I got trapped in Idyllwild for two and a half days due to the snow. Over 100 hikers were stuck, just like me. Everyone was really anxious to get back on the trail, not knowing when we would be able to, and it turned into horrible anxiety cyclone that sucked everything up into it's whirling vacuum and smashed all our hope and happiness to smithereens.
But then the snow stopped!
We hiked out Devil's Slide Trail, which ascends from 6,000 ft to 9,000 ft elevation in about 2.5 miles. That is rough on a normal day. In the snow, it was AGONY. It was very slow going, and it would've been totally miserable if not for the views.
Never in my life did I think I'd spend an entire day walking above the cloud line. I highly recommend it.
The climb was, as I said, extremely challenging. I only managed about 10 PCT miles that day because I took the detour up to the summit San Jacinto, the second highest mountain in SoCal at just shy of 11,000 ft. Elevation is hard! Everyone experienced different effects from the elevation gain, from nausea to light-headedness, but with some mild dizziness and no shortage of effort, I made it to the top!
Woohoo!
It grew very cold as the sun was going down, so we had to skedaddle pretty quick. I wanted to get down out of the high elevation before I camped, but after a few miles and steadily increasing exhaustion and steadily decreasing daylight, I gave up and camped with my friends Jim and Richard, from Great Britain and Australia respectively. They saw how tired and defeated I was and offered me a cup of tea, which made my night.
The next morning, Mother's Day morning, I woke up EARLY and packed up quickly and quietly so as not to wake Jim and Richard. I wanted to hike fast to catch up to the Color Wheel, Sage, and Aesop, who had opted out of the summit and hiked ahead that morning. I managed to catch Sage and Aesop by about 6 AM, but Color Wheel was gunning for the trail angel's house 20 miles away WAYYYYY down in the desert at a mere 1,600ft. If I was going to catch her, it meant I would have to hike a hard 20 miles down from 8,000 ft in the heat of the day (which would only get hotter as I got closer to the desert floor). I resolved to try, only to try, to get as close as I could to the trail angel's house. The first bit was hard and steep, but as I kept going I got into a good groove and started to fly. I had an umbrella that worked now, so the sun was off my back, and I was jamming to some great tunes while I walked. Around noon I took a short break to air out my scorched feet, and has just enough service to call my momma just as she was wrapping up lunch with my whole family. It was so great to talk to my mom, my dad and brothers, my aunt, uncle, and cousins on speaker! Lifted my spirits for the afternoon. I met a girl named Scorpia who hiked the last 10 miles to the house with me. She was awesome, and I couldn't have done my first 20 mile day without her. I got to call my mom again when I finally got off the mountain. Good Mother's Day!
So I arrived, a little worse for the wear, at Ziggy and The Bear's house. Ziggy and The Bear are the sweetest old couple who have been hosting hikers for the better part of the last 20 years, and they are GREAT at it. I wish I hadn't been so shell-shocked from my 24 mile day, or I would've taken pictures. They had awnings and a phone charging station and a shower out back and a sink to do laundry. It was heaven in the desert. I got in pretty late so I only had enough time to cook a meager dinner for myself in my pot and fall fast asleep in the yard under the stars. It was incredible.
In the morning, it was hot and sunny. I showered and did some laundry and spent the day lounging in the shade to hide from the 115 degree sun and rest from the day before. I hiked out at 5 PM as the sun was setting and the desert finally became cool. It was a hard hike up out of the desert, but the reward was an awesome hike into the canyons by the light of my headlamp, the stars, and the lights of Palm Springs in the distance. An added bonus was the best campsite yet, on a soft white sand beach by a crystal clear stream ensconced by red rock canyon walls. Incredible!
So by this point, I was starting to really feel the effects of several days of intense elevation gain and loss. In particular, a nasty blister on my right pinky toe had popped up, and was starting to travel up to the toenail. I'm rather attached to all ten of my toenails, each one holding a small, sometimes underappreciated importance to me, but it didn't seem like I was going to have a lot of control over whether I would keep them all or not. Nothing I did seemed to helped. Every day I put my shoes on and every step felt like I had crammed a rock in between my toe and the tip of the shoe. Irony had arrived: feet were happy no more.
The first few miles were the roughest each day. I had to relearn how to tune out the pain and just walk. There was nothing else I could do. I told myself about all the other horrible things that hurt more than toe blisters. I recited lyrics and motivational quotes in my head. I tried to distract myself with memorizing tracks in the sand belonging to the boots of friends ahead of me, or counting the clouds or the cacti I passed. Finally I would just laugh, at myself, at the stupid pain, at life and it's intricacies. Ultimately, the trail would provide, as it always does, and it would send me a friend to talk to or an amazing view to lift my spirits.
