Mile 112 - 205 Who Needs Coffee When You Have Rattlesnakes?

“Desert”

The rain had soaked the grass to the point where it all collapsed under the weight on the water, too much to drink up all at once, hanging on to be dried off by the morning sun. This meant pants and shoes. Which actually felt really nice, the cool water squishing in my shoes were cleaning them and easing the swollen pain from walk long all day. The only problem was the center I was at, I washed my dry set of clothes and they couldn’t dry because of the rain. This meant I very few dry clothes left. I tried to dry them in my sleeping bag liner with me, which you can imagine how comfortable it is to sleep with a bag full of wet clothes.

I do swear by merino wool form this reason, it dries quickly and isn’t cold if wet. This was hugely appreciated the next day. The sun decided it was not going to come out to burn the water off the grass. More rain was to be expected, in wet gear.  As I rose into the mountains around the Los Coyotes Reservation, I was quickly distracted away from my wet clothes. The smells of the desert after it’s been wetted it intoxicated. The sage doesn’t smell like that one college roommate you had, this was fresh, alive. The day was grey, but the color and smells brought life to me. I didn’t realize how alive the desert here actually is. I was high up enough to watch as the clouds climbing over and through the mountains, me trying to move quickly enough not to get caught in one to get wet again. 

For my diet, I’ve decided to go stoveless. No stove. No gas. No hot food. I’m loving it so far. My meal of choice that is my own creation is a packet of tuna, with some BBQ Corn Nuts sprinkled in with olive oil. Michelin Star to be true. I regularly consume oatmeal, jerky, bars, bars, bars, nuts, corn chips. I basically fart so much it’s propelling me forward.

I ended having an hour of sunny weather, so was able to get my clothes fairly dry. Which is wild as folks near me were apparently getting snowed on. I finished the day tired, but eager for the next day as I’d be getting to Little Bear Hostel…whatever that meant.

I’ve been hiking fairly strong, my feet do get sore, I think my inner thighs were spasming the other day, but overall, nothing serious. A little foot pain that I’m hoping to solve with some inserts. The hunger is setting in.

Jerusalem Cricket, an awfully crunchy snack!

I feel like I see something here, swear I wasn’t on drugs 

The morning was the coldest so far, I was a little slow to get up. The day seemed to drag on forever, it was only 14 miles to the hostel, but between the heat, the arid landscape, and the fact I was trying to ration my food for the climb up Mount San Jacinto made for what felt like the hardest day. I had a moment where I sat and wondering, “wtf am I doing here”?

That familiar feeling of needing to be productive, building my life (or my finances), working within the container. But the brought myself back, this trail is the container, the thing I am building is me. That pull is strong within me, but I’m able to meet it quickly now. 

I think those projections are what controlled so may decisions. “I should be…”, “I need to be…”, all these voices to myself of not being able to accept what I am. I get the feeling you can’t really accept anyone else if you don’t accept yourself…which sounds uber-cliche. I realized many times I let the projections of others become my own, holding disdain for myself for not fitting within them. 

I could talk projections all day.

I made it to the Little Bear Hostel, which is just some guy’s house with an intricate way of self-serve. I was able to bucket wash my clothes and set them on the rocks to dry, to shower, and eat snacks. Life felt pretty good, and I reckon the folks around me felt the same. We spent the afternoon laughing, joking, sharing who we were, when we’d be in Idyllwild. I felt warm. My tent, now dry and also not full of sand, serves as a safe haven as I get ready for sleep. The coyote songs rile up the entire neighborhood.

Th next day started nice and early, coyotes stirring the dogs up, laughing at their caged existence. I keep using my rain fly, and the condensation in my tent is intense, leaving part of my sleeping bag wet. I was happy to leave the area. It had been hot and uncomfortable in a way other desert parts hadn’t been, or perhaps my body needed a break. I had about 10 miles to get to the Peace Valley Cafe, apparently the best burgers on trail. It was an easy walk, enough to let my thoughts move in one direction (they often go a bit more erratic if I’m pushing it. I thought what has driven me to do certain things in life. From choosing to do work abroad, to learn random things, random challenges. I do think to a degree of novelty, which I want get better at not being so attracted to it, but it’s curiosity that has really driven my life. Curiosity for experience, to learn others’ perspectives, how the world works, or even how car brakes work. I’m just curious, and I’m leaning into how much it’s made me. 

Another thing that came to my mind was the influence Boy Scouts had on me. I had some conversations with Sinead’s family (as they were very scout oriented) about the scouts and its effects on me. I think about part of the Boy Scout Law, “…I will keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.” I think how that impacted how I positively few myself and the how I judge myself when I feel I am being my best self. Not one controlled by projections, but judging how well my identity is aligning. I do think the Boy Scouts is the one of the most influential experiences on my character, though I don’t do anything with the organization anymore. It does sadden me to see it diminish.

Upon getting to the Peace Valley Cafe, I saw many familiar faces and more were coming. I didn’t get the famous hamburger. I got three eggs, a 1/2 beef patty, hash browns, and toast, the biggest meal on the menu. They were talking about going to Idyllwild that day and the next instead of hiking in off the trail. At first I was resistant, but after seeing room prices, and me wanting a room at least one night, I caved. I quickly found someone who I hadn’t met, Joe, or his trail name, Nomad, who wanted to split a room. So off to Idyllwild for recovery.

