Josh and Sammy's PCT Adventure : Am I right? Am I left? (silly trail joke)

Looking back at what we have crossed so far.

Hello All! It seems like the last update in Warner Springs was much longer than two weeks ago but the trail has a way of distorting one's sense of time. Coming out of Warner Springs it was a fairly short stretch into Idyllwild with pretty easy terrain so it kind of flew by.We hit some trail magic at Mikes house which was much needed and a solid moral boost. We had sloppy joes, soda and beer. Then we hit the trail again to camp atop a ridge and star gaze. We hit some more magic down the way in the way of a water cache (water that is set out on the trail by people wanting to help us hiker trash). These are always nice to hit but we never rely on them.

We also stayed a night at a really cool campground that was surrounded by large boulders and great people. Luckily we have managed to stay with a group of people for most of the trip, and one fellow since we met at the airport. Cheesesnake, or Omaha Cheesesnake is our friend that we have been with the longest and he sure is a hoot. The day doesn't seem right if we don't get our random Cheesesnake fact of the day. We are also still with Clint who is an extremely knowledgeable young lad. We have been hiking with those two every day since Warner Springs and the good times keep rolling. We keep bouncing around with Tuck, Molly, Kyle, Sky, Baggins and Jeff but we can't seem to get the whole group together for two long as the trail pulls us in different paces.

So back to the trail and all that grand stuff. We hiked down the hill and hit Paradise Valley Cafe which was some delicious food! We got there for breakfast and chowed that down then waited the 2 hours for the lunch menu to open so we could get burgers and it was well worth the wait! We hit Idyllwild on the perfect day because a storm rolled through the night we got there.

We set up at the state campground and stood around the campfire sharing good times with great people before climbing into our tents to hunker down as the storm hit. It was sure a breezy and snowy night. We awoke to frost covering the ground and we all shuffled over to a diner called the Red Kettle to chow down and escape the cold. After taking our first zero (no hiking) we jetted out of town to start the climb and saw that the San Jacinto peak was only a side trail to summit the mountain so we went for it.

It was a steep and snowy climb but totally worth it. We made it to the summit, with only one rolled ankle, and found an awesome stone emergency shelter to eat dinner in. Cheesesnake, Clint, Teabag (Josh) and myself all snuggled up in our sleeping bags and had many great laughs. I also got my trail name here, Grimace. In my sleeping bag, which is purple, I look like the McDonald's character Grimace, there is a picture below. Anyway we left the shelter to find a nice spot to hike on and find a nice place to camp.

Coming down Mt San Jacinto with a great view

The next day and a half was a steep climb down from the mountain but the views were incredible. We also woke up with some scorpions in our campsite which was interesting to wake up to especially since I felt something crawling between the floor of out tent and the footprint that sits underneath it. We made it to the bottom of the mountain and hiked across the flat section before Ziggy and Bears which was another wonderful spot of trail magic.

They had it all there: showers, foot baths, food, water, etc. We only did a pit stop there to get a few liters of water and a couple extra things of food but we were happy to see other hikers and the wonderful magic in action. We hiked on a few miles to the Mesa Wind Farm and stopped for lunch. They had cold bottled water for us, bathrooms, outlets, ice cream sandwiches and a A/C room to escape the heat. Again another magical place there to help us.

Grimace, Teabag, Clint and Cheesesnake at the Mesa Wind Farm

From there we had a beautiful climb but it was sure tough. Some parts seems fairly easy but the close we got to Big Bear the harder things got. My ankle was still pretty stiff but I tapped it up and it is doing better now but it made for a couple of slower days. Also one of the days Josh was feeling a little ill in the tummy so our 20 mile day was shortened but we took a wonderful break by a creek with paradise like shade and again amazing people.

The last day and a half into Big Bear was draining physically and mentally but we had to push on, it was time to resupply! We ran into a wonderful trail magic spot close to Big Bear before our last night that had a couch, soda and water that we stopped at for dinner. We got up the next morning and busted out a quick 10 miles to the highway by Big Bear and got picked up by Paul who helps out at the Big Bear Hostile. We decided to stay there to get cleaned up and do some laundry, oh and sleep in a real bed! It was great.

The guy who runs the hostile is super friendly and even worked with some of the businesses in town to get us discounts on food, yay pizza, ice cream and candy!!!! We also had dinner at a really cool sports bar called Sandy's where we ate way to much, had some great beer and cider and played pool. We are now about to resupply our food stock, grab some lunch and hit the trail again. What the trail has taught us so far is take things slow and soak it all in. It isn't about putting in big miles everyday, it is about the journey we have along the way. Look for another post to come soon! Adventure on!

-Sammy (Grimace)

Again photos are below....