Barrel Springs to Agua Caliente Creek – 5-16

Writing is taking too long on my phone, so I’m going to try switching to mostly pictures from here on. I didn’t take many pictures today, though, so this will just be a short post.

The terrain changed to from scrubby high desert to grassy plains.

We got to Eagle Rock.

We got to the small town of Warner Springs, which had set up a “Hiker Resource Center” this year. We were excited, because the guidebook said they had showers, laundry, a resupply store, and a restaurant.

The showers and laundry were a 5-gallon bucket, a pitcher, and an outdoor stall. It was breezy and brisk, but I felt better afterwards.

The resupply store was a few shelves, with few choices and really high prices, about 3-8x what you’d pay in a grocery store.

The restaurant was closed. And, I think, was a barbecue.

The whole operation was something that would be impressive and really nice if it were in somebody’s backyard, and was a surprise. But, when you’re expecting showers, laundry, resupply, and a hot meal, it’s a bit of a let-down. I’m probably going to run out of food before Idyllwyld, our next resupply.

So, we walked about three quarters of a mile to the other restaurant in town, the golf course’s clubhouse. We had a nice lunch with Gerrit and Breanna, the hikers we sheltered under a rock outcropping with on the descent towards Julian.

Service took hours, however, so we weren’t able to get started until late. We only made it a few more miles that afternoon, to some nice soft campsites near Agua Caliente Creek.

Once there, we had a campfire with a couple other hikers, Graham and Elysse, and then had a good night’s sleep.