In Julian, 12 miles from the PCT, SWOH indulged in a night at a hotel and bought groceries for 3 days. At Mom's Pie House, all PCT hikers get free pie, ice cream, and lemonade. Thruhiker Claire from Alaska, Alfredo from Italy (trail name: Pasta-Alfredo) and his American wife Alicia kept SWOH company (see photo). Tomorrow they’ll hitchhike back to the trail, followed by 3 days and 50 km through the Anza-Borrego desert. This means each of our intrepid hikers will have to carry 5 liters of water – maximum weight – through the heat. Their next goal is Warner Springs, where they’ll hopefully pick up the newly ordered superdooper lightweight tent. I can almost hear their sighs of relief when they reach Warner Springs.
For the sake of completeness, I'd like to add that today’s early morning text message from Sabine included a photo of her legs – covered with a rash. My query as to the nature of the malady received the following answer: POISON OAK. Which immediately brought back childhood memories of days spent in the woods behind our house, followed by painfully itchy nights from having come in contact with poison ivy. Horror stories abound. Alas, until you learn to recognize it, a repeat encounter is inevitable. Oli fortunately seems to be immune ...
