Hiking Is...

Hello everyone, 

This is my first on-trail blog post! Woohoo! 

 

We decided to take a zero day in Julian while we waited for our resupply box to arrive. We were forced to wait because the post office was closed. Memorial Day threw a wrench in our plans. Julian ended up being a great little town and we treated ourselves to ice cream and beer. 

We left Warner Springs after getting our package and found ourselves back in the oppressing heat of the desert. After several hours of elevation gain we reached the home of Trail Angel Mike. The Sky Ranch had a wonderful hiker area with plenty of amenities. After a night filled with fresh fruit, Madlibs, and a fire, our crew went to bed. 

The crew now no longer just includes Nathan Shelly and myself. We found some new (Okla)homies: Matt and Wright. They are awesome dudes with matching gear. We also met Kylen, who is also from Washington! West coast Best coast baby. And last but not least, Dr. FeelGood aka Adam. He's a super happy ultramarathoner and he's got his PhD! 

We all got on trail the next morning headed for the Paradise Valley Cafe. It was a long haul, 26 miles, but man was it worth it. We all met up at the restaurant with sore feet and empty bellies. I mowed through a burrito and Shelly munched a killer sandwich. We were soooo happy. The people at the cafe were very nice and gave us a warm welcome when we arrived. Thank god for small miracles. 

We zeroed in Idyllwild, a cute little mountain town, where I saw a doctor for my infected foot. Now I have antibiotics for dayyysss. 

After Idyllwild, we faced quite a climb.  It took us most of the morning but come lunchtime we were standing atop Mt. San Jacinto at 10,834 ft. No Big Deal. 

As a reward for our awesomeness and badassery, we got to lose 7000 ft of elevation the next day! Woohoo!... It was hell. It just sucked. It was hot, there was no shade, and I got kind of chased by a rattlesnake. Never again. That was not cool. Anyways, after slogging downhill all day and then struggling through 4 miles of sand and sun we got to Ziggy and the Bear. These two trail Angels welcomed us into their home, let us sleep on their carpeted backyard, and gave us icecream sandwiches and Gatorade. They were truly angels. 

The next few days found us braving soul-crushing climbs, intense heat, and long days. With the help of Hobbit Feet, a woman from South Africa and now a Canadian citizen, we made it to Big Bear through the mission creek canyon.

 

Along the way we found some EPIC trail magic: a couch in the woods and free soda. That was my favorite trail magic this far. I mean, a couch in the woods?? How awesome is that?! That's where we read our first Hike-ku. 

"Hiking is.... Sitting on a couch in the forest, taking candy and soda from strangers, and menu planning from a dumpster" 

 

Big Bear was awesome. We chilled at a hostel, had epic Thai food, and hitched to Subway. Sweet sweet subway... Matt took the burrito challenge at a local restaurant and ate an 18 inch burrito. Props to Matty Matt! 

Coming out of Big Bear got us to mile 300! And according to Kylen, we have  climbed up and down the equivalent of Mt.2 Everest....twice. Again with the awesomeness right?!

Anyways, we are loving life out here in SoCal. Happy trails everyone! 

-Smokey (aka Emily)