Category: 2019 Pacific Crest Trail

I’ve got Wolf figured out. He’ll be ready 15 minutes earlier than agreed upon every time. From now on, I only have to get him convinced we’re leaving at 8. He’ll be ready at 7:45 and we’ll hit the trail at 7:30. I know this will only work one time, so I’ll save this trick for when we really need a jump on him. Today, we agreed to leave camp at 7:30. Amazingly, Bunny and I were ready at 7:25. Ivy and Blue’s Clues we’re ready at 7:30. Wolf was MIA. He’d left at 7:15. 

The prime motivator for the day was In and Out Burgers. We only had 12.3 miles to make it to the interstate and it was all downhill. Bunny and I are slow, but we should be able to cover that distance in 5 hours—that’s 2.5 mph. High speed for us. The four remaining tramily members walked together for the first 5 miles. We even got a 3 mile hour under our belts to start off. Who says food isn’t a motivator. 

We kept leapfrogging with an English hiker. I guess after passing each other several times it felt like we knew each other. Surprisingly, I was out front of everyone a good distance when I passed him again. He stopped me and asked if I might have some Body Glide. Trying to be helpful, I asked if he was experiencing chafing. He said “terrible.” I said “I’ve got something much better for you. I’ll give you some of my Vagisil.” Of course Ivy rounds the turn just as I say “I’ll give you some of my Vagisil.” He told me his trail name is Dignity. I gave my Vagisil to a man named Dignity. I think there might be a country song in there. 

Bunny and I decided we needed a break. This is when we fell behind Ivy and Blue’s Clues. Dignity passed us again with a big pep in his step. He said it was the best he’d felt walking in several days. It takes real men to share a Vagisil moment. 

At 8.5 miles into our 12.3 mile crusade, there is a water faucet that is provided by the local water district strictly for use by thru-hikers. We could see it for a good 3/4 of a mile before we got to it. It appeared Wolf was there waiting. We saw Ivy arrive and then a couple minutes later, BC arrived. We were only about 5 minutes behind BC. There was only about a 15 minute gap from first to last. This is a big improvement for Bunny and me. We’ve eaten a couple days worth of food and my pack only has about 6 days of food. This is a manageable weight for me around 42-45#. As a reminder, Bunny has bad hips. If her pack weighs anything over 28# she has terrible pain at night. That’s why I carry most of the food for both of us. It’s a small trade off to keep her out here with me (even though she ditched me yesterday).

The final 4 miles was a combination road walk and desert floor crossing. Walking in loose sand takes almost as much energy as walking in snow. Just yesterday, we had spent six and a half miles walking in snow, being cold, and looking at the desert wishing we were down there. Today, not even 24 hours later, we are walking in a hot desert on sand looking up at the snow and wishing we were back up there. 

When we finally made it to the interstate, everyone was there waiting plus a couple of German brothers we had met a few days ago. There was magic under the interstate in the form of cold sodas which we desperately needed. The Germans had already called for an Uber and Wolf ordered another one so we should all be ready to go to In and Out. We weren’t even at the road for 5 minutes before both Uber’s arrived. The Germans told us they had been waiting for over an hour. 

This was my first “In and Out” experience (virgin!). The Germans ordered sensibly just getting single burgers and splitting an order of fries. From personal experience, I know this is binge eating for them. I ordered a double double, fries, and a drink for myself while Bunny got a single, fries, drink, and chocolate milkshake. I then went back and ordered another double double. We showed them how Americans binge eat. Sadly, there were more people inside, who weren’t hikers, ordering more than us, showing them why we lead the world in obesity. 

With all that food I ate, I still managed to walk out of the restaurant weighing less than when I went in. It’s a very simple trick that doesn’t involve bulimia. I’m not a fan of throwing money away so directly. The answer is porcelain and reduced time in camp in the morning. (In case you have forgotten, that’s a double.)

The wildflowers were incredible all day. We caught another Uber back to the trail, this time with an Iranian driver, who, like our first driver, had never heard of the PCT and wondered if we were rich, crazy, or stupid. But, in any case, both agreed we were highly motivated to under take a hike from Mexico to Canada. We ran into some locals out day hiking to be out in the flowers. The smells were amazing walking down the trail. Incredibly amazing when you consider the flowers overpowered the smell of thru-hikers. It reminded me of being in a funeral home. (Can you think of a time when the average person is around more flowers than at a funeral?)

We had agreed to go another 4 miles after lunch and stay at the Mesa Wind Farm Office. They provide shade and water for thru-hikers as well as offering several other items if you arrive during hours that the facility is open. Because of our late arrival time, 4:30, they were already closed. We set up camp and then gathered with some new hikers in the gazebo to cook our suppers. With meeting a bunch of new people and hearing their stories, we lost track of time and stayed up past 7. 

While I’m writing this entry, we are laying in the valley below the largest wind farm in the state of California. To a person that loves sleeping with a fan, this is paradise. Not one, but one thousand wind turbines to serenade me to sleep. Benadryl? Who needs it?

EFG 

While we were sitting around the campfire, a lot of things came and went in camp. The clouds couldn’t make up their minds—foggy; no, clear sky; no, foggy; no, clear sky. We went to bed on a foggy iteration. Hikers also came and went. A group of 5 did stay and set up right beside us. They didn’t have a good night the night before because of heavy winds. They were happy for a quiet spot behind some rocks. They were still packing up when we left at 8. 

Having a port-o-potty in camp is a double edged sword. On the one hand, it’s very nice to not have to dig a hole. On the other, it tends to take mo re time. It really a good thing that we don’t have cell reception with access to the news or it would take even longer if I had reading material. I still like to relax and give my sigmoid colon a chance for a double shot. If it’s a hole, I’m a one and done type of guy. Much quicker. 

Bunny and I were the last of our group, but not the last out of camp. It’s nice having people on the trail in some ways. The trail was free of snow for the first mile, but as we climbed, it was apparent it wasn’t going to stay that way. We donned our spikes and kept climbing. The high point for this morning’s climb was 9100’ which was the intersection with the San Jacinto summit trail. The whole morning was walking on snow and ice.  We now understand the value of getting up early when walking on snow. The snow is frozen and iced over from the cold night air so the chance of post holing is greatly reduced. Piss holing still happens quite often, though. (Piss holing is a phrase I came up with for when your hiking pole goes about 4’ down in the snow. It’s a pisser to get it out.)

