Day 12 Miles: 12ish? From mile 160, oak grove campsite, to Idyllwild The evening air was calm and buttery when we set up our tarp last night. – We were deceived. – The breeze started shortly after bed and accelerated from there. I had an inkling there was going to be trouble early in the…
Day 11: detours
Day 11 Miles: 19 (17 on-trail) From water cache at 143 to San Jacintos, mile 160 The sun rises directly into our faces, and Buckeye is rocking Queen on his smartphone to start the day. Time to get up. All these AT veterans are showing their thru-hiker chops – we may be keeping pace with…
Day 10: it’s all downhill
Day 10 Miles: 16 Trail Angel Mike’s to Anza water cache The four of us shuffle out of the bunkhouse to a perfectly calm, blue morning. Mike’s put a thermos of coffee out, so we shake off the morning haze and get on our way. We’ve barely hit the trail when Buckeye yells, “Promise!” A…
Day 9: unplanned stops
Day 9 Miles: 12 Agua caliente spring to trail angel Mike’s house I don’t know if the tarp saved us from dew last night, but it caught five big bird bombs for us, and all on my side. I’ll chalk that up for a win. The area where we camped is basically a poison oak…
Day 8: taking a break
Day 8 Miles: 5 May 9, 2014 Warner Springs to Agua Caliente Creek (mile 115) Cowboy camping turned out to not be a great idea. It was barely dark when we got hit with a heavy dew – the tops of our sleeping bags felt drenched, but it was too late to fix it and…
Day 7: no shower for me
(Header photo by J) Day 7 Miles: 19 Third gate water cache to Warner Springs Woke up cosy and snug next to a juniper tree. A little too cosy – it’s already late. J and I don’t get started until nine. We’d like to make it to Warner Springs tonight, and it’s 19 miles away….