Into Every Life A Little Rain Must Fall... But Come On, Really?

4/26/14  Saturday.

At 1:30-2:00 pm the rain woke me up, gusting wind bursting through the tent I checked all tent corners, satisfied everything was ok,  I went back to sleep.  Later I heard Peggy get out, her tent corner had collapsed and she was repositioning her tent stakes.  Not too much later I had the same issue, not enough soil and too much sand, we couldn't get the stakes to hold firmly. Then rain began to blow in, not too bad but just enough to keep me from sleeping. Things were getting damp. After a couple of forays into the rain to set my tent up again, my clothes were wet.  Finally Peggy and I decided to grab our stuff, take down the tents (timing it so they didn't blow away) and make a dash for the car where we stuffed wet things into the trunk and ourselves into the car. Wrapping our sleeping bags around us we reclined the seats and fell asleep. 

About 7:30am I awoke and thought I was in a cloud, water dripping from the foggy windows!  We dashed outside to make sure we hadn't left anything, we were planning in getting out of there quick. 

But Noooo, that would have been too easy!  The car locked itself behind us with all that we owned inside. No amount of ranting would open it up, meanwhile the wind blown rain was coming down and we were very sad, miserable girls. 

Two hours and two borrowed phones later, a tow truck arrived.  Five places to initial, one signature and a wave goodbye we drove off, our goal: breakfast, recharging my iPhone and the nearest REI to buy me a new tent! 

Encinitas, California was our destination and my iPhone got us there. REI had 1 tent and I set it up before buying it. We dried our wet tents in the parking lot by a UPS store where I mailed it home to Robin. 

Peggy had been talking about her family who she thought lived nearby,  we were not on a tight schedule ( the car couldn't be turned in until Monday anyway) so we thought it would be fun if she could at least touch base with her cousins.

Two calls later we were driving into the driveway of her cousin John & his wife, Lorene's lovely home just 3 miles away!  We thought we were stopping just to say hello, but in reality we were walking into solace. The first things that I noticed were giant richly hued succulents and an unusual pine tree shading the front drive. The textures and colors were welcoming! 

Dinner included Peggy's Aunt Sally & a friend of the family, Denise, who coached  me in yoga we could do on the trail to keep us limber.   We enjoyed great conversation and an offer to overnight in their home. We couldn't have imagined a more welcoming change from the rain soaked night before!

The next morning we had breakfast and walked down to an overlook to watch surfers catch waves as brown pelicans soared overhead. 

These two girls are a

loooong way from the Pacific Crest Trail!

John & Lorene (with Sophie their sweet dog) 

Now you two are part of our story and our hike!

We arrived back in Hemet, Ca Sunday afternoon we will call Dave and meet him here tomorrow morning for the ride back to Idyllwild and back to the trail. This has been a trip of extremes, almost surreal at times and the trail north is calling.

4/24-25 Th-Fri. Zero Days

Chores, food resupply, showers, hydrate, hydrate , hydrate!  I can't seem to drink enough water which means I was pretty dehydrated. 

 Walking around town locating the Post Office, Deli, Grocery, Library etc. we were welcomed and drawn into conversation with shop keepers who had small tokens for hikers like mini bottles of water, the library had printed out the latest water report for hikers to take for free. Idyllwild is a really nice town.   It is laid out at the base of the rugged San Jacinto Mts. which rise up steeply from the back of the town providing a stunning backdrop.  There are old, gnarled oak trees all around town mingling with Sugar and Ponderosa Pines. It's a beautiful place geared to welcome PCT hikers. 

Peggy had been in contact with a lady who had offered to pick us up from Idyllwild and take us with her back to Lk Morena for the PCT kickoff Friday- Sunday (4/25-4/27). By 9:00am we'd not gotten a call from her so we called around eventually locating a trail angel named Dave who suggested we might want to rent a car ourselves, he offered to drive us to Hemet 35 miles away so we could do that. He then offered to meet us on Sunday in Hemet to drive us back to the trail!  We didn't want to accept such an extravagant offer but he insisted it would get him out of a day of yard work and he'd enjoy the chance to do this for us!  So...10 minutes later we were on the road to Hemet with Dave, a gem of a trail angel, and by 11:00am we were driving ourselves to Lk Morena.

Arriving in Lk Morena around 4:00pm there were to be 1,000 hikers at the kickoff + vendors and forest service rangers as presenters. Tents were everywhere as well as hikers in clean clothes and those who'd just hiked in from the border 20 miles away, dusty, dirty, sweaty but happy to have completed the first 20 miles of their trek. 

I bought a new backpack belt that would fit me as I lost weight, keeping the weight of my pack on my hips instead of my shoulders. 

We had dinner, listened to a very informative talk by a Forest Service Ranger on how to store your food in bear country and bears habituation to humans (humans,  and bears who are not afraid of them never mix well & usually ends with the bear's destruction).   Then a compilation of short films by PCT hikers which we all enjoyed. By now it was cold, windy and dark so Peggy & I turned in and went to sleep. 

4/20/14 - 4/23/14 From oak savannah to the desert. From beautiful flowering Yuccas to snakes.