Another guy started hiking with Bunny and I near the junction of the summit trail. His name was Flare Hair for his bright red hair sticking out of his hat. I thought he was younger than us until I talked with him for a while. The bright red hair isn’t his, but is part of the cap. He is actually 67 years old and retired from Northrop/Grumman. He was an aeronautical engineer until he retired at 55. 

About 5 miles in the snow cleared off the trail and we caught up with Wolf. He told us he had fallen once and put a little strain on his ankle, but he was doing alright. He said Blue’s Clues and Ivy were waiting for us just a little bit ahead. When we caught up with them, I needed to refuel before continuing on. Flare Hair kept going and we didn’t see him any more today. Bunny thought we were through the hard part of the day, but I knew the worst was yet to come as evidenced by everyone waiting for us to catch up. We still had to traverse Fuller Ridge which the sheriff had tried to talk us into bypassing when he met us walking into Idyllwild. 

After we had finished our snack and Bunny put on her pack, I was amazed at how fast Ivy and Blue’s Clues disappeared down the trail. I don’t envy them their youth and strength (actually, I do), but the young f#&s are so damn fast. I am jealous and bummed simultaneously. It is so clear that we are holding them back. I’m glad they waited for us to catch up and stick with us through the worst part of the day, but it’s not fair to them that they are stuck with geriatric hikers. We couldn’t even keep up with Wolf, and he’s injured. 

When the snow started back up, Ivy waited for Bunny to catch up and stayed with her for the next 3.5 miles until we dropped down to a level below snow. Blue’s Clues stayed behind me and Wolf brought up the rear. It wasn’t as bad as we had built it up in our minds to be (it never is), but I was glad for the support from our friends. Now that we are through it, I am racked with guilt that we are holding them back so much. 

The plan for day was to make it to 17.9 miles, but I am just not physically able. They waited for us to catch up at a turn to a flowing creek and decided on a location about 4 miles shorter than planned. We tried to tell them to not keep waiting on us and just move on at their own pace. When we were in Idyllwild, we told them to pick a spot for the day and whenever we say goodbye in the morning, just understand it might be the last goodbye if we can’t keep up. They like Bunny too much to accept that. Me, they were ecstatic with the idea. 

Leaving the waterhole I kept dropping back. Even my wife didn’t seem too concerned and just kept moving. I went over an hour without seeing anyone at all. I was livid with Bunny. If I were to do this to her, she would be guilt tripping me to hell with “if only I had a husband who cares…”. She knows I don’t have a map or any form of communication. She carries an iPhone and an inReach. I made up my mind that from now on I’m going to carry the phone if she can’t bother to even look back and check up on me.

I know I’m old and slow. Part of the reason is because I was really overloaded. I know my pack had to weigh around 55# after I picked up 3 liters of water. I try to carry the majority of equipment and food because Bunny’s hips start really hurting her if her pack goes over 28#. We’re carrying 8 days of food and 7 liters of water between us. I never carried more than 3-4 days on the AT last year with 1.5 liters of water at the most. The logistics of resupply and water on the PCT are killing me. 

I wanted to stop. I couldn’t see anyone in front of me and I was sure there was no one behind me. When we had stopped for water, it was 3:30. I knew we had 3.3 miles to camp so I should get in around 5. I didn’t have a map (but I will in the future since I’ll be carrying the phone) so I could check on my progress. I’m the kind of person that gets motivated by knowing my progress. If I don’t have any kind of feedback, I lose steam in a hurry. I kept rounding bends hoping to see something, but never did. I am Easily Forgotten so it will probably take a day or two for anyone to even remember that I was hiking with them. This concept was reinforced by my wife’s lack of concern. 

I know I won’t leave anyone behind, but I know I’m the type of person that people like to ditch. I remember hanging from a rope with my toes barely touching the ground when we were doing pole climbing at Philmont (flashback to my teen years in Boy Scouts). The guy belaying me kept asking if Curtis was a good crew member. All anyone had to do was say yes and he’d let me down. Instead, I was kept dangling for about 10 minutes until he got tired of holding me up. I swore from then on I wouldn’t put myself in a position of needing someone to vouch for me. I know I won’t ever be first at anything, but I can sure as hell put enough effort into not being last. That’s why I rarely let myself fall very far behind the group. All I have to contribute to the group is my trail voice. Is that enough to get them to remember me?

I did have a bright spot last evening. A major milestone, even. What ticks me off is that I can’t remember the song. I remember we were all standing around Ivy’s tent and I sang a line of a song and Wolf sang the next line. It was so quiet that I’m not even sure anyone else even heard it or noticed, but this is a major victory for me. I’m stopping on a high note tonight. 🎶 Riding the storm out 🎶

EFG

I had a hard time sleeping last night because I kept worrying about the climb out of Idyllwild followed by walking on snow. I know Bunny was also worried because of her shallower snoring. 

While we were medicating Wolf’s ankle at the various establishments around town, we did happen to meet an assistant trail angel by the name of Grumpy. He told us he had to pick up a hiker at 9:30 Tuesday morning and drive him back to Paradise Cafe. Through the course of the meandering conversation, we discovered the hiker was staying where we were staying. We asked if Grumpy would be willing to drive us back to the trailhead and save us 2.5 miles of road walking. He had me send him a text message so he could set a reminder to pick us up at 8:30. 

Grumpy was absolutely punctual. He drove Wolf, Bunny, and me in the first shuttle leaving Ivy and Blue’s Clues for the second round. They both needed to charge their smart phones a bit longer this morning. (They are both in their mid 20s which means they are more connected to them than we are.) The trailhead has a latrine which proved too tempting to pass up. Part of the reason the 3 of us went first is we are the slower ones. Normally, we would have insisted Wolf wait for the second shuttle with Ivy and Blue’s Clues, but we’re hoping with his swollen ankle, he might be a little slower and closer to our speed. 

