Woke up to a top notch sunrise. Probably one of the coolest camps sites I’ve ever had. You could see sunrise and sunset with a view of Palm Springs below. My feet were itching like crazy, but tried not to think about it while getting ready.

Hiked on after saying bye to Tinkle. It was a gorgeous morning and I was thinking about the rock slide portion that laid ahead. I made it right before Apache Creek where I took my shoes off to examine my feet. They were red and blistering all over. All I could think is how much I hated leukotape. I was taking Benadryl and putting cream on the rash, but nothing was working. This was after taking two zeros in Idyllwild.

Tinkle showed up and I told her what was going on. I didn’t want to get off trail again but I knew I needed to get to a clinic and probably get a steroid shot. So luckily, we were right next to a forest service road. I checked the maps and it led to highway 74, the same highway as paradise valley café. Tinkle wanted to come with me, which I was very grateful for. So we made the trek down the road. Took 1.5 miles down and trail and then took the 4 mile road walk. As we were walking, I got service and called grumpy the trail angel. He came and picked us up when we reached the end of the road and took us back into Idyllwild. As much as I love that town, I was pretty bummed to be off trail again.

We talked through all the options. All the urgent cares and clinics in every direction was about an hour away. Grumpy didn’t the leave mountain and he gave us other options. He dropped us at silver pines where I reunited with Sherbert, survivor, lemming, joe, Tyler, sam and the whole gang. It was awesome to see them again.

Tinkle and I called many places and no one was picking up. We even debated renting a uhaul truck. But then something magical happened. This older couple sitting next to us also needed to get home and they lived where the urgent care was an hour away. So they got a cab randomly and invited us to come stay with them. It was incredible. They were the nicest folks ever. They shuttled me to urgent care where I was able to get a steroid shot in the bum. They cooked us an amazing meal, washed our clothes, and planned on taking us back to the trail the next day. Sue and Ken will forever be remembered. They really saved the day. I still can’t believe how it all worked out.