I woke to something tapping me on my hip around 2:30 in the morning. I was curled up, sleeping on my side, and kept feeling this tap, tap, tap.. I opened my eyes and realized it was my trekking pole hitting me and that half of my tent had come un-staked! I pulled out my earplugs and could immediately hear the howling and whistling of very intense wind.
I had to figure out how to get out of my tent without the rest of it toppling over, then search the ground around our tents to find my lost stakes and then re-do it all.. before I even got back inside, one had already blown loose-so I then searched for large rocks and put them over my stakes, praying they’d hold.
Thankfully, that worked and I was able to go back to sleep. When I woke to my alarm later this morning, there was dirt blown into my tent from the wind, and my eyelashes were coated with it! At least the views at sunset were great I guess. I yelled to Marquis to tell him about my tent collapsing during the night, and he had to get out once during the night, too! While we were packing, one of his stakes came loose. Come to find out, the wind sawed the guy line in half against a rock he had holding it down-crap!
Thankfully, no one ever showed to make us pay for the night, and we didn’t go looking, since we had such a rough go of things. We walked to a breakfast restaurant in the neighboring town and loaded up on all of the calories. I got a breakfast enchilada. Weird, but so great all the same. We resupplied and I got my Aunt Kathy a birthday card. We stopped by the post office and I sent her the card and some moon flower seeds.
We got back to trail by the afternoon, and by the time we got to it, I was actually happy with the dirt and sand instead of the asphalt. I’m going to look at it as appreciating everything instead of never happy with anything, haha! It really does require some adjustments in your thinking out here, because it’s very easy to get in a negative headspace and stay stuck in it. This trail is hard, and focusing on that makes it miserable, making you forget how incredible it truly is. It could also be the temperatures are a bit lower today, so you know, I didn’t sweat buckets or get swarmed by bugs.
The views were pretty and open with lots of hills and tons of scrub brush. We didn’t see any snakes and ended up camping in a wooded area with actual trees, so that was nice. The stream we followed along for a good while smelled awful, like sulfur or rotten eggs.. thankfully right before camp there was a different stream coming in across the trail, higher and away from the smelly creek that we were able to fill up at.
It’s cold tonight, like, I’m in all my layers cold. Marquis and I ate dinner sitting on a nice little wooded log that some Boy Scouts of long ago turned into a bench. Marquis actually used my JetBoil and had his first ever hot meal on trail! He’s considering buying a stove for when he jumps up to Northern California, because it’s going to be pretty damn cold when he hikes through. This really makes me happy. Nothing warms your body up and protects you from hypothermia like a hot meal.
It’s not even 7:30 and we’re both tucked into our quilts and ready for bed. Well I am, he might already be asleep-I think I hear a faint snore over there! Ha. So, with that, it’s bedtime and earplug time! Sweet dreams!
What a crazy day. We plan, the trail laughs. Sheesh, ok.. so, I slept wonderful all bundled up in my quilt and struggled to get up since it was still so cold this morning. I wore my gloves for the first few hours after packing up, because my hands were numb.
The trail was a bit overgrown but not as bad as it could be, I guess.. although there were several huge downed trees to clamber over. Marquis and I both started out with layers on and eventually stopped to take them off on a climb. Once you get up and out of a valley and the sun starts to touch you, you get warm so fast! This morning, it felt so so nice!
By 11:30 we reached the Coon Creek Cabin camping area. It’s got three cabins, two small ones and one huge one, plus tons of picnic tables and bear boxes for your food. We were the only ones there, so after exploring all of the cabins and signing our names to one of the walls, we sat at a table and had lunch.
We started looking ahead at comments on our app, and several people said the trail was “impassable” and “severely damaged” even more so than it normally is in this area, because of the flooding from Hurricane Hilary over the summer. Typically, the area is hard to navigate anyway.. with erosion and washed out trail. One comment said there were several 20+ feet drops and you had to carefully scramble down those steep drops for 5 or more miles.
An hour later, we decided to follow the dirt road down to the main highway instead of getting stuck and having to camp in the middle of the erosion mess. How we, we quickly learned that the dirt road was also a colossal mess. It was washed out and eroded, too. To the point that it’s closed and they no longer have plans to reopen it because of the severity of the damage. At several places the road was just.. gone.. and we’d have to go down a loose embankment, get across the debris, then climb up the other side.