Who is this Blue’s Clues I keep mentioning? The former Kevin now has a trail name. He bought a new cup just like Bunny’s except that it had a red coosie on it. Bunny asked if he wanted to switch because everything he owns is blue. He gladly accepted. I hesitantly asked if he wanted to switch underwear since mine were blue—(mostly blue, anyway. Yellow and blue make green. Brown and blue make…brown. I guess that brown is dominant.) He laughed but said yes. In the end, I had to decline because his pink thong was a bit too much for me. 

Even with the little detour to the privy, Wolf, Bunny, and I hit the trail right at 9. I was hoping we had enough of a head start to make it up the trail to the saddle junction about the same time Ivy and Blue’s Clues do. I was worried about the weight of 8 days of food with the 2400’ climb. It took us an hour and 20 minutes to make the 2.5 miles and we all got there at the same time. Wolf is going slower today to make sure he doesn’t over tax his ankle. 

We met a woman and her two kids in their teens out for a day hike. She told us it was all snow ahead. I told her we were all on the PCT and we were ready for it. She then said she wished she could get the time off work to hike the trail but she didn’t see how she could. I gave her our secret…quit. I’m sure her husband will be pleasantly surprised tonight when she announces her decision. 

At the junction, we all dropped our packs and put on our spikes. 10 minutes later, we all stopped and took off our spikes because we were walking up the sunny, back side of San Jacinto. As expected, everyone quickly left us in their wake, even Wolf. I’ll have to pay attention to which way he sets up his tent tonight so I can kick the proper ankle to slow him down. 

We did have to put our spikes back on in another mile because the snow got about 4’ deep the closer we got to our high point of the day. When we got to the turn to the summit, we could see the signs peeking out of the snow. This is a huge improvement over last week because enough snow has melted that we can read the signs. On the San Jacinto Summit Report just 10 days ago, only the top of the upright was visible. 

There was just 2 miles tour camp from here. We turned and started the final 0.1 mile of climbing to our 9100’. We had all agreed to skip the summit because of it being so late in the day. It was already noon. As we started walking, I thought I heard a voice. We stopped and looked around. Wolf had missed the turn and was coming towards us. We thought he might have thought about going over the summit trying to follow Ivy and Blue’s Clues. He’d just been looking at his feet trying to be careful and missed the turn. He said the post holing got really bad in the other direction.

Once we got over 9100’, it was all downhill to the campsite with very little snow. Wolf stayed with us all the way to camp. We did stop a mile before camp to fill up on water since the camp is dry. However, there is an outhouse, so a mile long water Carry is very reasonable. 

We made it at 1:30. Blue’s Clues and Ivy already had their tents up. I sent in my forward scouting team to prepare a site report and choose the optimal location to bed down for the night. Stated another way, I had Bunny choose the tent site because I always make the wrong decision. We quickly set up the tent and I started cooking supper while Bunny did the homemaking. Yes, we had supper at 2. Maybe we’ll squeeze in a lunch around 6. 

It was a perfectly planned day. All of us sitting in camp at 2 having eaten and gotten all our chores done. The sun was shining and it was warm. And then the clouds started to roll in. The last thing we wanted was to go to bed at 4 again because of the cold. Bunny was the first to disappear. I tried to hold out but my toes were getting cold. We were both in our sleeping bags by 4:15. Blue’s Clues came down at 4:45 and said he and Wolf had built a fire. I guess we can burn the midnight oil a bit. 

EFG

We slept in. At least I thought we did. As usual, Bunny and I were the last ones up. I went downstairs and grabbed a cup of coffee while we watched some TV. A few episodes of the office later I asked Kevin what time it was. He said 8:20. There’s no way. We got up on a Zero day before 7. We stayed up last night past 9 and still got up early. What is happening to us? Are we becoming morning people?

Today was not filled with high expectations for major accomplishments. We only needed to get enough food to get us to Big Bear City and get some fuel. We had until 4 to get this done. At 4, we were expecting Jayne and Andy to show up so we could all go out for dinner. My only other task was to find a dog friendly restaurant because they are bringing their puppy, Zoe, with them. I didn’t really expect this to be a problem in a city where the mayor and his two lieutenants are all dogs. It turns out, it’s harder to find a non-dog-friendly place here. This is my kind of town. 

Wolf iced his ankle on and off most of the day. It only hurts him when he twists it a certain way. The bonus for us is that if he starts going too fast now, all we have to do is “tap” his ankle to slow him down to our speed. We did have a talk as a group today and we told everyone they didn’t have to wait for us because we know we are slowing them down. Kevin said he wasn’t in a hurry because once he makes it back to Agua Dulce, he’s going to wait until the snow melts enough in the Sierras for him to continue on. Wolf said he only wants to make 10-15 miles per day with all the snow coming up. Ivy said she just wanted to try to get back up to Acton by the end of the month before she has to go back to Alaska for her separation. Bottom line, they’re not going to ditch us yet. 

We were all on our own for lunch. Kevin and Wolf bought some chicken at the grocery store. Kevin ate his before going to a movie at noon. Bunny did some gift shopping and ate her leftover pizza. Ivy also went shopping and presumably got something to eat. I decided to try the Red Kettle which turned out to be a boon for all of us. I wasn’t wearing my Town Hiker uniform of Crocs, puffy jacket, and shorts. I went incognito and left my puffy behind and carried my iPad. I sat down at a table by another group of thru-hikers that I didn’t know. I might possibly have been eavesdropping because I heard them talk of a local who said to spread his name and number around for rides back to the trailhead. I leaned over and asked if I could take a picture of his name and number. They couldn’t believe I was a thru-hiker with an iPad. I’ve said many times, I’m not an ultralighter. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent preparing food, packing, and blogging. As it got closer to time for Andy and Jayne to arrive, I moved to the porch so I could see them arrive. They got here right on time. Ivy and Kevin had gone to have a personal audience with the mayor so they weren’t here. Ivy had just sent a picture of the mayor to Bunny, so she was getting all dolled up to meet him. Just Wolf and I were here to greet them. 

Bunny and I had met Jayne and Andy on a fairly miserable day early on. They were turning back just shy of Mt Laguna because Andy wasn’t feeling well and they were a little worried by the snow. We had stopped and talked to them for about 15 minutes in passing, but we had hit it off. They started reading my blog and, amazingly, are still willing to talk to us. We’ve been writing back and forth for a few weeks, so we were excited that they would come all the way up to meet us for supper in Idyllwild. They knew we were traveling with Wolf and Ivy, but didn’t know much about Kevin. We met him in Warner Springs, but he’s only recently caught up to and started hiking with us. 

