Saturday, March 23, 2019 – 3.70 miles

The wind intensified several times during the night, loosening my pitch so my tent became happily flappy (I like to imagine that it’s happy making noise so that one of us is happy). The sound woke me up early and I was on the trail by 7:15 AM. The other camper had already left, hopefully not because she/he was bothered by Flappy McFlapface.

The scenery was beautiful in the morning light as the trail cut away from the mountains and started across the valley.

Since they weren’t noticeable from above, I was surprised to discover small purple and yellow flowers carpeting the valley floor, the yellow ones mostly growing in thick clumps beneath bushes. I’m listening to Origin right now and the number of purple flowers reminded me of Kirsch’s presentation. Is the black bubble really [insert spoiler here] or is it purple flowers? Go forth and multiply! CONSUME!

Amongst flowers and cacti I reached Highway S2 near Scissors Crossing. The Stagecoach Trails RV park is 3 miles along the highway, or one can walk a short distance further to Highway 78 and hitch to Julian, which has a grocery store and post office but no camping. I had a dilemma in that I was planning to take a rest day at the RV park, but I had sent a resupply package to Julian, and the PO has limited hours on Saturday (today) and isn’t open on Sunday. I could either try to hitch into Julian before the post office closed or pick up my package first thing on Monday. I decided to go on Monday once I was washed and laundered, and started down S2 instead.

The RV park has a store (no gas canisters), deli, pool (one of the rules is that ‘proper pool attire’ is required), and indoor accommodation options that I didn’t ask about. The tent camping is mediocre, with completely exposed sites. There’s a sign saying ‘no refunds on camping’ and another sign saying ‘no sleeping in laundry room’, so maybe best to check out the sites before paying if you’re unsure.

I had just finished pitching my tent in a strong wind when the owner drove up and suggested that I move to a more sheltered spot behind a bush in the volleyball court area. Sure, I’m always open to being the douche who’s pitched a tent on a volleyball court, middle of a bike trail, your grandma’s parlour, etc. I pitched the tent again, then went to investigate the laundry and shower facilities. The RV park kindly provides laundry detergent and shampoo/conditioner/body wash in a hiker box. An employee scolded me for leaving a battery charging in the laundry – they don’t care about the electricity use but won’t allow you to leave items unattended. I was short one quarter for the washer and checking my pockets when a man asked whether I needed change. When I said yes, he dumped about thirty quarters onto the table and said I should ‘take as many as I want’. Then later he offered me a razor he had just bought in a 2-pack at the store…

By the time I finished my chores and ate a reuben, everything in my tent was covered with a dusting of sand. An evening karaoke event for a dune buggy club occurred somewhere in the park, maybe within a stray portal to hell. I may hike out tomorrow afternoon instead of staying another night.