Day 16, Saturday, March 9. TM 109.5, Warner Springs Community Center—(4.5 miles)

I tried something new today that almost worked. When I got up at 6 to pee (there, I said it, I have an old man bladder) and make coffee (for the record, a completely separate water source for the coffee), I told Bunny it was 7. I mainly make coffee so early so I can have a half liter hot water bottle in my sleeping bag. It’s toasty! If I hadn’t fallen back asleep and started snoring, she would have gotten up. As it turns out, we made the trail at 8:40 just as Ivy, Dave (Wolf), and Cheesy Turtle passed our camp.

One advantage to the desert that I haven’t really mentioned is the ease of digging good, deep cat holes. If you’ve got to poop in a hole, this is a good place to practice your technique. I’m getting so good these days that I am intentionally digging narrower and narrower holes every day and I’m still getting “nothing but net.” Who would have thought I’d be the Michael Jordan of desert pooping?

We had intentionally walked further yesterday so we would be able to make it into the Warner Springs Community Center before they closed. Bunny had a new pack cover sent from Amazon to one of the volunteer’s house (they can’t accept packages at the center) and she said she’d bring it into the center today. Because we pushed on yesterday, we only have 4 1/2 miles to go today. We’d like to make it in time to have lunch.

Stich had told us we have to take the short side trail up to “eagle rock.” We weren’t certain what it was until we came over a rise and saw Cheesy Turtle walking towards it. I immediately saw the eagle about to take off (or land—it’s hard to determine rock image intentions). Bunny kept looking at it and couldn’t see it. She was looking for something on a much grander scale. 

We caught up with Ivy, Wolf, and Cheesy Turtle at eagle rock. This was the first time the five of us have talked together. We talked about San Jacinto and the Sierras about possibilities. We’re all in agreement about our approach to the situation. Take our time getting there and hope for the best. Ivy has hiked the Sierra before.  

The remaining 2 miles to town flew by. It was an easy decline into town. We were hoping to be in town by noon if we were lucky but we didn’t make that. We left our camp at 8:45, stopped at eagle rock for quite a bit and talked to a group of Boy Scouts, and then walked to town, all before 11. We averaged over 2.5 miles/hour. On the way into town, I was thinking of Martin Sheen. He’s playing an older gay man, the ex-husband of Jane Fonda in “Grace and Frankie.” I was trying to think of his breakout movie set in Vietnam with Robert Duvall and Marlon Brando. It wasn’t coming to me, so I made the mistake of asking Bunny. 

She started naming every war movie she could think of, (Saving Private Ryan, Patton, Bridge Over the River Kwai, All Quiet on the Western Front), none of which were set in Vietnam. I stopped a huge group of day hikers and described the movie. I got one nibble with “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” but none of the group of 20 were even alive. After we left them, it finally came to me…Apocalypse Now. Once again, I had to figure it out by myself with absolutely no help from anyone, just like my cooking. I do it all without any help. Woe, woe is me. 

We headed straight for the community center. We asked about Bunny’s rain cover, but the woman had forgotten about it. She offered to go home to get it, but we said it’d be fine if she brought it tomorrow. The set up is nice here. They allow free camping to PCT hikers under a huge oak tree next to the football field. They have bathrooms open 24 hours a day (no Michael Jordan practice tomorrow). And free charging stations and WiFi inside the center. They just ask for donations to help offset the cost. They even have limited resupply on site. 

We decided to set up our tents and then walked up with Cheesy Turtle to the Golf Course Clubhouse Grill for lunch. When we got there, Ivy and Dave has just arrived. Warren and Diane were also in back eating. We talked with everyone we knew as well as a few other hikers and some locals who were interested in our PCT quest. 

After lunch, we went shopping, just because. We think we’ve got enough food to make it to Idyllwild in about 5 or 6 days, but one can never be certain. What if our hiker appetites kick in. Bunny says hers hasn’t, but I had a 1/3 pound cheeseburger, fries, and a 12” pizza for lunch. If my appetite were to stay that way and we get caught in a snow storm on some pass…eating a Bunny wouldn’t necessarily be considered cannibalism. We are nearing the area of the “Donner all you can eat meat buffet.”

EFG

Bunny has worked very hard figuring out the technology of videos. Here is part one of our PCT adventure. I very proud of her effort and perseverance.