Zoe is their 9 month old golden-doodle. She was scared of me at first but immediately took to Bunny and Ivy. She’s a sweetie! The 8 of us walked down to La Casita Mexican and got a large table outside. We had a great time getting to know each other better. We talked about the possibility of them joining us in Northern California after we jump past the Sierras. I think it’s going to happen. 

Unlike us, Jayne and Andy are both retired and they’re the same age we are. They live in San Diego but are thinking of downsizing to a van and seeing more of America. They still haven’t been to the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone. They are living the dream life that I would have liked to if only I had made some smarted decisions along the way. Yes, we are doing what we want, but add in financial stability (and a dog) and I’d have no worries (other than premature graying, underarm odor, smelly feet, obesity, feminine hygiene…the whole gambit of television commercials I’ve seen today). Or maybe I’ll just binge on Netflix and forget commercials and life will be fine since I’m not being told differently.

When we got up Monday morning, the plan was to go to the Post Office to mail extra stuff home then head back up to the trail. I came downstairs at 7:30 and saw Wolf trying to put on his shoes and socks. The swelling had not gone down at all, so I suggested we take another zero day. It was the smart thing to do. The last thing Wolf needed was to hike up 3500’ and find out he couldn’t walk and then have to hike back down.

And then the justifications began. Another day of rest would be good for Kevin’s knee. Bunny would have time to send a card to her son since she just got his address. I would be happy to have an actual day of rest now that we’ve got all our chores done and I’m up to date on the blog.

Idyllwild is a great place to spend an extra day. There’s plenty of restaurants which we went out for immediately—why waste an eating opportunity? After the Post Office, we demanded that Wolf rest and treat his ankle. Step 1 was to work on internal healing which was best accomplished through a visit to the local winery tasting room. Ice will be step 2 once the wine has been consumed.

Monday night is American Legion food night in Idyllwild. Food is already inexpensive and good, but I’ve never had the chance to visit one with a full bird Colonel. I’m all for coattails.

EFG

Fifteen tents in camp and who’s the last to leave? It’s not a trick question. There were only 2 women in camp last night and everyone is well aware that Ivy is always faster than us. Since women are slower than men in most/all ways (this is not a controversial statement to start an argument, just a simple fact—deal with it) we were the last ones out. It wasn’t because we were waiting on my pack to be finished packing. I even went over and started talking to the only guy left in camp, Daniel (not that Daniel), trying to slow him down so we’d have a chance. It almost worked. We walked out right behind him. 

We didn’t hit any snow until almost 200 yards down the trail. We should have stopped and put on our spikes, but we saw Daniel just ahead of us flying over the snow packs without any problem. I gallantly let Bunny lead (she actually prefers to have me behind her and I’m afraid to have her out of my sight, I never know if she’ll push me from behind forgetting that we don’t have life insurance). As long as we didn’t look down the slopes, everything was fine. If I looked down, I got a feeling of vertigo. Probably not the best phobia to have at 8400’ elevation.

After about a mile of this, we turned a corner and could see nothing but white as far as the eye could see. It’s not really that bad, I have glaucoma and am extremely near-sighted so maybe it wasn’t all that far. Nonetheless, I suggested we stop and put on our micro-spikes. The change in our speed was noticeably faster. We went from a 40 minute mile to a 38 minute mile. It was like we were flying. We even caught up with Daniel in another half mile. Never mind that he was stopped for a snack. 

We started seeing day hikers after a while and they weren’t wearing anything on their feet (other than shoes and socks—no spikes). They told us it was snowy all the way to the saddle junction but then the trail heading down into town was clear for the most part. We thought we’d be able to keep up with Daniel since we were wearing spikes and he wasn’t. We were wrong. When he started heading down at the junction, we told him to let people in our tramily know we had survived the 4 mile walk in the snow and ice and we’d eventually make it to town. Even though this was all snow and ice today, it was still much better than the over 5000’ of elevation gain we had yesterday. 

It was a beautiful clear day on a Saturday so there were lots of people out. We ran into well over 50 people climbing the trail to the saddle junction. What they were going to do once they made it to the top and all the snow, I had no idea. For a slight change of pace, I tried talking to several of the people we passed. I know this is a little out of character for me, but I’m trying to come out of my shell a bit. 

When we did make it to the bottom, we ran into the sheriff and a deputy out on scare patrol. They tried to tell us to skip Fullers Ridge when we go back out because they almost had to go rescue a couple of girls who lost the trail in all the snow. From the looks of one of the guys, I’m not sure he had ever ventured further from his car than the donut shop, but I could be mistaken. I’m sure it was all muscle in front. 

I tried to yogi a ride to town out of them but they weren’t going for it. They kept telling me our lodge was not far at all, especially compared to what we had already hiked. Two and a half not trail miles is about two and a half more miles than I like to hike when off 5he trail. We thought we’d try walk8ng and a generous person would offer us a ride. After a half mile, we could see we couldn’t rely upon the generosity of strangers and decided to use our thumbs. Also, to no avail. It took us an hour to walk all the way into town. 

As usual, we were the last to arrive. Everyone else had already taken showers and offered to wait for us to do the same. Insisted, almost, but Bunny was ready to eat. When Bunny is hungry, that means now! She turns into a killer bunny with huge nasty teeth. The only thing that will stop her is a holy hand grenade or food. We chose the food as the easier option since we had forgotten the launch sequence.

We kind of went separate ways for a bit after lunch with Bunny insisting upon a visit to the grocery store for breakfast fixing and beer. (Surely everyone has had beer on corn flakes at least once in their lives.) We also contacted Andy and Jayne once the beast was tamed to let them know we are in town. We had met them on our 3rd or 4th day on the trail and have been communicating with them. We were hoping that they might join us for another section of trail, but the timing didn’t quite work for them right now, but they are going to come up and spend some time with us tomorrow. 

