Day 3
Start: Boulder Oaks Campground
Finish: Stealth camp
Daily Mileage: 15.5
Trip Mileage: 41.5
The camp was slow to rise, and I hit the trail as only two had emerged from their tents. I like an early start shortly after sunrise to make the most of the day and allow for breaks and whatever else the day throws at me. There was also a climb of 3,000 feet that I wanted to get an early start on before the heat of the sun set in.
I quickly crossed under my first Interstate of the trip, I-8 and the trail started a protracted climb, winding its way slowly into the hills again. I passed some hiker camps early on, but no one on the trail yet.
The skies were clear blue, and the sun quickly started to heat everything up. The trail was through low desert scrub for most of the day, so it was all exposed and the desert sun makes it feel hotter than it actually is, at least to me. I just set a slow and steady pace that ate up the trail.
The landscape changed a lot today. There was the standard desert scrub, several groves of oak trees around stream beds, meadows with bushes I couldn’t identify since they didn’t have leaves yet, poplar groves, and as I ascended I eventually got into ponderosa pine forest at the highest elevations.
The changing landscape kept the day entertaining. Many of the desert plants are starting to bloom, and the yucca are shooting up their stalks so it can flower, go to seed, and die after taking years to build up to this main event. I tried to focus on these smaller details since I haven’t hiked the desert in spring, and there was so much color and variety.
The long climb and sun took my energy, so I took a couple breaks to restore and dry my tent. I was proud of the second break since my feet were just starting to complain so I stopped to rest them instead of powering through it like I may normally do. I am very sensitive to the length of this trip, and I can’t abuse my body as much as I can do on the shorter trips. I’m in it for the long haul.
I only passed a few hikers today, and I seem to have caught the tail end of the people who started the day prior. I’m not racing, but I’m pushing the next 3 days to get into town before a winter storm and potential flooding hit in two days.
In the final stretches to the top of Mt. Laguna, the landscape turned to ponderosa pine forest. It was an abrupt shift and the trees took over, with many huge old pines. There were also some smaller patches of snow left from the last storm.
My energy was waning as I rolled into town. I needed to get in before 5 when the store closed since I needed a couple more supplies to get to the next town. I bumped into some hikers who gave me reviews of the two restaurants in town, and they highly recommended the French café which also closed at 5. I grabbed lunch there and had the delicious beef bourguignon and a side of french fries. Not the normal hiker fare, but that is a dish you don’t see too often and I couldn’t pass it up. I nearly wasn’t able to finish the dishes but conquered them at last in time to grab the supplies I needed from the store.
I’m stealth camping tonight, and Elizabeth and Justin got here before dark. We are all going to try to make the dash ahead of the weather, and Elizabeth and I made a loose plan for tomorrow to set ourselves up for it.
It is a cold and windy night. It should definitely be below freezing, so we’ll see how motivated I am to get an early start tomorrow for a longer day before the sun is replaced with clouds.
1 comment
Great pictures and looks like a great start to your journey! Don’t get blown up… lol…