NO. 2 OF 26 · SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · MILES 42 TO 77 · ELEVATION 2,250 TO 6,000 FTPHOTO #112 · DAY 5 · ROUTE: TRAIL LINE + STRAVA
DAY 4 · MAY 3, 2021 · CAMP ESTIMATED
“PCT day 4: Laguna - Sunrise trailhead”
18.0 mi1,883 ft6:542.6 mph
trail mi 42 · 5,948 ft4,881 to 5,970 ft
DAY 5 · MAY 4, 2021
“PCT day 5: Sunrise - Scissors Crossing”
17.5 mi1,463 ft5:463.0 mph
trail mi 60 · 4,934 ft2,253 to 4,934 ft
35.5 miles tracked·2 days, May 2021·landmark mile 50 in rocks·ride the Julian hitchThe Desert, leg 2 of 26
Mount Laguna to Julian
Two long days down to Scissors Crossing, learning to camp from the crew I’d walk with for a while, then the hitch to Julian.
By Jeffrey “Atlas” Combs · walked May 3–4, 2021 · published · updated
After Mount Laguna the pace jumped. Days four and five were 18 and 17.5 miles on Strava, off the Laguna ridge to Sunrise trailhead and then down to Scissors Crossing.
I was still figuring out how to camp. One night early on I hiked all the way to a proper campground and set up on someone’s campsite, because I didn’t really know what pitching backcountry style was like. I kept yo-yoing with Sneaks and Kool Aid, and eventually Fly, and early on we all spent a night somewhere together. I started to learn from there.
We were all a little older, there for more reasons than just the hike or being “hiker trash” and having a “trail family” and all the hipster shit. What I picked up is that you don’t need a perfect camp spot. You can camp in all kinds of conditions. You mostly don’t want to camp on grass because things get wet, but you can if you need to. And a flat site is better than a perfect slanted one.
Day four passed mile 50, spelled out in rocks, and a sign that gave Canada as 2,600 miles and Kennedy Meadows as 650. Day five came down to Scissors Crossing, and the crew rested under the highway bridge.
We hitched into Julian from there. A couple of people would come down and give hikers rides into Julian and back, almost for fun it seemed. You usually throw down some gas money for the driver. That is, if you aren’t a taker like some trail kids. 2-gait and Orange Slice came back on trail from an early Julian trip, I believe, and that was the crew for a while. For the hitch, a local told us to stand across from the library, because that’s where town is used to seeing hikers.
Julian is also where my first shoes ended. I was getting heel problems, so I ditched them and walked out in Altra Lone Peaks. There weren’t many options in town.
Start // Mount Laguna, mile 42
Finish // Scissors Crossing, mile 77, then the hitch
Water // a jug cache on the morning of day 5
Eat // Julian Beer Co., I’m pretty sure, with the crew
The food, then and now
My Julian receipt from 2 Foot Adventures lists ProBars, Primal Strips vegan jerky and fig bars, bought with new shoes and gear. We ate at a brewery in Julian, Julian Beer Co. I’m pretty sure, where some of the crew got beers. I ordered something and can’t remember what.
Julian is still a good vegan stop. Apple Alley Bakery on Main Street had three vegan pies in a November 2025 HappyCow review, and hikers named the apple and strawberry rhubarb as vegan in 2024, hikers reported vegan pizza with vegan cheese at Julian Beer Co. in 2023 and 2024, and Purple Owl Cafe had vegan sweets in 2025.
Two things changed: 2 Foot Adventures posted that it is closed until March 2027, and Kali’s Garden, the all-vegan cafe hikers liked in 2023 and 2024, was listed as temporarily closed in October 2026. Hikers say the free hiker pie at Mom’s isn’t vegan.
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