We got a ride in with a guy named Grizzly Gramp, he had done the PCT a few years back and was following up the entire trail to be able to give rides. With him was the puppy, Nevada. Now, I’m sorry for I have sinned, I didn’t get a photo. This yellow lab puppy did something to me no other dog has, made me want my own. I had always godfathered other dogs and received quite a bit of love, but never wanted my own. It’s a lot of responsibility, akin to having a child I would think, animals tie you down. But man, something in me said, “I may just have to settle down for something like this.”

Mayor Max and I, the mayor of Idyllwild, literally a dog

Idyllwild is a fun, mountain town, highly recommended for a weekend retreat. Chintsy. We got our room and I proceeded to sprawl. I had only hiked 10 miles so was feeling pretty good. I even got to meet the actual mayor. It was good connecting with folks over the evening, drinking beers, sharing videos of all our rattlesnake encounters. They say Idyllwild is where injuries start showing up, and it couldn’t be truer. I just got some new insoles, but I saw all sorts of people hobbling around, trying to get an appointment with Blaze, an on trail physiotherapist. She seemed to really help folks, and also seemed quite busy. By the second day of being in Idyllwild (I was talking a full 0 day) I had a strange feeling of being off trail. I felt almost more comfortable in my tent than I did in this splendid room. I keeping dreaming of ghosts, projections, that I know how to address, but struggle with that it’s almost daily that my dreams haunt me. A few months ago, I made a I guess what you could call a prayer. It helps to bring me back to center, keeping me grounded, keeping dreams as they are, just images.

I was excited to begin the ascent on San Jacinto. My feet and ankles, not so much. We got a ride out to the trail where we had gotten off a few days ago, arriving around 8:30am, a bit of a late start. The first mile felt good, but I think the time off made my feet and ankles lazy, I felt like I was tripping and rolling my ankles like never before. They eventually stiffened up. It was a hard time with some strong elevation gain, knowing the next day would be harder. I set up camp nice and early, able to hear Coachella in the distance.

Cue LOTR soundtrack

I had initially planned to ascend to the summit in three days, then there was talk about two days among the faster hikers. I woke that early very early and got out of camp fast. Polar opposite from the day before, my body felt powerful, so I leaned into that feeling and decided I was going to assault the summit that day. My legs kept pumping, mile after mile, pushing 1000s of feet of elevation. I hit a wall around 10,000 feet. I was pushing my body and I don’t know if I had the calories to support what I was doing. Upon making the summit, I quickly made my way down. I was tired, but I was also high up, nearly 11,000 feet late in the afternoon. So I rushed down the mountain to get as far down as I could to set up camp. I found a great spot in the forest next to a small stream. There were a few large granite boulders for me to climb on before bed.

I promptly stuffed my face full of snacks after this

That’s some high quality H2O

View of San Jacinto peak

I woke slow. It was a cold morning, but not as cold as the one before, which was interesting because I was camping at 9,700 feet. A Boy Scout troop was camping below me about 300 yards away, which seemed coincidental having thought about Scouts not too long ago. As I was leaving I saw my Dutch friends heading down, they hit the summit for sunrise, good on them. Once camp was torn down, I ran my hair in the stream nearby to freshen up, and I was on. I had intended to hike about 15 miles max, I had used a lot of energy, more calories than I had, on the climb yesterday. The day was beautiful, with mountain streams flowing from the weather a few days earlier. My steps felt bounding, which was shocking considering how I felt by the time I was bed the night before. I hit 6,700 feet and life seemed to explode around me, starting with a rattle! My parents always scolded me for cussing, saying that I may unintentionally say something around my grandma or something. They were right. My reaction to my second rattlesnake was the same as the first, “HOLY F@&$!”. Seems to be my go-to shocked response. 

Dangernoodle kaboodling around

After that though, there seemed to be as many lizards as there were rocks around me. They reminded me a bit like cockroaches with how numerous and chaotic they were. Some were beautiful though, with glimmering yellows, blues, and greens across their black bodies, like oil on the water. 

Unfortunately the least colorful, but the most willing to pose

I tried to avoid their scuttling around through the trail as I made my way down. Now here I made a mistake, which I literally made the other day, I didn’t have enough water. I don’t know why I didn’t fill up in the pristine mountain streams, but I got just enough. The next water source was 5 miles more down what I was expecting to do. Expecting a shorter day, I started later. The day was getting late, my feet tired, but I was out. I’d survive, but I don’t like “surviving” so I pushed through until I hit the “spigot” around 7:20pm. The sun was gone, but I had water. I guzzled 1.5L with nothing to show for it. I waited until it was really dark, as there were some other campers around, to strip naked and “shower” using the spigot. I felt renewed, clean…charged. So charged up I couldn’t sleep. I had blown through the San Jacinto range. I knew the next day I’d be restocking though, and I wouldn’t be hiking much, so sleep or not, I was excited to prepare the next assault. The ascent to Big Bear.

Adieu, San Jacinto