Day 11, Mile Marker 91-110, Warner Springs

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Post from Melissa:
We wake up at 5:30am at 3rd Gate and are hiking on the trail by 6:15am with pop tarts in hand. We are starting to get faster at packing up. We have a 19 mile hike ahead of us this day to get into Warner Springs and if it's anything like the day before it's going to be a scorcher and we want to get ahead of the heat. We soon begin to realize that the weather is different. It's much cooler and we see rain clouds in the horizon. We take advantage of the cooler temps and make some good progress.

At mile marker 96.1 we come across Billy Goat's Cave. It's visible from the trail and Nick captures some good photos. The switch backs in this section were relentless...we thought they would never end!

We hike on, taking a quick foot break and then we reach the 100 mile marker! Yippee! 100 miles done baby!! My Crocs had done me good the last 30 miles. Nick yells out "Only 2,550 more to go!". We fist bump and move along smiling.

The terrain is getting much greener here and we start to see more poison oak which we avoid at all costs. Nick and I learned that lesson already and don't need a repeat! It is a nice change of scenery from the dry patch of desert we just traversed. That's one thing we love about this adventure...after walking a few miles the landscape looks completely different! It's always a surprise around the corner according to Nick and it's so true!

It's a short walk from here to the Barrel Springs natural water source at mile marker 101.1. The water is piped down from a natural spring into an animal trough. We can scoop up fresh water directly from the pipe coming into the trough and filter it before drinking it. Nick and I find it amusing the birds are taking baths in the water too. Water keeps us all alive!

We join a group of other hikers here at Barrel Springs (about 6 of them) for lunch and a rest before the final push into Warner Springs. People are making small talk and eating their lunches. Nick cooks us up a Mountain House eggs and bacon which we both inhale along with some nutterbutters. Then Nick makes his very first cup of coffee on the trail ( Starbucks Via packets) and I have a hot chocolate. We are both content...life is good :-) Then a bird craps on my right leg...I laugh...once again Hard Target misses the bird shit and it hits me instead.

After refilling our water bladders we push on. We still have 9 miles to go! It was going to be a long day...

Within a few miles the landscape changed dramatically again. We were now in a golden open prairie field with large rocks and oak trees surrounding us. We were walking with free range cows and the rain was coming quick. We stop to put on our pack covers and grab our solar umbrellas which work great with rain too.

There is a cow with one black eye and one white eye nearby (pic below). It reminded me of my girl doggie Domino back home who has similar markings on her face. I want to thank my twin sister for taking good care of Domino right now. She is sick with liver issues and my sister is going above and beyond to care for her. Thanks Sis! Love you!

At mile 106.2 we approach Eagle Rock. There is a side trail to walk up to it and I tell Nick to go up without me and just show me the picture of the rock...he insists I join him so I hobble along after him (my feet were really hurting). Once we get up to the top of the trail and see the rock, I'm impressed...that dang rock DOES look like a giant eagle. Who knew? It was worth the extra mileage on my feet.

We move on knowing we have about 3 miles to go and the weather is getting worse. I pass by a rock on the side of the trail and there are 2 black stink beetles side by side with their butts raised in the air. I turn to Nick and say "Look babe, those two stink beetles are making stink together, kind of like you and me!" He laughed and said I should write poetry. Haha!

We are finally approaching the town of Warner Springs and there were 2 different ways to enter the town. Nick chose the "short-cut" which ended up being a long-cut by the time we found our way to the Community Center. We ended up doing about 21 miles this day, but we made it!

We set up camp in an open field with the cattle (and lots of cow patties) across from the fire station. There were over a dozen other PCT hikers camping in the field with us. We ate snacks for dinner and passed out waking occasionally to the sound of rain hitting our tent and the intercom system from the fire department dispatcher calling in emergency instructions to the firemen.

Tomorrow morning we would go to the Post Office and pick up our resupply boxes including my new shoes!

PS-I definitely missed the Cinco de Mayo Margaritas! Warner Springs has no stores or restaurants...