Idyllwild – Julian – Day 161 – Sat Dec 2nd

Day 161 Sat Dec 2nd
Spring and Tent site 5 – Tent site 2 Cove
2554.1 – 2574.8
Approx. 2090 ft ascent 2503ft descent
21.2 Miles

We woke up to find the spot we chose actually turned out pretty well.
There was limited condensation despite being so close to the piped spring.
There was also a thick frost in any exposed areas all around us. So the protection from our trusty oak tree had worked a treat.
I also had half expected to wake up with the herd of cows surrounding our tent, but luckily not a moo cow was to be seen.

We had a hearty breakfast, filled up our water bottles and hit the trail.

The sun soon burns away the frost and reveals a very warm sunny day.

We spend the morning traversing our way around the mountains dropping down in elevation as we move ever closer to Julian.

Using Seek I identify a couple more plant species we’ve been seeing more recently.
Namely a popular bush called Sugar Loaf with green waxy leaves and crimson flowers.
I also identify White Sage. Its silvery sage green in colour + its leafs are much beefier than its cousin and more similar to thick leafed Yerba Santa.

There’s been a lot of conversation and reflection today on our plans when we arrive home. We are both buzzing with ideas and there’s so many things we both want to see and do.
All this time walking really helps you focus on what’s important and can be a really creative + useful time to think and reflect.
There can be a danger that you have to much time in your own head, but having one another helps keep us grounded (at least to some extent).

Despite the injuries all this hiking also really whips the old body into shape. And we both don’t want to slip back into old bad habits. Eating badly, eating too late, too many friday night beers and takeaways and generally not looking after ourselves.

Around 13:00 we stop at a water cache.
It was a little off trail, but the unopened water bottles were cold and fresh underneath the cover of a tarp.
This place was a little oasis with shaded camp spots dotted around in between spiky oak trees.
We fill up our bottles as its 14 miles before the next water at Scissors Junction.
We also leave a donation as a token of our gratitude.

Water is such a valuable commodity out here. The hike would be much harder even impossible, wihout kind people leaving water like this.
The fact that we didn’t have to filter meant we could could just drink it straight from our bottles which was a godsend.

We sit in the shade, make our lunch and lay out the tent and sleeping bags in the sun.
Sarah takes off her shoes and does some of her exercises, which seem to be helping.

We leave the Oasis behind and spend most of the afternoon contouring round the mountains at a relatively easy grade.

Today has been much warmer. What a difference a day makes to the mist and gloom of the previous days.

The sun is so strong that it aggravates my
sunburnt nose, lips and sun blisters on my fingers.
My sun hoodie is in tatters, but I use it to cover my head and neck and pull the sleeves down to cover my arms and hands.
I also go the full monty putting up sun umbrella and use sun block to cover my face as I don’t want to take any chances.

We spot a new species of Cactus. They stand alone like spikey totem poles, standing proud in amongst the rocks of the desert.
Around 10 inches diameter and 2-4ft in height the name Barrel Cactus seems only fitting.

We traverse past a number of sweet camp spots. There seems to be a lot more spots available in this section compared to the previous days.

The trail is peppered with holes created by some form of rodent. You need to watch your footing as these sometimes give way and collapse as you stand on them.

The trial doubles back on itself as it winds around the mountains. As I look right out in front of us we see a pair of eyes reflecting back. They look similar to what we saw in Tehachapi near the wind turbines. Could it be another mountain lion I’m not sure?

We originally had set our hearts on getting into Julian tonight.

There are a number of options:

You can either head to the RV Stagecoach campground which is a 3.3 miles road walk from Highway S2. Here you can do laundry and it’s super cheap to stay, but you can’t resupply.

Or you hitch from CA78 into the mountain town of Julian. Rumours say this place is very expensive and that motels don’t offer laundry services.

However, we were more inclined to want to stay in Julian before the final stretch to Campo. Making the most of this last trail town and smelling dem roses for one last time.

Around 19:00 our plans of going to Julian tonight started to disintegrate.
We find a sweet tent site, described on Far Out as “The Cove” which was 3.2 miles away from Scissors Crossing.
This was close enough to make sure we could get a nice early crack at hitching into Julian tomorrow + after all it’s much safer hitching into towns in the day time.

The camp spot was just off trail and was protected on all sides. We had a large rock wall behind us and spikey Catclaw bushes either side.
It was an absolute peach of a spot too good to pass up and before long we’d set up our tent for the night.

Sitting on the dry sand in front of the tent we ate our Ramen noodles.
What a difference to last night where the trail was saturated wet, cold and uninviting.

We initially opted to leave the flysheet off the tent, so we could stare up at the stars.
Although we soon changed our minds, after the temperature started to drop later in the evening.

Just before we go to bed we hear the coyotes howling across the desert out in front of us. Perhaps this is there way of saying good night?