Early Mornings and the Desert Superbloom – PCT 2017: A Hiking Story [04]

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Part 3 ‘Scissors Crossing and Julian ‘A First Time for Many Things”

Day 7 (04/04) – A Desert Superbloom of Flowers

Medic left camp early, leaving Echo and me hiking alone again. Maximus had also left his campsite not far away. ‘People are leaving really early’ I thought to myself, ‘maybe we should start leaving earlier too’.

Not far into the hike, we met Crunchy again – now coming back down the hill toward us. She was leaving the trail for emotional reasons, having had to integrate back into society for college after only recently also finishing the Appalachian Trail. It was sad to see her go, but we were all in different places in life.

The desert superbloom of flowers at this point of the year in early Spring was at its most spectacular level. Looking around the landscapes were: pinks, yellows, blues, purples, whites, reds – sometimes all at once. ‘What a time of the year to hike the desert!’

We passed the 100-mile marker throughout the day – a fist bump for our efforts thus far. At midday, it was hot and Echo and I decided to have a long lunch break under the only shade we found. I stripped down into my underwear to air out and dry off my clothes – what a feeling! I even blew up my air pad for some comfort and made some cheese and salami wraps.

We grabbed some water off the trail at the nearby water cache and made way for Barrel Springs campground, around 10 miles (16.09 km) ahead. We arrived late in the evening, and found: Maximus, Porter and Claire, Medic and two others I hadn’t met before – Cuppa Joe and Sara. Echo, Maximus, and I ended up cowboy camping that night.

Distance hiked: 20 miles (32.19 km)

Total PCT hiked: 101 miles (162.54 km)

Day 8 (05/04) – Eagle Rock

I woke to the sound of Maximus packing up at 3:30am. ‘What the hell… wait, are you hiking now?’ I whisper to him. ‘Yeah’, he whispers back. It was pitch black aside from his red glowing headlamp bobbing around. He set off half an hour later, and the quiet nightscape returned. Not 15 minutes later, Cuppa Joe starts packing up, followed by Sara! ‘Well, I guess I’m hiking too now I’m awake!’, I thought to myself as I woke Echo. We set off at 5:30am with headlamps on into the darkness.

I hiked further ahead of Echo, turned my lamp off, and hid behind some bushes where he couldn’t see me. When he approached, I made a low growling animal noise…

“gggggrrrrrRRRRRRRAAGGHH!”

Echo suddenly stopped in his tracks and stood silently, scared by the strange threat ahead of him. I was hoping he’d walk closer, but he was too scared. I couldn’t contain myself, and broke out in laughter! He sighed in relief after seeing me, originally thinking the noise had been a mountain lion or a tiger. He even tried to give me the trail name ‘Tiger of the Morning’, which we all laughed at later for being so bad.

Eventually, the hue of bright colours formed on the horizon by the now-rising sun. The sunrise was almost peaking, ‘it was going to be beautiful’ I thought to myself. There is some merit to starting this early after all. The area then began to turn into large meadows of flowers, as far as the eye can see! ‘Wowwww!’ I’ll never forget the tranquillity of that morning.

Not long into the morning, we arrived at the famous rock formation called Eagle Rock. It was pretty amazing and larger than I had previously thought. ‘What a morning!’ I thought. I needed a photo riding the eagle, it was just too majestic!

After the meadows, we walked through an ever-changing landscape into what I’d call a semi-arid temperate forest. We then eventually came out on the outskirts of Warner Springs, a small locality that has a hiker community centre – a good place to relax.

When we arrived, we were surprised to see so many hikers there, most of which we hadn’t met before. I immediately showered and did laundry (both via buckets) around the back. I quite enjoyed the bucket shower for a change. The simple things in life can be so amazing sometimes!

After cleaning up, the next most important thing was pizza. Many of us had gone to the country golf club down the road, where Maximus and I ordered a glorious 22″ inch meat-lovers pizza.

After returning to the community centre, we set up our tents under the hiker tree there and chilled out for the afternoon. I met several new hikers that day, including Abi, a (cute) girl from Oregon state. I remember Abi once complimenting me on my ridiculous rain skirt (it was all I was wearing when doing laundry!).

Distance hiked: 8 miles (12.87 km)

Total PCT hiked: 109.5 miles (176.22 km)

Next Post:

Part 5 Paradise Café & Idyllwild ‘The Motivation for Food and Alcohol Grows!’

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