Idylwilde

May 2/3: today was special- it held the promise of a cheeseburger and shower at the end of the day! That's enough to get anyone up early for a quick start.

One thing about the PCT: there isn't a lot of water. Carrying enough water from source to source is the biggest factor when planning the hike for the day. But there is a wonderful for of trail magic here known as the water cache.

People leave water along the trail for hikers. Unfortunately, the PCTA is staunchly anti- water cache and the caches are not listed in the water report (which we diligently download each foray into town) So while the the caches don't allow you to carry any less, they do slow you a short break and a big chug.

Idylwilde is at a higher elevation. So as we headed up, the terrain changed and we were hiking into pine forests out of the desert.

Twelve miles up , we came to the road leading to the Paradise Cafe. They leave a phone number on the trail, and if they have time, they'll come pick you up! (Like Enterprise Car Rental, but tastier!)

One unfortunate thing around Idylwilde is the trail closure. In 2013, a thru-hiker accidentally caused a forest fire which burned a large section of land along the trail. Now there is a 29 mile section which is closed for safety reasons. For the hiking purists, there are a couple of alternate route options: either an 18 mile road walk along a windy mountain road with no shoulder, or a 9 mile forest walk followed by 12 miles on a fire access road- fully exposed gravel with sheer rock face on one side and a cliff on the other. No shade.

I got a ride to town.

By now, Lauren, Wallaby, and I had become a hiking trio. The three of us got a cabin in Idylwilde and proceeded to do all the important town things you do: shower, laundry, re supply, eat ice cream. Idylwilde also has an outfitter, so I was able to pick up a new pair of socks.

The Hunger has not quite kicked in, yet. And this dry environment has us all craving fruit and veggies.so dinner that night was salad- hiker style!

We decided to hang around Idylwilde until the next afternoon- not a full zero, but a god stretch of time off the feet. So we hung around a cafe, drinking lemonade and using the wifi until around 3 when we caught a ride up to the state park to go up the Devil Slide Trail to join back up with the PCT. (purists would once agin be walking on a twisty, dangerous road with no shoulder)

Devil's Slide Trail was spectacular! It was a bit steeper than the gently graded PCT with spectacular views.

Once we rejoined thePCT, we continued on with beautiful views. The thing about a slightly steeper trail with gorgeous views you keep stopping to take in- progress slows. So the hike we thought would be done by 7 ended up taking until about 9. Hiking with headlamps, we finally made it to camp atop a 9000 ridge- very cold! But very beautiful.

Peace, love, and trail magic!