Day 11, 20.20 miles!!

Woo-hoo he’s on a roll!! Another 20+’er in the books! I planned to wake up early today, but it was a chilly morning and I hit the snooze, haha. Nonetheless, I was out of camp by 6:45am. Like I said, the morning was quite chilly, so I started off hiking in my leggings and mid layer top.

The mornings always blow me away 

 I told the other three gentlemen not to worry if they got up earlier than me, and that I’d catch up. I discovered that I had the new alternate maps and GPS locations on my phone, and the weather forecast actually changed in Idyllwild so it’s looking like getting there tomorow morning will be perfect.

Waaaaay better!

I heard the others leave about 30 mins ahead, so I hustled up the hill. About 2.5 miles in, I decided to stop and hit an off-trail water source. I knew that the next section had a lot of uphill, and even though it was a cold day, hydration is important! I read of my water report 0.3 miles W of PCT. “Oh great, shouldn’t be bad!” I thought. WRONG! The small spur trail was STRAIGHT down the elevation I felt that I had just slowly climbed in the last two miles!

Down I went, leaving my pack and rainfly and tent out at the top to dry and carrying just my empty liter bottles of water down the steep and rocky path. Besides the needed water, the extra .6 miles weren’t totally wasted!

A beautiful new red Yucca!

It looks green in color but it’s actually quite clear! (There is sand and silt and algae settled on the bottom)

I thought this was a trail register at first glance but I guess they’re researching foxes and raccoons at the watering hole.. RACCOONS?! I better get back to my pack/food bag! 

Luckily everything was still there in tact when I got up the hill. And just a few moments I saw Amy and Jamie! I was glad to see them, but Jamie had heartbreaking news, he said: “Taco day at Idyllwild is Monday and Thursday not Tuesday!!!!”

Ah, the pain, the horror, the agony! I had been talking my loud mouth off for the last 3 days to everyone I met: “$1 tacos on taco-Tuesday in Idyllwild, come join me if you’re in town on Tuesday for my birthday!!”

I’d been “planning” this for days! I soon recalled that in fact yes, in 2016, Claire and I hit both $1 taco nights on Monday and Thursday..

But you know what? Things like that made that year special, and other things will make this year special! Like road-walking on my birthday into Idyllwild and then getting Mexican food anyway! Besides, it’s not the $1 aspect of $1 Taco Night I’m so excited about, it’s just the Taco aspect :)

Anyways, enough about food! I split ahead of th and climbed climbed climbed! I climbed forever today!

Photo by Jamie, of Amy and Jamie

As I got higher and higher, some clouds starting pouring over the hillside behind me!

Soon I passed the Cedar Spring Junction, the point that Claire and I had to drop down in 2016. We never did get to see the new burn area since it was still being worked on and the trail was closed. Today I got to see about 8 new miles of the PCT!

Where the burn begins

There’s really something beautiful about burns that are a few years old. The tall, massive black and charred trees contrasting against the impermeable organisms like boulders and rocks and dirt, and the new rapid vegetation and grass filling everything in.

With that of course comes Poodle Dog Bush!!

I wasn’t expecting to see this stuff so early on, but it makes sense with the “recent” fire. The plant starts growing ~2 years after fires. The leaves are more potent and dangerous than poison oak. For the most part, all of the PDB I saw today was burnt and cut, but a few prominent stalks like the one above didn’t quite die and are still growing!

On my climb I ran into Ben again. He had camped just near us after I went to bed but must’ve woken up pretty early. He puts it like this: “I’m slower but I go for longer. Good strategy! Ben was running dangerously low on food, and I had a few 100 calories to spare, so I gave him a clif bar and some of the trail mix and pretzels I had scored at Warner Springs.

I also ran into Pilgrim again. Pilgrim is wearing a full and legit robe on the PCT. since today was so cold and windy at times, the photo I captured has his high-tech puffy covering the robe:

Pilgrim

Of all the people I met today on trail, I believe myself and the three others ahead of me that I’m getting the room with tomorrow in Idyllwild, are the only hikers walking as much of the PCT as we can legally, and then walking into Idyllwild on alternate trails/roads. Amy and Jaime along with Ben are taking Fobes Trail down, the trail in between Cedar Springs and Spitler. Pilgrim IS hiking down at Spitler, but then hitching into Idyllwild. 

I don’t have anything against anyone who is doing anything other than me, especially given the bad weather ahead. I’m just thankful that the timing happened to work out this time and that I get to continue my continuous footpath to Canada!

I passed the sign in the first picture after the others dropped down Fobes trail. In the second picture above, Spitler Peak is hidden in ominous clouds.

Pilgrim and I began our SUPER steep ascent up to Spitler Peak. This is hands down the steepest part of the trail that I’ve ever been on maybe with the exception being Mt. Baden Powell in a few hundred miles. This was SOOOOO steep! The fire must’ve destroyed the old switchbacks because, by golly, we went straight up the mountain... 

It was 2.7 miles of all uphill, and as we neared the top, other clouds started rolling in, as if almost trying to cut us off from the peak. It was cold but absolutely beautiful..

Looking left (west), into the gray abyss of the Jacinto hillsides. Looking right (east), is a sunny Palm Springs way down below!!

It definitely reminded me of the island of Oahu back home in Hawaii. It’s a small island divided right down the middle by a mountain range. I’ve been up in the middle of the island when half the island is invisible and half the island is a beautiful sunny day with not a cloud in the sky...

This is MacGyver. I met her on the steep steep climb just past Fobes cutoff. She is such an inspiration! She saved up for four years for her PCT trip, BROKE her back, lost mostly all of saving towards medical bills, and is out here on trail the very next year. CRUSHING it I might add! She is also doing the Spitler alternate. I actually saw her walking up the steep dirt barefooted! She has 0 blisters on her feet as she hiked about 1/2 the day barefooted (when terrain allows), and her feet stay dry and airy. I only thought to take a picture after she had put on her shoes for the rocky descent.

After finally arriving at Spitler Junction, it was time to go STRAIGHT back down! The real was very steep but beautiful. I caught up to Pilgrim who was right in front of me, and I asked him to take a picture of me, and he captured a great sequence!

Down down down down and down for nearly 5 miles. Finally, Pilgrim and I got to a road, and started walking (yup, you guessed it), DOWN it..

Looking up from where we just came from..

The road was an uneventful 2 miles. I FINALLY got service and called my baby for about 20 minutes. The wind was picking up and the temps dropped way down. I put on my rain jacket, beanie and gloves.. I was planinng on stopping at the trail head, but there wasn’t much for camping there and everything was very exposed. I figured I’d just walk a little more and find a nice stealth camp spot along the alternate further down. It’s forecasted to rain.

I ended up walking 3 more miles of the alternate, and finding a nice spot tucked next to 3 big, live pines. The needles make for soft ground and the trees are protecting me from the wind outside. Second night with the rainfly!

Stealth mode :)

Well, that’s it for today! I climbed about 4,100ft and dropped 4,800ft today! The feet still have 0 blisters, the knees and quads, not so happy, hahaha. Tomorow I climb a bit for 6 miles walking on a series of bike paths and dirt roads and the a residential road to get into Idyllwild by foot. Then it’s food time and warm cabin with a fireplace time!! (And laundry time)!! (And shower time)!!

Thanks for reading!!