Miles 369.3 Inspiration Pt — 383.9 Little Jimmy CG (14.6 miles)

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Rose: back on trail, an easy summit, going at my own speed Thorn: concentrating so much on technique Bud: more hiking tomorrow!

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Today we were back on trail, and it felt so good! We hitched from Wrightwood back to Inspiration Point. I immediately just went at my own slow pace. I wanted to enjoy this day of hiking and not repeat the miserable time I had had coming into Inspiration Point. I’m not a speed demon; I like to live slow and feel the trail.

The trail was so lovely today. The first couple hours were easy following the rolling ridge line of Angeles National Forest. The sun was shining with warmth but not intense heat, the ground was soft dirt, the forestry provided dappled shade, and a cool breeze kept the temperature and sweating comfortable.

In hour two, I came across a macabre tabloid: a dead lizard in the middle of the trail. At first I think it might have been squished, but it was plump and had an obvious trauma to its neck. I scanned the ground on either side of the trail and saw a young rattlesnake, obviously about to slither in and eat it’s prey. I tried to scare the snake away with my trekking poles on the ground and then a rock. It recoiled its neck but more in a striking pose than a retreat. I was well out of shot. It was obvious it wasn’t going to leave its meal, so I tip toed uphill and around the predator and it’s prey.

The next few hours were spent going up steep switchbacks on the Baden-Powell trail. It was actually welcomed to have some steep switchbacks after all the gentle grading of the previous 370 miles. I was slow, but I enjoyed my time immensely: I talked to lots of day hikers, identified a couple plants, took many opportunities to sit on trail-side logs and rocks, and enjoyed the lateral flatness of the well-trodden trail (often the PCT lists to one side when we’re sidehilling). I even finalized buying a new backpack when I had reception on a switchback.

Today I focused on body mechanics. Im not injured, but I have some aches and pains that could be further exasperated into bigger problems: a twinge in my left foot when I bend it wrong, constant tingling in my right foot, what I’m guessing is proximal IT band syndrome (ie in my hip), and the sprained right ankle that was giving me trouble a hundred miles ago. Lucy’s departure has us all a little paranoid about injury. Im determined to take better care of myself this next section: stretching, using my roller ball, make sure Im using proper technique and alignment. At camp tonight, I did all those things and I do feel better. Especially the stretching; I need to keep that up.

Upon reaching the top of the switchbacks, Shuffles and Semi were taking lunch in the bosom of an ancient tree. They told me to scamper up the last quarter mile to the summit of Mt Baden-Powell for photos. It was an impressive view with LA somewhere to the west under the smog, San Bernadino Valley to the east, and our PCT route stretched North and South. Pebbles, GNOME, and Tory (Twizzler) soon joined the gang (they took a later Uber ride).

After taking pictures and descending back to the lunch spot on the saddle, the gang quickly determined it was too hot and they would speed ahead the last six miles to camp. I let them go and ate my fill of lunch and the sun’s heat while I enjoyed the views.

The three hour walk to camp (I’m still slow and average two miles per hour) was pleasant again. Far less day hikers but plenty to look and see. I practiced my whistling for a good 45 minutes. I’m getting better, learning new techniques, and getting truer tones. I whistled Colonel Boggie’s March and mimicked a number of birds I heard from the trees.

I spent the whole day without headphones.

The camp is called Little Jimmys. It has a crude dirt road, but it appears to be a popular backcountry destination. Dinner with the tramily+2 dispersed shortly after my late arrival. Most everyone went to bed around 7. I used the last hour of light to stretch and massage myself.