Day 12, April 29: Mile 166 into Idyllwild
Town day!!!
I accidentally turned my alarm volume down so I woke up later than expected. After packing up camp, Snake Charmer shared the blueberry muffins and cinnamon rolls that he packed out from PVC with Alex and me for breakfast. It started the day off on a happy note.
We had a steep climb to tackle in the rising morning sun. Alex and I got ahead of SC and made our way down to Apache Spring, another steep descent. The trail down felt long and added 500 feet of descent and climbing to the day, but I was glad to have sufficient water to make it the next 8 mile climb.
The scenery was stunning, with lots of manzanita and pinyon pines and a view of Palm Springs down to the east. I was loving every minute, especially knowing that every step was getting us closer to town day.
There were many downed trees to climb over and under as we made our way up the ridgeline ascent. Somebody left a comment on the FarOut app that there were 80 to climb over and 7 to climb under and that it was absolutely the most heinous 8 miles ever(!!!)… but I feel like this was an exaggeration. Or maybe it was the good conversation that helped pass the time. It was nice to hike and chat with someone instead of hiking alone.
Alex and I caught up with Snake Charmer, who had unknowingly passed us when we got water at Apache spring, and we kept hiking up together from then on. We had hilarious conversations about movies, life stories, you name it. Snake Charmer was cracking me up.
We broke for lunch in a cozy little spot in the shade and found out Snake Charmer had never had tuna packets (a key American backpacking staple), as his homeland British supermarkets did not carry such a thing. We had more laughs and sang silly songs about “town dayyy (town day!)”.
I felt energized after lunch and strong on the uphill climbs. We kept hiking and caught up with trail friends we had met, Christina and Andrew, and a number of other hikers at Tahquitz Creek, a lovely little spot to filter water.
With only a couple miles to go to *townnn!*, we hiked along excitedly. Snake Charmer had been in contact with Mad Hermit, who I had met a few days ago and whose wife is Groovy. She is a Deadhead (a fan of the Grateful Dead, my favorite band), and it turns out she was more than happy to give us a ride from the parking lot at the bottom of the trail into Idyllwild! Thanks Groovy!
Groovy picked us up and the Dead was playing in her truck, and she took us to the post office where I picked up a resupply package I had sent myself. I also received an amazing package from my friend Ann. She sent me Korean goodies including canned kimchi, the best instant ramen, seaweed etc. and a sweet card. Thank you Ann!!!
I walked to the pizza place next door to meet my friends and had a delicious gluten free BBQ chicken pizza and a beer. The group we had assembled (me, Alex, Snake Charmer, Topo, Christina and Andrew) all walked to the supermarket and got a couple of snacks and beer for the campground we were staying at. We also got ice cream and met Mayor Max, who is a dog, and the major of Idyllwild. A very good boy indeed!
We walked to the car campground where I had booked a site and started to settle in. The site was not very level and we were prepared to all cowboy camp cuddle puddle on a concrete parking platform. Not ideal but we were going to make the best of it.
While we were lazing around drinking beer, a Subaru pulled up to our campsite. The couple inside said something to the effect of “hey, we have a house in town with showers and laundry - would you like to come stay with us?”
It took us all a second to process what we were being asked. After a few moments, we all excitedly said YES! They had 3 spots to spare in their car, so Christina, Andrew and I hopped in and Scott and Melanie (the couple) said they’d come back and grab the others. In the real world, this situation might be pretty sketchy, but on the trail, it was magical!
Scott and Mel took us to their beautiful cabin tucked in the forest. We put together a pile of laundry to wash and enjoyed their patio with string lights and shade. The group graciously gave me first shower and it. was. amazing.
Once nighttime came, we all sat around chatting in the living room. It was getting late so once laundry was done, we all retired to bed. Again, graciously, the group gave the queen bed to the girls (myself and Christina) and the boys got the floors. Sinking into that soft squishy queen bed was heavenly.