Miles 316.6 to 332.4

I woke up this morning and got on trail about 9am.... still confused on whether Nathan was behind or ahead of me. We had made plans two days ago to all make it to this picnic area today near Silverwood Lake, where supposedly you could order pizza and beer delivery - something that I had brought to the attention of Nathan and his dad and they were excited about and had mentioned everytime we leapfrogged over the past few days.

(Quick shoutout here to Charlie - who had on his own hosted Spirit and his wife at our house the night before and brought them back to trail at Big Bear this morning... a trail angel in the making :))

As I was walking, I started thinking 1) it was really hot and pizza actually sounded disgusting 2) if a pizza delivery guy could get to trail... so could Charlie.... I pulled out my phone and checked... Silverwood Lake was only 35 minutes from our house... I called Charlie and asked if he wanted to have a picnic lunch date.... and could he bring some salad and sandwiches.... he agreed it sounded like a nice idea... I had 8 miles to the picnic area and we set up a time to meet....

I ran into a new hiker breaking up camp at the next water source...Mike (or Mark? So much easier to remember names when it is a trail name) from Seattle ... we talked about the plans for the day and agreed pizza didn’t really sound appetizing in this heat... I mentioned Charlie and asked if he wanted anything ... he said an ipa would be great... I texted Charlie - add one ipa to the list.

About 2 miles to go... I was taking a shade break and another new hiker (can’t remember his name, but I recognized him from the game my new friends at the hot springs had created -he was one that came down, looked around and went right back up) came up... we talked plans and goals for the day... I again mentioned my lunch date and asked if he would like anything... yep.. a cold ipa... another text to Charlie... one more ipa...

As I was texting, Nathan came up from behind me... he said he had been pushing it to catch me all day... he was ready for our pizza... uhoh... I told him my new lunch date plan... did he want anything? A cold Arizona iced tea... and you guessed it... an ipa for his dad! Poor Charlie.... (also, Nathan, who had camped hidden at the water source where I met Coppertone, mentioned Coppertone had root beer floats at the trailhead that morning... sad I missed out on those... but glad Coppertone was back to trail magic...)

Around this spot... in the heat of the day... the PCT follows along the road... blacktop walking makes it even hotter... Nathan and I were trucking along together ... excited to reach the picnic spot... as we climber around the corner and saw the lake and all the people way down the cliff in the water ... I mentioned how tempting it was to just jump off the cliff into the lake (not a safe idea) and Nathan said he was having the same thought... another corner and we saw bathrooms, shaded picnic tables and we basically ran down the 500ft side trail with our packs... excited for our cold beverages and a dip in the lake... we threw off our packs... Nathan downed the last bit of his water... and was taking off his shoes to get into the lake... I looked around... there was no road in sight....hmmm... I checked guthooks (our app) .... yep...there was a comment this was the place... a side trail supposedly led up to the road.... I looked... no side trail.... uhoh...wait was that the road way up there.... I stopped Nathan just as he was about to dip in... something isn’t right I said... he asked the people nearby how they got here... they said their boat... we looked around... everyone was there by boat... My phone rang ... Charlie was at the spot I sent him too... he said there was a lake about 2000 ft in elevation below the road....and no way down... wth? I called Scout who had posted a pic of his own trail side pizza delivery a few days before... he confirmed I was in the wrong spot... another 2 miles ahead he told me... the next picnic area... I felt so bad for Charlie when I called him and told him another hour of walking for me and more driving for him...(after his 2 hour round trip this morning for Spirit)....

It was 2pm the hottest part of the day... Nathan and I both were feeling a bit defeated from our high of having arrived to realize we hadn’t and it was bushwhacking straight up to get back up to the trail, where we had euphorically sprinted down... i gave Nathan half of my water and I took off on a mission - fueled by “girlfriend who had screwed up guilt” ... Nathan said he had never seen me hike so fast... Charlie called - the line of cars to get Into the park was 40 deep and barely moving he said... from heat, exhaustion and my own feelings of messing up... I just broke down and started crying.... what was supposed to be a fun meetup was turning into a convoluted disaster for him....

By the time we made it to the “right” picnic area... I was so depleted from everything I could barely eat my salad- more or less any of the other goodies I had asked for... and So exhausted... I could barely make conversation or the visit enjoyable for amazing Charlie.... luckily, Nathan, hiker a and hiker b... excited about their ipas... helped make it a fun afternoon.

