April 15, 2016

From bushcamp (155.9) to trail closure (mile 162.6)

Miles: 9.2 (6.7 PCT miles + 2.5 miles on Cedar Springs trail to Morris Ranch Rd)

Today is Laurie’s birthday. She celebrated by drinking hot chocolate in her sleeping bag (our version of breakfast in bed) and eating cheese and crackers for breakfast. For those that know Laurie, cheese is what makes her happiest, well maybe that and riding her bicycle!

We had a mellow morning, opened a card from a friend and waited for the sun to come up before squirming out of our sleeping bags. 

Our campsite was awesome. The big oak trees protected us from the strong winds and leaves provided a soft place to lie (although with our Exped mats we could sleep on rocks and not feel it!)

We left camp around 8:30 and started climbing. In 2013, the Mountain Fire burned a large section of the PCT so today we had an adventure ahead of us. Our plan was to hike the remaining 6.7 miles from where we camped to the closure, take a side trail down to a road and walk alongside the highway. From there we were going to hitchhike or road walk 5 miles to a campground. 

That was our plan, but as we know and continue to learn, plans on the trail don’t last long!

As we gained elevation on the PCT, we saw the outskirts of Palm Springs to the east. Small town in view = possible reception!! We took a short break and tried to call Laurie’s mom for her birthday (Laurie and her mom share a birthday). We also called Andy’s parents to request more Sudafed since Laurie’s cold is persistent. 

As we were getting ready to hit the trail again, a speedy day hiker named Bart approached and chatted with us. He knows this area very well and was parked at the bottom of our trail. He offered us a ride to town. We thanked him, said we would see how we were feeling when we got down to the road and we all continued on.

The trail continued to gain elevation on the east side of the ridge. We could see little towns (probably not so little in real life!) sitting in the valley below. In a few days we will be walking through that dry, hot, dusty valley but right now we were on a ridge- enjoying the cool wind and fresh air of nearly 7,000 ft. 

We got to the junction and took a left to follow the Cedar Springs trail down to Morris Ranch Road. The trail switch backed down at least 1000 ft to a nice spring, then onto private property, a fire road and finally to the paved Morris Ranch Road. 

We walked almost 100 yards down the paved road and there was Bart, sitting in his camp chair by his truck, reading a book. We decided to take him up on his offer for a ride into town. We waited about 15 min for his friend Sue to join us and all 4 of us piled into the truck. We drove up a narrow mountain road into the town of Idyllwild and Bart treated us to Mexican food. Thanks Bart!

Since we were already in town, it didn’t make sense to get a ride back down to the campground to turn around and walk back the next day. Walking the highway on a Saturday would not be a good idea.

We made a few calls, canceled our room for Saturday night, booked a room for Friday night and called Andy’s parents to meet us on Saturday rather than Sunday. Day in the bank for us!!

We walked to the post office to pick up 2 packages and a letter from Laurie’s friends. Thank you so much- you made Laurie’s birthday so special!

On the way to the post office a lady yelled 

“Hey hikers”

“Hey hikers!”

It took a moment for both of us to realize she was talking to us! She handed us each a bag of cookies and said “Welcome to Idyllwild.” 

People are simply amazing.

At the post office people stopped to ask if we needed anything, another person offered to give us a ride and everyone was super friendly. 

We were dirty, smelly hikers and still people wanted to help us out! So great.

We got a ride to our room (a small cabin on the outskirts of town at a place called Woodland Park Manor) and Laurie immediately started doing laundry. We washed everything by hand and laid it out to dry on the deck.

We showered- it felt amazing – and crawled into bed. It was only 6 pm but we were both super content to sit in bed – savoring the feeling of cotton next to our skin.

Laurie was like a kid on Christmas morning. She excitedly opened each package and hugged the contents. We ate cookies and kale chips in bed- later to find crumbs of both in the sheets.

We called family and friends and tried to upload the previous day’s blog but the wifi wouldn’t work and 4G wasn’t cooperating. Funny how we had better service in the backcountry and somewhat sad that we get frustrated over such small things.

