Date: April 18, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 193) to ziggy and the bear (mile 210.8)

Miles: 17.8

Today was all downhill. We wanted to start early since we would be dropping down into the heat of the desert but our sleeping bags were too cozy.

We woke up to see the sun slowly lighting up the face of Mt. San Jacinto. Laurie had taken a Benadryl the night before and was slow to rise. For the first time Andy was packed and ready before her. I guess next time he doesn’t need the 10 minute handicap. But he does need to work on his celebration dance 😅

We headed down into the dry, dusty valley. The windmills grew larger as we got closer. Lizards ran out of our way as we slowly descended. The trail was gradually graded but the sun and heat intensified as the day wore on.

Laurie entertained herself with an audiobook to distract from the endless seeming descent. Andy stared out into the opposing hills trying to figure out where the next days’ adventure would take us.

Finally, after 12 miles and 5,500 ft we reached a water faucet.

“Which came first- the water faucet or the PCT?” Andy asked.

Laurie didn’t know and was too hot and tired to try to think of an answer.

The downhill wasn’t fun. It was a slog. And it wasn’t that easy either. Although gently graded, the heat and long miles do take their toll.

We walked the next mile on a closed paved road. Laurie chuckled at herself as she paced back and forth trying to figure out how to get around or under the gate without having to take off her umbrella. Amazing how lazy we get sometimes!

It was then another 3 sandy miles to Ziggy and the Bear. The longest miles of Laurie’s life!

We dogged through the flat land, sinking into the sand with each step. Just brutal.

We walked under the railroad tracks and Interstate 10, then up a gentle incline, still walking on what seemed like quicksand to the Trail Angels ziggy and the bear.

Laurie was like a wilted flower when we finally arrived. The bear had us sign in and took a picture of us holding our names and number – like mugshots. We were hikers # 201 and 202. Crazy to think that 200 people are ahead of us this early in the season! Bear said that they had a total of 1,800 hikers last year.

Laurie came back to life after drinking a cold Gatorade. We soaked our feet, washed out our socks and hung out in the anarondack chairs on the porch. The entire backyard is covered in carpet and it felt good to walk around with barefeet. We ate dinner and chatted with other hikers until it was bedtime.

We thank ziggy and bear for their hospitality. This place is a safe haven from the desert heat and wind. It was also nice to end here after a tough day.

Tonight we are grateful for healthy limbs and water!

April 17, 2016

Humber Park to bushcamp (mile 193.0)

Miles: 13.6 PCT miles + 2.5 miles on Devils Slide Trail (16.1 total miles)

We loved Idyllwild but it was time to hike once more. Two nights in a bed were relaxing and restorative. But alas, the trail beckoned.

We got up around 6, did a little yoga, finished packing our backpacks and had a breakfast of leftover kabob, hummus and cake. There is nothing like starting the day with yummy leftovers!

We got a ride to Humber Park, where we caught the Devils Slide Trail, 2.5 miles and 1,600 ft up to Saddle Junction, where we picked up the PCT once again at mile 179.4.

We started hiking around 8:30am. It was chilly and windy but beautiful!. Laurie was in her happy place and even offered to move to LA if she could have a 2nd home in Iddylwild.

We were back to hiking in a proper forest – big trees at high elevation. The northern facing hillsides were covered in snow providing a nice contrast with the blue sky.

We walked through the pine forest- savoring the deep piney smell and soft ground underfoot. This is more like it! This is what we’re used to!

The San Jacinto mountains are beautiful. And even more so when draped in snow.

This beauty came at a price. In the shady areas of the trail, the snow was covered in ice and was super slippery. Andy didn’t like this at all. He isn’t comfortable on snow and it’s a good thing Laurie hikes in front of him or else she’d be laughing at him all day.

Once past the icy stretch of trail, we came to a junction where some hikers chose to take an alternate trail to the summit of Mt. San Jacinto, but not us. It was really blustery and since we had summited before, we choose to bypass it.

