Lions, Donkeys, and Coyotes, Oh My!
Mile 218.5
After spending several days in Idyllwild waiting for the group to summit San Jacinto (I’m so proud of you guys!) Shortcut and I woke up this morning and left around 9am. We had originally planned to meet the tramily at mile 190 up on the mountain, but after some communication and logistical issues, we decided to make things easier and meet them at the bottom of the descent, at Interstate 10. We caught a hitch with a Trail Angel named Debbie who was kind enough to drive us 45 minutes out of her way to the city of Cabazon. Seriously, an ANGEL. We couldn’t believe it, and were so grateful.
Once we got to Cabazon we stopped at In N Out to grab burgers for the gang. We ran into another Trail Angel named Nitsy who brought us to the post office to meet up with Camp Daddy and Girl Scout. It was awesome to see them. They had just done 19 miles the day before, and 3 that morning to get to the I-10, so they were feeling pretty cooked. Super Noodz, Zip, and Mountain Man were planning to get in to town later that afternoon, and then spend the night in Cabazon. I would have loved to see them and hike with them, but after spending several days in Idyllwild after I’d already been there for a couple days before I’d left to attempt San Jacinto, I really felt like I needed to get moving.
After the post office we walked to Dollar General to resupply, but ended up somewhat stranded there for several hours. No Ubers or Lyfts wanted to pick us up in Cabazon. We later found out it was likely because Coachella had just ended the day before, so everyone was getting more expensive ride opportunities out near Palm Springs.
After being there for 2 hours, a Lyft driver actually showed up, and me, Shortcut, Camp Daddy, and Girl Scout all got dropped off at the I-10 overpass that the PCT goes under. We made our way through rolling fields of wildflowers. Hot day, but also windy. Since we started around 2pm, it was a bit of a slog, but we made it happen.
My low point was an 800 ft climb over a mile and a half or so. I could feel I was dehydrated and low on energy. After taking a good break at the top, drinking more and eating, I turned on the Mamma Mia soundtrack and started pushing the last 3.5 miles. Luckily that was the most beautiful part of the day. Tons more wildflowers and ridge walking with amazing vistas. Still wasn’t easy terrain, but much better than that earlier climb.
Each time I get to ridge walk, I think about how this is exactly why I’m hiking the PCT. Moments like that.
We got to the junction that would lead us to a campground about .5 off trail. We started making our way, and about halfway I realized we needed to cross White Water River several times to get there. With no way to rock hop across, and no logs to move along, we ended up getting our feet and legs wet with our first real river crossing of the PCT. It was a bit scary but also exciting. Girl Scout went through first and paved the way. I swear that girl is fearless. Then I went second, then Shortcut, then Camp Daddy. We did each crossing just the same. Finally we made it to camp around 7:45pm, my latest arrival so far. It was a long day but I’m proud of us.
The three I’m with are all quite fast, so I feel a bit like I’m just trying to keep up. But if I get moving, I make it the same distance as them, just a little bit behind. I’m so ready to sleep now, I’m absolutely exhausted. Not sure what tomorrow will bring, except I know we have to cross the river a LOT. Whitewater only once, but then we dance with Mission Creek for a while. Wet feet, wet feet! New experiences every day.
Mile 229.4
Went almost 11 miles today. This morning we left camp pretty late, around 9am. After about a mile and a half we came upon Whitewater River. It was moving fast and looked like it wouldn’t be easy to get across. The others scoped out a spot and went for it. All three made it across, although Girl Scout’s footing didn’t look quite as sure as the others, which made me nervous because we’re similar heights. On the flip side, Shortcut went across first and she’s the shortest of our group. It looked like it was raging pretty good in that spot, but I decided to give it a try.
I started to make my way toward the middle of the river. The first few steps were fine. The water was freezing cold, but manageable. Once I got a few feet further, I started to feel the immense force of the water against my legs. The larger rocks my feet had to navigate below the surface started to feel like slippery bowling balls. After a few more steps, the current was so strong I felt my feet sliding backwards underneath me. I told myself I either needed to commit and keep going, or bail right at that moment. I decided to backtrack.
