Today I did another thing I didn’t ever expect to. I helped in the building of Big Bear Prayer Park. The owner of Nature’s Inn is creating this park on the land by his house just down the road from the inn. In exchange for another night there, and $5 for some food, I pulled weeds, spread wood chips and transplanted a tree. I had planned to move on this morning but the lure of a Friday night in a town with other hikers, and there are lot of us, was too much. Those of us at the inn used the big grill out the front and cooked up a feast. I’m certainly not going hungry but I have lost a few kilos since Campo. My pack however is gaining weight. I resupplied here for the next 100+ miles to Wrightwood and it’s really crammed in there. Unsurprisingly it wasn’t my pack that got the attention but that of some girl who turned up after dark. She was carrying a lot, a 6 lb tent is crazy out here. So all the well intentioned “experts” selflessly volunteered to help her out. She was cute for sure but the guys swarming around her were just too funny to watch, so Paul (who did a stunning rendition of the Transformers theme) improvised new version of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, with two lines from me,

(to the tune of Another Brick In The Wall part 2)

That pack needs some weight reduction
That pack needs Jardine control
No cotton t-shirts in your stuff sack
Hiker leave those books at home
Hey! Hiker! Leave those boots at home

All in all it’s just another pound on your back,
All in all it’s just another brick in your pack.

Hiker needs some education
Hiker needs some self-control
No dumping upstream of your water
Hiker take that paper home
Hey! Hiker! Take that paper home

All in all it’s just another ounce on your back,
All in all it’s a bit more shit in your pack.

I’ll try to work out the rest of the song when I can remember the original. I’m also reworking “Paris to Berlin” to be more PCT based.

Location: Nature’s Inn

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Idyllwild to Wrightwood

A full “zero day” though I managed to squeeze in some walking anyway.

I got my replacement PocketMail device, but it wasn’t easy. When I told the post office guy I was expecting a box he only looked in the box area and told me there was nothing. I checked with PocketMail and they said it was here 5 days ago, so I forced the issue with the post office and found it in the envelope pile because it was a package not a box. I’ve learned to be more general next time and get them to check everywhere.

Lots of hiker folk in town today. Adam (Salt Lick) and Mr Pink were the two faces that stayed around the most. Nature’s Inn is a fantastic place, great discount for us PCTers and they let 4 of us share one room at no extra cost, which is why I am crammed on the floor beside a futon and a pile of food and gear. Being in town has been fun but it’s crazy expensive and I’m ready to move on. We walked to the movies after a full dinner because the waitress said it was less than a mile. Never trust a non-hiker to guess such short distances. The difference between 1 and 2 miles on foot is a lot and it took some of us 40 minutes to get there.

During the movie I managed to totally zone out. I could have been in Takapuna with the gang, I forgot where I was and why I am here. Coming out of that trance was a shock, I was really taken aback and the need to get going was strong. The next stretch is mostly downhill for 80 miles so my heavy food bag shouldn’t slow me down too much but a Friday night in a town could be fun too. Nice trail angels and new hikers to meet. Tomorrow morning will tell.
More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Idyllwild to Wrightwood

Sleeping outdoors has its benefits. This morning on the hill top I got the sun on my face while still in my sleeping bag. Paul had used his mylar emergency blanket due to the cold but I hadn’t even used my bag liner which bodes well for the Sierras and further north.

Lucky Joe, Potential 178 and I got going well after 7 with intentions of stopping before the road and hitching in to Big Bear City in the morning. But at lunch time the talk turned to soft-serve ice-cream and all-you-can-eat buffets. So when the four of us left Arrastre Trail Camp (where the piped water is cool and clean) it was to complete the next 10 miles in time for a town dinner. I made it in 3 hours, a personal record while carrying this pack. Nature’s Inn was full so we made it to Motel 6 this evening and ran into a whole host of other hikers and went to to a Chinese BBQ buffet with a few. Thanks to a girl I met while on my O.E. I was able to thank the waitress in mandarin (“CheChe”) and I guess that the response meant “you’re welcome” but it was too quick for me to learn.
More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Idyllwild to Wrightwood

Today I did the wake up call. Up so early we navigated by moonlight for a while until dawn took over. I crossed Mission Creek over a dozen times this morning, always just stepping across, the Sierras are where the real fords happen. There were a few times where fires or fallen trees obscured the path but I’d always relocate it quick enough.

After dunking my shirt in the last decent stream crossing I hit the climb at the end of the valley and though it was steep and barren I got through it just by thinking of the lunch break up ahead at Mission Creek Trail Camp. It’s just a flat area with a few fire pits and a hidden spring but it was enough to gather a bunch of us there.

