May 11th, 2009 - Mt. Laguna to Rodriquez Spur

The trail has been kicking our butts! We knew it would be hard, but nothing like this. The trail continues to be rolling terrain. Most of the day was spent baking under the sun with very little shade. It has taken us a few days to figure out the best routine - waking up at 4am, hiking until 1pm, taking a "siesta" under what shade we can find (yesterday we had to rig up the shelter for shade) from 1-3pm & then hike from 3pm until ~9pm.

Tom seems to handle the heat a lot better than I do, so it has been a fight to factor in the siesta, but I think he will grow to enjoy them. We both have enjoyed the early morning and evening hiking. There has been a full moon which is so bright you can hike in the dark without headlamps.
We have been lugging a lot of water on our backs, but thus far have avoided the nasty water (ie: the supposed "rat tank") We haven't seen many other hikers.

Primarily we met up with PCTers at the Mt. Laguna General store (transcriber's photo) which by the way has a fabulous porch! Everyone we have met has appeared to be hurting - I think everyone spent at least a zero at the Mount Laguna Lodge. So we feel fortunate (knock on wood) to be feeling relatively strong.


Tom has been battling some blisters & some tendenitis near his ankle. My feet are holding up well. My only complaint is the heat in the mid-day.

We are now hanging out during the mid day in a small touristy town of Julian. We were able to score our first successful hitch (on the 2nd car by). We've also said thanks for all the trail angels who have left water jugs - we scored at Pioneer Mail, Sunrise Trailhead & Scissors crossing. You don't know how glad we were to see bottled water sitting next to a horse trough with lots of green nasty stuff floating on top.

We are badly in need of a shower. Tom looks like Pig Pen from the Peanuts cartoon. We're hoping to try out the reported sun shower at the local gear store. After some grub and pie, we'll head back to the trail to do a climb in the later afternoon/evening.

Overall we're in good spirits and having the time of our life!