Day 24

Trail miles: 17

Total: 285.6

Not too much happened today so l’ll spend most of this post complaining about my night. It started off windy as usual, but this time I kept getting a face full of sand blown into my face from under my vestibule. I turned away thinking that would solve the problem, but I just woke up at midnight to a thick layer of dirt covering everything in my tent including my camera. I got up two or three times to redo my tent vestibule to lower the doors and block the sand before I just gave up and built a rock wall to stop it. After finally going to sleep again, I woke up to 3 inches of snow outside. Good news is the only thing that was wet was my socks, but I had a backup pair to use. I dug out some gallon ziplock bags to wear in between my socks and crocs to walk through the snow to the pit toilet. It was so beautiful outside so I couldn’t stay upset. We cranked out another 17 mile day and got into camp early because it was too cold to take long breaks today. I used my afternoon to watch a movie on HBO and stay warm in my sleeping bag. Krista is catching up with the Fantastic Beasts movies so we can watch the new one in town. Raechel read her book and mentioned how peaceful it was to get to camp like this and chill. There is no wind right now so fingers crossed it stays that way. We might hit 300 miles tomorrow!

Day 23

 Trail miles: 2.5

Total: 268.6

We have started making a habit of doing a short nero after our zero. We will eat a big lunch in town and hop back on trail in the afternoon to do just enough miles to the first campsite. And I can’t even use the elevation as an excuse to why we did short miles because there was none. We are camped by latrines in the cover trees from wind and access to water. 

In the morning, we packed up our bags and cleaned up the B&B before trying to catch the trolly. Today was a real struggle fitting in the 6ish days of food carry. I had to move some things to be outside until I make a dent in the food. We waited for the trolley this time because we all had our packed bags and nobody wanted to walk the 1 mile to town. The wait was probably 30 minutes. We went to the post office to send our microspikes forward to Grumpy Bear in Kennedy Meadows. Then we had the best masala lunch I’ve ever had! It was called Himalayan Restaurant. We caught a hitch back to trail from a ultra runner who we may see running the trail tomorrow morning. I made sure my tent was patched up and vestibules pulled out for the incoming snow.

Day 22

 Trail miles: 0

Total: 266.1

Zero days are very busy because we want to resupply but also eat everything and explore the town. First was resupply. The Dollar General had perfect serving packages for cheap. The best was that I could keep variety in my food supply which I learned I definitely need. Then I found squeeze peanut butter at Stater Bros Market so I got 2 of those. Much lighter than a jar of peanut butter and I don’t have to get my spoon dirty. We have over 90 miles to hike before the next town so 7 days of food, but this section includes the McDonalds on trail! So one less dinner to pack out. This section also includes the hot springs! I better not see any naked people or worse, poop. I picked up my new biker shorts at the post office and we then ate some appetizers at the Big Bear Lake Brewing Company. Raechel had her PT appointment with Dr Llach which she was raving about when we got back. Also we are glad she is feeling better after almost losing her camera photos and having stomach pains. For dinner we had a 7 hiker potluck and I made green bean casserole. Brad was very stressed because we had instant charcoal instead of the good stuff. I have no idea what that means, but I’m happy to listen. I feel very full! The weather looks cold for the next couple days so some people have opted for a double zero. We will decide tomorrow, but probably won’t.

Day 21

 Trail miles:17.9

Total: 266.1

Our first spotting of a Joshua Tree!

I woke up at 4:00am after my vestibule tent stake was ripped out by the wind and kept smacking me in the side of the face. I decided I wanted to get an early start before the sunrise so I could get ahead on this 18 mile stretch to town. I will definitely do this more often because it was so relaxing to walk while the light was getting brighter. Then my sworn enemy, the wind, returned. It was just enough motivation to keep going, because it was too cold to stop. Which means today we hit our first 10 by 10! Or 10 miles by 10am. This set us up to finish at the highway 18 parking lot by 2:00pm. Good thing, too, because I was hungry and all I had left was chocolate bars. About 15 minutes into waiting for a hitch, we got a ride from Perry and his son Andrew who were very lovely to meet and talk to about the town! We dropped our things at the bnb and spent taco Tuesday at the Hacienda Grill. Then the rest of the night was spent doing laundry at Wash and Wear. We met a very experienced biker and laundromat user who biked the state of California and knew which washer was best. Now I can go to bed feeling fresh and clean for a fun filled zero tomorrow! Hopefully we can figure out the free transit trolley’s that always seem to be on the other side of town.

