PCT Scissors Crossing

I went out to Scissors Crossing today to see what it was all about.  I'm doing a 1 night backpack from there in a couple weeks with some other ladies so I wanted to mentally prepare.  It's about 12 miles east of Julian and I can see why it's called Scissors Crossing.  A few highways intersect here and it really looks like scissors.  It's out in the middle of nowhere and there's nothing but rocks and cactus as far as the eye can see.  I had planned on a 10 mile out and back but it didn't quite work out that way.  I only got in 6.5 miles because of some navigation errors and fatigue.

I started walking and within minutes I was under the highway 78 overpass looking at a water cache.  Trail angel Larry stocks water in this spot for PCT hikers.  He puts out jugs of water from his well and has a trail register for PCT'ers to sign.  There's also a trash container you can put your trash into and he disposes of it.  Pretty exciting for me to run across an actual water cache and very nice of this guy to keep it stocked.  Because there's no water out here!

Continuing on.  I had to cross the highway to get to the other trailhead.  The trail just winds up, around and through the hills.   I ran across a box full of scissors.  Someone thought that would be amusing and it surely was.  Scissors Crossing.........box of scissors........get it?  That's funny stuff right there. 

About 2.5 miles in, I lost the trail.  Pretty idiotic if you ask me.  This is the PCT and is generally structured along hillsides and ridgelines.  The trail is pretty darn easy to see most of the time.  It was switchbacking up and the logical thing to do would have been to make that left turn onto another switchback.  But I didn't do that.  I went straight into a wash.  The trail ran out so I turned around and backtracked.  Instead of getting back on that switchback that was blazing in front of me in plain view, I veered to the left and ended up in some kind of gulley.  I rock climbed and bushwhacked through cactus, tore up my knee, and cut my finger.  All the while thinking, this doesn't look like the PCT, it doesn't feel like the PCT, hence it probably is not the PCT!  About a quarter mile up this gulley, I make the brilliant decision that I should probably turn back around.  DUH.  So I climbed back down through the gulley and emerged with the full visual of that dadgum switchback that I should have been on.  I just shook my head and declared out loud "What an idiot!"

I continued on for another mile or so on the correct trail.  I passed one chick going southbound solo.  It makes me happy when I see solo females.

At one point, I looked down and saw two big, round cactus thorns stuck into the rubber of my boot.  I still can't get all the thistles out.  They are gnarly!  Pico would not have done well in this terrain.  I'm glad I didn't bring him. 

I decided to turn around and head back because the navigation error kind of creeped me out and I was getting tired and hot.   Two south bounders  passed me and I thought for sure they were south bound thru-hikers.  They looked the part- skinny, beard, dirty, go-lite backpacks etc. I think they were actually north bound thru-hikers because I checked the register under the overpass on my way back to the truck and they had signed it saying they were just picking up a section they had missed on their way north.  It was signed "Manzanita" and "Beech Tree" just minutes before I got there.

I made it back to the truck and ate my PB&J.  I was starving!

Temperature at start was a sunny, gorgeous 50 degrees and 76 to end.  6.5 miles in 3.5 hours.

Then what?  Slurpee time, of course!  I wish they would change the sugar free flavor at the 7-11 in Ramona.  I'm getting kind of tired of pineapple/coconut.

Enjoy the pictures!