It was hot again and we didn’t get started as early as we should have. It wasn’t too bad as we weren’t doing huge climbs in the morning and we were headed for our first break at a well shaded stream. The stream was nice, we stayed only for a bit because we needed to get to seeing a big rock.
Eagle rock was the next highlight of our day. As we were getting close we could see it from across the large meadow, it’s one of the only giant rocks out there, a guy on horseback asked if we needed help finding it. I replied that I thought we could figure it out. He said “oh, well, some people have trouble!” Sorry cowboy, I did not realize there were lots of morons out here! We made it to the rock, took a few pictures and chatted with some nice day hikers. It’s always weird when people ask where we are coming from…Umm, the border…and we are headed to Canada. 🤷🏻♀️
Onto Warner Springs for water and a lunch break. We were looking forward to going to the community center but never made it. We got water at the firehouse and found a big tree to hangout under. Apparently cows around here like hanging under these trees to based on the amount of cow patties we dodged. Another 2.5 hour lunch and a bathroom break as far from the trail and the road as I could get, fun times. Off into the hot afternoon we went.
We came across a bunch of cows who wanted to be all up in our business. Not knowing if they were going to be friendly or aggressive we got through as quickly as we could. They seemed fairly chill, just curious. After that we headed into a weird area that looked like an abandoned summer camp. Lots of obstacle course things and picnic tables strewn about. At least there was some shade!
Only a few more miles to camp but first we climbed and climbed and climbed in the sun. It was HOT, HOT, HOT! We passed by another camp site full of familiar hikers, including one we hadn’t seen since our first day on the bus to Campo. By the time we got to camp we were just beat but chores needed to be done. We filtered water in preparation for the next days long climb in the 90 degree heat, did some stretching, washed some socks and made dinner. Oh and we saw our first snake! Right by where we were setting up the tent! Luckily it wasn’t a rattler, I’m not sure what type it was. Finally almost asleep by 9 and ready for our 5:30am wake up call!
PCT Hike 