6/27/18 – Southbound

Day 7

Miles: 1,328.82 To 1,313.29

+ 2 miles side trip to Butt Mountain

We spend the morning with Trudi and Jeff, and their three wiener dogs who enjoy our attention. We are sipping on coffee, chatting the morning away. Tv plays in the background.

Little before 8:00 a.m. Trudi takes us to the trailhead and we’re back on the trail, for the first time in Southbound direction.

I don’t know if I will ever be able to repay Trudi and Jeff for they hospitality but hopefully one day I can pay it forward and make somebody else’s day as magical as they made ours.

The trail goes up and down a little and then flattens for most of the first 3 miles. Once we cross a creek where we originally planned to camp yesterday, the path starts trending uphill and climbs for the next 6 miles or so. It never gets too steep though and we keep a good pace arriving to a small monument marking the halfway point of the trail. For those with continuous steps from Mexico or later in the year Southbounders coming from Canada, this is an important mile mark. It is said than decent amount of people make it here and quit when they realize they would have to walk the same distance they just did over again. Neither of us has continuous steps but we take photos anyway.

One and a half mile further there is a side trail to Butt Mountain. I saw many people posting interesting photos at this intersection. Not many take the time to climb up. We are on a loose schedule, so Dave and I decide to check the summit out. It’s a mile walk and later rock hop to 360 degree views. It’s pretty good.

Down we go from Butt Mountain intersection. And more down. Until we reach side trail to an unnamed spring. The thing about this ridge is that it’s dry, except for 3 springs, neither of which is on trail. We camp nearby, having to walk 0.3 miles down a hill to get water. It sounds far considering we’re not in the desert but from the three springs this one is the easiest one to get to.

Evening is rather relaxing, we cook a dinner, and afterwards I go exploring, hoping to find a way to a rock outcrop nearby. It’s too brushy around its base so it’s a no go but I still get some nice views and soft pink sunset colors.

Around 8:30 p.m. it’s time to go to bed. We chose to set alarm for 4:30 tomorrow to beat the heat. Let’s see how it goes.