Day 15 - Downhill to Ziggy and the Bear's. 210.8 (20.3)

Was surprisingly warm throughout the night. I had every piece of dry clothing I could find on. Chatting with the group, we conclude it was in the mid 20's last night. The wind/storm passed some time before midnight. When I got out of the tent, I was presented one of the coolest views of the trip. What made it all the more special was what we had to go through to have that view. It made yesterday's hike totally worth it! 

              Today was downhill... The entire time. Steep downhill for the first 15 miles and then a gentle slope for the last 5. The trail was littered with breathtaking views. All enhanced by yesterday's snowfall.  

                   

     Didn't stop to much until mile 205.7 where the next water source was. Hung out there for a while with Skinny Thor and Leah. The wind was really picking up as the afternoon continued.  

      Arrived at Ziggy's around 6:00pm and from that point on it was go go go. Signed in, got my resupply packages, sorted through the resupply packages, clean up, setup bed, take a breath, and figure out how to get to Big Bear Lake tomorrow.   

       

            There is another fire closure between miles 236 and 252 that does not have a hiking alternate. So I will be taking public transit to Big Bear Lake tomorrow. At some later point I will return and hike Mt San Jacinto and this section to truly complete the hike. This section is suppose to open up in a month or so for all the hikers starting early May. 

Day 14 - It Does Rain on the PCT. 190.5 (17.2)

Mileage breakdown: Road walk out of town 1 mi + Ernie Maxwell Scenic Trail 2.5 mi + Devil's Slide Trail 2.6 mi + PCT miles 179.4 thru 190.5 = 17.2 miles. Throughout the night I could hear rain. When I woke up it wasn't as bad as I thought. 35 degrees and foggy.   

    Did my best to pack as much as I could before leaving my sleeping, but eventually I had to pack it as well. I didn't really know what to expect, weather wise, for the day so I prepared for the worst. With everything packed up I went to the restroom to let my phone charge. With no sun, my solar panel and it's empty battery are dead weight. 

        Before leaving town, I stopped by the store one last time to see if they had any hand warmers... They did not. 

I was off. Walked the roads to the Earnie Maxwell Scenic Trail which would take me to the Devils Slide Trail. After a combine walking distance of 6.1 miles, I was back on the official PCT. 

                               By the time I hit the PCT I was in the cold wind and there was snow on the ground. This continued for the rest of the day.  

           At mile 186ish there was a strong flowing stream which I used to fill up 5 liters of water which needed to last the next 20 miles which wouldn't have any.  

 While at the water source I met up with Alex, Anna, Leah, Riley and Alyssa. I hiked with them for the rest of the day as the conditions were pretty intense and I thought it was better to hike with others. 

It was long, windy and cold, but we all took our time and made it to Mile 190.5. We all made some type of comment when something good happened, such as the sun poking out for 5 seconds (which felt amazing) or the wind calming down. That helped make this section better. 

Not 5 minutes after arriving, the now started to come down much much harder and the lightning and thunder were right over top of us. It was tough putting up a tent in those conditions, but I managed to do so without getting snow all over my gear. Took some pictures then hopped in my tent for the night.  

 

  It was around 6:00pm so we all are dinner in our own tents and had some funny comments, which we yelled to the group, about our current predicament. I think I was asleep by 8:00.   This picture was inspired by what my dad used to do on all of our backpacking trips when I was a kid. 

 

Day 13 : Idyllwild & My First Zero. 162.6 + Alt mile 15.4 (0.0)

I slept in. Woke up at like 7:00. Hung around camp figuring out how I was going to organize my day. First, shower. It was the greatest shower of my life.    Second, laundry. I decided while I wait for it to wash, I could buy my resupply food and be back right as it was finishing up. Put the clothes in the drier and went back to camp.  

       

        I bought so much food that I almost continuously ate for the rest of the day.  Wondered the town then went to the library to use their wifi and upload pictures to Dropbox. Only got about 150 of 480 uploaded before I decided to head back to camp. Not too many people where there, so I took a nap while the rest of the pictures uploaded using my cell data.  Took some time to organize my food. Had to figure out what needed to be eaten before I hit the trail tomorrow. In the end gave 2 of 4 pudding cups to Bacon, who had his tent next to me, in exchange for a cookie and a bunch of alcohol swabs (I was almost out of them after cleaning some small blisters during the first few days on the trail). Threw some food in the hiker box and took a couple Tuna packets.

As the evening rolled in, I took my second shower of the day. Relaxed around the camp till I was cold, then bed. 

Day 12 - Road Walking. The Alternate into Idyllwild. 162.6 + Alt mile 15.4 (11.6)

Today was a bit different than any prior days. Only roads. Mostly dirt, but I did hike for almost 2 miles on a very busy Highway 74.       The dirt roads were primarily along power lines. It made the confusing direction, a little bit easier to understand. Started off listening to some music, then finished off a podcast of The Joe Rogan Experience with Brian Cox as the guest. All of which helped pass the long road walks.  

