Day 9: Happy Cows

Mile 101 - 111
Barrel Spring - Private Campground
10 miles

Yesterday l pitched my tent in a dark, cold and wet night. Today l woke up on a cloudy but dry morning and got back on the trail. About 200 feet further on the trail l finally found the Barrel Spring. It was directly on the trail!

The trail continued through wide pastures and dry valleys, until l heard the sound of flowing water of San Ysidro creek. This has been the first flowing stream on the trail since mile 37 and the third stream since Mexico border. The water definitely requires filtering as there are cow footprints everywhere around.

Walking through pleasant pastures l finally reach the famous Eagle Rock.

The trail descends into another valley with a flowing stream, big old oak trees and a herd of cows. The cows look very happy in the cool weather, fresh green grass, no bugs and shade of the trees.

After a beautiful hike along the stream l reach a little village of Warner Springs. A sign says "PCT hikers welcome". I reunite with many hikers that l met earlier on the trail, including my Czech comrades and also Saantr from Colorado that l started the hike with in Campo more than a week ago. The Warner Springs resource center is complete with bucket showers, big oak tree, supplies, computers and delicious veggie burgers made just for us hikers. I use the computer to check on the upcoming "Lake Fire" closure after mile 210 near Big Bear. It looks like the PCT is still closed over there and detour might be necessary. Fortunately another hiker posted a detailed description of the detour that he took on the PCT class of 2016 facebook group. I check the detour waypoints on Google Maps and draw a sketch of the route. Now I'm better prepared to walk all the way continuously without any skipping by bus or car.

It is awesome hiking weather and time to walk a little bit further after the long refreshing break at Warner Springs. After 2 miles l reach a cozy little campground under huge oak trees. The mile is exactly 111.1. That's why this camp has the name "Private Campground". Not wanting to repeat the experience from yesterday night, l join a friendly hiker Jessie and set up camp at a comfortable and dry spot under one of the oak trees.