Day 20 Thurs May 8th

Great day! Started hiking by 0630 and heard this bird that sounded like a big crow, I looked around and saw a blue heron coming in for a landing in the creek, I never knew they made noise! Walked for a few miles and crossed the small creek, stopped, aired out our feet and washed our socks, clean feet are hard to come by out here. Saw a hummingbird by the creek and heard it make noise too! Decided to aim for the natural hot springs some 21 miles away today.....lots of walking. Crossed the creek a couple times, it keeps getting bigger each time we cross it and I took my shoes off twice for the crossing (others didn't...I'm a chicken) :) Finally made it to the hot springs at 4:50, what a day. We get there and set our packs down and notice that some of the regulars feel it is a clothing optional kinda place. Neighbor says hi to one man and he doesn't respond.....then the man reaches down into the bushes and grabs this rattlesnake by the tail! Ahhhhh, we never even saw the thing! It starts rattling like MAD! Someone yells, take a picture.......but the man is completely naked (and very old) and I think, that would not be a very good picture for the scrapbook! Anyways, that's the story of our very first rattlesnake encounter on the trail! ha ha ha! So, we get into our hot springs gear (yes, we wore clothes!) and oh my.......wonderful! We soaked for over an hour and our skin was prune-like once we got out, but it felt so great, many were going from the hot to the cold, but I stuck mostly with the hot! What a great ending to a long day!

Day 19 Wed May 7th

We were up early and mailed out some postcards, bagel, cream cheese and avacado for breakfast and back on the trail for 9am! The miles came easy today. Walked through a burn area from 2 yrs ago and the scenery was beautiful. All the trees were black, but small flowers were starting to grow again, it was beautiful to see the regrowth and what comes first. The purple lupine and small yellow flowers and patches of grass here and there. Hiked 19 miles in 8 hours and camped with Supa, Vizor, Pipi, Outback, Gazelle and Chief Chi hua hua. Ate a freezerbagcooking meal of 4 cheese rice and turkey burger and it was awesome! The ground where everything is burnt is very soft (if you do any off trail business) and you feel like you might sink right through. Some of the burnt trees were burnt right down to the ground, created a HUGE hole and then burnt out the roots even!

Dandy's website

www.skilltosummit.com

he just put up a great picture of us and the possible baby rattlesnake we saw........and Neighbor offered a great photo opportunity for!!

0730 here, we're heading back to the trail in an hour!

Day 18 Tues May 6

Slept great, took today off to rest, relax and regain calories! Feeling good today. We went through our packs and together pulled out 1 pound 14 oz of stuff that we are not using and mailed it home! And right now Neighbor is picking up the memory card to the camera and another care package that someone sent! Goodies! We bought some extra food for the next 80 mile stretch to Wrightwood and we'll be heading out in the morning! Wasa cooked us some amazing french toast this morning (he's showing me up as a cook......which isn't really hard to do!) I just took my vitamins (only because Tina sent me some and I didn't want to carry them!) But those were the biggest vitamins I've ever seen, wow! Called the ranger station again today to see if those 39 miles were open yet, but......no, not yet. So, that's it for now, 0 miles and feeling good!

Day 17 Mon May 5 (cinco de Mayo) :)

Woke up freezing cold 27 degrees! Our drinking tubes to our camelbacks were both frozen solid! Brrr, I didn't even peek my head out from underneith my warm sleeping bag until 0630! When we did get going, we just kept our sleeping clothes on (smartwool bottoms) and threw the hiking pants right on over top of them until we hiked a mile or two and warmed up! Easy walking, still in the beautiful trees! Got to Highway 18 around 1:30 and hitched a ride into Big Bear City to the Post office and picked up a package from Priscilla (with yummy cookies and goodies inside) and a letter from gram & papa! Then we caught a bus on the scenic route to a hiker hostel in Big Bear Lake. Tons of hikers there, free internet, phone and good times. Showered, did laundry and Wasa went to the store and bought supplies for dinner! He's quite the cook, salad, baked potatoe with chives, shredded cheese and sour cream, steak and real garlic bread! I went to bed FULL! Second time sleeping in a bed on this trip and it just keeps getting better!

