Day 6 (7 April) - Mile 47.54 - 59.47

Laguna Campground to Sunrise Trailhead

We woke up this morning to the sound of rain hitting the tent. Well...I guess we don't have to worry about being too hot today. After deciding to slackpack and have Tim pick us up and bring us back here. Brad (we really do need to come up with a trail name for him) and Theresa from Oregon decided to jump on the bandwagon. Theresa dropped her bag off around 8 and headed out. Barbra, Brad, and I decided to leave around 9:30 which somehow worked out perfectly. Tim told us that he will be up at Sunrise Trailhead around 4:00PM to pick us up. Cool...see you later Tim and thanks for everything!

We walked the 7/10 mile back to the trail and took the daily picture, but this time Brad joined in:

Six fingers for day 6.

Today was a great hike even though the rain was on and off all day. The trail continued to meander with gentle ups and downs with tremendous views all day long.

Barbra on trail.

Barbra and Brad enjoying the view.

By the way...that is a rain kilt, not a rain skirt that Brad is wearing. Many hikers like the kilt since it is much lighter and more airy than traditional rain pants.

We had almost 12 miles to hike today so a strategically placed picnic area at the 5 mile point worked out well. We even saw Theresa who was on her way out. We told her we would see her on the trail and she assured us that we will catch her since her knee wasn't feeling the best. Luckily Tim has her gear allowing her to rest her knee some.

​Of course it started raining harder when we got there, so we quickly ate our tuna and crackers and made a quick exit is the picnic area.

Picnic in the rain

Right after lunch the trail started to climb when we reached an amazing lookout that had memorials all over it. It seems that people throw ashes off this cliff and some create makeshift memorials.

Brad admiring the view with memorial in foreground.

This one is by far the best memorial I may have ever seen:

They should have listened.

We continued on the trail and continued to experience the beauty of the Pacific Crest Trail:

Self-portrait with a view.

Barbra enjoying the hike.

Around mile 8.5 the rain seemed to stop so we decided to find a place to take off our shoes for a little bit. As we approached a flat area we came across Theresa. Plus, there was a great view.

Much needed rest.

A rest with a view.

Of course as soon as we sat the rain started up again, but this time much harder. So, we out the shoes on happy that at least we got to rub our feet for 5 minutes, and headed back out on the trail. We only had 3.5 miles to go and it was 1:30, so meeting Tim by 4:00 PM shouldn't be a problem.

It was great that we caught up to Theresa, now we can all hike together.

Theresa and Brad.

Beautiful mountain flowers.

Daily dose of a PCT sign

Around 2:40 PM we came around a bend, and there was Tim. On the map he realized the trail came right up to the road, so he camped out there a bit waiting for us. This is when he told us that the large Colman tent as leaking like crazy so he went down to Julian and booked a hotel for tonight for himself.

Surprise meeting with Tim

Hum...we had another 1.5 miles to Sunrise Trailhead to figure out what we wanted to do. One option was for Tim to drive us back to last night campground and we could stay the night and then Tim would pick us up in the morning and take us to Sunrise Trailhead to continue the hike. A second option is that well could get our gear and move it here to Sunrise Trailhead and continue from there in the morning. The third option is that we go to the hotel with Tim and spend the night Ina hotel in Julian and he will drive us back to Sunrise Trailhead in the morning for us to continue.

Looking at these options we should pick option 2, which is the option that Theresa picked, but Barbra, Brad, and I chose to go the the hotel...it was raining after all, and we won't see Tim for a few days after this.

So, we went with Tim back to Laguna Campground, broke camp, brought Theresa her bag, and headed to Julian.

​How did Tim find the hotel in Julian he booked? Remember the Alaska and Iowa women we camped with last night? Well, the looked at the weather report and saw that it was going to rain the next 4-5 days, so offered Tim $20 to take them to Julian so they could come off the trail and enjoy the rest of third two-week vacation in another way other than torturing themselves on a wet, long hike of the PCT...weirdos...how could they not have stayed!

Here we are in front of this wonderful B&B in Julian, California. They have a PCT hiker special for $85 a night including breakfast, tea time, and laundry. How great of them to support the hiker community like that!

A bit better than a wet tent.

After checking in we went across the street to an Italian restaurant and stuffed our faces.

A Italian feast.

Tomorrow after breakfast Tim will drive us back to Sunrise Trailhead where he will drop us off. No more slack-packing tomorrow, we have to carry all our gear. After he drops us off we will be out in the wilderness for 3 nights without his support.

No more glam-camping. This is about to get real.