Date: Friday, May 12th 2023
Day 5
Miles Hiked: 11.3
N 33.067579° W 116.506597°
Sunrise Trailhead (59.5) to 70.8
- Trail Conditions: Lots of downhill, but manageable with the brace. Water is scarce in this section (carrying three liters in case the water cache at Scissors Crossing is empty), but there have been new flowers. Mostly desert poppy, wooly Indian paintbrush, and some cacti with bright magenta flowers. I started around 11 and made an early camp around 4.
- Campsite: Small blufftop site with some bushes to break the wind and sunset/sunrise views of the valley. If the weather holds, I'll cowboy camp here since there doesn't seem to be as many ants.
- People: I passed a group of three hikers napping under a bush and another group of three older hikers at the water pump, but otherwise the trail has been empty. When we stopped in Julian for free pie (bumbleberry with vanilla ice cream and a coffee), there were about ten hikers inside, but no one I'd met previously.
- Tomorrow: Assuming I get an early start, I'll try to make twenty miles and camp at the cistern (mile 91.2, ~18 miles from Warner Springs).