All of us were up at 4:00 am to pack up, have one last cup of coffee and hit the road to Campo with Bob Reiss in his van.  As he deftly drove along the twists and turns of Hwy. 94,  Bob commented that some people have a bumper sticker that reads, “Pray for me–I drive Highway 94”.    It’s not just the winding, narrow road that is a problem–it’s also the illegal immigrants who are using the highway as a trail.  “I’ve seen them make like paint on a wall, when there’s no shoulder to the road, ”  he said. 

By first light, we were at the PCT Border Monument.   We took turns writing in the register, took lots of pictures, stuck a foot under the fence to touch Mexico, and we were off! 

The early part of the trail was an easy downhill with lots of cottontail bunny rabbits and chaparral in bloom.  We walked through the quiet outskirts of Campo,  past rows and rows of Border Patrol cars.   After a few twists and turns and ups and downs of trail, we reached the railroad tracks!  I love railroads, and was really hoping that a train might come along, but no such luck.  A bit more walking among the dramatic rock formations and wildflower displays, and it was time to stop for a granola breakfast with a GREAT view!  Josh and Anna passed us at that point, and we didn’t see them again till Lake Morena.

All morning we were hiking through what I thought looked like a Chinese garden–beautifully shaped rocks, with wildflowers everywhere.  I saw every kind of late spring wildflower, in every conceivable color.  The day gradually grew hotter.  From the 36 degree start at Campo, our little thermometer climbed to 83 degrees in the shade–cool for this part of the world, but pretty sweaty for us with our backpacks, covering miles of switchbacks. 

By lunchtime we were at treeshaded Hauser Creek for a good foot soak and splashing cool water all over our heads and shoulders.  Ahh!  Next came the notorious 1,000 foot climb up Morena Butte.  Out came our umbrellas to shade us from the hot afternoon sun.  But there were many more wildflowers among the rocks and lots of butterflies!  Finally we were headed down for Lake Morena, only stopping to watch the antics of 2  “horney toads”.  Very cute!  First item of business when we got to town was cold lemonade and ice cream!  Then we showered,  wrote all this “journal stuff”, ate dinner and put in a few more miles before making camp on a nice flat sandy place up on a hill off the trail.  A lot of mosquitoes showed up after we turned in, but some DEET is fixing them!

Bill woke me up early this morning mumbling something about “It’s 3 am”—but I ignored him, since we didn’t plan to get up till 4 ! He told me later he was hoping I WOULD wake up so we could leave early, but getting no response, he went back to sleep till the alarm went off! Was he excited? I can’t imagine why?? After praying for safety and a good trip, we climbed into our rental car and were off.

Lunch was at a rest area in USMC Camp Pendleton, where we were serenaded by the sounds of helicopters practicing their landing technique on a concrete pad near the cliffs above a very blue, windswept Pacific. There was a starling begging for our lunch, who appeared to be a “helicopter wannabe”—he actually did hover next to our table at “sandwich level” and got in a peck off Bill’s sandwich when it was still in his hand!

Arriving in San Diego, we had little trouble finding Trail Angel Bob Reiss’ house. As he’d said in his note, he was still at work, but we had a warm welcome from Sandy, the golden retriever. Bill went off to return the rental car, while I rested by the pool and got a free slobbery facewash every time Sandy wanted more attention! There was a steady parade of airliners, military helicopters, etc. going by overhead—fun to watch. Eventually Bob Reiss came home, then two more hikers (Josh and Anna from Madison, Wisconsin), then finally Bill. He and Josh and Anna had some tales to tell of their San Diego bus experiences! Yikes! Apparently there are some REALLY BAD parts of San Diego, and the bus goes right through them.

We went to a great local hamburger place called Rallys (“Better than In N’ Out” said Bob Reiss!) and had fun getting acquainted! Josh and Anna are a young couple who went backpacking for their honeymoon. Anna just got her master’s degree in library science! We all went with Josh and Anna as they shopped for a few lastminute items (like 2 liter bottles of water), then went home and watched Weathercarrot’s beautiful DVD of the PCT. Bedtime was early!