Day 14 – Tentsite at mile 187 to Snow Canyon Road, mile 206

Slept ok, first night on my new foam pad Therm-a-rest ZLite Sol. That pad is so practical… At any short rest during the day, I can throw it to the floor and lay down for a while. No risks for punctures… It is just a foam pad. Gear of the day award.

Normal routine, woke up around 6am, hit the trail around 7am. Today I was facing a 20 mile hike. All downhill, about 7000 feet, the longest descent on the complete PCT. I would find out later that downhill doesn’t mean fast. On the contrary… Being careful with my knees, I barely made 2-2.5 miles per hour.

Later the day I got news from a fellow hiker that he needs a longer break from the trail due to serious knee pain. These issues from other hikers keep floating around in my head… You can’t go super slow and careful all the time… But you can also risk your hike with one wrong step.

Talking about that wrong step. I was listening to music in the afternoon…

Song of the day: Melissa Etheridge – I run for life

I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth, for all that is real
(lyrics from Melissa Etheridge)

When I realized that there was rattling sound that doesn’t fit to the song, I was standing right next to a rattlesnake.

My heart skipped a few beats. I was told by another hiker to keep distance at least equal to the length of the snake… I was walking by just about 50cm of it, didn’t see it in the grass next to the trail until I was standing right next to it.

I continued without music for a while… 😂

The descent to the water and tentsite at mile 206 took a lot of time. 4 miles out, it looked like you could touch… But once again, the trail kept following the mountains into the next canyon and the target was out of sight again for another 2 hours.

I finally arrived and pitched my tent around 5pm, the sun still heating up the whole valley. A few other hikers were discussing to take an Uber to the nearby town Cabazon and eat burgers there. When the three other hikers from my group came in, we opted for just that. We left tents and packs, walked about a mile to the next street, rode in an Uber for about 20min and had a feast at In-n-out!

After that feast, walking back the mile to the tentsite was not easy, but a beautiful walk under the stars and moonlight.

The night was warm… Only used my sleeping bag as a blanket, fell asleep with a view on the beautiful night sky.

Day 13 – Idyllwild to tentsite above Fuller Ridge via Mt San Jacinto Peak, mile 187

A last lazy morning in Idyllwild, got up around 6.30am. Cleaned up the house, returned keys and started walking at 8am at 5300 feet.

We reached the trail head for the Devil’s Slide Trail head at 9am and started as a team of four (Cactass, Johanna, Addison and myself) climbing towards the PCT junction at 8000 feet.

At 1030am we were finally back on trail, heading towards the peak of Mt San Jacinto.

Addison licking his phone not to waste the good avocado calories

We made the peak at 10800 feet at around 230pm. Today was a day measured by altitude gained (5500 feet/1600m) and not miles… The last few hundred feet were not easy for me – felt the altitude and a cold I catched during the last days.

Met Paulina, Gandalf, Baby Blanket, Happy just below the peak, they took off shortly after.

We continued to hike to mile 186 to get water – next reliable water would just be in another 20 miles.

We camped shortly after at mile 187 around 7pm. Quick dinner… Lots of photos of the beautiful sunset…

Good night!

Day 12 – Zero Day at Idyllwild

Yes, already another resting day 😁. I didn’t really need one, but when I woke up today in a big and warm bed around 730am, a look from the window was all I needed to justify the break:

I am still in the desert section, but at 5300 feet. Snow fell overnight, temperatures were around freezing.

Rotem was cooking a Israeli breakfast for the group – thank you! I optimized my gear a bit. My blow up sleeping pad was loosing air every night, so I sent it back to Cascade Designs for warranty repair. I got a foam sleeping pad instead (ZLite) – no need to blow up, no risks poking holes, great for quick lunch breaks… But only sleeping on the back for now. I also got myself a super light and thin wind/rain jacket – Patagonia Houdini, just 100 gram!

Did my food planning for the next five days.

Balanced diet if dry frozen meals, tortillas with peanut butter or tuna, bars

Tomorrow morning I plan to hike up from here at 5300 feet to the PCT at 8000 feet. Following the PCT for 2 miles, there will be a junction at 9000 feet where I will decide to climb to San Jacinto peak at 10800 feet or continue on the PCT. Since I skipped some miles to the snow today, I should have the time. I will decide on the trail tomorrow based on the weather.

My pack is packed and ready to go… I am excited to continue my journey. Hanging out at the coffee house now after getting my first head shave since I started hiking.

Tonight probably all hikers will meet at the town cinema – Avengers for just 5USD!

Day 11 – Tentsite to Idyllwild via Paradise Valley Cafe, mile 151

There was no snow. Woke up as usual short before 6am. It was warm and cozy in the tent, outside windy, cold and wet. I was considering for a while to stay in the tent and wait for the sun to succeed – but my patience was limited. We planned to make it to Paradise Valley Cafe for a late breakfast or early lunch.

With the nasty weather, I had my breakfast in the tent.

Moved out around 7am. The weather did not clear up – we walked through the clouds until lunch.

We came to another tent site with some goodies from another trail angel… A library, a toilet and water!

We made to the highway that would lead in 1 mile to the West to the famous Paradise Valley Cafe around 1030am and immediately got a ride to the cafe.

A lot of hikers were eating there – discussion about the weather was ongoing.

At the end, most of us decided to consider the weather forecast and hitchhike into Idyllwild to wait out the snow.

The day was spent with shopping and relaxing… The evening with cooking and eating…

Get together in our Silver Pines Lodge cabin

Day 10 – Mike’s place to a tent site at mile 144

Slept better than I thought in the cold… Kind of a training for cowboy camping. But getting out from the sleeping bag around 6am wasn’t easy. Mike’s place was covered in dark clouds that were pushed by the storm over the mountains.

I was really worried at that time. As outer shells, I only had my down jacket and my poncho… Both not really good protection for something that looked like a rain storm. There was actually talk about a snow storm… I considered waiting for done weather improvement…
But I had to push on. In a worst case, I could always pitch my tent on trail and find shelter.

500 meters after leaving Mike’s place, the sky was clear and sun was warming my skin! Only his place was covered in clouds!

As I hiked on, the weather cleared up more and I had a nice view of the mountains.

The trail led up a few hundred feet before going downhill for a long stretch. Beautiful scenery was the reward.

We met up in a group of 5-6 hikers around lunch and planned to hike past the water cache at mile 143 to some tent sites with a view.

I staked my tent out carefully. The storm had not hit us yet but the sky was darkening.

We had dinner together, some chat and were in our tents as usual before 8pm (aka hikers midnight).

Will I wake up to rain or even the snow storm?