Friday April 11, 4.8mi/7.7km

Mexican Border (0.0/2810ft) to Interstate 8 Underpass (4.8/2720ft) (CA)

After all the shenanigans of this week, I was ready to start hiking. After a few minor chores I was driving south and excited to get my legs exercised. I stopped at a couple little RV resorts to confirm they were still open and had snacks and drinks, since they are along the trail. I arrived at the car storage place at 2pm and got everything packed up. I talked to the owner on the phone and squared away payment, and then walked over to the caretaker to get a ride to the trailhead. James is a really friendly guy and happy to give me a ride, and said “sure let me put my belt on first”. He comes back with a set of tools… and an alternator belt.

He needs to replace his alternator belt on his 1995 Mazda, and he’s only done this once before. I help him through the process and it takes us a couple hours, mostly him repeatedly going back to his shed and looking for the right tool. But we got it done!

Finally, at 5pm he drives me the 20 minutes to the start of the trail in Jacumba Hot Springs. It’s a pretty drive, with mostly nice scenery along the way, except for a monstrous iron wall.

He drives as close as we are allowed to get to the border, and then I get out and say goodbye and he takes some photos for me.

Since it’s now 5:45pm I immediately start walking north to get as far as I can before darkness at 7:30.

Jacumba is a tiny little town, but it has a couple cafes, an art studio and a cute little park.

The first 4 Miles are walking on a paved road.

Apparently Jacumba has a tiny airport. It looks like basically a gravel strip and nothing else.

It’s a peaceful drive with almost no traffic and I watched the sunset as I made progress northward.

I stopped just before 8pm and it’s now very dark. I found a little stealth camping spot next to some abandoned railroad tracks. I can’t continue further without committing to descending into Carrizo Gorge, and that will be tomorrow’s challenge.

Easy first day, but it feels good to be moving again!