We were thinking of leaving the Warner Springs Community Center when they announced last call for cheese burgers. Our hands shot up!  No need to cook  a camp dinner if we could go out with full tummies from Warner Springs. We got on the trail at 4:30pm traveling through oak trees and meadows, working our way into foothills up to Agua Caliente Creek and campsites by 7pm. We got tents up, filtered water for tomorrow's miles (which we hear are to be pretty warm) and tucked into bed listening to choruses of frogs.

Our tent site under a huge Live Oak Tree.

4/21/14 Monday   12 miles

Resting along the trail

Today it feels hotter that it has been, we took a breather by the trail, drank Gatorade and hiked on. We entered more desolate desert areas filled with granite boulders. 

Peggy & I both use Golite umbrellas which have proven helpful in the hot sun.

Just after this photo was taken I saw a 2-1/2 ft garter snake,  I'm glad I saw it because after that I began to be more vigilant than I'd been previously.

Needing more breaks due to heat but trying to get some miles done while we were able, we traveled into a huge boulder strewn valley & met a couple struggling in the heat too. They were from Yellowknife, Canada & hiking the PCT. We'd seen them in Warner Springs. After a bit I was walking along between boulders &  heard a loud rattle, I knew it was a rattlesnake but I couldn't see it... I danced around and eventually fell into a bush on the uphill side of the trail, I just knew I was falling into that snake.. I was a goner.   Peggy grabbed my hand and hauled me up as we backed up the trail. The snake was just off trail on the other-downhill side, I never could see it but it was sure loud.    Once the adrenaline rush subsided, we dashed away up the trail, nervous energy flying around, glad to have escaped CERTAIN DEATH.  I think of the episode as Shake, Rattle & Roll. 

I actually saw another rattler an hour later 3 ft ahead of me lying stretched out in the sun.  This time I stopped quickly and the snake slithered off the trail rattling as it went & Peggy saw it too.  After 3 snakes that day I was ready to be finished hiking.  We found a grotto of shade and holed up for an hour then made the final 3 miles to a water tank.  This tank &  property is owned by a man who allows hikers to use his water, pitch tents in his yard,  and for a fee, he'll serve dinner.  It's a welcome oasis in the desert.  We put up tents, chatted with other hikers and had a decadent lasagna dinner. It was a long hot day but we ended up having good conversation with the couple from Canada. 

This doesn't look like desert but it is.  Very dry, boulders with chaparral, cactus and some surprising wildflowers.

4/22/14 Tuesday.  17 miles

Peggy & I were up earlier than usual trying to get a jump on the heat. Yesterday had been a hard hot day for all of us and we all had the same idea...get up and out early. 

We climbed up to about 6,000 ft elevation and entered  part of the Anza Borrega State Park.  Pink, red & cream colored granite. I was wondering out loud what made the bright colors on the rocks so  Peggy gave me a lesson on 1 celled spores that land on rocks and consume sulphur, antimony and other elements giving off the wonderful yellow, burnt orange and bright green colors.  By the time the hike is finished I may have credits in Biology 101!

There was a breeze all day and cooler than yesterday, it was a pleasure to hike so we made good time.  We decided to pass going to a spring and opted to stop at a cistern to collect a liter of water. We stopped in the shade of a juniper tree and chatted with a man from Corvallis, Oregon hiking the trail too.  This is what a lot of the country looks like.

Back on the trail around 3pm we got to a water cache created and stocked by trail angels. It's a life saver, I don't think I can hike fast or far enough to make it without a couple of the caches. We take only as much as we need to get to the next water source,  never waste the cache water.   Peggy & I decided to hike 1 more mile and camp on a ridge of big boulders. There were about 8 of us camped amongst them and there was a pretty stiff breeze so we knew it would be a cold night.

Night fell quickly, winds were stiff and coyotes  were yipping.  Not much sleeping was going on in my tent. I was hoping the big rocks I'd carted to my site would hold my tent, no way to pound a stake in the rocky soil.

4/23/14. Wednesday.  8 miles to Paradise Cafe (+1 mile walk from the Hwy)

Brrr, cold and windy ALL night long!

Up at 5:30 hiking by 6:30 it was a while before we warmed up. Kind of boring hiking these 8 miles but we did see the result of water on the granite hills. It looked like a mini Grand Canyon.

We arrived at Paradise Cafe at 11, ordered huevos rancheros and chowed down, we were hungry girls!  Then we hitched a ride to Idyllwild with a young woman named Kathleen who gave us all kinds of information about the trees, the burned area where the trail is closed for 28 miles etc.   Thanks so much, Kathleen, for the ride to town! (here's a photo.)

Once registered at Idyllwild Inn we showered, had laundry done,  washed gear, caught up on email at the library, researched bugs, trees & plants that we'd seen, grocery shopped etc. You get the idea. It's lots of work taking a rest!

We are here 1 day sooner than expected and will take advantage of their outdoor stores and facilities to fix gear etc. and we're planning on getting a ride back south to Lake Morena to attend the PCT kickoff. There will be a water report, gear venders, opportunities to get advice from hikers who have experience hiking long distances.  Peggy wants to discuss her tent with the maker of it and maybe pick up tips on her hiking poles. 

