Week 5:Idyllwild to Banning

 Day 29

I hiked down the Devils Slide Trail to Idyllwild. 

Another Deadfall

The first snow I encountered on the PCT

 I must remember to check to see how far out if town my hotel is. I booked a room in a cabin 2 miles out of town and had to hike, uphill most of the way before a friendly couple, who  were staying at the same place gave me a lift. My left Achilles Tendon is acting up. Did some resupply. 

Day 30

I thought I  had scored a good deal. Made a reservation ( at a good price ) at the Idyllwild Inn, right in the middle of town. I got a little lucky "Grumpy" doesn't normally go out by where I stayed last night,  but he had enough time to swing by, pick me up and shuttle me into town. So I did my resupply and waited until 3 PM to check in. Oops ! My reservation is for tomorrow! The Idyllwild Inn's website won't let you reserve a room on the day you arrive in town. This is so hikers without Cell Service have a chance of getting a room when they get to town. 

By the time I realized that, ALL the accommodations in town ( even the campgrounds ) were full because it was a Saturday. I encountered a hiking couple who had just arrived, who also needed accommodations.  Fortunately a Trail Angel let's camp in his yard, but we had to hike to his house.

Baxton and Shana at Trail Angel Ryan's 

Day 31 ( May 1st )

Another Zero in Idyllwild.  I saw Morgan from Blaze Physio. She is a traveling Physiotherapist who is going to different trail towns trying to keep us hikers healthy.  

Morgan demonstrating a stretching exercise. 

Morgan's Van

She told me that her goal is to reduce the number of hikers who quit due to injuries.  She also hiked the PCT in 2019. She said my ankles have a little less movement than is normal and gave me some exercises to keep the Achilles Tendon in shape. I spent the night in the Idyllwild Inn. 

Day 32

Back on the trail.  Grumpy couldn't pick me up until 4 PM, so while I was waiting,  I  got to see the "Mayor" . You can say that Idyllwild has gone to the dogs, because it's Mayor is a dog named Max. 

Grumpy dropped me and 3 other hikers off at the Devils Slide  Trailhead at 4:45, so there wasn't much time to get to the campsite before dark. I pushed as hard as I  could, arriving at my campsite at 7:45 and quickly set up camp while I  still had daylight. Even though I  hadn't  eaten since breakfast I had to force myself to make and eat dinner,  I was that exhausted. I  had hiked 4 miles and climbed almost 2000 feet in 3 hours. I finally crawled into my sleeping  bag at 9 PM. Normally I'm in the sack by 8.

Day 33

Took the alternate route and hiked up Mount San Jacinto.  

The cabin near the summit is stocked with rescue supplies and is not to be camped in, except in emergencies. I then hiked the alternate route to the PCT. It was almost all uphill in the morning  and almost all downhill in the afternoon. 

Day 34

Today was fairly hard. I know that's hard to believe, considering it was mostly downhill.  The truth is that steep downhills are just as hard as steep uphill because you have to watch your step and they are hard on the knees. 

About Noon, I encountered a young Rattlesnake. It  was under a rock that was behind a Bush and was 5 feet off the trail. I would not have seen the snake if it hadn't  rattled. Later in the afternoon I encountered an aggressive bee hive. I stopped 50 feet away to post a warning and was chased away by the bees.

 I ended up stopping for the night on a ridge overlooking the Mesa Wind Farm just South of I - 10. The windfarm was a clue.  I was almost out of water when I stopped, but a kind hiker gave me 3/4 of a Liter to see me through the night. I put large rocks on top of the tentstakes. When I set up camp, the wind was calm. The wind picked up after dark and nearly blew down my tent. It howled until midnight  and then died down about 1 AM.

Day 35

Before I  started hiking, I made a  reservation fir a room in Banning. I have until 3 before I can check in, so I  will take my time. I hiked down to the water source and spent some time resting and drinking water. As I  started to continue, I  saw a Black-throated Sparrow across the road. I took my time hiking to where the trail goes under I - 10. It was hot and windy and hiking two miles in loose sand totally sucked. Normally someone would have dropped off a supply of water under the bridge, but there was very little water when I  got there. 

I waited until 2 PM and chatted with hikers passing through. At 2:30, Steven picked me up and dropped me off at a motel in Banning. I walked to a couple different stores to do my resupply.  I  got Pizza Hut take out for dinner.