5/3 (10 miles): Hiked into Warner Springs early this morning, another 4am wake-up that paid off with another 10-by-10. Cool sunrise, and breakfast at Eagle Rock (see pictures from last post). Warner Springs had a community center with camping, bathrooms, showers, laundry, a small shop, and EPSOM SALT FOOT BATHS. Very sweet people. No hot food though! Which, of course, is very dear to a hungry hiker's heart, so we did some googling and found out about a brand new mom-and-pop style pizza joint 8 miles outside town. Linda from the resource center drove myself and three other hiker gals to the joint, and we ordered 10 pizzas, 9 for the hiker trash and one for us to eat while we waited. And did we wait! I kid you not, over TWO HOURS later, we finally had all nine pizzas in hand and one in stomachs, and we arrived back at the community center with pizza for all. They say don't feed the animals, but trail magic has a way of working miracles.
5/4 (16 miles): I went to the post office right when it opened to pick up some food I'd sent myself to get me to the next town, as well as my new lightweight one person tent! Yes...I caved. My pack was still well over 45lbs with food and water, and we had some major elevation changes coming up. Plus, I was having some shin splint troubles. I found a tent from Big Agnes on Backcountry's website for sale and just went for it. BEST decision I have made on the trail yet. My pack felt so much better after the switch, I felt I could've skipped joyfully down the trail, 3+ liters of water and all. I didn't get to use it that first night though. I had heard a rumor of a trail angel bunkhouse at the next major water source, and it turned out to be true. Hot pasta dinner, beds, beer, but it was kind of a sketchy joint. Not a lot of rules up there on the mountain. They didn't have bathrooms, but they did have a firing range, ATVs, and an awful lot of a substance that, let's just say, is not illegal in California anymore. I had hiked in to the place by myself, but Color Wheel and Nina were there when I showed up. Thank goodness, or I would've left pretty quick. We reserved a females-only trailer with three beds for ourselves. It had a bit of a musty smell and was quite cluttered, but it kept us warm and out of the wind. We slept well, despite our minor concerns that, if ever there was a place one might be axe-murdered, this was probably it.
5/5 (17 miles): I had so much energy this day! We left the sketchy bunkhouse later than we'd hoped, around 6:30am, so the sun was up already while we got the morning's kinks out of our legs. The first two miles are always hardest. Hiker hobble is rough stuff. But a cold front was coming in so it was a lot cooler. We started a pretty long descent around 9 or so. Poor Color Wheel took a tumble on our way down, tripped over her poles and landed face first in the dirt. Nothing too bad, just a knee scrape and a bruise on her eyebrow. And she was covered in dirt. I'm glad I was there when she fell for two reasons. One, she fell and hit her head, so I could sit with her a while and make sure she hadn't gotten a concussion, which she hadn't. And two, the way she fell was SO funny! It was like those AFV moments, arms flailing, gear flying everywhere, it was almost even slow motion. I wish I'd gotten it on video! Anyway, I hiked the rest of the day mostly by myself. I got into a really good groove despite the afternoon heat. I've been hydrating like a rock star since Scissors Crossing, and with my lighter pack it's easier to carry extra water. Got my first dose of true hiker hunger too. I ate three breakfasts, cooked three servings of couscous and chicken for lunch, snacked every thirty minutes all day, topped it all off with a huge pot of Mac and cheese with coconut cream, and STILL my stomach roared. Unbelievable! We had such a great campsite that night too, this big sandy spot surrounded by enormous boulders that shielded us from the wind. The sand was very fine and soft to sleep on, and my new tent was super cozy.
5/6 (8 miles): Got up early again to hike in to Idyllwild, mostly because on the way there's a cafe and so help me I was going to have eggs and bacon for breakfast if it KILLED me. Fortunately it didn't come to that, and I had a fairly pleasant, albeit quite cold hike in to the cafe. That cold front got a lot worse, bringing a sharp wind with it. I certainly didn't expect to have sub-40 degree weather at 10 AM in the desert. A trail angel friend of ours from Mt Laguna gave Color Wheel and I a ride to town, and told us a nasty storm was coming. Said we might want to consider staying in town a few days. Lo and behold, he was right. They are predicted 6 inches of snow above 6000ft (we're at 5500ft here in town, and the trail goes up). So.....
5/7 (0 miles...ugh): I really don't like zero days. But this one can't be helped. Every hiker we know is staying. The winds are supposed to get up to 50 miles an hour up in the high country above us. They're already 30mph here. And the snow has started. But lord help me, I hate this sitting still. Town is a vortex. It takes all your money and wastes all your time. You still wake up at 5:30 AM, despite the opportunity to sleep in, and your body's saying "Hey! How come you're not hiking?". You eat town food, which tastes great and has tons of calories you will need on the trail, but you don't get to use them right away. Everyone is super antsy and bummed. So, to lift everyone's spirits, we hosted a hiker potluck in our cabin! We had a kitchenette, and a vegan hiker named Rusty offered to cook for everyone so we all contributed something. There was roasted veggies, homemade bruschetta with Mama Barbee's pesto (Thanks mom! Everyone loved it!) and we all sat around the fireplace and drank cheap wine and beer and one guy brought a ukulele and we had a really nice time. Everyone left at 10, which is insanely late when you're on hiker time where 9 PM is "midnight".
5/8 (0 miles again): Woke up to a few inches of snow on the ground already, and still coming down. My plan is to hike out in the morning as early as possible. I'm even more anxious than I was yesterday, just itching to be back out there. I think I need some alone time especially. There's a ton of hikers here in town so it's a little crowded and very social. I'm looking forward to some peace, quiet, and a bit more privacy tomorrow.
Here's some photos from this week.
Keep your fingers crossed for clear skies and warm sun in the morning! No more snow!
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