         I see a lot of hikers hitching from Highway 74 to Idyllwild. I am glad I didn't. A little over a mile down the highway walk, I stopped at a market to grab lunch. I was craving a sandwich and some milk. As I am eating, I start talking to Dax (not a pct hiker). He is staying at the campground with his son for a weekend get together. We talk about the trail, life and cross country biking. He is riding over by Durango, CO this summer for 400+ mile bike event/race. 

     I wrapped up and started out when Beast Master (the guy who gave me my trail name) is in a van that pulls over next to me. He asked if I wanted a ride into town. I tell him I am going to walk it.  

After a little more highway walking I arrived at the Hurkey Creek Campground. From there I resupplied on water and wondered around trying to find the next path I needed to take. 

As I walked up the steep power line road, the views only got better. Was unsure exactly how far I needed to walk till I would turn onto the last road of the day.  

      It was weird to see, what looked like a brand new gate in an area that was closed to all motorized vehicles. Beyond the gate was a trail crew getting the area ready to open back up to the public.  

 As I was maybe a half mile from the top of the hill, the trail crew passed me, each asking if I wanted a ride into town. I passed on the offers. I really wanted to be able to say that I walked the full alternate. Also I wouldn't have been able to take some of the pictures I did. 

  

Finally reach the end of the dirt road to arrive at a paved road with a decent amount of traffic. I had cell reception so I decided it was a good time to call my sister-in-law to see how everything was going and to make sure everyone was on the same page with regards to shipping stuff. Mid conversation a nice lady stopped and asked if I wanted a ride into town. Now that I was on the edge of town I was very happy to accept the invitation. Said a very quick by to Becca and hopped in the Prius. 

The ride into town was way different than I had imagined when walking through the desert all day. Lots of trees. It reminded me of the mountain towns in Washington and Colorado. 

When I arrive most of the people I had hiked with in the past few days were already in town getting their packages and eating some food. My package is nowhere to be found. Evidently someone (ME) shipped it to the wrong address. So now I will have two packages waiting for me at Ziggy and the Bear's. I'll get all the resupply stuff down before this trip is through. 

I met up with George then head to the outdoor store. Small but they have everything a hiker could need. Gwen and Denise were there as well. Went to the state campground and get my tent setup. There were already more than 25 tents setup in the area designated for PCT Hikers. $3 a night. 

Met up with Gwen and Denise then went to the grocery store. I took stock of what the store had so tomorrow I could buy food for my next leg. The girls bought their food, then we went to the pizza place and ate dinner. George and Matt join us shortly before we left.   

Hung out around the campfire till 10ish and call it a day. 

Day 11 - Omelette For Breakfast. 162.6 + 3.8 Alternate (17.4)

I woke up this morning to my alarm, 6:10. Had some motivation to get on the trail early, as the Paradise Valley Cafe opened at 8:00am.         

   A little while after I was on the trail, Little Thor caught up to me. We got to the Cafe around 8:30 and were greeted with live music. We chatted with Alyssa, Riley and Anna while we waited for our food to come. 

        

 I ordered the Denver Omelette, a side of Bacon and some coffee. I ate every last bite with a big grin on my face. Worked on updating this blog and figured out the shipping schedule so I could discuss it with my mom.  

    Trudge and Dr. Jones showed up, followed by a constant flow of hikers, a lot of whom I hadn't seen since Warner Springs. We filled up the majority of the Cafe. Trudge bought a milkshake and it made me want a root beer float. Called mom and left the cafe around Noon.  

         It was a hot afternoons and I was dragging. Probably from all the good food this morning. I couldn't help but take an overwhelming amount of pictures. The landscape was spectacular.  

                        The challenge of the day arose as the trail climbed the 2600 feet to the top of the ridge. The wind had really picked up and the sun was below the ridge. Needless to say I was cold and not really enjoying it. 

                   My original plan was to hike to the PCT fire closure at mile 162, then proceed 1 mile on a side trail to Cedar Springs and setup camp. When I got to the trail junction I think I made the best choice I could have. I charged down the PCT Mountain Fire Alternate; rather than heading to Cedar Springs which would have kept me on the mountain for the night. Running off the the mountain got me off the mountain and out of the wind as well as helped keep me warm. With my muscles cramping a little and my groin feeling tight; I reached mile 1.5 on the PCT Mountain Fire Alternate to a water source. By that time clouds had started over the ridge I was on 20 minutes ago. I was warming up and enjoyed the break. 

          [wpvideo aIHUHZcZ]   

I thought about stopping there to camp and decided against it. There were a lot of Widow Makers around and I felt I could push on a little further in hopes of finding a better spot. 

    A little further down the trail there was a road which I could have easily setup on. But I didn't because I thought I could still find a better location.

I arrive at a paved road (part of the Alternate) and I start walking down it without paying too close of attention on where my next turn would be. Ended up being mile 3.6 on the Alternate Trail. I arrived after dark and was still a bit cold and down. I ended up walking 2.6 miles further than I anticipated. Bonus, I only have 11.6 miles to go tomorrow! I plan to get up fairly early so I will have some time in Idyllwild before dark. 

Setup my tent a short ways after getting off the paved road. Ate some food, listened to some music and decompressed. I hope the other hikers on the mountain are staying out of the weather.