Can’t say that i’m surprised to have seen some snow but that doesn’t make it the best. But i’m getting ahead of myself.
Heading out from Warner Springs was nice. I got some hugs from a few more meadows before heading up into the mountains. Most of that climb i spent listening to The Adventure Zone: Commitment which was fun, i had a good time with it.
The next day i rolled into Mike’s Place for some water at around 10. They had made a bunch of pancakes for the big group of hikers who had stayed there the night before. I did my best to chip away at the massive pile of carbs over the next few hours chatting with the people there and cooking in the sun. They sang songs of dread about a storm coming the following evening. I rolled out a decent 18 that day after losing some time stuffing my face with pancakes.
The next morning was a brisk one. The water cache i hit up at around 830 had a log book that my frozen fingers struggled to write in. They were slightly more thawed when i rolled up to trail angel Mary’s spot which was ironic because it started snowing. Almost the whole was a gloomy one, only specks of sunshine peeked through the clouds but they were usually off in the distance.
Someone left some water at highway 74 so i thankfully didn’t have to do the mile down to Paradise Cafe into the sweet temptation of town food. Instead i made some ramen with pizza flavored Cheez-its and continued on.
The trail got interesting in the next bit. It zigzagged through giant boulders and dipped into cute little tastes of pine forests. On its way up to Pine Mountain i stopped for the night and set up my tent just in time for the snow to hit.
It only came down for maybe 15 minutes? I was listening to an interview with Sid Meier at the time so i’m not too sure. The next morning the snow was still hanging out in the shadows of all the trees up there on the ridge.
I dared to dream about a ~24 mile day to Idyllwild that day. The last bit of trail followed by the 2500 ft descent to Lake Hemet shook me, and the attendant at Hurkey Creek Park telling me i had 4 miles more to go than i thought stopped me in my tracks. I set up camp there and took an easy nero into Idyllwild today.
Eating a beefy omelet at the Red Kettle was delightful. Also this town has a gnarly infestation of hikers, it’s like a dang reunion tour. I got my gear at Mt. San Jacinto Park in the smelly PCT hiker area, but it’s already pretty crowded. I’ll probably have to cowboy tonight since it’s so packed. I still have to get my resupply though, but i’d like to do the rounds at some hiker boxes first to score some free food.
I’m hiking out with some bananas though ain’t no doubt about that
the path down from the closure was gnarly as well, with miles of road walk to boot. the desert sang soothing songs to my soul though, the muscular stress of the day as faded while the moment remains
idyllwild has a dog mayor, we didn’t have the pleasure of meeting
man i dunno 