My tenth day on the trail was almost a NERO (nearly zero) as I hiked less than four miles to Barrel Spring in Ranchita. My original plan was to hike about ten miles, as usual, but life got in the way.
From PCT mile 96.5 to 101.1 Total: 3.6 miles 4/9
The day started out normally enough. I woke up at first light and ate my oatmeal, then packed up my gear. It took me about an hour and a half, which wasn’t bad. I like to read my book while I eat, rather than wolfing it down. Anyway, soon enough I was hiking on the trail, downhill all the way to the spring. There were fine views along the trail, mostly to the north and east. Warner Springs to the north, and Ranchita to the east.
The hiking was so easy that it seemed as if I arrived at the spring in no time at all. This was the spot where I planned to tank up on water. In PCT Thru Hiker Jargon this is known as Cameling Up, regardless of what my spell-checker software thinks. Since I wasn’t hiking many miles per day (and therefore didn’t worry about a bit of extra weight), my water philosophy was fairly straightforward: Get the best water available with the least purification needed and only do it once per day. This allowed me to camp anywhere I wanted, provided there was a water source somewhere within my ten mile hiking day.
Barrel Spring suited my purpose perfectly. It came directly out of the ground via a nice clean pipe. And it had been flowing here for at least a hundred years, which meant that I didn’t really have to purify it at all if I didn’t want to. The chance of water-born diseases in this water was just about zero. In my opinion. There are many who filter everything, and I hope they have fun doing all that unnecessary busywork. I filled up all of my containers and was happy.
Then I sat down in the shade for a bit of a break. This was a popular camping spot for PCT hikers, and a few late-niks were still packing up. I hung out and watched while poor Nicole (aka Blister Girl) took off her shoes to inspect her feet yet again. As we sat there, Dr. Morgan Brosnihan of Blaze Physio showed up with her friendly dog. She travels along the PCT in her big red van and helps thru hikers with their foot troubles (mostly) as well as any other issues that could use a bit of advice from a Physical Therapist. She is truly one of the Stars of the PCT.
Although she wasn’t an MD, she also checked out Nicole’s blisters. One of them appeared to have faint red lines running up her foot. This is the one that was most worrisome. We checked on the web for a nearby Urgent Care facility, but of course there was almost nothing. Plus, it was a Sunday. The nearest place was all the way in Ramona to the west, or Borrego Springs in the east. If she really wanted, I would volunteer to give her a ride in my car, which was parked back at Scissors Crossing, twenty miles south. If I could get to the car. Morgan was about to take her van to Julian, so she graciously gave me a ride as it was on her way. I left Nicole and David at the Spring.
I realized that this was a bit out of my way, and since I was going to meet Vicki tomorrow in Warner Springs, I figured that I better call her to let her know the change of plans for today. I would cut today’s hike short, then leave earlier tomorrow morning and whip out twelve miles instead. She agreed that helping a fellow hiker should always come first. She also suggested a better trail name for Nicole: Bubbles. It sounded perky rather than pathetic like Blister Girl.
While driving back to Barrel Spring on Highway S-2, I saw a very familiar man and his dog hiking along the side of the road. It was Ian and Sandy! I saw them back at Pioneer Mail over a week ago! And I had taken several zeros during that time period. I pulled over to say “Hi!” and offered them a ride. He thought about it for a moment, then accepted the ride. We were almost at the spring anyway, and that was where he planned to camp. Ian had learned that dogs were not allowed on the PCT within Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and therefore the only viable alternate route was to walk along the busy highway from Scissors Crossing. It turned out that he had spent a few days in Julian getting gear and a resupply. They both climbed into the car and he kept his eyes peeled for hazards along the way. The road had very wide shoulders, so they weren’t too scary to walk along with a dog. This was an important part of his research for his book.
I pulled into the Barrel Spring parking area and dropped him off. Nicole and David got in with all their gear. Then we headed out. Ramona was an hour’s drive to the west, but that was OK if it helped Nicole. On the way, I mentioned Vicki’s idea about Bubbles, and she thought that it wasn’t too bad a trail name. I dropped them off in town and said goodbye. Oh well. You meet a lot of people on the trail, and all of them move on at their own rates and times, unless you are lucky and form a Tramily. Perhaps Nicole and David would hike together in the future.
After that, I drove all the way back to Barrel Spring, and arrived just as Ian and Sandy were returning from the store in Ranchita. The store was giving free rides to hikers, and Ian was very happy. It turned out that they actually carried a selection of proper hiker food! Freeze dried meals, oatmeal, the usual stuff. Not just overpriced chips and sodas and beer.
The two of us headed toward the spring and chose a couple of spots near each other. We pitched our tents and generally hung out in camp. After dinner, we even received a bit of Trail Magic! Trail Angel Santa had arrived in the parking lot, and the back of his truck was full of cookies and chips and sodas and beer. As a treat, such things are wonderful. As regular trail food, not so much. Everyone in camp was having fun that evening. Life was good.
As dusk fell, we discovered the main drawback of camping at Barrel Spring. The frogs! The males started up their nightly serenade of the lady frogs, and boy oh boy was it loud! The frogs were all quite small, so the tones were pitched high, not like big bass bullfrogs. I decided to read in bed for a while, and eventually the froggy festivities died down. After that, sleep was easy.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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