Day 25, May 12: Mile 342 to 364

• Start: Mile 341.9

• End: Mile 364.4

• Miles: 22.5

• Ascent: 7073 | Descent: 2014

Amazon, G and I left the Cajon Inn just after 5am and had the scariest road crossing maybe that I’ve ever done while crossing highway 138. The pre-dawn twilight made it hard to see and cars and huge semi trucks were zooming by. Thankfully the three of us made it across safely and walked back along the highway towards the trail. Conveniently, McDonald’s was right there so we got more sandwiches for breakfast, yum!

We started on the trail and went through a sketchy, long, pitch black tunnel that passes under the 15 freeway.We were singing silly songs, particularly “Country Roads, Take Me Home” except we replaced every lyric with only country roads, country roads, country rooooads.

After the tunnel and a quick photo shoot at some abandoned cars, we started up the huge ascent we were to conquer this day. One of the many trains that comes through the Cajon pass went by shortly after we went by the tracks. Super cool! I love trains.

The three of us hiked together and chatted while the climb was more gentle. We came to a water cache that a trail angel maintains- thank goodness for it! We signed the register there. There were some funny and some sweet words from other hikers in the log.

We kept climbing the long hill, and took a few different snack and rest breaks. I was particularly excited about the leftover McDonald’s cheeseburger that I packed out and a watermelon kombucha. A sparkling beverage was so nice to have with lunch. I think I’ll pack one out more often.

The climb continued and we had a beautiful view of Mt. Baldy from the backside. I started feeling pretty rough around mile 20 or so, but took a nice break in the shade, ate a bunch of snacks, and chugged a liter of electrolyte water, and felt much better.

G and I hiked the last 2.5 miles into camp together. We also crossed into the Angeles National Forest, and I was elated! These mountains are where baby trail runner and outdoor enthusiast Kim was formed after college.

Camp today was my favorite so far. We were at Guffy Campground just outside of Wrightwood and it had picnic tables, gorgeous vistas, beautiful pines to sit under, nice flat squishy tent spots, and toilets! Such a luxury to not have to dig a cathole.

G, Amazon and I had dinner together and watched the first 20 minutes of Finding Nemo, which I had downloaded at Cajon. It was comforting to watch such a familiar movie. Then, bedtime!