Well, a lot to tell today. Up early and away because no water until Julian (or at least the cache at Scissors Crossing) so wanted to hike in the cool. For a good few miles just following the contours, fairly pleasant walking but still a bit chilly due to the wind.

Finally dropped down to the valley and had about 3 miles walk to the road. This was flat and featureless so seemed like it continued forever. However it was starting to become apparent we were entering cactus country!

At the underpass at Scissors Crossing, two old lads, ex-hikers, were stocking the water cache. Now this was not a few bottles, it was a pick-up truck of gallon bottles from Costco! So Austin and I spent the next 15 mins lugging them down from the truck. It’s amazing that people do this just to help us out.

So, to our first hitch of the trail, into Julian. We had tried about 20mins when a lovely couple, Mike and Bernice, stopped and gave us a ride. They had camped nearby and were just spending their day ferrying hikers up and down! They would accept no payment other than us signing their log book of PCT hikers.

Julian is a gorgeous little town nestled in the mountains with small shops catering largely for weekend visitors from the city. They are super hiker-friendly. Mom’s Pie Shop was the first stop, where we were given free Pie and coffee!

And then the Julian cider mill for free juice and a snack bag for the trail!

Sorry about the overuse of exclaimation marks but this was so welcome after a couple of days in the desert.

I picked up my water filter at the post offices so I’m now fully independent. Now the sad but, Austin, the young lad I’ve been hiking with, and who has been keeping me alive (literally!) by allowing me to share his filter, has left the trail for a couple of days due to a sore ankle he turned two days back. It’s sad but I’m sure I’ll see him again.

Then off to the Julian Brewing Company for a pint of ‘PCT Panacea’ and the biggest brisket sandwich in Christendom

I had planned to share a room in Julian with some hikers from Liverpool, but it turned out their four bedroom suite had two singles and one double, and no-one fancied sharing with me 😁. So Cara, (Austin’s mum) gave me, Seashells and Bandit a ride back to the trailhead, much appreciated.

Seashells and Bandit decided to camp at the underpass, where we found a Frenchman named Stephan. He didn’t seem to know what to do for the night so he came with me for the steep climb up to the first camp spot. We found there Alex and several others I haven’t seen since day one. Daylight was running out so we pitched up there. Better still they had lugged a large wine bag up so red wine for supper!

So that was a super long but great day. Not much water for a while so I have 7 litres packed. Heavy!