Day 16 Sun May 4

What a great day! Pine trees, squirrels, cedar trees, beautiful smells, even a small patch of snow to walk through........we were in the mountains! Over 8500 feet up and loving every step of this day! We would actually re-hike this section (where as in the desert........you couldn't pay me enough to re-hike any one mile that we've already covered) Towards the end of our long great day, we came up to these wild animals in cages. I guess they are the retired Hollywood wild animals from movies. Lions, tigers and bears.........and one VERY big BEAR! Yikes! It was actually rather sad to see them all caged up. We hiked 1 mile past the cages to camp and listened to a lion roar all night long! Cold night.

Day 15 Sat May 3

Up and hiking by 6am and it was already 68 degrees. Yuck. Beautiful section of trail through San Gorgonio Wilderness and by 0830 we were at Whitewater creek where we found a note in the trail for "trail magic" (nice deed done by other people, usually means food that we can eat and didn't have to carry!!) So, we hiked 1/2 mile off the trail and met Brian and Lisa who were serving up pancakes and eggs! Yummmm! We hung out for a couple hours and then had burgers, soda, chips, mangos and were on our way with full bellies! After a few more miles, we were in the heat of the day and came to Mission creek (an actual creek!!) Neighbor was SO excited, he stripped down to his underwear and jumped in face down and started making whale noises! I think the other 4 people who didn't know us at the creek were a bit in awe! But that water felt great! Hiked another 4 miles and called it quits for the day, camped with Asaf (who was Hungry hiker on the AT in 2003, but we started calling him Chief Chi-hua-hua) The Chief name comes from him trying to pronounce chiuahua (the little dog) but he's from Isreal and it came out all mumbled like chi-hua-hua (hence the name) :)

interesting stuff

Everyone keeps asking what we are seeing for wildlife.
Answer: NOTHING!

We "think" we've seen 1 rattlesnake, but it was a baby and didn't even have a rattle. ALL the hikers around us have seen multiple rattlers.......not us!

We've seen tracks of various animals, but haven't seen any actual creatures.
In all seriousness, we sleep with our foodbags (I use mine as my pillow) I thought that was scary when I first heard of it, but everyone else does it and lives!

We LOVE the sage bushes. The smell is amazing (I guess any smell is great after smelling your own B.O. for miles and miles) but brushing up against one of these sage bushes is wonderful!

Ants...everywhere, red, black, brown, etc. everywhere.

Day 14 Fri May 2

Beautiful sunrise, cresent moon, Mt. San Jacinto right there! Just after 6am we started the 13 mile downhill hike to I-10. 7000 foot elevation loss....ouch! 17 miles later around 2pm, we are under the I-10 bridge with Papabear, cold soda, brownies, bananas, chips and something that I wouldn't touch at home....a McDonald's double cheeseburger! (and it was GOOD) :) The last 3 miles to the bridge were awful. DEEP beach sand and basically no trail, just follow the washout to the highway, it was brutally hot and just NOT fun. At the bridge, in the shade, Neighbor put his watch in the sun and it read 124 degrees! Ahhhh! We continued on for another 4 miles to camp below a windfarm (wind turbines) for a total of 21 miles for the day. The turbines make a very soothing sound......almost like thousands of Canadian geese flying south. :)

Day 13 Thurs. May 1

Good night sleep at the campground, we all went out for pizza last night! Yumm! After breakfast, we mailed home our crampons (that we were going to use for San Jacinto/Fuller Ridge section) and then found out that the fire is still out of control and the trail will not re-open until after monday. So, we called a local trail angel and got a ride to Black Mtn. trailhead where we hiked 8 miles UPHILL just to get to the PCT! It was very uphill, but beautiful. We got to the trail, hiked for 1 hour and put up camp at about 7000 feet with a great view of San Jacinto. Back on the trail! 39 miles of trail not covered, but we'll get back to it..........definately! Camped with Asaf and Dogwood.

Day 12 Wed April 30th

Woke up to a cold wind, blowing fog and chilly temps! Packed up and got moving to stay warm by 0630. We made it to the road by 0930 and started walking the 1 mile to the Paradise Cafe (famous for their Jose burger) The cafe opens at 11am and by that time, there were 15 other hikers waiting patiently for FOOD! It was at the cafe that we found out that there is a wildfire burning out of control over the next 35 miles of trail and by the time we left the cafe......the PCT was closed over that area! Good thing we went for the Jose burger! So, we are now in town (Idlywild) for the night at a campground, going to check with the fire dept tomorrow and see if the trail will re-open or if we have to skip it for now and come back to it later. Just did laundry and got our mail (thanks, gram&grampa, gram&papa, Fam and Tina for the letters!!) fun stuff! We were not supposed to be here for 3 more days, so I'll check the mail again tomorrow and then put the forward in for Big Bear City.
Did I tell you?! We saw poison oak the very first day on the trail?!! And a mountain quail!

