5.19.22 || Day 5: 77.3 -101.1 miles

tldr; lucky hitch, climb to third gate water cache, passed 💯 miles

Spent the night at Stagecoach Trails RV Park and woke up early to hitch a ride back to Scissors Crossing. Most people go into Julian and hitching back to the trail is pretty easy, so we were nervous about getting a ride from Stagecoach. We sat on the road for about 30 minutes, 0/5 for passing cars when a runner passed by. She waved and said she would be back in 10 minutes to take us back to the trail. Her name was Anna, soo kind and lucky we met her. 

Started hiking around 8am. We had a big climb to get up to the third gate water cache. We were in one of the first big dry stretches on the trail — trail angels stock a water cache at the top of the ridge to float hikers to the spring outside Warner Springs.

The climb went surprisingly fast. Went back and forth with a British hiker who was wearing sun gloves and I was instantly jealous :) Great idea. Passed an older hiker with his hiking Vizsla dog named Dakota who carried all his own food and water. The last two miles were hot and exposed, ate the last of the homemade fruit leathers my mom made for us to give us a boost. 

The water cache was so impressive — hundreds of gallons of water under a tarp with a fenced cage where you put the empties. We took about 2 liters each (3 liter max per person) to take us the next 10 miles to the spring where we planned to camp. Most people were napping in the shade because they were split hiking (resting during the heat of the day and hiking at night) but we were antsy. Ate lunch, rested our feet, and then headed out around 2:30. 

The last 10 miles were a bit long, put in my headphones for the last 5 and listened to some crime podcasts. Passed 100 miles!! And then made it to the natural spring where we camped for the night. Popular camping spot. Tomorrow we’ll head into Warner Springs for our first resupply package. 

🎵: Tickets to My Downfall, Machine Gun Kelly