. Scott chose a spot back in the oaks and we all had dinner on a rock as the evening fell.
It turned out to be damp and chilly resulting in a pretty sleepless night for me but I was determined to rest any way. I peeked out my tent door during the night to see the Big Dipper hanging just above me.
4/20/20 Easter Sunday!
It was cool and damp and I finally put my wool cap on during the night. We got hiking around 7am in pretty cool clear weather. After a short climb we came to open meadows with islands of big boulders . Peggy alerted to a much traveled path 40 yards off trail and we were happy to have explored because that was the famous Eagle Rock. We took time to do photos and enjoy it thoroughly.
Then we were on to the Warner Springs Community Center where breakfast is served at 8am and lunch a few hours later.
We caught a text from Peggy's friends, Nanine & Francie. They were "Peggy hunting" and close by, they'd try to meet up with us this morning!
About 1 mile from our destination we saw 2 green Easter pails by a tree filled with fresh fruit, spritzers, Easter candy and chocolates! Out from behind a tree jumped Nanine and Francie! What a complete surprise and so much fun!
We hiked together to the community center, rested, caught up with trail friends, washed hands, faces and drove off up the road for BBQ lunch. Made plans to possibly meet with Francie on May 10th for R&R near Wrightwood. They left us after lunch with fruit and small bags of Fritos & chips driving back to their homes and work. MANY THANKS for a memorable day!
We went to plug into the electricity at the center so left our packs and stuff on the lawn of the center. One of our friends came in to tell us the crows flew off with my 2 chip bags...well... RATS!
We covered things up and had to laugh, it's a good story anyway!
Our plan is to hike 6 more miles tonight, camp and try for Paradise Cafe by Wednesday. Because of a trail closure due to fire last year we will hitch to Idyllwild from the Cafe. That's the plan anyway. There is WiFi here and Peggy is updating us on the ADZPCTKO which we'll get a ride to from Idyllwild for 4/24-26 then hitch back to Idyllwild. I'll post every few days or weekly as I can. 
Warner Springs Community Center dining room, very hiker friendly! What a great treat for us all.
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