Today was a wonderful day. It was full of suprises and chance encounters on the trail and in town. We were touched by the generosity and kindness of strangers. For both of us (but maybe more so Laurie since she is the planner) it was a great example of what can happen if you live in the moment and allow yourself to deviate from the plan.

We want to thank everyone who has contributed to our town fund. Thank you all so, so much. We are grateful to all of you! 

Laurie is still fighting a cold- she has a deep, raspy and sexy sick voice- but after the morning gunk comes out- she is all smiles for most of the day (actually until 4pm-her witching hour, which can only be cured by candy).

We both feel so fortunate to be on this adventure- individually and together as a couple. Each day brings new views, new insights about ourselves and our relationship, and new friends.

Thank you all for your comments, your encouragement and your love. We can feel it and it helps us continue to put one foot in front of the other!

Today we are grateful for trail birthdays and chance encounters.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  

  

  

Date: April 14, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 140.3) to bushcamp (mile 155.9)

Miles: 15.6
(plus 2 off trail miles roundtrip to Paradise Valley Cafe)

Neither of us slept well. Andy woke up every hour after midnight mostly due to shoulder and IT band pain. His IT bands are insanely tight and always bother him when sleeping on a pad while backpacking (despite having the luxurious Exped Hyperlite air mattress.)

Laurie is still fighting a cold and woke up many times in a pool of yellow snot. Sudafed helps, but not for the 9 hours we sleep per night.

Backcountry problems…

Laurie is a real trooper. “It’s gonna take more than this to get me off the trail.” She’s quite the inspiration!

We woke up at 5:45 and we’re ready to hike at 6:32. We’re getting faster breaking camp and getting in the morning miles.

Just before we started walking, Andy went off trail to have his morning pee and almost peed on a snake. It was coiled and never moved a millimeter, as though it was asleep. Just goes to show, we have to be alert every moment we’re out here.

We love hiking early in the morning. The desert sunrises are beautiful and temperatures are cool.

The trail today climed, plateaud, descended and climbed some more. The first 100 or so miles of the PCT were gently graded, as though it was taking it easy on us. But now, it’s getting steep. Today we climbed our first real switchbacks – a moment of familiarity amongst unfamiliar territory.

We also passed two water caches, one that was empty and one that was stocked. The second cache, called Malibu East, was wonderfully maintained by trail angel Mary. She had a food box, a mini library, picnic tables, trash and recycle bins and a really cool surfboard for hikers to sign.

Not having these caches on any maps and stumbling upon them is a real treat. Thank you Mary for putting smiles on our faces and giving us a place to rest our feet for a while.

By noon we were at Hwy 74. We hiked 12 miles by 12pm! We also contemplated whether we should go to Paradise Valley Cafe or not as we still weren’t craving any food. Ultimately we decided to go because it was our only dependable water source for the next 10 miles.

We tried hitching the one mile from the trail crossing to the cafe but only half heartedly. And when none of the first 10 cars stopped, we started walking. The smells of hamburgers penetrated our noses about a quarter mile away from the cafe. It was lunch time and we started feeling hungry.

We enjoyed lunch with Kiter, a man who we’ve been seeing on the trail and at camp the last 2 nights.

We ordered a Greek salad and a burger. The food was delicious! And the salad was HUGE. They definitely know their hiker customers and have portions to satisfy any hunger. Kiter order extra fries which he shared with us. Thanks Kiter!

After lunch we reserved a room in Idyllwild (Yay!), coordinated the visit with Andy’s parents, charged our phones and chatted with fellow hikers. Paradise Valley Cafe is very hiker friendly, and so are the people we’re hiking with right now. But alas we had to break away from the pack. Most of the other hikers were going to have dinner, camp and have breakfast at the cafe, but not us. We like sleeping in the woods.

Again we tried to hitch, but Andy wasn’t a willing participant since it was only 1 mile back to the trailhead. We soon gave up as cars honked at us and made hand gestures but didn’t stop. So we walked back to the trailhead. Laurie was feeling defeated.

