Mile 110 to 128 Mike’s Place

B&B and I left Warner Springs Resource Center at 5:55 and began walking through the surrounding pasture. The cows were there to great us as the sun rose over the hills.

1. The trail soon took us along a dry sandy wash with long grass and oak trees lining the path. This was one of the most beautiful parts of the trail so far and I let B&B go ahead so I could snap some photos of them in the morning light.

We briefly got off trail at a junction and discovered an abandoned ropes course in the middle of no where. A little spookey, but we soon we were back on course and crisscrossing the stream Agua Caliente, which was an idyllic cascading stream with sandy shores.

After those appetizers, we moved onto the main course of the day which was steady climb for the rest of the day into the mountains. While water was plentiful in the beginning of the day, we were coming up on a 10 mile dry stretch and decided to get water at the last available source, which was pretty putrid with debris and mosquito larvae floating in it. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea and it was fun seeing them filter, take a sip, and then spit it out. I added peach ice tea mix to mine and it tasted better. Water is better than no water.

We took a siesta near a large tree and I decided to climb up and sit in it. Little big I know it was the home to a massive colony of ants. They must have let out a distress call because soon I had ants crawling all over me biting any exposed skin. I jumped out of the tree and spent the next 10 minutes doing a Mexican bean dance trying to kill all the ants on me. B&B were amused as they cooked lunch.

The day heated up and we moved on climbing among the mountains, which slowly lost there green vegetation for giant pink bolders. The scenery reminded me of the American Southwest.

We finally made it to Mike’s Place, which is a random assortment of buildings and junk in the middle of ducking no where. However there is water in a big tank near the entrance so we filled up. We decided to venture down and found a gang of hikers hanging out. We grab a seat and hungout on the porch. Soon more people rolled in. We were debating whether to stay the night or hike another 2 to 5 miles to some campsites since the place seemed a little weird, however, when some dude pulled three pizzas out of a wood fired oven, there was nothing we could do.  Our stomachs had decided we must stay.

I socialized and met a German girl named Kara who is hiking the trail. She is super sweet and is only 19 and just graduated from high school!

Tomorrow we will hike out early, skipping the blueberry pancakes, and hike another 18 – 20 miles. Paradise Valley Cafe, home of the best burger on the PCT, is only 24 miles away.