Nathan decided to camp there and wait for his dad ... and get his pizza and wings... the rest of us took off for a few more miles at the end of the day. I said goodbye to the worlds best boyfriend - apologizing profusely for the hassle- and sat at the trail behind the others for about an hour resting before the climb up.

I made it to my intended campsite right as the sun was going down... and enjoyed the pasta salad and cookie from Olive Avenue market that Charlie had brought that I couldn’t eat that afternoon.

As I fell asleep... I was grateful again for Charlie and thought about how patient and understanding he was... and how I hoped I could gain a little of that from my journey on the trail.... especially patience .... something I have never had as a strong quality...

332.4 to 341.9 Cajon Pass

I woke up today and wasn’t really sure of where I would end up... I was still way ahead on my mileage schedule for vaccine pickup point on Wednesday (and I couldn’t really go any further than that point because there would be no way to get off trail).... Scout had sent a message to our group text that the heat/lack of water situation out of Cajon Pass was a doozy.... I knew the famous McDonald’s on the PCT was about 8 miles ahead... but having not eaten McDonald’s since moving to California a few years ago - I decided as I set out for the day, I would just skip it and hike 5 miles past and camp at a water cache at the base of the climb...setting myself up for the best scenario given Scout’s report and how slow I am on climbs...

The 8 miles were for the most part a steep descent.... and passed pretty quickly... I made a game of giving names and making up stories for the giant rock shapes that I began to pass... as I approached the sign for the side walk to McDonalds...and the sun was beating down... my feelings towards making the side trip began to waiver... a cold drink would be nice.... some iced coffee sounds good... maybe a few salty fries.... I sat at the sign for about 15 minutes weighing my options... and ultimately gave into the temptation... I mean for goodness sake it was a landmark with its own PCT mileage sign... how could I pass it up???

(Sidebar vent: I received some yucky comments from strangers on a previous post regarding my chick-fil-a pack out choice and basically telling me to give up now - I don’t understand people’s need to be ugly to others online... I don’t understand strangers feeling they have the right to tell me what I can and can’t do- especially in terms of what I choose to eat- this is a journal of my experience- mainly for my friends and family - it is public and I guess that opens it up to comments from people who know nothing about me... if I chose to “eat more chicken” or “have a burger” after arriving in a town from being in the backcountry for a few days hiking 15-20 miles a day... so f’n be it)

I arrived at the McDonalds ... ordered fries, a soda, a quarter pounder and iced coffee.... inside and outside dining still closed from Covid... my only choice was to sit basically street side and eat... this was the first time I had someone ask me if I needed money... I was a little confused and then realized how I must look ... explaining I was a hiker, I realized I probably needed a good shower... and changed my plans to camp at the water cache to “camp” in the roadside hotel room down the street...(which apparently didn’t work in fixing the homeless angle because I was offered services again the next day!!) Nathan arrived and joined me on the street corner... he and his dad had decided to skip the hotel but camp right at the i15 underpass on trail... I bid goodbye and told him I would meet him early the next morning to knockout as many miles of the climb before the heat of the day that we could...

I started off down the road to the hotel... this was by far the scariest .5 mile I have had since starting this journey... Cajon Pass is apparently a major interstate stopping point for people coming back from Vegas, the mountains... somewhere to San Diego? LA? Not sure but omg the cars ... so many cars..... the traffic was insane on a Sunday afternoon ... and while I didn’t have to walk across i15 per say .... I did have to cross hwy 138 right at the entrance and on ramps .... I felt like a real life game of frogger trying to get to the hotel... checking into a room felt nice ... a shower, good dinner and good night sleep would set me up better for the climb the next day. A number of hikers had the same idea as the hotel was full of new thru hikers for me to meet - all of which equally traumatized by crossing the road.

When 4pm rolled around... I started looking at options... there were three... McDonalds, Subway and Del Taco.... hmmm...Del Taco was the only one on my side of the street... but Subway sounded better ... (and I could pack out the other half of a foot long to carry the next day).... I walked to the edge of the parking lot to the road crossing... yep... nope... I’ll try again later... 5pm... me to road crossing... again not worth the risk... I checked Google Subway closes at 9pm.... surely the traffic will let up by then... 6:30pm... nope... 7:30... nope... I decided it was going to have to be Del Taco... I went into the gas station housing Del taco... just my luck... Del Taco had an oven malfunction and had closed... I walked around the gas station... besides junk food all I could find was a loaf of bread... I had some peanut butter and jelly in my pack... guess that would be dinner... as I checked out I asked if the traffic ever let up... the clerk told me on Sunday nights It was like that until 1 or 2am.... I started walking back to the hotel... and noticed an underpass... hmmm... I could walk down those boulders... under the hwy... and back up the other side to Subway... heck yeah!