A few hours later I moved a few more miles meeting Lucky Joe at a confusing saddle where someone with a bulldozer had turned the trail/jeep road into a wasteland. We used the maps and compass to figure out what was going on and made it to the next flat area before dark. It sure is cold up here with the wind nipping over the ridge. It was colder on San Jacinto but I was in a tent that night.

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Idyllwild to Wrightwood

For a campsite in the shadow of America’s most productive wind farm it was a restful one.

“Craig?” came the call at 5:30 “are you staying in your sleeping bag all day or are we going to get moving?”. Paul was still in his bag too but by 6 we’d shouldered our packs and by 6:30 it was shorts and t-shirts weather as the warm breeze that powers Palm Springs came over the hill. Mesa Wind Farm gave us bottled water as their well has traces of uranium in it! We plugged on to “red dome” on the edge of Whitewater Creek’s wide alluvial banks for a siesta. Jan came and went, choosing to hit the climb in the middle of the day.

Another looooong break and a quick dip before finally getting going. The ridge walk before dropping down to Mission Creek was really something. Not particularly steep and with views back over to San Jacinto where my fingers were going numb just 48 hours ago. I’ve set my sleeping bag up on my z-rest within talking distance of Potential 178, Fruitcake and her husband Nutz, within shouting distance of three strangers who arrived after dark and within croaking distance of dozens of frogs and chirping insects. With the steep canyon walls and no moon yet the stars are set to be dazzling tonight
More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Idyllwild to Wrightwood

From the “remote campsite” today’s trail dropped 6025 ft in 15.4 miles. Though it started nicely enough amongst big pines and in shade it soon became long gentle switchbacks without so much as a rock to crawl under. It didn’t improve when I stumbled on a rock and slid off the trail. I could still touch the path from where I landed but I managed to bash my knee, shin and front of my ankle on the way down.

Some nice official has installed a tap at the bottom of the slope so I filled my bottles and joined Vortex and Blue Sky a mile down the sun-baked road. Potential 178 turned up and as we headed out a nice local pulled up, pleased to meet some of the folk that walk to Canada via his home in southern California. It’s nice to be reminded that this is a rare thing. I now spend so much time with people that are doing the same thing, and many that have done the AT already, that long distance hiking just seems normal now, but I promise that when I get back I won’t burst into conversations with “when I walked across America…..”.

From that shade 178 and I trudged across 3 miles of soft grit to rest under Interstate 10. Not the pinnacle of my adventure but that dirty underpass was cool and shady at the right time. Another cowboy camp tonight and I just can’t face the next incline this evening.

Word of the day: Arduous

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Idyllwild to Wrightwood

Tough day for such low mileage. After finishing up in town Squatch drove Beef Stew and I up to the trailhead. On the 2.4 mile climb back to the PCT I overtook a few day hikers and the section hikers I first met a day north of Warner Springs. I was feeling pretty good after that, but cold if I stopped moving. Chiggers was already there and Beef Stew + Lisa were not far behind. Next came another 1000 ft gain and the clouds were moving in. It was cold all day so we rarely stopped.

I spent a while walking and talking with Chiggers and we came across Davy who had come up Deer Spring Trail with the others who I didn’t catch until camp. Fuller’s Ridge was amazing, and amazingly hard. Views northeast to San Bernardino across the desert, the wind farms and I10. Every now and again Palm Springs was in view.

To the west were densely wooded canyons. Miles and miles of all sorts of pines and firs. The switchbacks were the hard part. Winding down in and out of rocks only to go back up and then down the other side of the ridge. Chiggers and I walked into the Fuller Ridge Remote Campsite around 7 pm, 14 miles from our start that day. Paul (Potential 178), George (Vortex) and Caitlin (Blue Sky) were already set up, Lisa + Beef Stew came along to make a party. Paul got a fire going and tonight we’ve all shared the heat and our food. Peanut brittle, cashew brittle, stuffing, carrots (mmmm veggies are rare here) and stewed apple and cinnamon. Davy turned up after dark, beer in hand and now we’ve all retired to our tents to wait out a cold night on the mountain.

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Idyllwild to Wrightwood

Hi folks, I’ve found an internet connection and will be reading all your email and comments, a proper update won’t happen for a week I think. It’s been a lot colder than I expected at this point, which is good because I made the 30 miles from Paradise Cafe to here with just the water I could carry and a little from a cache.

Bottom of Devils Slide Trail
More info later, now I must shower and clean my clothes, or so the people sitting next to me say.
Updated 11th May. Craig now has a replacement PocketMailIt was cold last night, really cold. While packing up my stuff this morning I had to keep jumping back into my tent to warm up. Commander, Gottago and Stone Dancer must have camped nearby because they passed us as we were breaking camp. A relatively quick 0.6 miles up the path I branched off to climb Tahquitz Peak. I left my pack behind and was pleased to find I easily stepped up from walking to almost running along the sandy path. I walked the rocky climb to the end and was greeted with an incredible view. The clouds were still rolling over the ridges more than 1000 feet below. I’m sure I could see more than a week of walking behind me. I raced back to my pack and soon caught up with Caitlin and George.