It was now 4:45pm and Laurie was tired, grumpy and snotty. And her blisters were starting to hurt. She was ready to be done walking for the night.

Unfortunately we still had 3.5 miles to hike before making camp. The wind picked up and the dark grey clouds gathered yet again.

“If it rains, I may start crying. I’ll keep going, but I’ll be crying.”

Happily, it didn’t rain. We got to camp sooner than expected and all was well.

Laurie’s smile returned when she drank her hot apple cider, a treat she found in the hiker box.

It’s now 9:20pm, twenty minutes past hiker midnight. We are camped alone, surrounded by oak trees sheltering us from the wind and moonlight partially lighting our tent. We’re hoping to sleep better in these cool temperatures.

Tonight we are grateful for open communication and early birthday text messages from friends (it’s Laurie’s birthday tomorrow!!)

Date: April 13, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 123.9) to bushcamp (mile 140.3)

Miles: 16.4

We slept on a little knoll amongst the boulders. It was the best campsite so far. We watched the sun fade behind the  mountains showering the opposing hills with an alpine glow. This morning we watched the sun rise while drinking hot beverages in our sleeping bags. It was such a wonderful treat!

We took our time getting ready and finally rolled out of camp around 8:15. Three or four hikers past by as we were getting ready and we shared a friendly “good morning.”

We are starting to create a hiking community. There are familiar faces at the water stops and camping spots- each person hiking their own hike but with a common goal- to keep going. We help one another out- commiserate about blisters and relish the moments of shade and wind.

Today felt like real desert hiking. The trail was hot- at times too windy to hike with our umbrellas so we resorted to hats and sunscreen. Both work but it is quite nice to get to camp without a thick layer of sunscreen and dirt on our faces.

In the morning, we hiked about 3 miles to Mike’s Place (a trail angel who makes pizzas in his pizza oven for hikers), grabbed 5 liters of water and left soonafer. We are still eating well with the food we’ve packed for this section and chose to skip the glutenous temptations of pizza and breakfast burritos.

The trail climbed most of the morning. As it began to descend, we remained on a ridge overlooking a small city. In the distance we could see a snow capped peak and large mountains in between. It is crazy to think that we may be walking through those mountains in a few weeks.

While on the ridge with the town in view we checked to see if we had service. Text messages and app alerts immediately came through. We were pleasantly surprised to see a town fund donation from someone we don’t know. The trail magic continues.

We are choosing not to disclose names on our blog so the donator shall remain anonymous. Thank you very much for your kind words and generous donation, we really, really appreciate it!

Throughout the day we took a few shoes off breaks to rest our feet and air out our sweaty socks. Our original plan was to wash and switch socks regularly throughout the day but with water sources every 10 miles we somewhat abandoned that plan.

Our feet are happy though. Or as happy as they can be with hiking 15 miles day after day. Laurie’s blisters didn’t require minor surgery tonight so we consider that an improvement. It still takes at least 10 min to prep our feet each morning but it is totally worth it!

We walked past many dry creek beds scattered with small white flowers. Small yellow and purple flowers line the trail in other areas. There is an unexpected beauty to the desert this time of year. To compliment the flora, the only fauna we encountered today was a curious horny toad.

Throughout the day, we ponder many things. One of them is thay the hiking life is simple. You wake up – pack all of your belongings into a backpack – and start walking. You stop when you want, eat when you want and go to the bathroom when you want.

Our bodies are free to find their natural rhythms. In the city, we eat and poop around work schedules. It is nice to let our bodies rather than clocks dictate our routines.

We made it to our planned campsite but there were already 3 people set up. One guy suggested a spot just up the trail. We lay here now starting up at the stars nestled between bushes, relatively protected from the wind.

Tomorrow we head to Paradise Cafe to sort out a plan for the next few days since our original itinerary gets us in to Idyllwild on Saturday when all the hotels have a 2 night minimum and are booked solid. We’ll figure it out. We always do.

Tonight we are grateful for laughter when brushing our teeth and unexpected generosity of strangers.