Day 18

Trail miles: 19.8

Total: 213.4

Well, I don’t know how, but the wind got worse!! There was at least a mile section of trail where we had to walk into a constant 30 mph (I’m just guessing) wind tunnel. Out of all the troubles I imagined on the PCT, I didn’t think wind would be the thing to make me go crazy. At least that was the worst of it. At camp I am trying a new pitch for my tent so hopefully I don’t have to worry about it collapsing at the slightest wind. I’m too worried about cowboy camping with my blowup sleeping pad and all the spiky plants in the desert.

We walked just shy of 20 miles again and hit the 200 mile mark! My feet do not hurt as bad as the last 20 mile day so things might be getting better, who knows. It is difficult sometimes to think how many more miles are left but I have to keep reminding myself to look at things in smaller chunks or I will overwhelm myself. At least I can listen to podcasts when things get boring or my spirits are low, like today doing a 12 mile downhill switchback section on the same mountain. At the bottom of the hill, we filtered water and ate lunch. I tried to charge my phone, but yesterday I dropped my charging block, phone, and charging cable in the last water source, so it was lucky only the cable was broken. But it meant going into Cabazon to buy a new one. Luckily I found this out only a mile away from where hikers usually hitch. Brad was already planning on going into town to pick up a few things, so we set off together. In the parking lot, a truck was waiting and asked if we needed a ride. We threw our packs in the bed of the truck and hopped in. I think they were curious about the PCT and were there checking it out, because they asked where the trail went next. They offered to drive us around the city to where we needed to go and then bring us back!! I can’t believe we keep lucking out with such generous people. They even let me stop at In n Out to take back with me on the trail! Makes up for a lousy day in some aspects. Back on trail, we stopped for some trail magic under the I 10 bridge, which was a perfect spot to hide from the wind. Then we set off to the Mesa Wind Farm for camp.

Day 17

Trail miles: 12.3

Total: 193.6

It seems like we are never going to know a windless sleep again. I had to use a lot of rocks and a couple of trees to set my tent up because the tent stakes wouldn’t go down further than a couple inches.

We took an alternate route this morning to the top of San Jacinto. I am not sure how many miles this added on, maybe a couple? The app makes it difficult to read the side trail lengths and elevation. We didn’t stay too long at the top because the wind was so cold. But we got our pictures! There was a lot of snow on the way down depending on what side of the mountain the trail was on. I think this is what irritated my ankle so much, from the wobbly steps. I tried to ice it in the creek water, but snow runoff is cold and I couldn’t keep it in the water longer than 20 seconds at a time. I needed one of those feet covers they use for ice baths or winter rafting. Seemed like a short day but the elevation was tough and the 5 liter water carry might have been tougher. Tomorrow is all downhill though and the next water supply is in 10 miles. Oh and mile 200 should be coming up very soon!!

Day 16

Trail miles: 1.9

Total: 181.3

First I should mention that I won’t be able to post every day because there isn’t a lot of service up here on the mountains. I make sure to keep track of my daily blog in my notes app and post once I get service.

Even though it looks like we did a short mileage day, it doesn’t count the 2 1/2 mile side trail we took to get back to the trail and how it was still over 2,500 ft in elevation gain. But nonetheless it was a nice nero after our zero. We took our time getting ready in the morning, making sure to squeeze in another shower before we left. Of course our clothes never stop smelling, though, no matter now much I scrub them in the sink. I mentioned that trail angel Scott offered to bring me memory cards from San Diego today and he did! When I tried to pay him back through an app like Venmo or PayPal and he just said I could make a donation in his name to the Warner Springs Resource center where PCT hikers can charge electronics and wash clothes. And then he was off to rescue a hiker whose wife was in early labor and needed a ride to LAX. I can’t see how anyone can top his efforts in trail angeling!! Also why are you hiking if your wife is pregnant? Just saying. So my GoPro is fixed and hopefully more cool video to come. 

Debbie from the bunkhouse dropped us off in town where we did our resupply and had lunch. I really need to come up with some craftier ideas for trail food or I’m going to get sick of tuna and peanut butter very soon. Lunch was fantastic. Krista and I split a breakfast crepe (sausage, egg, bacon, and cheese) and a Hippo waffle (gelato, strawberries, whipped cream, and kinder chocolate). I also had my first town coffee, which was a blended coconut mocha. At least the eggs and sausage weren’t sugar. Then we caught a ride with the Idyllwild shuttle to the Humber Park trailhead. I don’t know if it’s getting easier, but I was able to make the long climb without stopping, even if it was a slow crawl at best. I snuggled up in my sleeping bag early because of the cold and made dinner in my vestibule. And I finished the last two episodes of Bridgerton. It’s funny that I miss mindless TV at night. While at the bar last night I saw Survivor was playing and reminisced on watching TV at night with my mom! I guess I’ll have to make the best of downloading Netflix on trail. Oh and hopefully Raechel and I can see Dr. Strange and the Dumbledore movie in a town soon.