Day 11 Tues April 29th

0630 start from trail angel mike's house. Sun was up and bright by 0645! Today was nicer than yesterday...there was a breeze! Watched gypsy and her 17 year old brother jarrow hike together in the morning sun, what a great experience for them both. Took breaks where ever we could find shade. Came to a large water cache at the end of the day that was much appreciated. Ended up walking about 16 miles and camped among some large boulders with mountain lion tracks all over the place..... Delicious dinner of tortellini, dehydrated spaghetti sauce and brocolli! yummmm!

Day 10 Mon April 28th

The bed, the pillow, clean clothes, man it was hard to get up this morning. Back on the trail for 7am, walking past the gas station selling regular gas for $4.25 and realizing that it is a good summer to go for a walk! Hot day with very little breeze, maybe it's because we took 2 days off, but today was a rough one. Neighbor's watch read 91 degrees! Made it 17 miles to a trail angel's house (mike's) and crashed there for the night. Neighbor is very happy with his Leki poles, at the kickoff, he asked the leki guy to clean them and they ended up replacing 2/3 of the whole pole for free! Walked through a large burn area today, made for some creative beautiful pictures. Camping with asaf, sly, wasa, tailwind, cuppa joe, southern man, ursa minor, jellybean, medicare pastor, gyspy, jarrow, patch and low bridge tonight.

asaf/hungry hiker's website

www.flickr.com/asafantman

our friend's website (he's a great photographer) and has taken tons of great photos!

Day 9 April 27th

My dad's b-day and I was able to call home and chat! yeah!
We got up early, had breakfast and then Oakey Girl gave us a ride back north to Warner Springs! We checked in at the Warner Springs Ranch (http://www.warnerspringsranch.com/) and showered and did laundry (really needed the laundry to be done) caught up on computer stuff (where I am right now) downloaded my pictures to this site and to my flashdrive (I did it!!) and now we are off to check out the hot springs! Yeah! My aching legs need the hot springs! So, that's it for now, heading out in the morning. Idyllwild is about 75 miles from here and we should be there in 4 days time! Over and out!! :)

Day 8 April 26, 2008

No trail miles hiked today, which is called a "zero day". We had breakfast, hung around the campground, visited with friends and I (don't laugh priscilla) bought a pair of Crocs! I've had a blister on my left heel since the first 4 miles of the trail, it doesn't hurt, it's just a nuisance, but I can't let my feet dry out in my trailrunners, so I needed camp shoes. I bought the cute Mary jane's in brown and I really like them! The blister is all dry now and a thing of the past! Neighbor met Nimblewill Nomad and we chatted with Billygoat (two older hikers that have some amazing miles under their feet) Got to see Frodo and Scout again, it's nice seeing all these great hikers in one spot.

Day 7 April 25th 2008

Slept great with the tent fly off! Hiked the 8 miles to Warner Springs. Passed Eagle rock on the way there (huge rock formation that looks like an eagle) Got to town and picked up our maildrop, sorted through some stuff then got a ride down to Lake Morena with Oakey Girl. Weird going south over the terrain that we've already hiked. Lots of hikers everywhere at this big PCT party. Present, past and wanna be hikers! ULA (my backpack company) was there and so was Leki (neighbor's hiking pole company) I finally got to take a shower!!! A cold one, but it was great anyway! It's amazing how DIRTY you get with all the dust around, it goes through your shoes and socks and makes your feet just filthy. And my pants are a bit wide at the bottom, so the dirt goes all the way up my legs. Yuck.

Day 6 April 24, 2008

Survived the night in the tent! It almost came down on us a couple times! Hiking by 6am, the morning hours are just wonderful to hike in. Chilly, but wonderful! I put SPF on my hand right away once the sun came up (I now have sun blisters on both of my hands due to forgetting the sunscreen just one day) Saw a silver/gray snake today (I don't know my snakes) but it was cool looking. The hike down to Barrel Spring was a long hot one. The switchbacks on the PCT are insane! We meandered atleast 5 miles to go somewhere 2 miles away! Once we reached the spring, we found that Yogi (a PCT hiker from a couple yrs ago) had left us some gatorade! YEAH! Lots of hikers camped here this night.....all excited for the big PCT kickoff party happening this weekend, only 8 miles to Warner Springs where we will catch a ride back down south to Lake Morena where the party is.

