PCT Blog 3: Mount Laguna to Julian

I woke up glad to have been inside the previous night, given the moisture outside. While the snow wasn’t as bad as some of the people in Lake Morena had made it out to be, it wasn’t something I would have wanted to camp in. I was also glad that I was nearly 20 miles ahead when I could have gotten vortexed in Lake Morena to try and avoid the storm. (Vortex: To get sucked into multiple zero days in a town.) 

After a late start to get some breakfast before leaving Laguna, I picked up another liter of water at the general store due to the water carries up ahead becoming longer. This would end up being a very smart move. The trail out of Laguna would end up being beautiful, but taxing in a whole new way.

Plateau Walking

A particularly narrow part of the trail on the edge of the Laguna Plateau.

Compared to the relatively quick ascent up the Laguna mountains, the descent would be a slow undertaking. Despite almost covering more miles on Day 4 than I had the previous two days combined, I had dropped a little more than a thousand feet by the end of the day. The hike consisted of long winding turns around the edge of the plateau at the peak of the Laguna mountains. A strong headwind, while helping keep me cool, would end up being a major nuisance by the end of the day. 

My initial plan had been to cover around 14 miles to get to Oriflamme Canyon for the night, but upon arriving around 3 in the afternoon, me and another hiker moving at the same speed decided that we still had energy and daylight to burn. Though we were dead tired after covering the next 4 miles, we made it to a large campsite by the Sunrise Trailhead, marking an 18.2 mile effort. 

Great Beginnings

Day 5 would start out awesome. Though the night had been restless again and I had a close call with leaving my water filter in cold temperatures, I was in good spirits in the morning. The initial plan was to get from my campsite down to a water source around nine miles ahead, and then find a good campsite on the desert floor before taking a Nero the next day into Julian. (Nero: Near zero mileage day. Distance depends on when in a thruhike it is taken.)

Me and a group of three other hikers covered the distance easily in the morning, getting to the water source around noon after an eight a.m. start. Filling up at the source, I took a quick lunch before deciding to push on. This decision would end up costly for me.

Hitting the Floor

The next 6 miles took me almost as long to cover as the initial 9. The mid day heat kicked up, and with it came our first true encounter with sun exposure. Without the cloud cover that had defined the first four days on trail, I got caught in the trap.

By the time I got to a solid campsite around two miles from the road to Julian, I was dehydrated and fairly well cooked by the sun. I had plenty of spare water in my pack and I wasn’t in dire straights yet, but it was humbling to say the least. I set my tent up to gain some shade against the sun and was laying against it sipping water. Another hiker joined me and began to set up his own camp when a friend from the first few days on trail approached, offering us some beds in the Airbnb he was renting for the night.

Not wanting to look a gift horse in the face, we took him up on that offer. Quickly packing our stuff up again, we trudged along the final two miles to Scissors Crossing, where we would grab a ride into town. We were greeted there by a trail magic gathering, celebrating our escape from the desert with cold sodas, Gatorade, and spaghetti. We soon after got a ride into Julian from local trail angel Professor, and spent the night recuperating inside.

I spent the next day taking a zero in town. Between heaping plates of food, a nice shower, and good sleep, recovery from hitting the desert floor went well. However, a new challenge now loomed on the horizon. After bouncing my bear can up to Idyllwild from Mount Laguna, I now needed to bounce it to the next town when I got there. To do that however, I needed the post office to be open, and my current pace set me to arrive squarely on Saturday. That means I would have to take an unwanted zero on Sunday to use the post office on Monday. 

Or… I could hike just a little bit faster, cover the 70 odd miles in between in five days, and get to Idyllwild on Friday before the P.O. Closed. If I succeed then I wouldn’t be wasting a day. If I fail, then I can take my zero days and recuperate. The Race to Idyllwild is on.

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