Day 5 - Exhilarating Day — Walking People Out of Poverty

Day 5

April 20

Depart Scissors Crossing

Arrive Mile 93.2

After a very comfortable night sleeping in a real bed I got up at about 6 o’clock and started to organize myself so I could leave right after breakfast. Due to the fact we had this unscheduled stop in town meant we had surplus food in our packs. We therefore decided to make up a care package and deliver it to Colemans who owns a restaurant in Julian that becomes a dormitory in the evenings for PCT hikers trash, that’s what it says on the door! There were probably a dozen or so hikers and we left our gift on the table for them to sort through.

We return to the hotel and promptly set about getting breakfast which was mainly a buffet style. We checked out shortly after 8-15 am and walked down to the Post Office which we were told is the designated spot for getting a ride back to the trail head.

We tried hitching a ride all be it unsuccessfully and after 15 minutes or so were joined by other would be hitchhikers. A short while after we were successful in our efforts and a Trail Angel by the name of Joanne, with her Border Collie Stevie, stopped to hive us a ride. It turns out that Joanne is retired from the Fire Department and like all trail angels a delight to chat with.

We arrived back at the trailhead and started I’ll climb at around 920 in the morning. It was a beautiful day and because of the constant elevation gain we decided upon a slow but steady pace. Right from day one I’ve insisted upon Tina being upfront primarily because In the past Liz used to complain about me leaving her behind, and I know from experience how demoralizing that can be. in the past Liz used to complain about me leaving her behind and I know from experience how demoralizing that can be. Scissors Crossing is well worth checking out on Google Images.

The climb up Scissors Crossing is a series of switchbacks and we started to count them as we climbed the mountain. The switchbacks were amazing, sometimes they were very short and others extremely long and it was these long switch banks that took his deep into the canyons before spinning us back out onto another long dusty stretch of trail.

It was exhilarating walking and a far cry from yesterday.

Our campsite for the night was high on a ridge and there we met up with Gargoyle and his friends. We quickly pitched our tents and made dinner and enjoyed a most spectacular sunset.

All in all it was a great day and arguably the best so far.

A view from Scissors Crossing