Today was a fairly uneventful day, despite starting an entirely new section of the trail with my entirely new pack. My parents picked Erin, Christian and I up from kickoff, drove along the Sunrise Hwy route from Lake Morena to Warner Springs, which roughly paralleled the trail. It was an odd feeling-slightly voyeuristic even- to have access to some of the same vistas we experienced on foot as we blew by them in the automobile. It felt very removed, and imparted pangs of PTSD upon seeing Granite Mtn, the Scissors Crossing and San Felipe Hills. When I was out hiking it felt fast, and even faster via memory in the car.
We stopped in Julian for pie from Mom's, a hiker-friendly bakery and deli in town. The pie was free for PCT thru-hikers, and delicious. The cashier didn't even ask to see our permit. Apparently we fit the stereotype well.
The rest of day spent was spent restlessly waiting out the heat of the day in the Warner Springs community center. I attempted to add pictures to this blog using their computers, which are free to use, but no luck.
We started hiking around 430, and the new pack felt great! The fit is fantastic. The trail took us on a nice warm-up loop on the valley floor through ranch land after 3 days of not hiking, then gentle ascent up Agua Caliente cañon.
Setting out with the new pack, less than a mile from Warner Springs.
Erin and I in a grove of ancient oak trees along the valley floor near Agua Caliente Creek.
Erin's feet felt great the whole time in new brooks cascadina shoes w/ Sole DK low-profile insoles.
Erin climbing Agua Caliente Cañon just before sunset.
We decided not to push anything, and stopped at an established creek side campsite around 7. Good water, lots of photographed but unid'd toads, and California tree frogs chorusing in the background.
Making camp near Agua Caliente Creek.
Dinner was too much 1.5 L of concentrated cheddar brocc soup. I ended up chugging it just so I didn't have to bother with digging a hole to bury it. I went to get rinse water and saw a healthy-sized predaceous diving beetle larva in the creek.
Coolest critter of the day: the unidentified toads that I saw were very cool, along with the predacious diving beetle larva that I observed in the creek. I need to get a field guide on my phone so I can reliably identify all these animals, but until then, a general taxonomic description will have to suffice.
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