We descended Devil’s Slide Trail together, passing a dozen hikers who were leaving town and doing the 4000 ft ascent in 1 mile the hard way. It took a really long time to come down, even with the occasional sprint as George was excited by the lack of food and water that made his pack lighter. After the trailhead parking lot a wildlife refuge appeared with many foot-wide posts making a continuous wall of varying height around the gate. George and I managed to start at opposite ends and pass each other before someone yelled at us about private property and how they’d hate to see us break our necks. We then did most of the 2 mile road walk before a local offered us a lift to our first proper town.

In town I got my post (thanks Bex!), did laundry, had a half decent shower, bought food and socialized. Idyllwild is a quaint town, lots of things kept rustic on purpose. But when the fog rolled in about 2 pm it was really hard to tell the time of day and it didn’t seem any darker by 6 pm. I had visions of this cute little mountain town where the sun never sets and all the watches stop so no-one ever leaves. I kept watching the road to see if the cars were on repeat.

When it finally did get dark we ate ice-cream and cookies at Caitlin and George’s apartment, waxed lyrical about favourite albums and Jon Stewart. The last of us trundled over to Squatch’s pad where I was mostly too tired to talk but did hear him get to rant a bit about people who took his Walk films too seriously. I crashed on Paul’s sofa bed and enjoyed a night where I didn’t have to wake up to roll over. A few more town duties tomorrow then it’s back up that hill with 5 litres of water on my back.

Town days aren’t all that relaxing.

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Warner to Idyllwild

A big jump in distance today but the real change was the elevation gain. Up and down and up, up again.

The night was noisy but my tent was out of the wind so it stayed in one place. I got up and moving and passed George and Caitlin just a few hundred yards down the trail. I was certainly glad to see they had the sense not to go too far last night. I happily knocked off the miles and found a few people heading back the other way after hitching into Idyllwild and walking this stretch north to south.

Squatch was deep into his iPod when I jumped out from behind a rock. The poor guy couldn’t talk for a while there, but he was smiling so I think he saw the funny side. Next time I’ll need to have an ape mask ready to really freak him out.

The vegetation and landscape sure changed with the altitude. This afternoon has been so much what I was hoping for. The soaring granite peaks. Thick pine forest with giant cones and a bed of soft needles just off the path, and all the smells that go with it. There have been oak patches where the acorns and leaves cover the trail inches deep and small clumps of snow after passing Red Tahquitz. I just couldn’t stop taking photos, especially of the clouds rolling over the passes below me. There were some scary places along here. Steep rock on the left, 1 foot of shale path, huge drop off to the right.

The climb before Apache Peak was a killer. Really tough, so I had lunch at the top and felt like a new man. 8 more miles this afternoon and though tired I feel great.

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Warner to Idyllwild

Mist rolled in and out during the night, it looked very spooky amongst the bushes. I packed up and headed north, passing George and Caitlin then Chigger and Lisa all still in the tents/tarps. The air was still cool and the path was good so less than 2 hours later I was at the highway walking towards the legendary Paradise Cafe.

Paul was already there and since it didn’t open until 11 am I had a few hours to wash my shirt and socks (in that order) in the bucket they leave out for us smelly hikers. There were 8 of us there when they opened but Lisa made a quick exit after some interaction with the younger waitress. I don’t know the full story but she left still smiling just saying it wasn’t for her. Soon we got to the business of food. We all had plenty, I’ll just detail mine. “The Pounder” has two 1/2 pound patties, sweet-potato fries, onion, lettuce, “toe-may-toe” and a whole avocado sliced in there too. I washed that down with a few glasses of pink lemonade and after Davy turned up I’d gotten hungry enough to squeeze in an ice-cream sundae. Many thanks to Paul who paid for my burger after I completed the challenge of eating a wasabi cashew nut.

I thought I must be in a dream When she asked me if I wanted cream. Said, Baby, you look good to me tonight                    John Denver

Thanks to Caitlin for this shot of Craig about to have dessert in the desert.

It was after 3 when four of us rolled out of there into the San Jacinto Wilderness. A pleasant afternoon turned into a stormy evening as we climbed higher and the wind speeds did too. George and Caitlin went on towards Cedar Springs but Paul and I have found spots just before a menacing saddle. The trees are howling above me but down here in the hollow the air is still. Ear plugs tonight.

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Warner to Idyllwild