pct day 4 - 05/09/13

what a great day. of course, i can usually find a way to say that about every day . . . i hoofed it 9 miles to a highway after crossing a desert valley for 3 miles and easily got a ride into julian, ca. what a contrast! from a scene like death valley to a quaint, beautiful mountain with trees in only 12 short miles. did i mention there were trees!?! i met a fellow thru hiker and headed to "mom's pies" for some good pie and lunch. come to find out, the lunch and the pie is free for thru hikers. amazing. so while waiting out the heat a little, we headed to another retaurant a little while later and the waitress gave us our lunch free! she wouldn't even take a tip. we each left ten bucks as a thank you and she ran it out to us telling us to save our money and have a great time. so generous. after resupplying we got another easy ride back to the trail and i met up with some other hikers and hiked another 14 miles with a nice full belly up to a water cache and a sweet camping spot. good company and good food makes for a great day. my lesson was in surrendering to the idea of such a long ride into town. my ego was all fearful of waiting a long time and then having trouble getting back out to the desert to the trail. when i let go it could not have all been orchestrated more smoothly.

the pic is of me on my way up the climb from the san felipe valley.



23 miles from rodriguez spur to third gate. 91 miles total.

- tribhu (tree-boo)