PCT day 9 – Warner Springs to Mile 115
Start – Warner Springs Community Centre (PCT mile 109.5)
End – 115
Distance: 5.5 miles
Non PCT miles: 1.4
Steps: 22951
I slept incredibly well last night. I’m not sure the exhaustion that’s finally catching up to me or the fact I was sleeping on level really soft ground. But what ever it was I am truely thankful for it. I even slept in… until 6am. I wasted a few hours waiting for the resource Centre to open so I could start on my list of things to do before heading off for a “Nero”. A Nero is a day when a low mileage is walked… some say under 8 miles others say under 10 miles. The purpose of a Nero from what I can tell is just to get you out of town so that you don’t spend the next day there trapped in a vortex.
I ate a delicious breakfast at the Warner Springs golf club and got my bounce box from the post office. I quickly backup my photos and sent it forward to Idyllwild… which might prove to be problematic as they are closed on Sunday and Saturday. This might result in me taking a double zero day in town. I might have to come up with a better strategy for editing and backing up my photos.
I slowly packed up the food I’ll think I’ll need for the next 4-5 day hike to Idyllwild and places the rest in the hiker box. Deciding how much food you need on Trail is difficult math. The more you think you’ll eat the more weight you’ll carry. Don’t bring enough you will have to go without. Getting the math right requires experience that I’m slowly acquiring.
I returned to the trail and back into Warner Springs Meadow which is incredibly beautiful I passed some cows lying in the shade before resuming the ever popular ups and downs and arounds that is the PCT. if you want to know which way the PCT goes just look for the longest possible distance between two points and that will be it. The trail passed through a campground that had a really creepy vibe to it. There was a cooler on the ground next to a table… usually this means trail magic. This cooler however was old and looked like it had been sitting there for a long while. I cautiously opened it with my trekking pole to find it full of garbage.
Made camp early after a 5.5 mile hike next to a creek and have the sound of water nearby so long as it’s not being drowned out by the wind. There is a large group of us here camping today with good conversation and a horse head mask. We could really use an upgrade on the food beer selection tho. It’s going to be cool tomorrow so my intention is to sleep in a little because my sleeping bag is warm. I’m currently wrapped in my tent wearing almost every article of clothing I have with me.
The strange things that happen on the Pacific Crest Trail
