Day 24 – From tentsite to Wrightwood, mile 369

May 14. Got up around 5.30am. Enjoyed breakfast while watching sunrise.

Sunrise above a sea of clouds. Just happy to be here. So little you need.

Hit the trail 730am. Just 13 miles to go today to get to the highway crossing at mile 369 from where we will hitch into Wrightwood.
First break 930am at 362, 8100 feet.

Johanna (aka Tinkle) and Oldtimer caught up with us.

Made it to the highway around 1.30pm. A pickup came up from town, turned around to bring us down. Once again… Thank you unknown trail angel for being so kind. You make this so much easier. Wrightwood… Another super friendly hiker town.

First stop in town was lunch at Grizzly’s Cafe, then resupply shopping for 5 days at the local supermarket.

Talking about hiker friendliness…

We had to wait for our laundry quite a bit… So made it to the Yodelers rather late, had some Mexican food and a beer. Relaxed evening in town with nice company.

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 3 – Kitchen Creek to Mount Laguna, mile 41

A nice morning. The sounds of birds and frogs woke me up short before 6am, so I was on trail before 7am. Just before passing the bee hive, I met another hiker and we hurried by together. No problems this time, guess they were really sleepy as I was hoping.

I did not feel as refreshed as the previous day… The heat got me early. I took breaks at 5 miles, 7 miles and around 10 miles just before Mount Laguna, the destination for today.

Had a nice chat with Rotem in a long lunch break at mile 10, later on also Paulina joined.

We hiked together the last mile to Mount Laguna. We did some shopping at the general store, I picked up my package. I had ordered enough food for 4-5 days to take me to Warner Springs. With the food I had left, I am now carrying way too much food.

So at least for dinner I could eat my own food – the only restaurant in town is closed on Monday.

We had a nice dinner in a group with other PCT hikers. Later Rotem was playing Ukulele and singing at the fire – PCT life at its best.

A video will follow later.

A great day with nice company. Looking forward to tomorrow. It should be even or downhill for the next 30 miles.

Life is good

Taking a nap around mile 40, short before my first resupply stop at Mount Laguna.

Everything hurts a littlez but nothing is really painful. It looked yesterday like I might get a blister, but it disappeared…

Enough water, a chocolate Cliff bar in my hand, sunshine…

Will probably take a short day today and stay in Mount Laguna at a campground.