One spot required Marquis to basically hold me as I slid down the side on my butt-so I wouldn’t continue sliding to the actual bottom instead of stopping where he was on the little ledge. Then on the climb up the other side, the ground completely gave way and I quickly sank back down to the bottom-stopping only after my shin connected with a huge rock and my arm got sliced by a protruding branch. Marquis yelled, because when I came to a stop, my eye was extremely close to another protruding branch.. I was so close to ripping my face!
My scrapes and bashed shin hurt like hell and bled some.. the shin immediately starting to bruise and swell a bit. I limped the rest of the day and have a nice tear in my shirt. Marquis helped me out of the hole I was in and we continued down what used to be a road that held actual cars and was now struggling to hold two humans. Several times I wondered if the trail would have been better, or would it have been that much more dangerous since it’s smaller and steeper grade. I actually have no intentions of ever finding out.
We followed along a stream below the road, that you could easily tell was the remnants of the massive flooded river that tore through here. There was so much damage all around, tree debris and fencing gone.. there used to be plenty of campgrounds up here and now it’s all abandoned and it all appeared apocalyptic.
When we finally made it to the actual paved road, also by a campground, part of it was destroyed by the flood waters too. It was quite alarming to see how extensive the damage was even on things like pavement.. just chunks bigger than my body lying around beside a tiny trickle of a stream now.
Speaking of a stream, we stopped to filter water along this route. It looked clear and felt cold.. Marquis chugged half a liter so fast that I assumed it tasted just fine, until he asked if I had tried it yet. Uh oh. I take a small sip and it takes all of my willpower to swallow it.. sulfur tasting with a bitter aftertaste that stayed with me the rest of the day. Disgusting. Ugh. Me and this desert are just really not getting along. At. All.
So, the two of us and our nasty water are so thrilled to get to the main paved highway. We start walking and wondering where the hell all the cars are-then we got some service. I tried figuring out exactly where we were and how far we might be from civilization… I can’t even make this up: this. highway. is. closed. You have got to be kidding! We’re at least 15-20 miles from a small town with a restaurant and a fire station. No motels that we can see on our maps. Service is spotty. Jesus.
We start hoofing it down the asphalt. There are several more abandoned campgrounds along the way, so we’re certain if we had to, we could find somewhere to camp tonight and then start back at it in the morning. No hope for more water though, so that was concerning for sure. We passed more damage to the road, and then some work crews. A few trucks came through that were clearly workers.. none stopped for us.
By 6:30, we came to the end of the road closure. There was a cop sitting there blocking the road to through traffic. We asked him about motels, town, important things, hoping he’d feel bad and offer us a ride at the end of his day or something. He answered everything but no ride. We were 9 miles from town. Nine very hilly miles. Crap. So, I had a genius idea. I called the restaurant in town when I got service again at the top of one of the hills.
I told the person who answered that we’re PCT hikers and we had to get off the trail because of the water damage and we didn’t know the road was closed, so we’re hungry and wondering if someone from the restaurant would be willing to come get us. He asked where we were exactly, I told him I really wasn’t sure, but close to 9 miles away heading towards him but passed the officer blocking the road. He goes, “ok! I know right where you are! It’s a good thing I’m here today because I’ll come get you right now!” I got super giddy and before we hung up he says, “oh! And I’m Sam-so we aren’t strangers!” Haha
15 minutes later, Marquis and I were climbing into Sam’s pickup truck. He was so nice and drove like a bat out of hell on those windy roads! He told us all about how Hurricane Hillary destroyed a full town up here in these mountains, and how someone was still missing and presumed dead. We had seen a lot of the damage as we walked, it was extremely sad.. homes with half of the foundation under them missing, many crumbled to nothing.
Come to find out, Sam doesn’t just work for the restaurant. It’s a family business that his son owns! Sam’s wife was our waitress, and her sweet mom was working there, too. There was only one other table being served when we got there, and a few more locals came and went while we ate. It was such a warm and welcoming place! I’m absolutely in love with it and them.
We ordered Mexican food and inhaled it all. It’s probably the best Mexican I’ve had on trail, and I’ve been eating quite a bit of it lately. We chatted with Sam and his wife a bit, and then decided we’d hitch to a bigger town down this same highway to stay in a motel for the night. When they found this out, Sam’s wife, Theresa offered to drive us. She was going to that bigger town herself to get some stuff from the store.
