At mile: 266
Hello all! Just a short one today and a lot of pictures.
We left Idyllwild Sunday afternoon, hiking three miles on a side trail to get back up to the PCT. We then proceeded to only hike three actual trail miles that evening, a choice that inadvertently put us in the position to either slow down on the trail and show up in our next town, Big Bear Lake, on Friday or really knock out some miles and get here Thursday. There is a strategy to planning hiking days around food purchases, water sources, towns, and the mileage in between and we are finding that we are a little out of practice.
We ended up choosing to go fast, covering over 70 miles in three hiking days. Yesterday we had just over 13 miles left to get us to the road crossing where we hitched a ride into Big Bear. Miles on the way into a town always seem to go quickly. There is nothing like the knowledge that we already have a hotel booked and it is right down the road from a Taco Bell to get us moving.
We are staying in Big Bear for a second night, which means today is our first zero day (day with zero miles hiked) of the trail. Tomorrow morning we will be back to it, headed for Cajon Pass and the town of Wrightwood. Now we are just hoping that we bought the right amount of food to get us there.
Hiking out of Idyllwild via the Devils Slide trail
Just hiked out of Idyllwild near Tahquitz Peak. 9,000 feet and cold!
Taking in the view
Climbing down from 9,000 feet
Headed for the Mesa Wind Farm
Hiding from the sun
Looking back at the San Jacinto mountain range
Mara from across the trail
Encountered a Gopher snake on our way to the Whitewater Preserve
Desert mountains
Desert turtle!
One of the many lizards we see running along the trail every day
Snow capped Mount San Jacinto in the distance
Headed a long way down hill
Action shot!
Love your trip both in words and pictures. Keep them coming.
Aww thank you! And we will!
Nice pictures! Thanks for keeping us posted. I'm keeping track of your progress on the map!
It looks beautiful!