We got caught up with everyone’s day at lunch. Ivy had taken a small spill (which we saw the slide marks in the snow) and then put on her spikes after the fall. It was actually her fall streak that had inspired us to don ours. Wolf had made it safely across the snow without incident only to step over some rocks on the trail into town and twist his ankle. It was swollen but didn’t appear to have anything majorly wrong. Kevin is young. He had no problems at all. He was first in town and headed straight to the bakery for food while the rest of us caught up.

After my forced shopping trip, we headed back to the house. To everyone’s relief, we showered and did laundry. Wolf and Kevin went out and bought fixings for nachos with ice cream for dessert. Between the nachos, ice cream, and beer, we watched TV and forgot all about going out for supper. Can you imagine—thru-hikers making due with only two meals in a day?

EFG

Episode #7 of our trail odyssey 

I set an alarm for 6:15 so we’d get a head start on everyone in the morning. Not too long after we went to bed, we heard a couple more hikers come in and set their tents up beside us. I recognized their tents from the night before at the Paradise Cafe. How could they possibly be getting in that late? Granted, it was still light out and not even 6 yet, but it’s only 8 miles. Did they eat all 3 meals at Paradise?

Last night was one of, if not the, coldest night we have had on the PCT yet. I actually broke out my sleeping bag liner and used my raincoat to bundle up my feet. Both helped keep me warm, but Bunny was not a happy camper. I had to place her butt pad under her hips in the middle of the night. (At least it was dark when I did this so it could have been anywhere between 7p and 6a.) On the bright side, I hadn’t drank much yesterday so I was slightly dehydrated which meant I only had to get up to pee once all night. 

In spite of her shoddy job of packing the tent yesterday, I still made my lovely bride breakfast in bed. This has become a morning ritual for us which will fall by the wayside once we enter bear country. I’ll let her enjoy it while it lasts. Even with our early start, Wolf as out of camp more than a half hour ahead of us before we even emerged from the tent. We were out moving in time to see Ivy head out. But Kevin, he was moving slow. His stuff was spread out everywhere. We beat him out of camp before he even started loading up his pack.

Ten minutes down the trail, we were making the second stop in our 5 minute morning break routine when Kevin passed us up like we were standing still (which we were—I think this was the “I’m too hot” stop). Kevin went ahead of us and waited at the next switchback. We thought he might be waiting for us. He was in a way. He was waiting to catch a candid shot of the old folk wheezing as they rounded the turn, then he was a dot. 

About a mile further on, we caught up with Spam, Cougar Bait, Ritz, and Navi just packing up and getting ready to start moving. It was past 8:30. These might be our trail soul brothers. We chatted for a few minutes before we headed on. The last thing we say to people when we leave is “We’ll see you when you pass us. Everyone passes us.” They never did. We’re wondering if we should call the authorities. 

Three and a half miles from where we camped last night is a trail junction that leads to a spring. It’s a mile downhill to the spring making for a two mile round trip. We saw Wolf’s, Ivy’s, and Kevin’s packs all sitting below the trail sign. We thought this might be our opportunity to get a few miles ahead so that we might be able to cross the icy section of the trail as a group with them. We left scribbles in the dirt indicating we had continued on. We had less than a liter and a half of water left, but I was hoping for some snow melt or an unknown stream. There’s no way I could walk an extra 2 miles and even hope to finish within a couple hours of everyone. 

A mile further, Bunny and I were feeling confident we had some distance between us and the group, so we got cocky and stopped for a drink and a snack. No sooner than we sat down did Kevin pass us talking with another hiker. He looked up and asked “how did you get ahead of me?” The little punk had walked an extra 2 miles yet still expected to stay ahead of us after having left camp after us. I need a transfusion of his blood. Hopefully, he is a sound sleeper. Ivy and Wolf were not too far behind him. 

We managed to finish up in time to get ahead of Wolf, but we couldn’t maintain that position in line for long. We had only gone 5 miles compared to everyone else’s 7 miles, yet here we were pulling up the rear once again. The rough area of trail that Bunny and I are afraid of is supposed to be at 11 miles in today. We didn’t want to go through it alone, but at current rates of hiking, they’d have to wait over an hour for us to catch up. We just can’t keep up with these youngin’s (even though Wolf is slightly older than us, the military has used the latest alien technology to give him the gift of youth).

Two miles further, cold and alone in the fog, we came up to a huge patch of icy snow with a steep slide down the mountain if we mis-step. I tried to start across, but got spooked. I turned around and said we need to put on our micro-spikes. As we were trying to put them on, a couple of people from San Diego, out for a day hike came up behind us. She tried to humor us and agreed to put on her spikes. He said he was just going to walk in the dirt above the snow. Bunny looked at the way I had put my spikes on and said one of us had to have put them on wrong. I humored her and turned mine around to match hers. I was slyly trying to build her confidence by intentionally putting my spikes on backwards. 

Across this 50’ long section of snow was nothing but dirt. Bunny and I had considered turning back, and probably would have without Brad and Bliss there to give us confidence. We walked with them for the next mile. They were planning on turning down a side trail and heading back to their car, but they decided to hike on with us out of pity for the frail old folk. I’m sure they had a hint of blood in the air and wanted to see if old blood is still red which they were sure to discover if I had to put my spikes on again.

We came to a trail junction and heard voices ahead. The fog lifted long enough for us to see Wolf, Ivy, and Kevin…they had waited for us. I had told Bunny not to be so pessimistic, our friends wouldn’t leave us, but members of the rodent family are not optimists by nature (an owl is going to swoop down and eat me; the cheese is too good to be true, there must be a spring trap; etc). We thanked Brad and Bliss and tried to catch up with the group. They had checked out the trail and saw several people go over the saddle rather than around the back side of the mountain. This is exactly what Bruce Almighty had told us to do. If they hadn’t been waiting for us, it’s hard to tell if we would have taken the right path, though. 

Upon getting back on the trail on the other side of the mountain, we started falling behind once again. Bunny and I hadn’t had a break since the morning when everyone passed us after their water trip, and I was beginning to feel each and every one of my 85 years. I was thirsty and needed some calories. Just as I was about to collapse, we came upon a nearly depleted water cache. Wolf left a quart for me which I squirted in some caffeinated mix and downed along with a Gu. Bunny snuck ahead leaving me all alone. I later found out that she claimed she was about to offer me half of her Snickers but she had decided I was mean and ate it all. I have a saint for a wife. 

