4/24/12 Cañada Verde Creek, (Spanish for green ravine), mile 109, 23 miles hiked

Jay hikes by a ceanothus shrub in full bloom.

Last year I carried our two person tent the whole of the Appalachian Trail, and was sometimes teased by other hikers about the ‘palace’ I slept in. Whenever it rained, though, I enjoyed the luxury of dry space. This year I decided to invest in a single person tent. Hiking in a dryer climate and keeping my pack light were the major reasons for the switch.

However, I’m still learning how to set up my single person tent. Last night a big wind came up and my tent promptly collapsed, with me inside. I was too tired to get up and fix it, so slept with flapping nylon all around me. Next time I will set up the tent with the smaller foot end pointing into the wind, to make it more aerodynamic. I took a picture of it this morning, after wriggling out.

Huge boulders along the trail. This one looks like a giant owl!

At mile 91 I took a picture of a water cache 14 miles after the previous one, and I took a picture of some yuccas. (Note from Sarah – I think this might be the water cache stocked by volunteers of the Sierra Club’s San Diego Chapter. The guidebook says it consists of 55 gallons of water secured by a nylon cord. Imagine packing in that much water! This section of the PCT would be incredibly hard without volunteers to maintain trail and water caches.)

Today I crested the San Felipe Hills, then took a long, winding descent, across a piece of prairie, where I took another picture. The trail then led down along a creek. I was just about to indulge in a bath when cows waded by. Plop, plop. Oh well.

Drinking 3 cups of cold oatmeal for breakfast (Lake Morena
campground). Mmmmm.... cold oatmeal in chilly temps. Not
the best combo, but it will stick with ya for a while!

It was cooler with thin overcast today. Another great day to be outdoors.

-JayBird