Oasis Spring

The one with the amazing sunrise, two snakes and a fantastic campsite.

📍 Location: mile marker 47.8 to MM 63.6 wild camping on both occasions.

🥾 PCT Mile Marker: 63.6 elevation 5850ft max, camping at 3874ft.
🥾 I actually walked: 16.2 miles
💰 Money: No money spent
⛑️ Health: I have developed a small blister on top of a callus on my left foot. The rocks and heat combination it’s inevitable.

☀️ Weather: Another scorcher of a day and the nights are now getting warmer as well. Last night I had to open both vestibules to get some air into my tent.

🍲 Food: Giant cookie for breakfast with coffee, tortilla and tuna for lunch. Vegetable hot pot (dehydrated meal) for dinner. I tried goldfish chips today. I’m eating snacks all day as well.

💤 Sleep: Probably the worse night on this trip so far. It was hit and sticky. I kept tossing and turning. It didn’t help that some kids were having a party about a mile away and we could hear them laughing and shouting and honking their horns until gone 1pm.

About 2am I heard something outside. Something big! It sounded like it was right next to Di’s tent and was rummaging through her food bag! I shouted “what’s that?” Imagining a mountain lion or coyote, but Di replied saying “it’s only me, I forgot to bring my food bag into my tent”. Phew!

🐍 Snake count: Two! Omg! See long winded version below!

👨 People update: I’m walking with Di, but also a new crowd as our tramily have hot footed it ahead of us. We have Logan aka “handyman” as he fixed the water spigot, Jesse. Is now known as “Round Two” and every time he stands up from a break he shouts “round two”. We have a lady called “sorry” who got that name on another long trail. (I can’t remember why?). And Rose who hasn’t got a trail name yet. People are calling me Jukebox rather than Julia which is taking a while to get used too!

LEARNINGS:-
Snakes are bloody scary but also very beautiful creatures.

THE LONG WINDED VERSION:-

6.06 am - I emerge from my tent and take a look to my left. Over the mountains the sun is walking up and it’s stunning. Wow!

7.16am - I camped with Di last night so we had breakfast and packed up then headed out. I feel good this morning even though I had a terrible sleep.

7.41 - We are both nearly out of water so we were relived to see the creek. We got chatting to an older man called Woodchuck who is retired and now just travels. He’s a character and we leapfrog him all day. We meet some trail runners and the lead guy heard my accent and said “I think what yuh guys are doing is awesome, can I give you a hug?”. So there, in the high desert, I hugged a smelly trail runner with trendy blue glasses. Lol 😂

8.32am - We are a good few miles in and the walking is east. I plug in my audiobook and listen to David Goggins nee book which is all about resilience. I only have one AirPod in as I’m still paranoid about snakes!

Someone on this trail has a footprint in the shape of an aliens head. I wonder who that is?

8.49am - Once we reach three miles we start the mile drink, stretch and snack routine. This continues all the way to 16 miles, but it keeps us hydrated and is a good little system.

10am - We come across a picnic area and decide to take a bit of a break. Two people are practicing pitching a Lanshan 2 tent as they are heading out on a backpacking trip soon. Its nice chatting to the locals. We are lucky as there is a toilet here (long drop toilet). Logan managed to fix the water spigot so he was blessed with the trail name “Handyman”. Others turn up and it’s a good opportunity to update my photo book. I’ve been carrying a little Polaroid zip printer and a ThruNote book. Each hiker poses for a photo and then I print their picture and put it in the book. Today I add Woodchuck, Rose, Sorry, Handyman to the collection.

Replenished, we are off again!

This trail is spotless. Unlike the Camino where you find loo roll in places, the PCT is exceptionally clean.

💀 11.05am - After a tough climb and clambering over rocks we come across a large memorial wall (see photos). It’s very beautiful with exception to the massive skull on the top.

11.45am - Di is in front of me and she walked right over a baby rattler and didn’t see it! I screamed! I was about 2ft long and sunning itself on the trail. I was paralysed but knew I had to get around it. Do encourage me and after the count of three I jumped over it and then ran!

12.30 We are now walking through a very weird scene. It’s a massive boulder field that goes on for about a mile. These random white and grey boulders look like giant eggs. We feel like we are in the movie “honey I shrunk the kids” I’m loving this!

1.30pm - I’m getting low on water and my feet ache. My callus on my left foot is sore so in need to sort it out. We come across a lovely little creek where Woodchuck and Handyman are already perched with their feet dangling in the cold water. It looks so good! We set up for lunch and I’m enjoying having a fun wash in the stream. I’m getting accustomed to the filth now and wet wipes are my best friend but there is nothing better than a fresh wash in a river. My little chair makes an appearance and my umbrella keeps the sun off my face as I chill, eating tortillas with my feet soaking in the icy cold water. Life is good!

4.20 pm - I’m tired now and we have continued the breaks every mile. I’m now leading the pack as we start a rather gentle decline down a mountain. That’s when I hear the most terrifying sound! To my right, just tucked into the brush is a massive black rattler all coiled up and looking rather angry. I instinctively jump backwards (like Scooby Doo jumping into Shaggys arms!) and hide behind Di and Rose who is walking with us. Di (from Oz so sees snakes a lot) takes charge. “Let’s give it some space” she says. So we wait a few mins and it starts to move off further into the bushes still rattling it’s tail. My heart is going so fast that I think it’s gonna pop out of my chest! That was frigging scary!

Di is now leading and we have a few miles left to go until camp. I think the adrenaline helped me skip all the way into tentsite!

We have a lovely campsite and there are about 10 of us here. Honza had a beer chilling in the steam so his new trail name is “one beer” as he had carried it all the way from Lake Morena!

7.30pm - Also known as hikers midnight. I’m ready for bed. Night night.

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