The final 4 miles were just a complete drudge to me. I felt like a zombie. We could see the sun just ahead of us, but every time we about caught up with it, either the trail would change direction away from it or the wind would pick up and blow in a cloud on top of us. I was confident everyone in camp would know of our approach by the preceding clouds. 

I insisted upon one more stop less than a mile from camp. I didn’t want everyone to see my 85 year old trail transformation lest they be afraid they might have to call for a rescue. I opened up my snack bag and saw that I had 5 Dove Promises left. I wasn’t going to let Bunny have any in exchange for her generosity with the Snickers, but she did snag one before I could stop her. I had no choice but eat the other 4 in revenge. 

As we rounded the the final bend before camp, we found a snow melt stream. I had just given Bunny the news that she wouldn’t have extra water to brush her teeth tonight because we only had enough to make our supper and breakfast, no drinking. Instantly, we were water rich. We stumbled into camp with 5 liters of water. We had been invigorated by the sight of an orange tent in the distance but found a bunch of downed trees in our way. 

Wolf had placed his Tyvek down to hold us a place and it was a good thing. There must have been 15 other tents in the area. It was windy and cold. We just set up our tent and crawled inside for the rest of the night. We spread our Tyvek out underneath our pads and flipped it up to help break up the wind a bit.  I put on all the clothes I had, cooked supper, and started feeling better. As soon as we were done eating, the wind died down. To our surprise, it turned out to be a very pleasant night. It was barely dark and already someone was snoring. Two Benadryl should take care of this. 

EFG 

Wolf and I were up before 7. Bunny was still snoring while I packed up most of my stuff. All she had to do was roll up my sleeping pad, take down the tent, and put my stuff in my pack. Last night, I told her how I pack it (in front of witnesses). I pack my stuff the same way every day so I’ll know immediately if something is missing. Paradise Cafe leaves the outside bathroom open for the hikers to use since they don’t open until 8. That little gesture on their part made a world of difference for me. The drive down to Palm Springs to return the rental was infinitely more pleasant (this is a drink if there is any question). 

Absolutely no problem returning the car. Well, minor problem returning the car. They couldn’t close the contract and had to call Melody up in Ridgecrest, but she took care of it. While that was going on, I got rid of the liquid residual from my large coffee. Once business was done, Wolf did the same while I called for an Uber. Craig showed up so fast I didn’t think Wolf would make it. He happened to be right in the airport. 

It’s almost an hour drive up to Paradise Cafe and Craig was easy to talk to. This was his first time up to the area even though he has lived in the area for decades. We suggested he bring his wife up to Idyllwild sometime because it was such a cute mountain town. When he dropped us off at the cafe, we told him it was great food and reasonably priced. He decided to park his car and come inside with us.

As we drove up, we noticed 4 tents still standing out back: Wolf’s, Ivy’s, Kevin’s, and ours. We had been up 2 1/2 hours driving all over creation to return a car and they hadn’t even bothered to do anything other than eat. Kevin came out just as we walked in and said the breakfast was amazing. Bunny came out and tried to claim they left the tents up to dry while they ate and there was a delay because of a gas problem at the restaurant. I know the truth…Bunny’s slow moving mornings are bleeding over and infecting Kevin and Ivy. 

Wolf, Craig, and I went ahead and ordered breakfast while the 3 of them went to pack up (finally). We talked more with Craig. He was 50 and had just been driving Uber full time for the last few months. Last year, in July, he had put in a vacation request for 3 days off in December to go to New Orleans to celebrate his 50th. Nothing was said to him until the week before he and his wife were going when his boss said they couldn’t let him have 3 days off. If they did, everyone would want time off. He’d worked for them for 5 years. It would be too hard to cover him for that time. He asked how hard it would be to cover him for 5 days a week for 52 weeks a year. He liked New Orleans and said he’d drive Uber until he didn’t have fun with it. 

Craig even shuttled the 5 of us to the trailhead when we got done eating at 11. Bunny packed all of my stuff up and even carried my pack up to the cafe. I was wearing my fleece and had to put in my pack. I opened it up and saw that Bunny had completely ignored my packing instructions. If I ever borrow her phone and try to hand it back to her, I’m hit with “is that where you found it?” and have to return it to the exact place in her pack. I thanked her for her effort and then repacked all my stuff, the right way, in front of the restaurant. I give her a “B” for effort—she did get everything in the pack even though she glaringly ignored my instructions. I ALWAYS do everything EXACTLY as she says to avoid any arguments. I’m just that easy going of a husband. 

There had been well over 10 tents behind the restaurant last night, so we were expecting to see a lot of people on the trail. Wolf and I had told a few people how we had flipped up and a group of 8 hikers decided to do the same and avoid the snow down here. We were surprised that there was no one on the trail with us. As expected, Kevin and Ivy shot out front and we rarely caught sight of either one the rest of the day. Wolf hangs back for a little but he eventually gets fed up with our pace and takes off. Bunny and I figure “8 miles, what’s the rush?”

Only one Hiker passed us all day, Home Made. She’s from New Zealand and got her name because she made her own pack. Once she passed us, Bunny and I had the trail to ourselves. We crossed a couple of streams early on which made me wonder about the water situation at our camp. I noticed we were heading to a dry camp, so Bunny and I loaded up with about 5 liters of water which, if possible, slowed us down even more. We didn’t make it to our rendezvous until almost 3:30. 

The three of them were eating supper when we arrived. Wolf had placed a piece of Tyveck on a flat spot to keep the hordes from taking our spot. Bunny and I started to set up the tent just as a group of 4 hikers came up. They saw the full site and moved on. As I unrolled the tent, I had no choice but downgrade Bunny’s previous “B” for packing effort to a “D-.” She has not folded the tent at all but just stuffed it in the bag. If I had been aware of this earlier, I would have had to stop and fold it properly. The only thing more annoying to me was when Bear kept desecrating maps on the AT last year by folding them against the creases just to keep the elevation profile readily available. And he claimed to be an engineer!

I made our supper while Bunny did the nightly tent decorating. She likes to have a homey touch since this is her primary residence for the foreseeable future. She likes the craftsman motif for our country home. Once she got done, she joined the party for our supper. By then, Kevin decided to have his second supper for the night—he’s only 25. It’s just a matter of time until he gets fed up with the geriatric hiking pace. 

