Monday, August 29th
We wake from our epic perch above Reese lake. I roll onto my back. Mandy looks at me.
“Last night, you didn’t move at all. I thought you died!”
First night’s sleep on trail is always heavy. I am so tired from all the fresh air and exercise, that often I will sleep for 10+ hours the first couple nights until my body adjusts.
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Sunday, August 28th
I wake up in my bedroom in Bend, OR. My friend, Mandy, had flown in from WA the night before. For the next week, our only job is to hike around the Three Sisters, a trio of volcanoes visible from my bathroom window. But first, we had to get to the trailhead, and we had so much to do!
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It’s a beautiful morning as we step outside our tent, where we perched along a ridgeline. We say good morning to Chef and Horse who are both slowly getting their stuff together. Lupine gives Horse some Trader Joes instant coffee that we’ve come to rely on on the trail. It comes already with the cream and sugar. Typically, I’m happy drinking my coffee black. But on the trail it’s nice to have the special treat.
Chef takes off down the trail. A short while later, so do we. We say to Horse, “see you up trail” and fully expect to see him soon when we pause to ditch our coats. It’s a cool morning, and Lupine and I both begin hiking in our warm coats fully expecting to overheat quickly.
…We woke up to sunshine filtering into the tent. It is a chilly morning so we decided to warm up with breakfast and coffee at the picnic table. After our climb yesterday, we were taking our time, coaxing our stiff muscles into the idea of walking all day. Our hiker friends Smooth and Puffy were beginning to stir in their tents. After some breakfast and coffee, we filtered water from a hidden creek about 1/4 mile off trail. It was just a trickle and we had to get enough for a 17 mile water carry, so it took a long time to filter all we needed.
After chatting briefly with Smooth and Puffy, we head out into delightful hiking weather. The sky is bright blue, a perfect backdrop to the scenery of the day. It’s not too hot and there is a gentle breeze.
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The days begin to merge together as we climb through the dry, barren hills of southern California. The scenery is beautiful, but the views are less inspiring than those we beheld from San Jacinto.
Have I become jaded to the scenery? Will only the most epic vistas capture my attention from here on out? I question if this fickleness is the problem with humanity – this need to be endlessly amused, and entertained.
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We’ve spent two days off the trail. Although we’ve enjoyed resting our feet, visiting with family, and cleaning our clothes, by the time we hit the trail we’ve grown antsy. Our feet are craving movement. Our eyes are craving the visual stimulation of new scenery every day or even every hour. Nature is a luxury that I feel lucky to walk back into.
Around 1 pm, Uncle Eddie drops us off. We situate our bags and walk again onto the trail. It’s over 80 degrees. The landscape is rugged and brown. We are surrounded by canyons.
…We awake early and rejuvenated. After a couple weeks on trail, and a limited number of showers, we are ready for a little break. And, today it’s within reach once we get to Idylwild. But first we have some snow to cross.
We spot Dimebag packing up his gear as Rachel and I drink our coffee. We’ve run out of breakfast so caffeine will have to carry us.
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I awake to watch the sunrise over the Palm Desert. The nightime lights of Palm Springs are still illuminated, speckles in the darkness. The sun splits the horizon into color layers. Blue, yellow, orange, the black of Palm Springs below still in darkness, and the brown sand of my surroundings.
I wonder how many others have just seen this. Maybe none. A few early birds tweet their appreciation, creating our fellowship of the sunrise. It’s just us. No instagram or television to broadcast it to the world. There’s no need for more than just us today right now.
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It was windy last night. We are both tired from two weeks of hiking without a break. I’m not motivated to get out of bed, but eventually I find it. The air hisses out of my sleeping pad as I squeeze it like a tube of toothpaste.
Today we have more elevation to gain. We will see snow. We will see views of the desert. This can be expected.
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Today is the day we get to eat a full breakfast of fresh food. We pack up our tent in the cold air, as soon as we awake. We are eager for the meal ahead.
We march down the trail before 7 am toward the Paradise Cafe. It sits at the base of the San Jacinto mountains, right along the highway. We hiked last night to get as close as possible, to make it an easy approach today. We camped close to the highway about a mile away from the cafe.
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