Then the PCT turned into a rollercoaster. Up and down, up then down. Eventually we had to drop 8,000 ft back onto the desert so every uphill felt like a mean joke. Mentally we had prepared for an initial elevation gain and long long descent, not a 15 mile roller coaster. We just kept reminding ourselves that we are out here to hike, and that every step gets us closer to Canada.

At mile 186.2 we got water for the next 20 waterless miles. This made Andy slightly nervous because it meant we would be hiking heavy through Fuller Ridge – notorious for having lots of icy,  slippery snow in the early season.

At the watering hole we met up once again with Kashmir. We chit chatted about our experiences in Idyllwild and about the Lake Fire trail closure coming up.

We finished our leftovers from yesterday’s feast, got 7 liters of water to share and continued on.

Most of the afternoon we leap frogged with Bluejay, a woman from Tennessee who hiked the Appalachian Trail 2 years ago.

Around mile 188 we got to Fuller Ridge. Andy thought we had already hiked through it given all the snow we had already encountered, but we hadn’t seen anything yet.

Carefully we made our way across the snow covered trail. Our progress was slowed to a dismal 1 mile per hour,  mainly because Andy is slow on the white stuff. Huge thanks to Laurie for her encouragement and advice to help him through it.

In all honesty, Fuller Ridge wasn’t that bad. Perhaps that’s because we hiked through it around 4pm when the snow was soft and not as slippery. Had we hiked through it at 7am, things could have been very different.

At 6pm, we hiked over the remaining snow and reached Fuller Ridge Campground. We elected not to camp here and hiked on another 3 miles to lose some elevation today and make tomorrow easier.

We hiked on into the golden hour. The mountains basked in an orange and purple glow. It was beautiful. No photograph we took could capture the beauty of this breathtaking desert sunset.

We hiked 11 hours today, until 7:30pm – the latest we’ve reached camp, happy to be done for the day. We thought we had covered more miles because of how long we hiked, but the snow really does make for slow going. No matter though. We enjoyed our hike and are happy to be camped in a place with a great view of Mt. San Jacinto.

Tonight we are grateful for leftovers and high elevation mountains.

A “zero” in thru hiking language is a day when you do not hike.

A “nero” is a near zero – usually consisting of 10 miles or less and typically arriving into a town.

Yesterday was a nero day into Idyllwild.

Today we enjoyed a zero day in Idyllwild with Andy’s parents.

We went to bed last night with a plan of hiking out this afternoon after Andy’s patents left. Well, that didn’t happen.

We woke up and decided to rest a full day. Going slowly in the beginning of a thru hike includes rest days also, not only low mile days on the trail.

We blogged, caught up with emails, made phone calls and finished almost everything on our ‘Idyllwild to do list’ by 8:30am. It’s amazing what one can accomplish simply by waking up early!

Andy’s parents arrived at 10:30am and the feast began. Armenians know how to party, and they also know how to eat!

The picnic table was full (I mean FULL) of food. There was enough food to feed 10 thru hikers.

Since we are only a few weeks into our hike, we haven’t developed hiker hunger yet. We can’t eat monumental portions this early on – especially since we have been eating so well on the trail.

Side note – we realize we have mentioned how well we eat a few times now but don’t provide much detail. Hopefully when we zero in L.A. we will wrote a post about our food.

We ate out first lunch, played ping pong with Andy’s mom, and walked around a little.

Then we ate some more. And after that we stuffed ziplocks full of leftovers to have on the trail tomorrow. The feast continues! Lastly, we had birthday cake (it was Laurie’s birthday yesterday.) So good.

Andy’s parents left around 4:30pm. We tried to play some more ping pong but Laurie could barely move she was so full. All she wanted to do was lie down.

Tonight we are going to drink lots of water, maybe watch a movie and get our packs ready for tomorrow. The man who runs the Woodland Park Manor will drive us to the trail tomorrow morning. Thanks Laurie for asking him to do so!

We continue to challenge ourselves to ask for what we want or need. It’s something we want to be more comfortable with, both as individuals and as a couple. Practice makes better!

Tonight we are grateful for home cooked meals and cozy cabins.