I stashed my bag of bread ... and in my sandals scampered down the boulders.... easy peazy.... underneath the hwy... I am like how did I not notice this earlier.... then I see the other side.... no path up... straight up... through trash and overgrowth galore.... determined I try and pave a way up.... trying in the dark by the light of my phone not to step on broken glass or anything else harmful.... a few stray cats scared the bejesus out of me .... despite my shower a few hours before ... I was now again covered in dirt... and must of been a sight coming up over the guardrail because a trucker in the parking lot... offered to buy me food from the gas station... I explained and he laughed... it was 7:45... and I had made it to Subway.... which was.... closed...and had closed at 7:30... the guy working there said sorry... they hadn’t updated their hours online since Covid... but you haven’t even cleaned up yet I explained... nothing he could do the register had been closed already.... sigh... I went back down the obstacle cliff of trash and thorns.... back under the road... back up the boulders... searched for my bag of bread I had stashed... back to the hotel and sadly ate my peanut butter sandwich.... set my alarm for 4:30am and went to sleep...well attempted to with the constant sound of cars and freight trains a far cry from a few nights before with the babbling creek and harmonies of frogs...

Ps. Sorry about the blurry pics... my phone case got scratched and I didn’t realize for a few days :)

Mile 341.9 to Mile 362.1

My alarm went off at 4:30... snooze... 5:00...snooze...5:30...snooze... 6:00 finally out of bed and out of hotel by 6:15... pretty sure Nathan and his dad would of left without me... I crossed the now calm hwy and headed back to trail... I stopped again at McDonald’s and got a sausage biscuit and coffee ... and again eating in the parking lot was offered some cash.... the people in Cajon are really generous... I politely told the family I was hiking, but thank you....

I made It back to trail and crossed under the interstate and there was Nathan... bags under his eyes packing up camp... his dad had started early- but the trains and cars had kept him up all night and he was just getting going... we hiked through a few tunnels... watched the morning trains (multiple train track crossings In this area) ... quickly caught up to his dad and eventually made it to a great water cache at Swarthout Canyon -maintained by the trail angels of wrightwood - shade! chairs with backs! Gallons of water! And bonus pct class of 2021 stickers...

Sitting at the Cache was thru-hiker Judy - that I haven’t seen since around mile 97.... sadly she had taken a fall and bruised or broken a rib and was waiting for a ride from some day hikers.... she is one tough lady, so I felt so bad for her... and wished her good news...

I also noticed in the trail register there that Jenny and Eric, who I really enjoy (last seen at Paradise Valley Cafe) had signed the register that morning.... motivation to catch up with them and get caught up on their hike!

I had 6 liters of water (with Scout’s warning that was 12+ lbs of waterweight, probably a little overkill... but water is important) - we set out for the 15 mile climb up to 8000 feet. It was amazing views and some super cool rock formations for most of the day... we were also blessed in the morning with some fog that rolled in to keep the temps cooler....

Nathan and I hiked most of the day together, which was a nice change of pace ... he even helped me learn how to change my pace/stride on the bigger climb parts to make them easier... I have also felt my legs are so much stronger as gains that would have required rest for me two weeks ago come and go pretty easily now.... we took an hour break at our intended camp spot from 4-5 and decided to push a little further... it was 5.5 miles To the next listed campsite, which would be the first chance for water as there was reported snow patches- but since we were both good on water and prepared to dry camp... we decided to just go a little farther and surely, there would be something....

We were wrong... by the time the sun was going down... and since we were drenched in sweat from the day and now much higher in elevation.... things got cold fast... we were on a ridgeline and pretty much forced to commit to the entire 5.5 miles...

I was leading our way... staying positive... Nathan seemed to be fading... so I was doing my best...

The last .5 mile I looked at Nathan and said I am tired... and he took charge of being the optimistic member of our team... it was a long .5 mile... but I heard him give a shout of joy when he reached the flat ground a bit ahead of me.... and I cheered as I came up behind him.... we quieted quickly noticing a tent there (it was 8pm... way after hiker bedtimes)... but excitedly I noticed it was Jenny and Eric’s tent... and we said quick hello’s....

Set up camp quickly... scarfed down another pb&j and tried to warm up from the cold air and wind that had rolled in.

I fell asleep exhausted, but full of accomplishment....