Jammin' with Jameson

13.5 miles. Making families. Tried to set an alarm for 6 to wake up early and ended up falling into bad habits and snoozing until 8. Right as I woke up a group of hikers passed by that I waved to. Also I had an absolutely insane dream about harry potter; it was awesome. I started off the day slow just letting myself find a natural place. I ended up meeting up with the group of hikers as they finished break and they asked if I was going into Julian to get my free slice of pie I was entitled to as a PCT hiker. I originally wasn’t planning on it but I could not get the idea of pie and a meal out of my head and figured I could probably hop into town for a quick trip and still get a few more miles in the afternoon. As they started catching up with me, I asked about their plans and figured I’d join if I could get a ride with the trail angel, Professor, that was planning to scoop them. They were a group of 4, Henry, Swell, Flo, and Mattea (LNT), who had all started together 4 days ago and keeping a good pace. We quickly got to the next water source that was infested with bees so we decided to skip it and push on to the highway intersection where we knew water was cached. It was a much hotter day than I expected and we had finally hit true rugged desert terrain so there was almost no shade to be found. I saw my first tiny snake right in the trail and had to motivate the bugger to slither off. It was hard hiking in the heat but I had some great conversations and we had to push on to make the 2 o clock pickup. After a much needed break in minimal shade we still had 6 miles to go in 2 hours. I set the pace and tried to be speedy because I knew I’d be slow and tired if I didn’t push myself to finish it off and get to some much coveted water. The time went by faster hiking with a group and staying motivated and we we’re rewarded with fresh water and the friendly faces of the Germans at the highway underpass. We were all laughing at the chalk writing on the wall that had “You can do it” and “you are never going to make it” right next to each other, but my personal favorite was “my butthole stings”. We got picked up by professor and ghost and made it town which was an adorable couple block wide tourist town. I got apple crumb pie and coffee for free and can vouch for it’s deliciousness. After some chilling and charging, we went to the brewery for a pitcher of beer and some pizza. Henry thought he was already ready to conquer a whole pie by himself but came up two slices short. After we were almost done, a tourist bought us another pitcher that made us full and feel the effects of all the beer and invited Ghost to come sit with us. He gave us a ride back in a full car and found many other hikes camping the night under the underpass as well. They have a crazy idea that they’re going to make it cowboy camping every night until Kennedy Meadows so I joined in on the party for the first time in the trip so far. I recommended that we do some stretching only to have Swell whip out an entire yoga routine that was extremely relaxing and much needed. Time for a cool night under a half moon.