Bushcamp to Bushcamp
34.0 miles
Sobo mile 2611.1
Total mileage 5263.1
I woke up at 3am to find five or six spiders creeping around the inside my tent. The zippers on my tent failed about a month ago, so the mesh lining door is always wide open, I’m no stranger to finding guests in my tent, but these spiders freaked me out!
Anyways, by 3:30am I was cruising up the trail spider free, and pumped to see Paige. She was driving up from San Diego to hangout with me for a bit at the Pioneer Mail Picnic Area.
I made great time chugging along in the dark through rolling desert foothills, catching an epic sunrise as I began my ascent towards Mount Laguna.
As the climb continued the day began warming up, and combined with the completely exposed trail made for a toasty experience.
At 11:30am I arrived at the picnic area to find Paige waiting for me with a cooler stuffed with icy beverages, water melon and frozen mango! She knows how trail magic is done! Shortly after joining her, Jay also arrived. Jay has been following my progress through the blog, and wanted to join in on the trail magic. He contributed a cooler full of tasty IPAs, a bag full of Snickers and great company.
All this magic and only one hiker would have a travesty, but luckily two more hikers, Salty and Juju, walked up and joined the party! For the next hour the five of us enjoyed beer, snacks and conversation. It was an awesome to spend my last full day on trail. Unfortunately, I was having such a good time I completely forgot to take pictures…so you’ll just have to use your imagination.
By 1pm it was time for me to move on. I only had 12 miles more to hike until reaching Mount Laguna, but I wanted to leave time for me to grab dinner at the tavern there.
After saying goodbye to everyone I pushed on. The chaparral lined trail continued at a steady easy uphill grade.
I ran into two section hikers, Steve and Ramah, who I talked to briefly. Steve recognized me from my blog, and wished me best of luck on my final leg.
During the last few miles before reaching Mount Laguna the flora quickly changed from desert bush to evergreens and deciduous trees with colorful fall leaves.
When I reached Pine Tavern I ran in and ordered the blackened burger and garden salad to go. I milked a Space Dust IPA by Elysian Brewing at the bar while waiting. Once my grub was ready I headed to the campground, but found it absolutely packed, so decided to get back on trail to find real estate elsewhere.
A mile later I found a suitable spot. I threw up my tent before digging into the delicious meal I’d packed out. Both the burger and salad were outstanding, making for a solid last trail meal. Just as the sun dipped below the horizon I crawled into my tent for my final night on trail.
P.s. Paige and Jay, thank you SO much for making the drive up to hangout today. You guys made my last full day extra special!
P.p.s. Hey Barb! Thanks for the beer and food you bought me last week at Paradise Cafe! It was incredible!
Cheers!