Day 10
Start: San Diego County Line
Finish: CA 74 to Idyllwild
Daily Mileage: 18.8
Trip Mileage: 151.8
I was up and out early today as the sun rose which is typical when town is on the horizon.
The terrain continued similarly, winding around desert hills with mountain ridges on the horizon. I went down for a while and grabbed water from a flowing stream. There were a couple water sources early in the day, but then no more for the rest of the day. I had been planning to stay at the last campsite outside of town to not take a full zero day tomorrow, but once I realized that I would have to carry a full day and night of water, I gave up on that idea and decided just to get to the road and camp in town for $5.
The day was warm and sunny once again, and I used a slightly slower hiking pace and plenty of electrolytes to keep moving steadily on.
Since the terrain is similar, I tried to focus on the plants more today, taking pictures of the many desert flowers that are coming out. It is getting really colorful, and at times the air was filled with their aroma. Not something I would have expected in the desert. I have not hiked it in the spring before though.
I met a group of hikers taking a break and we chatted for a bit. They were arranging a hotel for the snowy night tonight, and asked if I wanted to join. I said sure if there was some extra room. We hiked on together and leapfrogged around.
The trail went through a nice drier, rockier section which was quite scenic, but also hotter with the sun reflecting off the rocks and back on me. It was still just in the 70s today, but it feels so much hotter out here.
After noon, I was beginning to feel lower in energy, and I realized that I hadn’t sat down the entire day besides briefly to get water in the morning. I took a nice break in the shade of a bush to restore. It is so easy for me to go go go and not stop, and I need to work some more on pacing myself at times.
After my break, it was a cruise to the road. San Jacinto revealed itself ahead with its snowy peaks and ridges. This is the next challenge and the subject of much discussion among the hikers. The trail goes to 9,000 feet through deep snow on top of ice, so it may not be safe to cross with our minimal gear , in addition to the new snow coming. We will have to see what it looks like after the storm.
I got to the road and walked the mile to the Paradise Valley Café where I had mailed my ice axe to myself. Since it was short, I decided not to try and hitch and just get it over with. A good burger and beer at the café and there were plenty of other hikers there, new and people I had already met.
The group with the potential hotel room arrived and a trail angel showed up and offered 5 people a ride to town. There were 6 of us, so I volunteered to hitch since I was tacking on to their group, but then they said they would not have room at their hotel for me. That was disappointing especially since I volunteered to hitch and was there first, but I could still camp in town, so I went out to the road and got a hitch in about 20p minutes.
I set up camp at a state park in town and went to the brewery where I found Gandalf, Justice, and Adam and we discussed the trail ahead and then checked out a couple other places around town before bed. It was starting to snow as I got into my tent for the night.
1 comment
I cannot do 20 miles a day but I would love to smell the aroma of local plants on the trail! Must be wonderful!