PCT 2023 – Day 7: The one with the blazing heat, trail magic and a fabulous historic cabin!

Weather: I’m not sure if I can continue walking in this heat. It zaps your energy. Others are leaving at 3-4 am and then take a long siesta before continuing their hike into the evening. Im not sure what I’m going to do yet.

Food: Pop tarts (cherry flavour), I’ve just realised that we never stopped for lunch. We had a big cheeseburger in Julian around 4 pm. So a bad food day!

Sleep: I slept a bit better last night. I was still hot and sticky but just slept in my underwear whilst watching the stars through the open doors and listening to the bubbling stream.

Snake count: 2. No extra snakes today, although every stick looked like a snake to me!

People update: At Scissor Crossings we caught up with our trail family. Disco Daddy and Captain Cook are staying in Julian and letting the youngsters continue with their hike. A wise decision and it will be good to hike with these two again.

If it ain’t broke, don’t try and fix it. I’ve been wearing Decathlon compression toe socks since day one and have not had any issues. Today I changed to Injinji toe socks and within 30 mins I now had a bad blister on my left heal. Stick with what works Jukebox!

5.20 am – Let the pack-up begin. Just 12 miles today and then we need to do our first hitchhike into Julian. It’s very exciting!!

6.20 am – And we are off! Di and I skipped breakfast and will munch on pop tarts as we hike. This is our earliest start yet! The town is calling and we need to get miles in before the sun makes an appearance.

8.41 am – Five miles in and out first stop. It’s already blazing hot but we have found a fresh water spigot and it’s nice and cold. 7 miles to go!

8.57 am – Di and Rose are ahead of me now and I’m losing energy. It’s switchback after switchback and never-ending. The views are spectacular but I’m starting to feel drained. This heat is insane and I can feel a hot spot on my heel.

Then, I receive a text from Rachel to say the dogs at home had been entered into a dog show and Ava won best eyes and Alfie got a well-done badge. A pang in my heart as I’m missing my family so much right now.

10.39 am – I finally found somewhere in the shade to sit down and check out my foot. I swapped socks this morning and these super light Injinji socks have caused a big blister on my left heel. I patch it up then dig out my stinky smelly Decathlon socks and swap them over. Rose was also in the shade section and she is suffering as well. On top of foot pain, she also fell and rolled her ankle and she has terrible chaffing on her inner thighs. She’s still very upbeat and that lifts my spirits as well. Time to trek on!

11.00 – After the break, I plug in my AirPods and listen to a podcast. My umbrella is out and I’m taking photos of the gorgeous flowers along the trail. It really is beautiful. I’m on the lookout for snakes but these last few miles are fairly easy hiking. I can see

DinkyDi in the distance and also the main highway which is our end point today.

1.34 pm – Yey! We made it to scissors crossing which is an underpass under the main highway and a great place for shade. We are greeted by a trail Angel called Bill who has put chairs out for hikers and provided ice-cold beer and other drinks. This is heaven! Another guy turns up with more cold beers and I indulge in Bud Light. OMG! It tasted divine as the golden nectar slid down my throat. I put the cold can of beer on my forehead and that also felt great. Within 30 mins we were joined by other hikers, Jesse (Round Two) and Woodchuck. Then a few others that I’ve not seen before.

3.10 pm – Another trail gave four of us a hitch into Julian which was 12 miles away. Not having been in a car for a while it felt super fast! Julian is a small town and just like something out of a Western Movie. Our hitch lady drops us at the small outdoor fitter place and we all chip in with some cash for her. The word on the street is that everyone is at the American Legion bar, so we all traipse up there seeking hot food and a cold drink. Everyone is here and there are high-fives all around. The chatter is loud as there must be 20 hikers all talking about the trail and different stories. I catch up with Samuel from France who tells me an update on the young lad who was rushed to hospital in Mount Laguna. He is now off trail completely and his dad is with him. He was discharged yesterday so he is ok, but is taking it easy. Justin was 1& years old and super fit so you never know what is around the corner!

I order a cheeseburger and a Heineken Zero. They have strange rules here. I’m not allowed to take the beer outside around the front as it’s against the law (?). So I’m directed through the building following little signs until I get to the backyard where all the hikers are. I sit down and enjoy my beer and then devour my huge cheeseburger when it arrives.

Everyone is saying that places are fully booked. I managed to secure a cabin which is 1 mile from Julian and has two bedrooms. It’s expensive but at this stage, I really don’t care and neither does DinkyDi. After spending a small fortune at the outdoor fitters (new sun hoodie, trowel and wet wipes), we head off on another car journey to our cabin.

A bath!! A roll-top bath actually with Epsom salts on the side! This place is awesome. As I take a bath, Di gets to work lighting the wood-burning stove. She also discovers a washing machine and dryer in the shed outside (labelled as the goldmine). After my bath, I make a hot chocolate and cosy up on the couch watching the fire. When you’ve spent so much time in a tent then you really appreciate home comforts.

I’m privileged to have the opportunity to experience all that this trial provides. Tomorrow I’m back in a tent, but for tonight I’m going to enjoy this huge double bed to myself and star fish all night!