Day 7 (8 April) - Mile 59.47 - 68.43

Sunrise Trailhead to Rodriguez Spring Road

I went to sleep pretty late last night so when the alarm went off at 7:45 I was still pretty tired. The good news is that we spent the night in a B&B in Julian and the breakfast promises to be good. Tim, Barbra, Brad, and I met for breakfast right when they started serving. First course was homemade granola with vanilla yogurt followed by a plate with eggs florentine, orange & banana slices, and a giant slice of really yummy bread that must have come from a local bakery.

After breakfast we loaded in the car for Tim to drive us 9 miles up the road back to Sunrise Trsilhead. Today our bags are full since we are not going to see Tim tonight. We will be seeing him tomorrow around noon when we hike down to Sissors Crossing but till then we are on our own...except we are still with Brad which is cool since he is a really nice guy.

Todays daily picture was taken by Tim as he dropped us off:

Seven fingers for 7 days.

Even though our bags are heavy, today's hike shouldn't be too bad since it is mostly down hill. Today in 9 miles of hiking we climb only 761 feet, but we decend 2,109 feet. Also, the weather is cool with on and off rain all day.

A couple of miles down the trail we saw this rock formation. 100 kilometers down...cool...although I will hold out any celebration for the 100 mile mark instead of the 100 kilometer mark.

100 Kilometers down, many more to go.

We continued hiking until we can to a long, long downward part of the trail. This must be where we lose much if the 2.109 feet today.

We are headed way down there

I know I said earlier that today was going to be easier since it was mostly down, but in reality down is much more punishing on the body than up. Yes, cardiovascularly it is easier, but on the knees, ankles, and feet...well...it hurts. I find the best way for me to tackle the down is to just left go and run down the hill using my poles for support. It took me under 15 minutes to hike down 835 feet in about 1 mile. Barbra and Brad didn't go for my running philosophy, so I waited at the bottom for them.

Here they come.

The bottom of the hill seemed like a nice place to take a break and a selfie.

Self-portrait

Even though today is mostly down, we did have to climb back up a bit. We quickly accented 224 feet in under 1/3 mile. That got the blood pumping after the little break.

Luckily at the top of the hill I had to stop and take a picture of this beautiful blooming cactus.

Blooming cactus.

Although the weather wasn't the best today, the view were still spectacular.

Self-portrait with a view

Around 2:00 PM we had about 3.5 miles to go so we decided it was a good time to take off our shoes and have some lunch. It felt really good getting the weight off our back and feet for a while.

Lunch break

Barbra always feel energized after lunch, so off she went. This was also a good opportunity to get a sign picture for the day.

Hike Barbra, hike.

Not much further up the trail Barbra asked us to move along so she could take a "nature break". In didn't mention it in yesterday's blog, but yesterday Barbra asked us to continue on and that she would catch up. Brad and I continued until I thought I heard a scream or something. Brad said he didn't hear anything, but I called out for Barbra and didn't get a respond. Hum...I called again and nothing. I was about to go back down trial when Brad said he saw her. When I finally did I knew that something was wrong. She was on the verge of tears and told us that after she was done with nature's call she started back down the trail and was fixing and adjusting when she tripped over a rock and fell on her face, elbow, and hand. She was fine, just a few scrapes, but that is/was the last time I let her answer nature's call alone. So this time Brad went along, I took two steps more and admired the view not quite tripping distance from Barbra so I can break her fall.

We made it to our determined overnight spot by around 4 and set up camp. Theresa was already here hiding in her tent from the rain. Actually, there were many other tents setup when we got here. I think by the end of the day there has to be at least 10 tents in this area mostly because it is a wet camp area meaning that there is a water source here. It is always nice to camp near a water source so you have plenty of water for dinner and breakfast and to take with you to hike the next day.

This is where we stopped, at the intersection of Rodriguez Spring Road and the Pacific Creat Trail.

Another cool sign of the day.

Brad set up his tent right next to the water tank and decided to use it as his kitchen counter:

Good use of the environment Brad.

After setting up camp I got to meet Zac. He set up his tent just above ours and stopped by on his way back from the water tank. Zac is taking a semester off from Ashland University to hike the PCT. We started the trail 2 days ago, on Wednesday. What?!? We have been on the trail since Saturday and we made it here on the same day? You see, Zac had to be back at school on 15 August, so he has to average over 20 miles a day. After 3 days he has made it almost 70 miles! Good for you Zac..we will NOT be seeing you ever again on the trail since we are eating your dust.

Zac before dinner

Zac was just about to fill his pot with water and join us for dinner when the on again, off again rain decided to turn back on. I went back in the tent where Barbra was already snacking on nuts so I knew it was dinner time. Don't tell Tim, but because of the rain we cooked our dinner inside the rain flap of the tent. Probably not a good idea, but it worked out ok.

After dinner, because of the rain and there was nothing else to do, we laid down and enjoyed listening to the rain hitting the tent. As long as we stay dry in here than the sleeping in the rain thing is cool. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Here is is a pict of our home tonight. Even though it is raining, we are very lucky.

Cooking in the tent...probably a no-no.

Home sweet home.