I Made An Oath - Days 11-15

Day 11

Mile 145.5 to Mile 168.5 ~ 23 Miles

I left Johnny’s ranch with a full belly and a full head of steam wanting to pump out a big day. I knew I had a really tough stretch ahead of me with a ton of climbing into the San Jacinto Mountains. When I left Johnny’s the elevation was 4,400ft and by the end of the day I was going to be upwards of 7,000ft. By noon I had hiked 11 miles, I was feeling fantastic! I followed it up with a 12 mile hike that ended around 7pm. 23 miles all uphill! I am really proud of myself!

Today though, the highlight wasn’t my 23 mile uphill hike. The highlight was me having my first epiphany on the trail! As the day started it was cold and windy. I found myself complaining about how I wished it was warmer. Then as I was hiking uphill I started to complain to myself about how I wished it was downhill. I realized, wait a second... I remember 3 or 4 days ago walking through the blazing hot desert wishing it was cooler and there was a breeze. Why is it that I’m not satisfied with the now? Why do I want something different or “better”? I think some of it is human nature, but I don’t like it one bit. Do I need to wait for it to be 74 degrees, partly cloudy, with a slight 3 mph breeze to be happy? No, no I don’t. I need to learn to embrace and be happy with the now... no matter the circumstance! The now is beautiful in its own way and will only be that way in that instance. Things will change, they always do. If I’m constantly wanting more or something different the cycle will never end. I made a pledge to myself out on the trail today to embrace the now. Love the now. Take it head on and appreciate what has been put in front of me. I know this will be difficult, but the more I make a conservative effort to have this mentality the easier it will be and the happier I will become.

Day 12

Mile 168.5 to Idyllwild ~ 0.1 Trail Miles ~ 5.5 Miles

I had officially hit the fire closure near Idyllwild. This is a 10 mile section of trail that has been shut down for 3 years due to a major fire. The trail is not yet safe to hike on. Once I hit mile 168.6 I had to take an alternate route which lead to a road where I could hitch hike to get into Idyllwild.

The night prior I had been hiking with a guy named Mad Dog, a history teacher from Vermont. Mad Dog had mentioned to me that he had a contact named Dave in Idyllwild that offered him a ride into town. He graciously extended the offer to me as well! We booked it down the alternate route and made it to the road by 10am. We ended up running into Scarecrow and his son Chris, a father/son tandem from Ohio and Dave gave them a ride into town too. Once in town Dave took us to a house and offered us a place to stay for the night! So the 4 of us hikers, not only got a ride into town for free, but also got to stay in a beautiful house in Idyllwild all courtesy of our trail angel Dave. Once again the generosity of the PCT community blows my mind! I got to shower, do laundry, hit the post office and have a couple great meals in town before calling it a night. Today was filled with great fellowship, and relaxation. Tomorrow morning I am hitting the trail and hopefully will be summiting Mt. San Jacinto, a peak over 10,000ft.

Day 13

Idyllwild to Mile 190.5 ~ 11.2 Trail Miles ~ 19.7 Miles

Today was all about the climb. I knew coming out of Idyllwild that I would be feeling good and ready to tackle this 10,000ft peak.

I had to hike about 2.5 miles uphill to get back to the PCT, then hike about 7 miles to the San Jacinto Junction. Once I was there I came off the trail and climbed to the top of the peak. It was about a 6 mile round trip detour and it was brutal! Every step I climbed I could feel my lungs tighten. Once I made it to the top I was in awe. I had never been to the top of a mountain like this so the experience is one I’ll never forget. Standing at the peak and being able to spin around and see nothing but breathtaking views was incredible. There were some day hikers along with a couple of PCT hikers at the peak. We took pictures and stared the decent back to the trail. Once I got back, I was on cloud nine. I felt such a great sense of accomplishment getting to that peak that it made the rest of my miles fly by.

I am settled into camp, cowboy camping of course. The weather for tonight and tomorrow are supposed to be turning for the worse. VERY cold with an extreme wind advisory. We’ll see how it turns out.

Day 14

Mile 190.5 to Mile 212.2 ~ 21.7 Miles

Opposite of the day prior, today was all about the decent. The days work was getting down from Mt. San Jacinto and dropping into the valley to cross right under the I-10 Freeway.

I started off with 10 miles prior to lunch. I was feeling great! Then to make the day even better I crossed paths with a familiar face. It was Ondre, who I had hiked long stretches with before getting separated when I got off the trail to spend the night at Johnny’s ranch. We instantly started where we left off and pushed for big miles together. We made it to the I-10 to find some trail magic beneath the freeway. BEER! We drank a Natural Ice and headed on our way. By the days end we pushed over 21 miles and made it a great day!

The weather ended up not being as bad as expected but the wind near the 10 Freeway was BRUTAL! I guess there is a reason the put all those windmills in that area. Oh and I saw my second rattle snake out on the trail!

Day 15

Mile 212.2 to Mile 232.1 ~ 19.9 Miles

Today I started to get ahead of myself. I looked at the map and saw Big Bear ahead. I knew the weather was getting cold so I wanted to get to town as soon as possible. So I pushed, and I pushed up the mountain. I got just about 20 miles in by 6pm and planned on pumping 3 or 4 more out after dinner. Then I thought to myself... what am I doing? I’ve been racing the clock all day and didn’t enjoy every minute like I should. I need to forget about timelines and destinations and just hike each day with enjoyment in mind. So I ate dinner, set up camp early and told myself I’ll get to Big Bear when I get there.