It was a hard hike for the next few days. I did 10 miles, 24 miles, 7 miles, 15 miles, a very tired 12 miles, and finally made it to Big Bear in a last ditch effort mad dash of 18 miles by 1 PM to evade ANOTHER snowstorm. I made it to town just as the clouds, the winds, and the cold rolled in. I stayed in a hostel in town, ate some good food, drank some good beer with some good friends, and filled my food bag to the brim in preparation for the next week's hike to Wrightwood. The snow finally ceased, so hopefully I'll be out of here soon!
P.S. my toe healed, and I get new shoes tomorrow!
The next morning, Mother's Day morning, I woke up EARLY and packed up quickly and quietly so as not to wake Jim and Richard. I wanted to hike fast to catch up to the Color Wheel, Sage, and Aesop, who had opted out of the summit and hiked ahead that morning. I managed to catch Sage and Aesop by about 6 AM, but Color Wheel was gunning for the trail angel's house 20 miles away WAYYYYY down in the desert at a mere 1,600ft. If I was going to catch her, it meant I would have to hike a hard 20 miles down from 8,000 ft in the heat of the day (which would only get hotter as I got closer to the desert floor). I resolved to try, only to try, to get as close as I could to the trail angel's house. The first bit was hard and steep, but as I kept going I got into a good groove and started to fly. I had an umbrella that worked now, so the sun was off my back, and I was jamming to some great tunes while I walked. Around noon I took a short break to air out my scorched feet, and has just enough service to call my momma just as she was wrapping up lunch with my whole family. It was so great to talk to my mom, my dad and brothers, my aunt, uncle, and cousins on speaker! Lifted my spirits for the afternoon. I met a girl named Scorpia who hiked the last 10 miles to the house with me. She was awesome, and I couldn't have done my first 20 mile day without her. I got to call my mom again when I finally got off the mountain. Good Mother's Day!
So I arrived, a little worse for the wear, at Ziggy and The Bear's house. Ziggy and The Bear are the sweetest old couple who have been hosting hikers for the better part of the last 20 years, and they are GREAT at it. I wish I hadn't been so shell-shocked from my 24 mile day, or I would've taken pictures. They had awnings and a phone charging station and a shower out back and a sink to do laundry. It was heaven in the desert. I got in pretty late so I only had enough time to cook a meager dinner for myself in my pot and fall fast asleep in the yard under the stars. It was incredible.
In the morning, it was hot and sunny. I showered and did some laundry and spent the day lounging in the shade to hide from the 115 degree sun and rest from the day before. I hiked out at 5 PM as the sun was setting and the desert finally became cool. It was a hard hike up out of the desert, but the reward was an awesome hike into the canyons by the light of my headlamp, the stars, and the lights of Palm Springs in the distance. An added bonus was the best campsite yet, on a soft white sand beach by a crystal clear stream ensconced by red rock canyon walls. Incredible!
So by this point, I was starting to really feel the effects of several days of intense elevation gain and loss. In particular, a nasty blister on my right pinky toe had popped up, and was starting to travel up to the toenail. I'm rather attached to all ten of my toenails, each one holding a small, sometimes underappreciated importance to me, but it didn't seem like I was going to have a lot of control over whether I would keep them all or not. Nothing I did seemed to helped. Every day I put my shoes on and every step felt like I had crammed a rock in between my toe and the tip of the shoe. Irony had arrived: feet were happy no more.
The first few miles were the roughest each day. I had to relearn how to tune out the pain and just walk. There was nothing else I could do. I told myself about all the other horrible things that hurt more than toe blisters. I recited lyrics and motivational quotes in my head. I tried to distract myself with memorizing tracks in the sand belonging to the boots of friends ahead of me, or counting the clouds or the cacti I passed. Finally I would just laugh, at myself, at the stupid pain, at life and it's intricacies. Ultimately, the trail would provide, as it always does, and it would send me a friend to talk to or an amazing view to lift my spirits.
See that snow camped mountain in the distance? That's San Jacinto. Yeah. I climbed that.
Delicate desert flowers
It was a hard hike for the next few days. I did 10 miles, 24 miles, 7 miles, 15 miles, a very tired 12 miles, and finally made it to Big Bear in a last ditch effort mad dash of 18 miles by 1 PM to evade ANOTHER snowstorm. I made it to town just as the clouds, the winds, and the cold rolled in. I stayed in a hostel in town, ate some good food, drank some good beer with some good friends, and filled my food bag to the brim in preparation for the next week's hike to Wrightwood. The snow finally ceased, so hopefully I'll be out of here soon!
P.S. my toe healed, and I get new shoes tomorrow!
The best trail magic yet! Eugene, a.k.a. Ellen Boxers, on a magic pull-out couch next to a dumpster full of fresh fruit and soda!
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