Day 15

 Trail miles: 0

Total: 179.4

So the best part of today, hence why I added all three photos of him, was when we got to meet the mayor of Idyllwild, who is a golden retriever named Max. 

While working on chores before heading to town, I asked the PCT 2022 Facebook page if there was anywhere to buy memory cards. No one had any suggestions, but a trail angel who was planning on driving from San Diego to Idyllwild offered to pick me up a couple on the way! I plan to meet him tomorrow in town. Debbie from the hotel gave us a shuttle to town around 11. Breakfast from the Red Kettle was ok, but I wish I would have gotten the breakfast quesadilla which looked so much better. The rest of the town activities were mostly productive until 4, where I sat in the main town square to wait for Mayor Max. Then we were able to round up 11 thru hikers for dinner at La Casita. We split up into multiple tables in the corner and had a great time! The party continued as we moved to Idyllwild Pizza Company, where most of the place was filled with hikers! And you can tell who is a hiker because they all have puffy’s and fanny packs on. We ended the night with homemade cake baked by Violet and blondies baked by Cole’s mom.

Day 14

Trail miles: 10.9

Total: 179.4

I don’t think anyone got a good night sleep, whether it was from the loud wind or the cold. I slept in Krista and Raechel’s three person tent to help with warmth. The wind created a breathing effect with the tent and kept slapping me in the face or back. My sleeping bag kept me warm enough, so it was tough to get up and get started. We kept hiking today with short breaks to try and make it into town earlier. The hills were steep and slow, but I think I kept up pretty well with the group today. We passed through some burned areas with blackened trees. This makes the perfect environment for poodle dog bush growth so we had to keep and eye out for that. There were also so many large downed trees we had to jump over, go around, or tuck under. I smacked my hip off of one of the tree branches on the way over one and reddened my leg. Once we made it to the peak of the mountain and headed down on the other side, we ran into a lot of snow. Nothing dangerous, so we didn’t need our ice spikes yet. We made it to Saddle Junction and turned it the PCT to head into Idyllwild. At the parking lot 2.5 miles down, our hiking friend Violet greeted us and gave us a ride to town. We had sushi at Idy Sushi Rolls. Now we are playing cards at the Bunkhouse where we will stay for Krista’s birthday tomorrow! I also need to do a few town chores. My one charging cable for my inreach, camera, and headlamp stopped working so I hope to get one in town. I was supposed to go pick up a package from the post office with my memory cards, but I think it’s being shipped to my house for some reason. I am pretty upset about that. Maybe I can find one in town. Another thing that has gone wrong today is that the dryers here are awful so nothing is dry. I am sleeping in wet clothes. 

Day 13

Trail miles: 12.6

Total: 168.5

Today was the first day we woke up and everyone was on the same page about making warm coffee. The wind and fog was so bad we didn’t see anyone on trail all day. It got significantly colder after lunch too when a fog cloud engulfed us. I had to get moving to stay warm. The last 2 miles was a 1000 ft incline and the first part was a wind tunnel that pushed me over and made me lose my breath. I got scared and thought this is only going to get worse the further we got up. So Raechel, Krista, and I stayed in the lower area with less wind until we heard from Brad about if the campsite had good enough wind coverage. After that, we decided to make the trek up. The path was fine just after the wind tunnel with no dangerous cliffs to get blown off of. Raechel and Krista offered their tent to add warm and save tent space, because 3 other hikes showed up shortly after us! More crazy hikers in this weather. We did see 2 people walk down the hill at the beginning of the day. We think they were going to town to wait out the storm. The reason we wanted to get to this site was to get as close to town as possible for a short hike into Idyllwild tomorrow! We are taking our first real zero there.

Day 12

Trail miles: 15.8

Total: 155.9

It’s getting a lot windier lately as we head further into the mountains. We are heading for an elevation of 10,000ft in the next few days. Tonight we have a lot of tree coverage which definitely helps, but doesn’t eliminate the wind completely. The day started with a quick paced 6 miles to Marys water source. I felt good so I didn’t need a break. I picked up some cute postcards to send out that are unique to that exact mile marker. I also signed the book with my official new trail name! The next 7 miles were slower because it got harder, but I felt better after some electrolytes. We hitched to Paradise Valley Cafe for lunch! It wasn’t anything special like people say, but the employees were so friendly to us. The owner of the store even gave us a ride back to the trailhead! He had to do two trips to fit all 6 of us. We walked not even 10 steps before we ran into trail magic! They had candy and chips and hot chocolate. One of the other hikers had a hang board as his luxury items, which is used to hang by the fingers to strengthen for climbing. Pretty dedicated climber!!