Still on the south side of the river, I started looking upstream. Not even that far, maybe 10 or 15 feet up, it looked marginally better. It was still moving swiftly and didn’t look great, but I felt better about trying out this new spot. Camp Daddy watched me from the other side as I made my way. The current was strong and the water was flowing up above my thighs. First trekking pole, then right foot, second trekking pole, other foot. The whole time facing up river, moving slowly but deliberately. After a minute or so, I’d made it safely across. It wasn’t easy, but I’m glad I chose the spot further up river. It was just a touch calmer than where I had tried to cross before, and it gave me some confidence knowing I made the right decision for myself.
We had a nice break, dried out our feet, and all had a snack. I also dunked my head in the water to wash the sweat out of it since it had been several days since I’d showered.
We moved on and had a bit of trouble finding the trail in the washed out and dried river bed on the other side, but managed after a bit of confusion. Then started the climb. We had two pretty big climbs today, and they certainly weren’t easy.
In the middle of the day before having lunch, I was feeling a bit sad because I knew everyone was up ahead of me and I felt slow and isolated. Its a bit of a kick to the morale when you know you’re the slowest and that everyone else is up ahead. Once again I listened to some music. High School Musical 3 and Mamma Mia. I’ll have to download more musical albums to listen to. It’s like listening to a story, I can always see each scene in my head, and it helps pass the time when it’s hard.
We spent another break at Mission Creek after lunchtime. I had a bunch of snacks and water, and felt a lot better after that. We also were traveling in more of a group at that point, which I tend to prefer. Normally I can’t keep up with these 3 throughout the day, but because we had to cross Mission Creek about 15 times at the end of the day, it slowed the group down, and was helpful to stay together so no one got lost.
Finally we made it to camp. We’re camping in a kind of dried up river bank. I have the fly off my tent and I can see the night sky. The moon is bright even though it’s only half full.
I definitely miss Zip, Mountain Man, and Noodz. We always have such good conversations throughout the day, and tend to hike together more often than not since we have more similar walking paces. Especially at the beginning of the day, which makes the day go by faster and is really enjoyable for me.
We plan to leave camp at 7am tomorrow, and we have lots of river crossings still. I’m really wanting to make sure I get up and moving, because our plan is 12 miles and it’s all uphill. It’s 4000 ft of elevation gain. Near the end of the day we should encounter snow. I need to mentally prepare myself for a tough but good day. I don’t want the fact that I’m missing some of the others get in the way of having a good few days.
I’m also looking forward to testing out the snow again. It’s not supposed to be sketchy like San Jacinto, so I feel better about it. However, I have the least amount of experience hiking through the snow and I’m also the slowest of the group… Sleep desperately needed so I stop overthinking.
Press “Play” to see my crossing of Whitewater River.
Mile 241.4
I had a really nice day today. We started off with lots of river crossings, so I was happy the girls stuck together so I didn’t get lost. We crossed through Mission Creek probably around 10 times, and so I was happy with a mid morning break we took to dry our socks and shoes out.
The second half of the day I decided to listen to some podcasts for the first time on trail, and it was so enjoyable, I’m not sure why I haven’t done that yet. I’ve only listened to music so far. I really loved listening to the conversations, it helped pass the time.
The second half of today had a gradual incline the whole way. It wasn’t easy necessarily but much better grade than what we’ve had the last few days. It was also very picturesque. At one moment I took a video to share with Erich, because I knew he would have loved the views today.
The last part of the day was probably my favorite. I had to carry 4.5 liters (10lbs) of water which I was a little worried about, but the grade wasn’t too bad and it was beautiful trail all the way to camp. There were patches of snow and big pines, boulders, and views that were glorious. I had a podcast going the whole time, and it took me right to camp. My pack didn’t feel too heavy and I feel like I finally got another hiker high. I loved it.
