Woke up with a bunch of new folks I’ve never met before. It was a glorious morning overlooking the desert floor and waking up above the clouds. The day started off with a decent climb as I headed off towards the infamous Mike’s place. On the way there, probably my favorite eater source so far. There was water up a little hill hidden by a flat rock you had to lift and scoop water from. Pretty cool ua you ask me. This trail is kind of like a scavenger hunt when it comes to water. This was a good find.

As I was getting water, Koviat came running by me on trail. Literal running. He runs a few miles everyday and I just stand their in disbelief. I kept up with him once he slowed down and we headed into Mikes Place together, which made me feel a bit safer because I haven’t heard the best things about this water stop. But all was gravy! We chilled for a little while and then Tinkle, Lemming, his brother, and Suzanne showed up. There were a few older gentlemen who’s names I didn’t get. It was a good time.

I wanted to keep going so packed up and headed out. Tinkle, Koviat and I made plans to camp at Tule Spring so we said our see y’a layers. The rest of the afternoon was pretty hot but I pushed through. I passed a few folks, Hot Mess, Amy, and Cale. Eventually I got to Tule, which was probably some of the worst tasting water ever. It tasted like drinking pennies or blood. It was awful. Debated heading to Mary’s place but my feet weren’t in it anymore.

Met some new folks there, Yeti, Lindy, Abbeys person and a few others. They all headed to the next water source. Tinkle, Koviat and Jake showed up and we all called at the spring. A few other showed up as well. We had a decent crowd for the night.

The plan was to go into Idyllwild for a resupply, but down Devils Slide. After talking to Yeti, I found out folks came into Idyllwild by way of Paradise Valley Cafe. I took this out because my feet were killing me and I needed a much needed break. So with town in the mind, I set out at 6am with Tinkle, Koviat, and Jake as we made our way to town.

It hurt so bad to put on my shoes because of the blisters and the heat rash (so I thought) on my toes. It was a grueling hot day, even in the morning. It was gorgeous tho. Finally made it to Mary’s Place where I took a little break. Lindy was there and she told me all about her AT experience 20 years ago. She’s a bad ass. Really liked her storytelling and she got quite emotional talking about her AT experience. The whole time thinking, thats exactly what I want this to be.

So after a nice break, headed back into the sun with café on the brain. I hustled my way there, literally trying not to cry because my feet hurt so much. I got there and attempted to hitch to the café with no luck. I walked a mile and finally arrived. I had a delicious burger and potatoe salad with a chocolate milk shake.

Other folks trickled in and we got a ride into town with Grumpy. Cool dude for sure. He gave us a tour and took us to the Silver Pines hotel to get into our room. It was an awesome spot! Tinkle, Koviat and Jake all split a room together. It was really chill, especially after some Mexican food.

Yeti came to hang with us and really went to town on my feet. He was looking all into them and basically said what I was thinking - heat rash, I need to change my socks more often, and needed a higher arch insole. That was on the to do list for the next day.

I was planning on taking a zero and getting all the lovely mundan things done - feet care, laundry, food resupply, and most of all cleaning my dirt covered body. Even pulled the epsom salt feet soak in the hotel trash cans. Glorious. I did all of that while waiting for Smackdown and Sabrina to get into town because we originally planned on sharing a room together. Idyllwild is such a beautiful, quintessential mountain town. The backdrop are huge granite rocks jutting into the sky. Imagine that view with old timey shops oozing candies and delicious bubbly drinks everywhere you go.

After having breakfast with the previous nights crew, I ran around town for some alone time to run strands. I went to the outfitter store and Ofcourse brought up my feet. I ended up getting the right insole and getting injinji socks to help with blisters. Hopefully that works. I’m willing to try anything at this point.

Smackdown hit me up and said he was here and that our room was ready so I headed on over. We chilled and doctored our feet more. He was having some shin and ankle issues. Which made sense because he did a 38 mile day the dah before. Insanity. Sabrina showed up and we all headed I to town for the free hiker bracelets from the crystal shop and then headed to the town brewery. Met some new trail faces and met Forest Gump for the first time. I have been wondering when that was going to happen. The beer was great, but the stomach was rumbling so Smackdown, Sabrina and I went back to the hotel to make a bomb ass dinner of fresh veggies and moms spaghetti.

When we got there, I re-examined my feet and realized the small pieces of tape I used to keep the thread inside my blisters on my foot had raised little bumps on it and were extremely itchy. They were literally only where the tape was. So I came to the conclusion that I’m allergic to leukotape, the goddes of all blister prevention for thru hikers. I was so sad. Like out of all the things. But alas, ah least I know now. I soaked the shit out of my feet every chance I got and applied cbd lotion I had bought earlier that day.

We chatted, ate and drank. It was such a lovely evening. We talked about nonsense and trail. I really enjoyed their perspectives about hiking your own hike. I must admit, I’ve been a little worried about the whole tramily thing. After talking with them and hearing about Smackdown’s trail experiences, I’m going all in on hiking Becca’s own hike. Letting each day fall into place and letting what will be, be.

So I was debating on whether to get back on trail, but decided against it because I wanted my feet to have another day to breathe. Very stoked about another town day. Tinkle offered for me to join her at the Fireside Inn which I gladly accepted. Now I will have stayed at three different hotels in Idyllwild. Guess, why the hell not?

Smackdown headed out back on trail early and Sabrina and I walked around town for a bit. She headed back onto trail as well. I headed over to the Inn and met up with Tinkle. Tinkle is rad as hell and I hope we are able to keep hiking together a bit. We watched old 90s movies and drink beers. A wonderful last day in town. We also cooked dinner, epsom salted our feet, and slept in this glorious king size bed.

I also had a really good friend give me a call and that boosted my mental energy as well. She always has the right things to say. I’m taking this energy with me into the next section and leaving little crumbs of it on trail. It’s interesting how people can have such a high and a low all in one. I’ve come to realize this is pretty normal and to remain high all the time is exhausting and untrue. Just one of the many societal pressures that needs to be broken and normalized. That it’s okay to feel a little all over the place. I’m not sure if one ever feels truly centered. Bumbling all over is my forte.

Anyways, the day ended as I caught up on the new season of handmaids tale and slipped off into this ginormous bed.

Woke up in Fireside Inn and felt good that I wanted to be back on trail. It’s been a glorious few days in Idyllwild, but these feet were ready to get moving. Grumpy picked Tinkle and I up at 9:30 and we were off. Olaf was sitting in the front seat, was good to see him again. I was dropped off at the café to pick up a package my friend had sent. It was so nice getting a letter and my next resupply from Codi. I did decide that this will be the first and only I do this because it’s too stressful logistically to plan. Just not knowing when and where I’ll be puts a damper on that.

I packed up my bag and headed toward the trail. I met up with Olaf again and a few other new faces, Airdrop, Holes and two others whose names escape me. They are part of a larger 12 person group which is insane to me. They all seem pretty chill tho. The climb wasn’t too bad honestly, especially with the wind and it being a cooler day. I hiked about 11 miles but wish I could be doing more. The hike today irritated the rash I got from the leukotape tape on my feet and now I have even more grandeur blisters. It’s all just hilarious at this point. Ready for that to subside so I can hike more. I would have hiked more today if it wasn’t for that.

Ended up at a kick ass tent site at about 7000 feet with Tinkle after getting water at Cedar spring. Hopefully tomorrow we can push on more. For now, I popped two Benadryl to help with this foot situation and my eyes are drifting.