Day 10: mile 95.2 to Warner Springs
4.25.18. 14.3 miles
Another early wake up today! We got up at 4:30, which was kind of sad because I barely got any sleep last night bc it was so windy. My tent actually partially collapsed on me because I did a poor job of staking the door. It was actually better once it collapsed because it stopped making so much noise in the wind! Sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice with my tent. There are times when my semi-freestanding big Agnes fly creek 2 platinum seems amazing bc I’m pretty lazy at site selection.
We had another beautiful sunrise this morning, and soon enough we got to mile 100! Wooo! It was very exciting. We took some pictures with the milestone marker and then passed 2 more.
All of us are feeling some kind of hurt nowadays. My new blister from yesterday went down and a new one popped up in its place. Kristie is also having some blister issues.
After another mile we took a longer break at a water source. There was a wild turkey hanging out and actually drinking from the trough that our water poured into. I think the turkey liked me. It knew about my pet chickens.
After our break we just kept hiking. Nothing too exciting happened except for walking through a huge meadow with cows and then eventually getting to Eagle Rock, which is a pretty cool landmark just off of the PCT! I’ve been wanting to see it for a while. It really looks like an Eagle!
We took another mini break waiting for Florian and then only had 3 miles to go to Warner Springs! I pretty much booked it: I just wanted to get there. And we did! We covered the 14.3 miles by noon, doing 10 miles before 10 am.
Once I got to Warner Springs I headed for the resource center which is a huge hiker heaven! Volunteers run the center as a fundraiser for the community, so it feels good to stay with them and contribute to their town & schools. I immediately saw Katie & Brent with Brent’s parents (and dog!) which was nice bc they were at the monument in Campo when I was there! A mini reunion! Brent’s parents brought some trail magic in the form of soda & chips!! It was like heaven drinking that Dr. Pepper.
Once Kristie got in, we got a ride to the post office from a volunteer and got our packages! Thanks to Mom for sending my CNOC reservoir and the Smerdel’s for the sweet note & teabag! Since we were next door, we went over to the golf course restaurant and got food. I was pretty hungry and got hot wings, a BLTA w fries, and a sprite. I only had half of the BLTA left over (dinner). After that we had to walk all the way back to the resource center (ugh, but very nice of them to have a trail that goes in between the two places). The mobile gear company 2foot adventures is also here, so I went over and picked their brains about my recurring blister and inquired about the size of my shoe & insoles. They figured that everything was great & I was in the right size shoe, I just need to take breaks more & make sure I’m changing socks at each one. And the general pain in my feet is just normal - my feet getting used to walking ALL DAY. I walked out of there with new sunscreen, leukotape, moleskin pads, and a thin beanie since the temps in the forecast are looking cold at night.
After that I went into the resource center and paid $5 for a heated Epsom salt & essential oil massaging foot bath and a root beer :) the foot soak was so great! I also donated some money for all they give us (hikers, please donate well to these people!).
Finally, I set up my tent and threw all my stuff in there and went and hung out with some of my friends, talked to Mom on the phone, ate my leftovers, and finally opened up my resupply package and organized my food for the next stretch. We’re thinking it will take us ~5 days to get to Idyllwild, being slightly conservative. I had to throw out some of my things: I was sketched about the freshness of the dehydrated hamburger, no longer wanted to cold soak oatmeal for breakfast, don’t want to eat any RX bars, and some of the beef jerky was bad. I just need to add a few more good bars & a pack or 2 of ramen. It’s so funny to see how your appetite changes out here. Like I’m having a hard time eating breakfast, partly because I don’t want to sit around and eat it when I could get walking. So I’ve been really liking the carnation instant breakfast drink mixes. Tastes like chocolate milk and also forces me to drink water right away! Then I eat a bar right after that. I’m still really liking mashed potatoes, knorr rice sides, and ramen cold soaked.
After that it was bed time- I finally got to brush & floss my teeth over a real sink again! Kristie and I also talked about our plans for the next section and agree that we like hiking & camping together so we’ve loosely decided to stick together for the time being! Our hiking paces are really similar so it’s nice to have a buddy who is also just a really nice person.
I’m excited to be laying in bed finally- and not have an alarm to wake me up super early tomorrow! We’re not hiking out until the evening so hopefully we’ll have a chill day. I don’t have much to do except buy a few more food things, take a shower & do my laundry!