Hopefully that terrain is an indication of how tomorrow will go. It’ll be my first real time hiking through snow, because the tiny bit before I bailed on San Jacinto was only about 10 minutes of the whole day. Tomorrow we should be walking through patches of snow almost all day. Another day of wet feet, but that’s ok.
I’m hoping I feel good tomorrow. I want to wake up in a good mood, and feel stoked for the day. I’ve had a little insecurity about holding this group back and not being able to keep up, so I really want to make sure I pack up camp on time tomorrow. 4:30am wake up call.
Mile 256.2
Feeling really proud of myself today. Not only was today my biggest mileage day (14.7), but it was also new terrain for me. The morning started with a 4:30am wake up and 5:30am leave time. We started off the first few miles all hiking together. Once we hit the snow, Camp Daddy took off and we didn’t see him until camp later. The girls all stayed together through the snow, but once we started climbing again I let Shortcut and Girl Scout press on so I could go my own pace. I leapfrogged quite a bit with the Umbrella People, but after lunch didn’t see them again. We probably won’t see them until after Big Bear Lake, the next town stop.
Around lunch time we came across trail magic! This felt like my first real on-trail trail magic experience. About a quarter mile from the Onyx Summit parking lot, I got a message on my InReach from Shortcut telling me to follow the trail magic sign! I was so excited. I saw the sign shortly after and immediately turned down the hill away from the trail. When I rounded the corner, there was a gentleman there serving hotdogs, chips, fruit, cookies and more. He also had a whole cooler full of cold sodas. It was MAGIC. I had two hotdogs with ketchup and mustard and ate them so fast. Then some chips and two cookies and I had two sodas. We ended up staying there for 2.5 hours, the time absolutely flew by. He had camp chairs and it felt so nice to sit in a chair!!
We finally left around 3:30pm and walked the final 4 miles to camp. It went by easily as it was cruise-y and downhill, and I listened to a podcast most of the way.
That was another great thing about Onyx Summit. I actually had cell service for the first time in like 4 days! I downloaded a lot of podcasts to listen to. Now I’m really glad I did that, because we are planning on a goal of 18.9 miles tomorrow... I think I can do it as long as my body holds up. If I feel like I’m doing damage, I’ll just stop early and meet the others in Big Bear Lake later the next day. If we end up doing the 19 miles though, that would mean we’d only have a few miles to the road to town the next day, and hopefully that would mean we could catch breakfast at Grizzly Manor which we heard is highly recommended.
I’ll see how it goes. Hoping I can make it happen. With another early start and cruise-y terrain, I’m hopeful. I do need to start pushing bigger miles, at least slightly more than I’ve been doing, so it might be good to give myself a big goal to work toward tomorrow. My “normal” day has still been 10 miles, so if I can start averaging 12s as my normal/lower day and 14-16 as my bigger days, that could be really beneficial. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Mile 275
I frickin did it. 19 MILES!!!!!! I’m so proud of myself. I want to thank the cruise-y terrain, beautiful views, great company, and awesome weather for such a great day.
We started off at 5:30am, stopped for water about 2 miles in and then continued on. Around 4 miles, I suddenly heard a pack of coyotes on the next hillside. All of a sudden 5 coyotes one after the other ran out into the field below. It was the first time I’d actually seen wild coyotes, and hearing them all howling and yelping together with the rest of their pack still in the trees was one of the coolest things ever. I stood there for about 10 minutes just enjoying the sight. Shortcut was only a few hundred feet behind me and had been watching as well.
Once the commotion died down, she came around the corner and told me that Girl Scout had sent her a Garmin message that said “Where are you? I just saw a mountain lion”. We were amazed!! We turned to continue down the trail and saw Girl Scout backtracking toward us. She had gotten scared and decided to come back. She told us she had rounded a corner and first seen a heard of wild donkeys. She was enjoying watching them, but then they all started to move down the hill. Shortly after, a mountain lion ran across the trail on its way after them, maybe 30 feet in front of her. That encounter and the coyotes all happened around 7:30am, all at once.
We learned later that B from the Umbrella People had a rattlesnake cuddle up to him as he was taking a break on the side of the trail. It was definitely a wildlife-filled morning!
