Day 8
Start: San Felipe Hills
Finish: Agua Caliente Creek
Daily Mileage: 20.1
Trip Mileage: 112.5
I got probably my best night of sleep so far on the trail. There was no wind, no condensation, no rain, didn’t get cold, and I didn’t even do the rotisserie too much. I woke with the sun and even laid in bed for a short time since I wasn’t concerned about the miles for the day.
The trail continued to work its way around the hills in the area, gradually climbing and crisscrossing the ridge it was following. The terrain started similar to yesterday’s terrain, so it mostly gave me time to zone out and reflect.
I only got 3 liters of water at the cache yesterday, and I had 10 more miles to the next water source, so I did have to keep focused on moving forward before I went dry. I didn’t stop or take breaks, and the temperatures were mild. I was drinking the last of my water as I was rolling up to a perennial spring.
Since I quickly cruised to the spring with most of the miles I needed to do for the day already done, I intended to take a long break, and took off my shoes and socks for it. Then a guy dressed up as Santa Claus showed up and said he had cold beer and snacks at the nearby trailhead. That got my attention and I aborted my break to move out to the road. Sure enough, there was ice cold PBR which I balanced against a Gatorade. Not quite 11 isn’t too early, right? Thanks to Bad Santa for the trail magic!
A crowd of hikers gathered for the trail magic, and I took off with Hard Start. The trail quickly changed from desert scrub to open meadows with grasses blowing in the wind. Something that I hadn’t yet encountered on this trip. The sun was out in full force, and though it was only supposed to be up to 70 today, it felt much warmer with no shade and light or white colored sand and rock beneath us reflecting the sun back at us a second time.
We had great conversation as we hiked. Over the first 100 miles of trail, I have only briefly hiked with others, so it was a refreshing change.
We hiked on across more meadows, scrub, and oak forest as the terrain rapidly changed on us. There was almost a clear dividing line between the flora types as the smallest hill or other terrain feature would dictate the type of plants that were allowed to grow there.
Hard Start and I arrived in Warner Springs, a small town. I needed a few more snacks for this leg of the trip, and he had a package at the post office, so we walked the road into town. I arrived at the gas station convenience store at 3:06pm to find that it had closed at 3:00. So close. As I was pacing to decide if I had enough food to get me to my next town, the shop keeper opened the door and asked if we wanted to buy anything. She said that she would open up for hikers, but not the locals. I was grateful to be able to get what I needed, and a few hikers gathered in the shade to take a break.
We hiked out of town and returned to the trail for a short hike up a flowing stream. I stopped at the first campsite because I had done plenty of miles for the day, but Hard Start wanted to do more and continued on. Shortly, a few other hikers joined me, and I had good dinner conversation with Squirrel and Canuck.
I really enjoyed today. I had a variety of different experiences solo and with others, talked in depth with several hikers, and had widely varied terrain and the amazing Eagle Rock. Though the terrain wasn’t always the most scenic today, it goes to show that the community of hikers and those around the trail are one of the major factors in what makes it so legendary.
1 comment
Love Eagle Rock!!