Day 15: Mile 158.4 to 168.5

We started the day from our ridgeline campsite, and I was happy that it wasn’t windy and actually ended up being a nice place to sleep. I watched the sunrise getting ready for the day.

Yesterday was tough, but Clare and I resolved to take it slow and focus on having a good time, and our own pace.

The hike in the morning was good, just slow. The views were stellar— now that we were climbing into the San Jacinto area, there were bigger trees, different flowers, and more “alpine” vegetation. It felt so different from everything we had experienced so far.

About four miles in was our water source for the day, Cedar Spring, which was about a mile off trail. I ate some food, gave Claire some of my granola bars, and we watched people emerge from the pathway from the spring absolutely exhausted from the climb. We looked at each other trepidatiously, and soon took off ourselves.

Turns out, it was super steep going down, which meant even worse going up. But it was beautiful as well. We turned a corner, and all of a sudden there were huge western red cedar trees surrounding a tiny flowing stream. We stared in awe. The first big trees on trail!!

Filtering water is one of the most frustrating chores for me. As I was doing it in this beautiful place, I focused on enjoying the shade from the trees, the sound of the water, and just how special it was to be able to be here. There’s just so many places I don’t think I would ever see without hiking this trail, and I try not to take that for granted.

That being said, lugging six liters of water up that trail was a huge undertaking.

The day was filled with even more views, some of the best on trail so far. My foot wasn’t bothering me too much, and I was feeling so much better than yesterday.

The big talk of the day was the 1,000 foot descent and prompt 1,000 foot ascent at the end of the day. It looked insane on the topo map.

The descent was annoying, just slow since it was rocky. The climb was bonkers. The first 400 feet just felt like hard PCT hiking. Then, at a certain point, the gentle grade I’m typically used to just got thrown out the window, and I was just hiking straight up a hillside. This continued for another 400 feet, until the next part, which was just as steep, but with blowdowns to climb over. My feet were screaming. I was stopping so much. But the views were absolutely fantastic, and the trail was so much more rugged. It really felt like an adventure.

But after that, our ambitions plans to hike four miles after the climb were abandoned. We found a small campsite, and rather than try to squeeze our tents in with the other people there, we decided to cowboy camp for the first time!

After dinner and setting up camp, I watched the sunset on one side of the ridge and the lights turn on in Palm Springs on the other. It was such a wild day, and I’m so excited to get to town. It was so beautiful and exciting to be on the PCT today.

Day 16: Mile 168.5 to 179.4

I woke up early after cowboy camping, watching the sunrise over Palm Springs. The wind was blowing all night but we were strangely protected by the bushes and trees above.

Today would be lots more incline. I was so exhausted from yesterday’s up and down, and preoccupied with thinking of all the things I wanted to do in town. I had THE most beautiful views of the trail in front of me, and I was struggling to stay present. I reminded myself that this is what all the boring training hikes and the sacrifices were for!!

Seeing San Jacinto was incredible!! It felt like a real adventure.

But it was so hard! We just kept going up and up on super rocky terrain, sometimes feeling slightly exposed by the drop. It felt super safe to me, just thrilling, and nothing like I had hiked through before this point.

I passed the time hiking with a section hiker named Scott, who was maybe my dad’s age, who lived in Seattle. Having conversations while tackling incline is an incredible hack. I really love moments of getting to know people out here. We talked about our favorite spots in the PNW and so much more as we were crushing the elevation.

I met up with Clare at almost the end of the climb, and we finished it together. The trail dipped down into a forest. My legs were on fire after the insane elevation gain of the day. Unfortunately, we still had many miles ahead to get to the junction to get off trail, after which we still had to hike down to the trailhead. Clare and I passed the time chit chatting and being silly. I’m so beyond grateful I have her to hike with. It makes the trail so much more fun in hard moments to have a friend out here.

We were slightly concerned about getting a hitch into town from the trailhead, given that I was nervous about hitching in general and it seemed like no day hikers were on the trail. Thankfully, we met a section hiker named Chris just happened to be saying goodbye to the thruhiker he had been hanging out with for a few days, and his car was in the parking lot. He offered us a ride to the post office after an absolutely grueling descent down the Devil’s Slide Trail. It was aptly named because it felt truly demonic to be walking more after everything we had been through.

But finally we arrived in Idyllwild!!! I couldn’t believe it!!

Clare and I both got milkshakes to celebrate, a treat that we were talking about for days. Clare’s friend Justyna was in town, so it was fun to show her all the aspects of thru-hiker life.

It was Keith’s (aka Jungle Gym’s) birthday that night, so we went to the brewpub to celebrate with him. Later, Clare, Justyna, and I went looking for live music and food, and found a cute bar with a band of friends playing classic rock and folk (my favorite!!). I loved just sitting around listening to live music. It felt so special that I got to be here, and that I had walked so far to be able to enjoy simple moments like this. The boys came around to listen too, and we all had a sweet time laughing and spending time with one another.

I walked home to our room at Silver Pines Lodge at a reasonable hour in order to get as much sleep as possible after an intense day. On town days, I feel torn between having fun, resting, and prepping for trail. Regardless, I knew I really earned this town stop, and it was a big deal I had made it here. I settled into bed feeling proud of myself for getting this far.

Day 17: Zero Day in Idyllwild

It was so nice to wake up in a bed!! Idyllwild is one of my favorite SoCal mountain towns and I was excited to be able to spend some time there. But zero days are so busy, so I figured that I would primarily focus on getting my chores done and then get to have some fun.

I hit the gear store first. I replaced my lost spork and bought a new water bladder that would hopefully make water filtering less tedious for me. I saw people milling about the shoes and insoles, and thought I would compare my insoles to the demo pairs. I took one look and knew I had to replace mine! The employee said she never saw insoles so worn out before. My shoes were in bad shape as well, and had about 350 miles on them. I thought I might try to push them to Big Bear, another 87 miles, but the pain in my foot convinced me that I might as well try a new pair. I got the Topos Vistas, which are new for me, and I’m hoping they work out well!

After that, I grocery shopped and inventoried my gear, while listening to music. It’s so much work to get everything ready to go back on trail!

The highlight of the day was playing bingo at the Idyllwild Town Hall. We had seen signs from the Rotary Club advertising it and decided to show up. It was SO fun and silly. Unfortunately none of us won, but I’m so glad that we did it. It was special to be able to actually hang out with members of the community.

Everyone else wanted to stay out, but I just decided to grab take out and lay down for the night. I caught up on writing blog posts and made sure I was ready for trail.

I enjoyed this zero a lot more since I did things more on my own terms. I also just love Idyllwild! It was so nice to get a quality break after such a challenging section. There are more challenging sections to come (including going UP the hellish Devils’s Slide section), as well as high heat forecasted for the desert below us. I know I’ll feel good when I get on trail and get going. Sometimes the anticipation of it can get to me.

Look forward to more updates!