If we thought Sam drove like a bat out of hell, Theresa was flat out wild. We were taking mountain turns at 55 miles per hour when the sign said 25.. ha. She told us she has been driving these roads for over twenty years, she knows the twists and turns like the back of her hand. As fast as she went, I never felt unsafe.
She dropped us off at the La Quinta Inn in town, right near a huge interstate. Marquis and I checked in and then he showered first. Once I got in the shower, he went to start our laundry.. he was asleep by the time I swapped everything into the dryer. We’re both pretty beat. And this motel is new, only 4 months old, so everything feels that much cushier. The pillows are plump perfection, the duvets are fluffy and fat.. and this mattress is just-chefs kiss.
So, tomorrow we’ll try hitching by the highway and attempt to get back to the trail. I have a feeling it might not be so easy, since this area probably doesn’t even know what the PCT is. Ha. Wish us luck! Ps: my shoulder from that limb slicing me is so tender-it’s actually a pretty deep cut. So, now I’m even more glad we got to a motel and I could shower and clean out my wounds. Gross, but an infection would be so much worse! Anyway-goodnight!
Today ended up being an unplanned zero, but I think we needed it. My arm and shin are still super sore from my slide yesterday. Ibuprofen will hopefully do the trick! Once we were awake, Marquis and I took full advantage of the breakfast buffet downstairs, they even had a waffle maker.
After packing up and leaving our comfy room, we went by a gas station. I got new water bottles (that water yesterday was truly gross), and then we made our way down to the highway entrance ramp. We tried hitch hiking there for over an hour. Honestly, maybe longer, but anything more than 30 minutes and I’m ready to call it quits. It was hot and miserable out there!
When we finally decided to give up and started walking back towards the gas station to order an Uber, a man pulled up for us! He saw us and literally got on the highway, turned around at the next exit up, and came back for us! How sweet! He took us a good 30 minutes down the highway and dropped us off at the next road crossing we’d need to get back to the trail.
When we got out, believe it or not-Rudi and Rebecca were there! In the middle of absolutely no where, a couple I met back in Siead Valley were trying to hitch to the same place as us!! We hugged and chatted and all 4 of us kept our thumbs hiked out. Within 10 minutes, a couple pulled up. They had drove past R&R earlier and turned around for them. Marquis and I were going to let them take the hitch without us, it was for them anyway, and they’d been here much longer than we had-but they all agreed to figure out a way to shove all 4 of us in!
So, packs in the truck and in the passenger’s lap, Marquis, me, and Rudi in the backseat, with Rebecca in Rudi’s lap, we made it work! We all laughed the whole way to Idyllwild. I swear, the trail always provides and you never know when you’ll see a familiar face again.
We got dropped off at the post office. Marquis had ordered a new pack and some other things he needed, and with it being Friday, we had get it today, otherwise we’d end up staying in Idyllwild until Monday morning. No thank you. We have places to be! So, he got his stuff and sent old stuff home. We went to the campground and claimed our spots, then moseyed about town.
I’m in love with Idyllwild. It is adorable and right up my alley. We found an Italian restaurant and I really couldn’t help myself. I wanted a good meal, dang it. So, wine, caprese salad, and mushroom risotto it was, all while sitting outside on a patio in perfect weather! I loved every minute of it. They also had live music.. two older gentlemen playing jazz. My only wish was that we could have turned their volumes down, just a tiny tad, because they played the hell out of those instruments-they just played them really loud. Lol-tell me you’re getting old without telling me you’re getting old, am I right?
After dinner we wondered around some more, and I shopped a little in all the cutesy stores geared for people just like me. Their perfect, overspending consumer. No regrets! Ha. We also got ice cream and found R&R in the town center. We talked with them and a local for awhile before the 4 of us headed into the grocery store for a light resupply.
Back at the campground, the 4 of us celebrated the day with a few beers and some awesome stories. Tomorrow morning, Marquis and I will hitch back to the trail and R&R will zero. I’m not sure if we’ll get to see them again, but I’m sure happy we were able to spend some time catching up with them today. It’s just so funny how the trail works sometimes.
It’s loud at this campground, completely pitch black except for the car headlights that shine through the fence as they go down the road on the other side. There’s tons of regular campers here, some music playing and campfires burning. I hope I sleep ok. Time to give it a go either way, goodnight!
