No Place Like Camp

Day 24 - 4/29
Woke up to a pretty unreal sunrise and Greg making himself coffee long before the alarm even thought about going off. ☕️

Made it to the highway and scored a ride into Big Bear with Cornbread for breakfast with 20 Minutes, Little Bear, Cornbread, Walkie Talkie, and James.

Then Little Bear and Cornbread helped us tackle the glamorous side of trail life — a Vons resupply run and ride back to the hotel. Grateful for trail friends who make the logistics a lot more fun. 🥾

Dinner was with a big group of hikers at a fabulous Indian food restaurant and we closed down the bar next door 😎

Day 23 - 4/28
We woke up and were out by 8 and shortly down trail were surprised by trail magic by Valerie.
We also had the luxury of a hot lunch at a camp table at a campsite the trail crosses.
Cornbread, Little Bear’s husband who is supporting her from the van they live in, hiked 2.5 miles in and camped with us bringing us all clementines and hot chocolate. We ate under a beautiful sunset with lots of good stories and laughter!

Day 22 - 4/27
Getting through the rest of wash out of Mission Creek was long and uphill but in good company with Little Bear and 20 Minutes.

Day 21 - 4/26
We started the day with a rare hot breakfast to help give us some stamina.
While the washout looked very different this time, it was actually easier and we had a blast with Little Bear, 20 Minutes, Not Tom, and Unfiltered.
While camping was a little precarious at the end of a long day, we made it work and got in our tents quickly for a cold night

Day 20 - 4/25
Windy wake-up at the visitor center, but packed up and made our way back to trail.
Got an unexpected trail photo shoot at the bridge on the way back, then rolled into the first water crossing and saw Technicolor, Lamb, and Brisket.
We camped with a crowd of hikers and were happy to have Little Bear join us before the real chaos began where I burned my knee last time — knowing that tomorrow would be where the No section where route finding gets messy. Hoping for fewer scars and better decisions this round.

Day 19 - 4/24

We got picked up by a trail angel who does long drives for tips and skipped ahead to the I-10 crossing with 20 minutes. Not long after, we ran into a rattlesnake that had zero interest in moving off trail while the couple ahead of us made their way past it in a way that felt… ambitious. 🐍
We ended up hiking off trail .5 miles (although everyone says the actual distance was closer to a mile ☹️) into the Whitewater Visitor Center and camped there for the night. Super windy, but tucked away enough to make it work. Bathrooms and potable water didn’t hurt either.
20 Minutes ran into Little Bear and Cornbread who let us hang out in their van for dinner so we could get out of the wind for a bit. The soda and sparkling water as trail magic was icing on the cake.

Day 18 - 4/23
Woke up and walked through Idyllwild as we killed time before our appointment with . Seeing Blaze was awesome and we both got some good tips on how to help our feet and I got a new pair of shoes with a higher drop to help with the Achilles pain.
Despite being a Thursday, a Mexican restaurant had an amazing deal on tacos and we went out with 20 Minutes to stuff our faces as hikers hunger is officially kicking in. We met up with JD Rosehip, Kurt, and Kaylee for some desert and beer back at the brewery. Not a bad zero that was both productive and full of good company.

Day 17 - 4/22
Woke up to a beautiful morning.
Hiked the .7 to the creek and saw Brunch and Technicolor Tom as well as the couple we saw while setting up our tent who all agreed it was a windy miserable night.
Took the alt route for less elevation to saddle junction and the hiked the 2.5 miles down to Humber park and got a hitch into Idyllwild.
Gnome went for lunch while I was trapped due to not having any clean clothes as our laundry was getting done.
Went out to dinner at the brewery as a big group and drinks at the Catina where we had good laughs and commiserated on the hardships of hiking.

A few extra photos from our days before hiking into idyllwild

Day 16 - 4/21
Slept in a little to hike one of the hardest days on trail. By the end it was 30+ mile gusts of wind with fog/clouds, rain, and straight up trail. We luckily found a decent spot and Gnome reinforced all the stakes with lots of rocks as we warmed up and dried off. With little water left there was no hot dinner or extra drinks.