Day 5 April 23rd 2008

What a fun day! Woke up early in a dust storm and hiked the 8 miles to Scissors crossing and hitched into the town of Julian. Neighbor, Asaf and I were picked up by a nice couple that knew many of the desert flowers. Once in town, we found Dandy, Low bridge, Jarrow, Patch and Gypsy and all had breakfast together. I rested my legs (knees are a bit sore) while Asaf and Neighbor ran a few errands and Neighbor brought me back a piece of apple crumb pie and ice cream (Julian is FAMOUS for their apple pie) and boy was it good! Then we walked to the libary and found internet access and e-mailed home for the first time on the trip. Hitched back to the trail (with a nice mountain biker from L.A out for the day) and hiked another 5-6 miles to a good campspot. The wind on the hike in was CRAZY, blowing me all over the place! We put up the tent and soon it almost blew in! We were in for one heck of a night! But the view was amazing! :)

Day 4 April 22nd

Camped with Asaf, bigfoot, razor, gene, potiential 178, sweetfish and one other last night, moon was full, neighbor got a picture. Started hiking early, saw Mt. San Jacinto in the far distance today, still snow covered! Saw cacti with beautiful pink flowers, forgot to put on sunscreen (which I would pay for later). Put in 15.7 miles. Camped by the water source at Rodriguez Truck Spur trail with the "crew" (cuppa joe, gypsy lulu, jarrow, dandy, low bridge, asaf, and a few others) Had chicken alfredo pasta for dinner which was great (from freezerbagcooking.com) Windy night, dirt kept blowing in the tent all night long and we woke to beach sand covering our sleeping bags! It is amazing just how windy it really is out here. I almost left my $15 Target windbreaker at home and boy am I glad I didn't! It's worth every cent!

Day 3 Mon April 21st 2008

Woke up to Sarong asking for assistance....pulling a tick from his side. It was really "in there" too. We warmed up a knife and held it close, the tick started backing out, then I pulled at it with tweezers for a bit, it looked really painful but Sarong didn't feel a thing! That excitement over, we walked the 5 miles to the Mt. Laguna store through the most beautiful section of trail yet! Tall Jeffery pines and shade, it was wonderful! At the store we split a pint of ice cream and got our resupply box, filled out some postcards and rested a bit then moved on and ended up hiking about 17 miles. Have to say that I LOVE my Mtn. Hardware canyon shirt. I got it on clearance because the color was discontinued (I love the color) but the mesh sides really let the air in. I'm impressed!

Day 2 Sunday April 20th

Slept great, moon almost full, calves are sore but we had a good day. Stopped at Boulder Oaks campground for a nice break in the shade around mid-day. Saw lots of buttercups. Thought Neighbor was joking around with me and throwing sticks into the woods, but come to find out, it was the lizards and geckos running into the bushes. Ate spaghetti with dehydrated sauce and brocolli for dinner and it was great! Managed 17.4 miles today and I drank almost 5L of water!

Day 1 Sat April 19th 2008

Up early. 3 truck loads of us headed to the Mexican border! On the way, I realized that I forgot my large camera memory card back home, ahhhh! Must have been 15 of us for the group photo (Cuppa Joe, Jarrow, Gyspsy lulu, Bigfoot, Dandy, Low Bridge, Asaf, Gene, Wasa, Detour, Tailwind, Tahoe Mike, me, Neighbor, Patch) We started walking north at 0747! Interesting desert plants, dry dusty trail and lots of discarded socks from the illegals trying to get across the border (they put socks over their shoes to hide their tracks). We took lots of breaks but eventually made it all 20.6 miles to Lake Morena Campground (all 15 of us)!

Day 0 April 18th 2008

We went to REI and picked up a platypus 2L water bag with a hose because all "the talk" is about how much water everyone is carrying. Some are starting with 6L and I only had capacity for.....ummmm, 3L! So, now I can carry 5L (not that I want to). 24 people for dinner at the Mann's! And we had salmon, salad, homeade artichoke dip, hummus and for desert....fruit with chocolate fondue! Wow!

Day -1 Thurs. April 17th

We drove to the Manchester airport and caught our flight to San Diego, CA! Scout picked us out of the crowd before we even got our backpacks and brought us back to their house. We started meeting other hikers right away and talking gear. Dinner was amazing! Grilled shrimp alfredo, salad, veggies, rolls! Scout and Frodo go above and beyond for the hikers!