Chap. 6 – Rest and resupply

Tomorrow

Some of the crew left this morning before 5:30 am, others of us slept until then. Personally I slept until 5:20. My goal was to reach Scissor’s Crossing by noon, so we could get as much rest as possible in Julian. We had 12 miles to go before we hit the road, so if we averaged 2 mph including breaks, leaving at 6am would get us there by noon.

I left the camp with three other members of the group: two 19-year-old boys and a 22-year-old woman. At 25, that made me the oldest in our little group… crazy! I took the lead most of the way, mostly because I know I can keep a steady pace. My blisters caused the main problem with the group’s pace, as I started to slow down a bit at mile 10. We only took a few short breaks, one for a quick second breakfast/snack and a couple for shade and water breaks.

The sun hits us like no other today. As soon as we ascended from the valley, the sun hit us and warmed the ground around us quite quickly. Soon enough, we descended into the desert towards Scissor’s Crossing. Before the highway we had three straight miles of desert ground at around 90 degrees Fahrenheit, at least according to the thermometer one of the guys had in his backpack. When we finally reached the road, my feet felt very sore and tired. I was ready for a night on the town! One of the 19-year-olds has his father helping him for a while, so he met us on the road and brought us to the city. That saved us from having to run into a problem, so we were very grateful!

Late

As soon as we arrived in Julian, the equipment store was our first priority. Both of us ladies were already looking for new shoes. She ended up getting a local trail angel to take her to the nearest place that had Bedrock sandals. She’ll be rocking Bedrocks from now on! I hope they work better. As for me, I upgraded to a different version of Altra Olympuses. I started with the 5 and ended up with the 275. They have a built-in gaiter and are wider since I bought the men’s version. Here’s the craziest part: I went from 9.5 for women to 9.5 for men. It’s crazy that my feet are so swollen from walking in the heat! My feet are usually 8.5 in normal shoes…so it’s driving me crazy.

I finally met up with Boostie at the equipment store and for lunch we ate our free pie at mom’s house. The whole tram gathered there and hit the nail on the head! I bought a slice of blueberry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and an Arnold Palmer to drink. At the table, Boostie informed me that we had narrowly missed a fire shutdown in the Mt. Laguna area. If we had started a day later, we would have had to evacuate! I’m thankful we made it through safely and safely, and I’m glad the fire is mostly contained now that the trail is open again.

Delicious bumblebee cake!

Boostie got us a room at the Julian Lodge, but most of the tram stayed in an AirBnb right across the street from us. We spent most of the night hanging out with them, drinking, massaging our feet and legs, and making great memories. For dinner, we all went to the barbecue and pizzeria in town. Boostie and I shared a Hawaiian pizza and I got a Princess Peach Sour. They identified me and I felt a little strange because no one else did! I know I don’t look under 21 right now, so I assumed it was because I looked at the beer menu for too long and that made me suspicious… that’s my best guess.

All the day trippers hanging out at the AirBnb just before midnight.

While we were eating pizza and hanging out in the outdoor seating area, I called my parents on FaceTime. They’re still on vacation, so even though it was after 8 pm California time, I figured they’d still be up at 10 pm in Florida. We talked for a while and they were able to say hello to the entire tram! After the call, everyone cleaned up and we made it back just in time for midnight hiker.

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