Day 11

Trail miles: 20.5

Total: 140.1

So everyone kept calling the campsite “Shrek’s Piss” because there was a comment on FarOut that said that’s what the water tastes like. It made me laugh every time someone said that. The comments on the app have been so funny! The morning hill wasn’t too bad first thing in the morning. Then we had 12 miles of downhill so we went for our first 20 mile day! The water cistern was so interesting and gross. It was like a water collection from rain and you had to reach your hand through a hole to get it. And the top where your body had to lay on top of was cracking and sagging so it felt like you might fall in. Koa the Canadian says my trail name is Slalom because he’s never seen anyone go down hill like I do. And Krista says his trail name should be Shaman since he knows all the remedies. Tomorrow we have 12 miles uphill but we have the Paradise Valley Cafe to look forward to for lunch!!

Day 10

Trail miles: 14.8

Total: 119.6

Hard to leave camp in the morning, but we have to beat the sun. We wake up around 5 and try to get started before the sunrise. It sucks because we can’t relax and eat breakfast or have coffee, but maybe further down the trail. We saw eagle rock today! It was just like in the pictures. The area around it felt like we could be near Stonehenge. So serene and peaceful. We walked 1.2 miles off trail into Warner Springs to get our resupply boxes and send things home or ahead. I got my sleeping bag! Hopefully a good night sleep tonight. A trail angel offered us a ride back to the trailhead where there was more trail magic! Someone’s parents had brought pop, chips, and ice. Then we took a nice long siesta at the creek crossing. The creeks are usually only a couple inches deep but enough to filter water from. We hiked up 7 miles to our campsite with Koa, our new friend from Canada. And we met Taylor who has her husband following her along the trail in an RV. Then I sat in a cactus trying to set up my tent. I spent 20 min picking thorns out of my butt, pants, and underwear. Oh and Brad is back! His new trail name is Leave of Absence or LOH since he likes to disappear. Tomorrow is a long mileage day with some uphill and a lot of downhill. Hopefully Mike’s place will be grilling tomorrow.

Day 9

 Trail Miles: 13.6

Total: 104.8

Happy birthday Kiersten!!

Today we hit 100 miles! Our first milestone. We got up early and hiked 10 miles before 10:30am and was treated to trail magic by a couple of PCT hikers from class of 2019 who had met on trail! They made us eggs, sausage, chorizo, and hash. They also had tons of other stuff to grab like Gatorade, baby wipes, muffins, and oranges. Then we took the free shuttle to Montezuma's Market where we hung out until 3:00 pm meeting other hikers and keeping out of the heat. It really felt like we were a part of the community! I also got some sunscreen and new peanut butter since I didn’t like the ones I brought from home. I needed more hand sanitizer, which I am going through like crazy. Then some honey sticks and strawberry preservatives for my tortilla roll ups at lunch. The sunscreen was much needed because I ran out and had to hike in my rain pants, which has been miserable. We got back and hiked on 4 more miles to a small creek! Only the second natural water source so far. It was nice to dip our feet in. Tomorrow we go into Warner Springs where we pick up resupply boxes, so tonight is my last night in this top quilt. Good thing too because I hear it’s going to get colder.

We found out Brad is waiting for us near Warner Springs so we will find out tomorrow how he is doing.

Day 8

Trail miles: 14.9

Total: 91.2

Krista got her trail name! We walked down to the water cache (thank you generous trail angels) where we met a group of 3 we had never seen before. One asked if we had lost a pair of sunglasses, which happened to be Kristas that had blown off her head in a gust of wind. Then I jokingly asked “did you also find her Kula cloth?” And they did! Another in their group had picked it up not knowing what it was and the others quickly explained what it was and to not touch it! (It’s a women's pee rag) So now they call him PR, short for pee rag. And since they keep finding her stuff along their journey, he saw it fitting to call her…. Breadcrumbs!! Now those two are bonded forever by their trail name stories. 

In sad news, Brad left us in the dust today without warning. He broke 20 miles and was treated to trail magic further down the trail. We are not sure if we will see him again or if he will keep up his mileage high. Anyway, I hope the trail magic is still there tomorrow!

And just a short summary of the rest of the day, we hitched an early ride with some nice workers with a trailer and squeezed 4 in the backseat with our big packs. Then we rose a couple thousand feet over 10 miles before lunch. Then a blazing hot 4 miles to the campsite where there are so many staying tonight! Raechel said it was like summer camp for adults.