As soon as the sun started dipping, not setting, just getting lower in the west, the temperatures started dropping like a rock. Bunny said she was going to get in the tent—it wasn’t even 5! I tried to tough it out, but then Ivy agreed. She had already switched to her ninja sleeping suit but still said it was too cold. Kevin wasn’t ready to turn in and decided to climb the nearest mountain to try to get some photos of the sunset. That sounded too much like work for me so I opted out of that one. Wolf was already turning in circles to instinctually flatten the grass to sleep on, so I said to hell with it and went to bed, too. It was 5:15. The heady 6:30 nights are already a thing of the past. 

EFG

It was supposed to be a leisurely day. That’s why we decided to have a late breakfast at 8. I was actually ready about 15 minutes early so I decided to walk down and knock on the doors of Wolf and Ivy. Before I could get the second tap on Wolf’s door, he had it open. As I suspected, he had been up and ready to go since 5. Ivy wasn’t ready and said she meet us at the restaurant. 

It wasn’t Denny’s, but it was a good breakfast. We were all done eating by 8:45 so we started walking to the Enterprise Rental Car Office. We sent Bunny and Ivy back to the Motel to finish up packing while Wolf and I got the car. When we walked in, they said they had been trying to reach us. They would not have a car until 11:30 at the earliest, so we should go eat and take our time. What’s the point of a reservation if they don’t keep up their end of the commitment. They were charging us $250 for a one day rental. We had Kevin waiting up at Walker Pass for us to pick him up at 10. They didn’t offer to go pick him up. They didn’t offer us a discount. They barely even said sorry. 

Wolf and I decided to go check out other rental places. Ultimately, we got hold of Melody at Dollar Rent a Car and she had a car for us before 10. It was a Kia big enough for all 5 of us and was only $100. The only catch was that we had to return it to an airport by 10 tomorrow morning. That really only added about another 1/2 hour to our overall delay but for the savings, it was worth it. Melody has a history with PCT hikers. A couple years ago, she was up at McIvers Cabin and rescued a hiker that was on the verge of dehydration. He called her an angel when she gave him water. We, too, call her an angel for saving us and helping us get back to Paradise Cafe. 

We checked out of the motel and picked up Kevin at 10:45. A little late, but a couple hours earlier than we would have been able to if we waited for Enterprise. I think I’m through with them. They wouldn’t offer us any assistance or pick us up or drop us off as they advertise. Now the rush was to make it to Idyllwild before the post office and the outfitter closed. That meant we couldn’t even stop to eat because of the delays. It all went well from now on, we’ll make it to Idyllwild by 4.

The nice thing about renting the car under Wolf’s name was that only he could drive. Stated another way, we had a chauffeur for the day and only had to ride. We chose the route on the east side of the mountains to avoid LA traffic. Even so, we had to go through San Bernardino to get to Palm Springs (there’s only one road open into a Idyllwild because of the February flooding). Traffic was tense, especially when we were driving through the mountains. 

Wolf managed to get us into Idyllwild by 3:45 in time to get to the Post Office and outfitter. I needed new tips on my hiking poles but the local outfitter is not an authorized Leki repair supplier. They ended up breaking my poles even more. I tried to call Leki but they were already closed for the day. I had no choice but buy another pair since we are heading into snow and ice where we’ll need micro spikes and hiking poles at a minimum to make it across. I was not happy with the outlay and know that I’m screwed because Leki won’t reimburse me. What good is a lifetime guarantee if you can’t get service when you need it?

Earlier in the day, I had tried to contact Osprey customer service because the pack I sent into them last winter is falling apart. I never thought I get fed up with either company, but now I’m willing to consider changing. I also have a Gregory pack which I might have to switch to. Getting replacement gear along the PCT is much more difficult than along the AT. Everything seems to be a bigger logistical problem on the PCT. 

We ended up setting our tents up behind Paradise Cafe and then heading in for supper. We ran into Gus while we were eating. Gus is the old guy that drove us to Santa Clarita a few weeks back. We discovered he is 87. We asked if he could possibly pick us up at the Palm Springs airport tomorrow but he is busy. It’s not a big deal, with all the money Melody saved us, we can get an Uber and still be money ahead. 

I wasn’t hungry even though we had only eaten breakfast this morning. Nonetheless, I know we aren’t eating for today, but for the trail tomorrow. I forced myself to eat a little burger and fries. The name of the burger was “the Motherlode” because it has a couple of 1/3# patties, bacon, cheese, and all the usual toppings. In fairness, I couldn’t quite fit my mouth around it, but I still managed to clean my plate and had Bunny’s fries for dessert. I felt into a meat coma so sleep was very pleasant. 

EFG

They wandered the desert for 40 days. On the 40th day, they discovered the promised land. A land with coffee. A land with bacon. A land with sausage. A land with pancakes. Yea. Verily, they were delivered unto Denny’s. 

We tried to find a way to get back to Paradise Cafe. This is California. Aren’t all roads supposed to lead to Paradise? We thought we could get a bus to Mojave where we could get another bus to Palm Springs. It turned out the bus from Mojave would take us through Bakersfield, which we were trying to avoid, and the price for the bus and travel time…yada yada yada, we are going to rent a car and get there more directly, faster, and cheaper than the bus. 

After we finalized our travel plans, we celebrated with an ice cream stop. From my vast dairy experiences from last year on the AT, I wasted no time in my selection of a banana split. For a mere $0.20 more than a triple scoop of ice cream, I get a banana, whipped topping, 3 cherries, nuts, strawberries, and hot fudge. There’s not a better bargain on the planet. My 3 lame companions claimed they were too full for such a great bargain. Everyone knows ice cream only fills in the voids and does not actually take up any stomach space. 

Bunny claimed she had work to do and went back to the hotel room (where I eventually found her napping) while we went to the Maturango Museum which has a few exhibits on the history of the north Mojave including the geologic, animal, Native American, and early European settlers.

While we were still full and Bunny was not with us, we went grocery shopping to get enough food to make it to Idyllwild. Funny, for the first time, I am not weighed down with a crapload of extra food. I wonder if there might be some connection to Bunny’s absence. 

