Day 7 – 11 miles (86)

– hitchhiked
– rode without a seatbelt
– rode in the bed of a pickup truck
– took candy from strangers ( gummi fighter jets, yum!)
– didn’t change my underwear

And it was awesome. The morning started with a quick two miles across the valley floor to scissors crossing (where highways 78 and 2 intersect), where we were met with some fantastic trail magic. A spirited group of SCA (student conservation association) workers who just finished a three month stint of trail work used their day off to provide hikers passing through with snacks, drinks, and shade. They also had a much appreciated 100 gallon tank of water. Thanks guys!

Then we hitched 13 miles into Julian, bought groceries for the next 100 miles, drank milkshakes, and hitched back to the trail. Though we’d just taken several hours off from hiking while in town, we decided to hole up in the shade during the worst of the afternoon heat and tackle the climb out of the valley at 4pm. This turned out to be a wise move, and we still managed to get in another 9 miles by the end of the day.