PCT: Days 11-13

We caught a 7am ride with Professor back to Scissors Crossing for what would be our longest and hottest day yet. I know, “hottest day yet” is a recurring theme but so it goes. The trail for the day would be fully exposed with almost no shade to be found. The morning started cool for the first hour or two and we knocked out the main climb pretty easily. We wound up the hills through what seemed like the desert section at a botanical garden with at least half a dozen different cactus species including barrel cacti as big as the kids.

We stopped for a two hour break around noon next to the tallest vegetation we could find, a 3ft tall bush. The break was mainly a game of find the shade while trying to eat and hydrate. We finished up the day with another 6 miles after lunch and camped near a water cache.

The next day took us to Barrel Springs where we caught a ride to Montezuma Valley Market to pick up resupply boxes. Probably the biggest accomplishment over this stretch was passing the 100 mile mark, now we just have 2,550 miles to go! We got a ride back to Barrel Springs and camped there for the night, falling asleep to a chorus of frogs.

Following the resupply we had an easy hike into Warner Springs. We hit Eagle Rock on the way and saw our first rattlesnake. Once in Warner Springs we took a solid 4 hour break in the shade of a huge tent at the Warner Springs Community Center. The center also had a charging station and bucket showers so we left a little cleaner than we arrived. We caught up with other hikers, and the kids played Chess with Sticky. We went ahead and ate dinner before leaving and ended the day with an easy hike to Agua Caliente Creek where we camped for the night.