Today was a hard slog! We headed up into the San Jacinto mountains getting up to 8000′. The first half of the day we walked entirely in cloud, quite cool and very windy. Eagle-eyed Ros noticed some footprints in the trail which we are pretty sure are from a mountain lion.

At times the wind was so strong that it almost blew Ros over. But the clouds disappeared and revealed fantastic views.

We walked up and up along a line of ridges to our campsite at mile 171. The metal box was some debris but it formed a great wind shield for our stove.

The day was not too hot and the walking was generally downhill. We made good progress and ended up doing another 20 mile day. Another factor in our good progress was the enticement of the “best burgers on the PCT” so we raced to get to the Paradise Valley Cafe at the closing time of 3pm. They were good! We shared a table with a couple our age who are hiking this section of the trail.

Our first real encounter with danger on the trail was with some local flora. Poison oak, if you touch it, can cause a very nasty blistering rash. Because it is a delayed reaction, you can have an extensive contact before you realise the danger. We were camped for the night beside a lovely creek, the site only spoiled by the presence of poison oak. Fortunately it had a convenient label and we had been warned about the danger.

Apart from that, our campsite was very nice beside a small creek, which we crossed a few times before climbing higher. We got to one part of the mountain covered in granite boulders, reminiscent of Girraween.

By about lunchtime we reach Mike’s Place, which has somewhat of a reputation among PCT hikers. The term ‘Hiker trash’ is used affectionately (by hikers) and not so affectionately) by other members of the public. Mainly because we are dirty and smelly.

We filled up with water and because the temperatures were a bit lower, ended up putting in a longer day of 20 miles.

Rain is forecast for tomorrow. We continue to be thankful for safety and scenery.

Last night’s campsite:

This morning was gentle downhill run to Barrel Springs for another water refill for the next 10 miles to Warner Springs. Some more trail magic with fresh fruit – I had half a chocolate donut and fresh strawberries – who’d have thought. The lady that brought the food had a dog with its own backpack.

Along the way, more beautiful flowers and sweeping views. I will start a gallery under Photos.

And we passed 100 miles!

We did the obligatory photo stop at Eagle Rock then cruised into Warner Springs where there is a very hiker friendly community centre with a shop full of hiker food and goods, and bucket showers where we had our first shower for 5 days. And washed our clothes too – they have a collection of loaner clothes as most hikers only have one set of clothes (the ones we wear everyday). Once the clothes are dry and the phone is recharged we will walk on a few miles.

We will be writing about the people we meet on the trail but first a little about the one I brought with me. Robert has been the best hiking partner – carrying the bulk of our weight, navigating and organising our path and our breaks as well as doing all the photography and ‘tech’ stuff. In addition to all that he is a real gentleman – helping me on and off with my pack at every stop, hiking at my slow pace without complaint and putting up with my need for hygiene at frequent intervals. What a man!

A 5:40 start after a good night’s sleep and we were on our way, mostly following the contours around the San Felipe mountains. So beautiful in the early morning.

We walked 10 miles to 3rd Gate water cache. We restocked for the next 10 mile waterless stretch. Now we are resting under a shrub waiting for the heat to lessen before hiking some more miles.

Late edition: we walked till 6:45 and have set up a reasonable campsite. Along the way we walked right past a rattlesnake that must have only been 30cm from the path (and our legs). Later we saw another beautiful snake cross the path. (sorry about the order of the photos but I can’t work out how to do it my phone)

Today was beautiful but hot. We got going at 5:45 while it was still cool. We had breakfast after an hour, then frequent breaks whenever there was some good shade (not often enough). The sun umbrellas worked well but the heat still reflects off the ground.We arrived at a highway crossing and have spent nearly three hours under a bridge with other hikers. There is a water cache here so we can refill for the next 14 mile section.As well as this welcome assistance there were a couple of guys with cold drinks, biscuits, fruit etc. So generous!In a minute we will leave the cool shade of the bridge and do another 4-5 miles before camp.

Our camp for the night at mile 82.6,

We left the campground and continued along the escarpment with great views over the desert. Someone had spelled “50” in stones marking the distance so far (its a thing). Ros scratched 80 so you know what it is in km.The view above is in the general direction of our trail. We will be going past/over the snow-covered mountains in the distance.We are moving into the drier hotter area of the desert so we need good planning for our water needs, and are starting to hike as early in the morning as possible and having a siesta in the hottest part of the day.We got to the last water re-supply point for 18 miles, so we filled up our largest amount of water so far, and hiked another 4 miles, where we cowboy camped in order to get away quickly the next day.

Today was a steady climb from Fred’s canyon at 4500 ft to Mt Laguna at 6000 ft. With the increase in elevation we noticed a progression of vegetation from low scrubby bushes to tall pines. The fragrance of the forest was a nice contrast to the hot dry air of the desert.

We noticed a few trees with small holes in the bark all the way up. Some busy little squirrels had been at work because every hole had a little acorn in it!

Just about every PCT hiker stops in at the Mt Laguna general store for a snack or needed supplies so we followed the trend.

Hiking on in the heat of the early afternoon was a drudge but after about an hour we came to the edge of the escarpment and were greeted by the most incredible view of the desert below us.

Since we only planned to hike about 12 miles today there was no hurry to start so we moseyed over to the convenience store at 7am opening time for a few supplies and a serving of scrambled eggs and potatoes.We hit the road around 9 feeling good and quickly walked out the stiffness from the day before. We expected to be walking through dry barren desert but have been amazed at the beauty of the mountains and the abundance of green vegetation. The well graded trail winds gently up the slopes and is bordered with wildflowers and green grasses.Instead of blazing sun and temperatures up around 40, we have enjoyed cool breezes and even rain and distant thunder. Rob got his first use of his sun umbrella – for a brief shower.We are camped beside a trickling stream and are warm in our new sleeping bags after a delicious dinner.

I just realised that the previous entry was labeled “Day -1” but that was yesterday. I don’t know what happened to Day 0.So our day started at 5am when we got up, packed up our last few things and joined another 20 excited hikers for breakfast (yet another generosity from Scout and Frodo). Then at 6am sharp we were taken in a convoy of cars (more kind volunteers) to the start of the PCT near Campo and right on the Mexican border. Yes, there is a wall. We touched it so we can say that we have actually gone from border to border.After a group photo and a few words of wisdom from some PCTA volunteers, we were on our way.Our ambitious goal was to walk 20 miles to Lake Morena, which turned out to be a strenuous start, but we arrived in good spirits which were further lifted when we encountered our trail magic. Alice “Stone dancer” who through hiked some years ago has been greeting hikers at Lake Morena with a hug and drink and food since 2000.We had a number of reasons for pushing through to Lake Morena : there was a campground with 50c hot showers, and a store that sold malted thickshakes.As darkness fell, we cracked open our brand new tent which turned out to be easy to put up, and so we had a good night’s sleep.