We plan on being at kickoff from Friday- Sunday 4/25-27 and resume hiking either Sunday or Monday 4/27 or 4/28. I'll let you know!

Bound For California

Work is finished! 

Seasonal work at the best CPA office in the world wrapped up the 2 1/2 months of my employment for 2014. 

Having my own Trail Angel supporting me has been a blessing! Robin I could not do this without your support, I love you! Your encouragement means the world.

Waking early the next morning (4/16/20) Robin drove me south for 11 hours and finished the drive the next morning (4/17/20) in Julian, meeting Peggy at the Julian Library around noon. She had started at the border at Campo 4/11, arriving at Scissor Crossing where I had stopped hiking last September after finishing the Washington section with her.

Meet up with Peggy was great, she had another hiker with her named Caty who joined us for lunch and the ride back to the trail.

Caty, Peggy and I under the bridge on Hwy 78. A hiker hangout before starting into the dry hills and 14 miles to another water cache.

 There was a group of hikers waiting out the heat under the bridge, resting and chatting. We ate bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon before taking off 4.5 miles up the trail. 

Thanks Susan for the salmon, what a decadent treat to eat under the Hwy 78 overpass!

After 4.5 miles that evening we pitched tents in a wash and were wakened in the night by a loud border patrol helicopter patrolling the area.

4/18/20 Friday

 Caty left early and we've not seen her since, she's a thru hiker and is headed for Canada. There are lots of hikers on the trail, young and old. 

Beautiful  fuschia  colored cactus flowers and a tall Yucca plant that blooms once, releasing seeds and dies.

It started off cool and clear but heated up fast. We hiked 10 miles and stopped at 

3rd gate where there is a water cache supplied by a trail angel, no running water for miles, there is a 2 liter limit. We are all so grateful for the hard work it takes to keep it supplied, on this drought it can become a necessity. We pitched tents just in time for a thunder &  lightning storm that rained for 20 minutes and evaporated before it could really wet the ground.

 A full moon made the night seem like there was a floodlight turned on my tent. 

4/19/20 Saturday

We made conversation prior to setting off this morning with Scott from Boulder, Co who is hiking for a few weeks as far north as he can go. It soon warmed up enough for us to get out our umbrellas for shade while hiking. I need to work with my set up but shade was welcome!

We crossed the 100 mile mark today, someone else set it up and we took a photo of it.

We hiked 10 miles to Barrel Springs, a concrete trough fed by a piped spring. Tadpoles were swimming in it and of course we filtered the water! 

We rested 3 hours in the shade of large live oak trees & talked to many hikers coming through going both north & south. Scott was resting there so we picked up conversation with him as we waited out the heat. 

We began hiking again around 2:30 as the cloud cover looked enticing. Winding through boulder strewn, cactus & coyote brush covered hills we were surprised to cross green meadows with one or two live oaks standing sentinel. Really lovely.

We came to a small stream with benches made up of ground granite that looked like a good camp spot. Scott chose a spot back in the oaks and we all had dinner on a rock as the evening fell. 

It turned out to be damp and chilly resulting in a pretty sleepless night for me but I was determined to rest any way. I peeked out my tent door during the night to see the Big Dipper hanging just above me.

4/20/20 Easter Sunday!

It was cool and damp and I finally put my wool cap on during the night. We got hiking around 7am in pretty cool clear weather. After a short climb we came to open meadows with islands of big boulders . Peggy alerted to a much traveled path 40 yards off trail and we were happy to have explored because that was the famous Eagle Rock. We took time to do photos and enjoy it thoroughly. 

 Then we were on to the Warner Springs Community Center where breakfast is served at 8am and lunch a few hours later. 

We caught a text from Peggy's friends, Nanine & Francie. They were "Peggy hunting"  and close by, they'd try to meet up with us this morning!

About 1 mile from our destination we saw 2 green Easter pails by a tree filled with fresh fruit, spritzers, Easter candy and chocolates! Out from behind a tree jumped Nanine and Francie! What a complete surprise and so much fun! 

A very fun surprise on the trail!

We hiked together to the community center, rested, caught up with trail friends, washed hands, faces and drove off up the road for BBQ lunch. Made plans to possibly meet with Francie on May 10th for R&R near Wrightwood. They left us after lunch with fruit and small bags of Fritos & chips driving back to their homes and work. MANY THANKS for a memorable day!

We went to plug into the electricity at the center so left our packs and stuff on the lawn of the center. One of our friends came in to tell us the crows flew off with my 2 chip bags...well... RATS! 

We covered things up and had to laugh, it's a good story anyway! 

Our plan is to hike 6 more miles tonight, camp and try for Paradise Cafe by Wednesday. Because of a trail closure due to fire last year we will hitch to Idyllwild from the Cafe. That's the plan anyway. There is WiFi here and Peggy is updating us on the ADZPCTKO which we'll get a ride to from Idyllwild for 4/24-26 then hitch back to Idyllwild.  I'll post every few days or weekly as I can. 

Warner Springs Community Center dining room, very hiker friendly! What a great treat for us all.