Idyllwild – Julian – Day 159 – Thurs Nov 30th

Day 159 Thurs Nov 30th
Tent site 2 Table mountain – Mikes place Outbuilding
2508.9 – 2528.3
Approx. 3212 ft ascent 2861ft descent
20.1 Miles (19.4 miles + Tule spring water detour 0.5 + Mike place detour 0.2)

We were wise stopping early last night as the rain got worse after we got in the tent.
If we had carried on hiking much further we would have got soaked.

The next section of trail wound its way around sandy peninsulas and down to Nance Creek. This is where we had originally planned to camp last night.

The campspots here were more exposed than what we had chosen last night. So we had made a good decision to call it a night early.

A comment on Far Out makes us laugh saying that the creek is as dry as a dead dongo’s drongo.

It’s meant to start raining again from 2pm. So we lash our wet tent to the outside of our packs in an attempt to dry it, whilst we hike.
Moral in camp is a little low today. I think we’re both just a little tired and exhausted on what the trail has thrown our way.

Although Sarah’s knee and feet seem to be improving, which is great news!

After Julian we have only 75 miles remaining to Campo and the Mexican border, then this dream will be over.
We just have to put our heads down and just keep walking. One foot in front of the next.

We are starting to see a new species of cactus amongst the other varieties. It looks like an Aloe vera plant, but I believe it’s called an Agave.

I’m a little sore from the new tick bite, but at least we got it off and it didn’t go unnoticed for too long. If you remove a tick within 24 hours of it biting, you stand a much better chance of not contracting lymes.

Both of us start the day by wearing rain pants instead of just shorts, as some form of tick protection.
Although I’m not sure this is a good idea. When wearing shorts it’s easy to see and feel them crawling on your skin. With dark rain pants you will stand little chance of seeing them, but at least they shouldn’t be able to get to our skin as easily.

However, it soon becomes far too hot and extra clothes like this start to slow you down. We apply a load of Deet and hope for the best switching back to just shorts.

There’s a brief break in the weather and the sun makes an appearance. We down tools and stop. Quickly getting out our wet tent and damp sleeping bags to dry in the sun.

Next up we approach a Water Cistern.
It’s a concrete structure capable of catching rainwater.
Water is collected via a skid tray where any surface water is directed into the tank.
The top of the tank broken leaving the water exposed to the outside world.
As we look down into the water it’s covered with dead insects and god only knows what else.
At a pinch we would take this water relying on our filters to do the work, but on this occasion we decide to pass it up.
We stop at the next side trail that leads to Tule Creek, which looks like a much better source of water.
We drop our packs at the top of the side trial and start hiking down to collect the water.

You could tell it was a good potential source of water due to the amount of Aspens present as we were approaching Tule Spring Junction.

The water was good quality and we were able to fill our bottles using the hydrant.

We’re having a slow day, beating ourselves up for the lack of miles.
I keep telling Sarah the miles will come and we need to be kind on ourselves as the last section hasn’t been easy.

Sarah noticed how one type of cactus seems to develop seed pods or additional new growth that dries and falls off.
We wonder if this is how it spreads and colonates the high desert.

The sun and the clouds seem to be at battle with one another today. One minute there’s bright sunshine and the next there’s a light drizzle.
In the end the sun prevailed and once again were bathed in its glory. We count our lucky chickens.
The sky is bright blue above us, but cloudy and angry in the far distance.

Next up we have a 2000 ft climb spread over 7 miles which seems to go pretty well.

Just before the last big up in the climb we stop and make some refried beans adding some beef jerky and wrapping it all up in a flour tortilla.

We then head off up the mountain to find a lot of the vegetation covered in water droplets. It must have rained up here only this morning and we must have narrowly only just missed it.

As we reach the top of the mountain it is shrouded in mist and cloud.
The scene back from where we have come looks blue washed out and very dramatic.
The mountains in front of us look like some 3D model that you might find in a Ranger Station / visitors centre, only on a much larger scale.

I hurry Sarah as I’d like to get over this mountain before it gets dark. Particularly as the weather seems to be closing in.
There’s a water cache at place called Mike’s place which is in approx 3 miles away. We can stock up there and who knows maybe there is somewhere we can take cover for the night?

Once again we’re hiking into the night, which is starting to become normal.

The hike down from Bucksnot mountain in the dark was cold and misty through a jumble of rocks. Our head torches bouncing off the mist in front of us making visibility hard.

We arrived at the side trail leading to Mikes place. I had read on Far Out that one hiker had pitched their tent under the roof of an outbuilding there. This sounded very interesting so we went to investigate.

When we arrived at the water tanks there were tables and chairs set up for hikers and signs saying camping this way.

The place looked like an old ranch in much need of some TLC. We found the old outbuilding / cabin with a PCT badge on the side. The front door was not locked so I went inside to check it out.

Sarah went down to the ranch to ask permission to sleep in the cabin, but clearly no one was home or had been for some time.

Because the place seemed so hiker-friendly we thought no one would mind if we pitched our tent inside and got out of this stinking bad weather for the night.

Inside the outbuilding there were also some cushions and a blanket so we suspected that the place had been used as a shelter previously.
The outbuilding contained all the kind of things you’d find in a shed. There was also a lot of mouse poop all over the place. Although we didn’t care as we were out of the damp cold weather and safe for the night.

If we had pitched our tent outside it would have been miserable. The condensation would have been insane as everything was already soaking wet.

We both felt we had been super lucky today and hit the jackpot tonight.
Although we may be sleeping in an old dusty mouse infested outbuilding. This is a palace at least for tonight and we soon settle in and start to warm up.
It’s amazing how humbling this experience is and how it makes you really appreciate the small things in life like warmth, shelter, food and hot water.

We set up our tent using bricks to secure each corner. Then sitting on some old plastic buckets we rustled up some chicken with rice n beans, which went down a treat.

We wondered where the other hikers who were just in front of us may have camped. Surely nobody’s managed to bag a spot as good as this?!?