Day 12, ~7 miles

Last night it rained super hard, I’m glad I got done with my 20+ mile day “early” and set up my tent before the rains began. Since it’s my birthday, I slept in today the longest I have yet! I didn’t leave my bag until nearly 7am! The rain was not supposed to come in hard in Idyllwild until about noon so I figured I could celebrate and take it “slow” this morning.

It was soooooo hard to motivate myself to get up! When I finally did, and peeked out, all I could see was fog. Brrrrrrr, it was cold! I reluctantly got all my stuff together and rolled out around 8. Just 6 miles to Idyllwild, easy right? WRONG. 

At least we know my tent and vestibule and Tyvek work great in the rain/winds!

Even adorned with all my rain gear and possumdown gloves, I felt pretty cold and soaked in the almost freezing fog/mist. I started with some music to motivate me to get my butt up the steep wash-out ravine that was my trail for half of the day. Realizing my phone was only at 30% and was probably dying quicker in the cold, I decided to save it’s battery for when I might actually need it at unmarked junctions in the alternate.

I didn’t take many pictures because most of the walking today looked like this:

It seems I had brought the EXACT amount of food, as my last Jolly Rancher completely dissolved just as I was approaching town.

The road section of the alternate felt WAAAAAY longer than it actually was, for to my tired, wet and cold feet + lack of scenery + the uphill of it all. But it sure did feel good to finally walk into Idyllwild! 

Cool statue in town

First stop was the outfitter, Nomad Adventure. They were super cool but unfortunately didn’t have the right size of the insoles or the new Injinji toe socks I wanted to but there. Darn these gigantic feet! Luckily, these things are not a necessity as the 1000+ mile insoles from 2016 pretty much still fit these new shoes, and I still have my pair of XL Darn tough socks that I can swap out with the Injinji until I find another pair of XL’s. 

I saw Julian in town and he told me that check in for the cabin was at 1:30pm. I had a few hours to kill so I went to the post office to pick up my birthday packages and then went next door to the pizza place to grub some food and go over all the items I got in the mail! 

After eating and talking to my mom and dad, I soon saw Ben and sat down with me and bought me a birthday beer!

Ben

There was a wall in the pizza place that said PCT 2016 on it, and there were polaroids of at least 200 different hikers from that year. I don’t think Claire and I are there, but we saw some familiar faces!

HR and Beast!!

All of a sudden I looked at my phone and it was well after 2pm! Ben’s girlfriend was meeting him in Idyllwild at 4, so he decided to come hang out at the Inn for a few. We  headed over to the Idyllwild Inn, (conveniently across the street), and entered a full house! 

Julian’s girlfriend, Julian, his Grandpa and Mom

They also had their two little dogs hanging out for a bit. Shadow and Joseph were also there. At one point someone came by to fix the heater and was like “Sorry I just have to ask: how many people are staying here tonight?” Haha. We assured him that the family would be leaving and only the hikertrash would remain.

My birthday haul! :)

This is my moms care package and sisters/fathers care package combined! I got so many special treats that I’m so excited about! From chocolate to Macadamia nuts to gummy bears and even powdered peanut butter! Thanks guys!  

Not shown is the awesome blister care package from Dona, Claire’s mom. She sent blister healers in bandage form, cushion form, and little toe sleeves so my toes won’t rub together if I get a new blister! They weigh practically nothing and will be good to carry as I’m sure my blister days aren’t 100% done. Thanks Dona!!

I spent some time having good conversation with Shadow today. I’ve mentioned him a few times so far. He’s really really cool and has taught me little things about France every now and then. When someone burps in France everyone has to say “Gofio!”, and the last one to say it gets a slap on the forehead! 

 We talked about the job he left and how the PCT just feels right in this time in life regardless of backup plans or lack thereof. We both believe that the trail opens up new opportunities that might further and better your life in a direction you’re actually happy with and not one that you just followed because everyone else did or strictly to make money, even if it requires 80% of your life to be spent doing something you’re not passionate about. Wow, long sentence.. I’m muy delirioso! I’m writing this close to 10pm!

Shadow

I was also able to take my first REAL shower of the PCT! It felt sooooooooo good! Actually having my toes clean felt amazing! I think I’ll wait until Big Bear to wash my dreads again, since it’s so cold here there’s no way they’d dry out completely in one day, and I just washed them in Warner Springs a few days ago.

With most of my food until Big Bear recently obtained from my family, I went to the store to get some sunscreen and hand sanitizer and just a few more food items like a fresh honey crisp apples and tortillas and cheese :)

The others went out for and nice dinner but since I was still so stuffed from lunch, I decided to stay in. Not that I didn’t want to celebrate my birthday, I just felt like I could save a little money, especially since I wasn’t that hungry! 

We’re still undecided about heading out tomorow or staying one more night. The forecast is looking pretty bleak, with snow until about 10am and then rain until 8pm after that. 

You know, you might be thinking, “sounds like David’s birthday wasn’t super eventful and the hiking looked kinda bleak. These things may be true, but in all honesty, the best gift for me this year is being blessed and lucky enough to be out here on the trail, with enough money to thru-hike this year, with no major injuries or illnesses, and with amazing family and friends cheering me on and supporting me and my crazy dream. A birthday is just that: a day. What matters is your state of life, and I’m absolutely loving mine! I appreciate you all so very much! 

Thanks for reading!