Monday, May 20, 2019 – 1.70 miles

I found an earwig in my tent when I woke up this morning. DIE. Frost was there too, and I waited for the friendly sun before walking to the store, which serves breakfast from 8-10 AM: all-you-can-eat pancakes with eggs, hashbrowns, sausage/bacon and orange juice (or possibly the more ambiguous ‘orange drink’). I only managed the initial number of pancakes but several of the guys managed to stuff more in. Important information: you can choose different fillings with subsequent helpings. Eventually I became aware that one of the women at the table was not a hiker, but rather a trail angel who had car camped at the store last night after driving another hiker up to Kennedy Meadows. Due to the total absence of traffic on the road I was ready to pay for a trail angel ride and asked whether I could get a ride down to the highway. She offered to drive me all the way to Cajon Junction, so I was set!

I had the notion to eat lunch at the Subway at Cajon Junction and bushwhack to the trail from there, since I had walked the beginning of the section when trying to hitch north. I had lunch and began bushwhacking, but quickly encountered poodle dog bush and decided to use the trail instead like a rational human being. Seeing all the unfamiliar hikers at the McDonalds made me feel depressed about switching bubbles yet again. I liked the group at KM! Give my KM people back! Suddenly being in a hot area again also feels strange, but I know that I’ll be complaining about the cold in a few days, so I should probably just stop mentioning the temperature even though it goes against all my instincts as a Toontowner not to whine about ‘too hot’ or ‘too cold’ (there is no perfect temperature since then we wouldn’t be able to whine). 

The prickly pears are blooming now with large beautiful rosy blossoms that the bees burrow into. I saw a bee upside down inside one. Bee heaven.

I also saw a blooming poodle dog bush and lots of non-blooming poodle dog bush. It doesn’t seem to smell as strongly here.

The trail was surprisingly scenic even near the intersection, with interesting rock formations.

Passing the Sullivan’s Curve vista just before a train approached, I ran back to take a photo (true dedication to being derivative).

I made camp at a site only 1.7 miles along the trail. It’s pretty, not windy and there’s no poodle dog bush. I’ll have a long climb tomorrow, but its grade looks reasonable in the elevation profile.