After that we busted out more miles, and when we had reached the highway we’d gone 9 miles before 11am. At the highway, PiBall was there doing trail magic for us! He had been hiking with this group when we first got introduced to everyone back in Julian, but he had to get off trail for a few days so ended up falling behind. He had caught back up, and it was great to see him. The candy bar and coke was so appreciated.
At that same stop, a woman came over to us and asked if we were PCT hikers. When we said yes, she got excited. She told us her mother, who had been bed ridden while ill recently, was in love with the PCT and the idea of thru-hiking. Her mother was in the car, so we all went over to say hello. It was AWESOME. She was such a sweet woman, and she knew so much about the PCT, what we were doing, and just thought it was the coolest thing. She said she is hiking virtually while watching thruhikers on YouTube, which is awesome because that’s exactly what I’ve done the last few years as well.
Her family was so excited to find out there was a PCT trail marker up a little bit from the road, so we all went up there and took a picture together. She asked us a bunch of questions and told us she had also visited the PCT southern terminus in February, and even got to go up and touch it. I know exactly how it feels to dream of seeing that monument for so long, and to finally be there and touch it is surreal. I’m SO HAPPY we ran in to her and her family, and were able to be a part of her PCT journey. She told us everyone calls her Mama Cook, so I think that just might be her trail name now.
After that I went maybe 4-5 more miles and then sat down for lunch. I just had to eat something finally. I took a long break and Shortcut joined me which was nice. I called mom and talked to her, which I hadn’t done since probably before leaving for San Jacinto.
After that the real push began. The next few miles were ok, but the last 2 miles of the day I was really pushing myself. My feet were throbbing and I just wanted to sit down. The last mile Shortcut and I walked together, blasting the Mamma Mia soundtrack and singing along as we deliriously hobbled into camp. 19 miles complete.
Camp was joyous with Girl Scout and Camp Daddy having already arrived, we all made dinner and told stories about the day. This was the first time I’ve ever cooked dinner before setting up camp because I was starving.
Tomorrow we are walking a road that brings us into Big Bear Lake, and our plan is to stop at Grizzly Manor for their amazing breakfast, then maybe a matinee movie, some lunch, and then checking into our Airbnb. I’ve been craving nachos for several weeks now, and I’m on a mission in Big Bear. NACHOS!!!!
I think it’s gonna be a great nearo and zero 😍
Nearo and Zero recap:
We walked into Big Bear and had a glorious breakfast at Grizzly Manor. The portions were big and we were so happy to be drinking warm coffee and to have two days off. We only walked about 2 miles this morning, so it feels kind of like a zero.
We got lucky and our Airbnb host let us into the house at 9am rather than 4pm, which was such a treat. After breakfast we walked straight there and immediately got to take hot showers and wash our clothes. We watched movies and just hung out for several hours. It was very calming and quiet, which I think we all needed.
That afternoon we ran some errands to resupply, and then met the Umbrella People for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I got my nachos! Honestly, I’ve had better 😂, but it was still amazing haha I’m still on the hunt for the perfect plate of nachos.
The next day was our true zero, and Zip and Noodz got in to town! I walked over to the ice cream shop to meet up with them, and ended up getting to have lunch with them as well as Zip’s girlfriend who was in town to visit. It was such a joy to see them again, I wish they were leaving tomorrow also.
I FaceTimed some family members which was really nice, and then started getting packed up. I didn’t want to have to worry about doing it later so I’d be able to have a relaxing night. We just hung out at the house, watched more tv and movies, and then headed to bed.
Tomorrow I’m heading out to trail with Shortcut and Girl Scout - Camp Daddy is getting off trail for some previously made plans. He’ll be back on trail in about 2 weeks. I’m sad to say goodbye to him!
This next stretch it looks like we might encounter some crumby weather, but we also are passing by Deep Creek Hot Springs in a few days which will be so nice to enjoy. It’s in the middle of the woods, right on the PCT, which is pretty cool. Looking forward to what these next miles will bring!