Kevin (Hike Alone) texted me yesterday and said he was only 30 miles from Walker Pass and he was planning on making the 1:20 bus tomorrow. I texted him today and told him we have a car and can pick him up if he steps it up a notch and gets in by 10. There will be 5 of us heading to Paradise tomorrow. 

Just one more meal and it was a day. We ended up walking a couple miles in town today so we burned off some of the excess calories we wanted to carry out with us. It’s tough to stay on top of food on the trail. The only task left for us is to eat the microwave popcorn we have been carrying for the last hundred miles. Work work work.

EFG

It was so cold last night that neither Bunny or I were willing to get up to go pee in the middle of the night. Instead, we just lay awake complaining until I rolled over on to Bunny which caused her to pee in her sleeping bag. I started laughing so hard that I peed mine as well. Now we have to carry soaked bags into town today and find a laundromat with big machines to wash them out. Just when we thought our packs were getting lighter because we’ve eaten all the food, they instead increase from the urine weight. Welcome to our life on the trail. To top it all off, today is April Fools Day. I never peed my bag. Bunny…

It was right at freezing and it did make for miserable sleeping. We were at 6700’ so that played a part. We did get up early and were packed up in record time this morning. No one was around to witness it since Wolf left about 7:30 and Ivy left around 7:45. We hit the trail at 7:58…our best start in sometime. (I do miss Bear and Sassy who made us feel better about being slow.) 

Not long after we got on the trail, we noticed someone hiking about 1/2 mile behind us. My first inclination was to think “damn, there’s other people out here. The trail is going to get crowded and suck now.”  We’ve had the trail to ourselves for the last couple of weeks and I’ve liked it. It’s all about to change. 

By the time Bunny decided she needed a pee break, I had accepted the fact that there were going to be other hikers out here. I was actually surprised he hadn’t caught up with us yet. We sat down on the trail and had a snack waiting for him to catch up. We were about to quit waiting and start hiking again when we heard someone say “Bunny Tracks and What’s His Name, I’ve been trying to catch up with you for a couple of days.”

We were confused. I wasn’t 100% certain who this was, but I thought it might be Bucky. We hadn’t seed him for about 4 weeks. I said “we saw you behind us and were talking about you yesterday. I was going to check your YouTube channel and see where you were at.” This opened him up to a full conversation. As soon as he started talking, I knew it wasn’t Bucky because he never talked this much. I was too embarrassed to admit I’d screwed up and just kept the conversation going. I eventually got his name as Bruce Almighty and figured out he knew our names from the trail registers and from Bunny writing our names in all the snow patches (eventual “leave no trace” graffiti).

Bruce had tried to make it into Idyllwild and had failed. He jumped ahead with a couple other guys to Acton just like we had. He has been a couple days behind us and closing the gap until he finally caught up with us today. It’s amazing, even with a case of mistaken identity, it felt like we had know each other for a long time. Trail life just brings everyone together. 

In all, we had taken a 45 minute break and we needed to make up some time. There is a bus that runs into Ridgecrest at 1:20. With our early start time, we thought we’d be there no later than 12:30. Now we had to make up the difference. I kicked it into high gear and started down the trail. Surprisingly, Bunny kept pace right behind me. We covered 3 miles in about 50 minutes—our fastest pace ever. We were on track to make it to the pass before noon, even with our big break. 

We did meet another sobo hiker and stopped to talk with him for a bit. I asked his name but he only had a real name and no trail name (which I won’t reveal for privacy reasons as will shortly be seen why). He said he was on his way to the meadows and we wished him luck. I walked about 20 steps before stopping and yelling back “which meadows” thinking he was meaning McIvers Cabin and Meadows. He said Kennedy. I was afraid of this. The poor guy had climbed 1100’ and walked 3 miles in the wrong direction. I felt bad, but I had to stop him from going further in the wrong direction. He dropped his pack to check his map and looked a bit dejected, but he’s young, strong, and not a thru-hiker, so he’ll be fine. 

We made it to the pass just as an extended cab pickup truck pulled away from the shoulder. I was betting Wolf and Ivy had gotten here so early that they decided to hitch in rather than wait for the bus. Bunny told me to chill, they were around. We walked all the way to the road looking for a note but there wasn’t one. Bunny turned on the phone and we had a text. They had gotten a ride at 11:53. It was now 11:58. We had just missed them. 

I was thinking it was going to be a long wait. There was no traffic at all and the bus was almost an hour and a half out. I told Bunny we needed to walk back to the top of the Pass so any cars coming would have time to see us and pull over.  As we were walking back, 3 cars came in a group, but none of them even acted slightly interested in slowing down. Dead road again. I saw another car coming and dejectedly put up my thumb. Fourth car and success!

John offered us a ride all the way to our hotel. He lives around Lake Isabella on the other side of the pass but goes to Ridgecrest to shop rather than drive down to Bakersfield. He regularly picks up hikers as he’s driving back and forth. John is originally from Ohio but has lived in CA since about 1990. He’s semi-retired and wanted to get out of LA. He chose Lake Isabella because it’s nice but not popular with the LA throngs because if they come that far, they usually continue on to the Sierras. 

Ivy had reserved a room for us, so we just went to the front desk and gave them our charge card number and he gave us a key. The place is a block off the main drag and is an old style motel. The rooms have been recently remodeled and have microwaves, refrigerators, and big screen TVs so we’re set. As is first priority whenever we get into a town, we dropped our packs and headed to the closest buffet, which just happened to be Thai. 

The truck we saw pull away from the pass did not have Ivy and Wolf in it. They had gotten a ride down the pass to the junction where the driver was going the opposite direction of Ridgecrest. Even when it comes to hitchhiking, they are twice as good as us. We only got one ride into town where they had two. That’s why we were only about 10 minutes behind them getting to the hotel. 

The owner of the hotel is originally from NE India. He offered to do our laundry for us once all the rooms were cleaned. That means we have tomorrow to get a couple days of groceries and figure out how we’re going to get back to Paradise Cafe. Kevin did text us and say he’s going to be at Walker Pass in two days. I thought he’d take more time to recover, but he’s young and doesn’t like to left home alone. 

EFG

The latest release from Bunny Track productions: