Overall feeling real great. This is such a fun adventure! The people REALLY make the trail. Did 70.2 miles the past few days, to total 137.2 so far!

Day 5: up & down the San Jacinto range

Day 5 started out at Hurkey Creek campground, near the town of Idywild, CA. I got to sleep in, wash my hands and feet in the campground sink, & roll my legs out!

Callie, a trail angel picked myself and three others up and took us to Black Mountain Road, an alternative to get around the deep snow in San Jac. I’m so awe struck by the kindness of trail angels down here!

Then we proceeded to climb the 7.1 miles up the road to the PCT. There was a bit of snow, but nothing more than what I run on back home. By The end of the road climb, I was quite starved & ready for a break.

The next 12.5 miles were all downhill! First through the snow & then down steep rocky sections. Had a real fun day talking with my new friend, Cajun & a girl named Dana who hung out with me our last 3 miles of the day! I got very sunburnt, fixed my solar panel, and started to feel severe pain in my right leg. I camped over the town of Cabazon, which was a pretty contrast between the stars & city lights in the distance. My main thought that day was: “it’s so funny how you picture a place in your head, but then it looks completely different in real life”

Here are some photos from the hike down the mountain, back to the lower elevation desert! total mileage for the day was about 19.5 miles.

Day 6: Sand to Snow N.M , San Gorgonio Wilderness, & Whitewater Preserve

Woke up around 5am to start the 24 mile day, but my leg was THROBBING so I spent an hour stretching (perk of enjoying the sunrise, though!)

A couple hours in, I crossed under the I-10, where a former thru-hiker was taking portraits of hikers & had jugs of water! I’ll post my portrait once he uploads it! (Such a cool idea)

A few hours were spent in the nice rolling hills of yellow flowers, where I rocked out to chill tunes & enjoyed the sunshine. THEN, it got real hot, the hills got HELLA steep & all the creeks were dry. I tried to take photos, but honestly I wanted to just curl up and die haha. My leg hurt, my throat was dry, and the sun was roasting me! That day marked the first day I cried on trail.

Finally at 18 miles in, I got to WhiteWater River, where I ran into (yeah, water!) and the first hiker of the day- Keys (trail name). I perked up a bit with water and snacks, and a human to talk to. The river crossing was sketchy. I had to push as hard as I physically could to get through. Real glad another hiker was there (just in case!)

I hiked the remaining 6 miles with Keys, and made it to camp at mission creek. I was so dehydrated and exhausted that I laid in my tent spinning and trying not to puke until I fell asleep. Couldn’t eat my dinner until about 4am, when my body stabilized. ROUGH day. Wouldn’t recommend 24 miles in the hills of the desert during the day. My bad!

Day 7: water crossings & up to the San Bernardino Forest

Still recovering from the day before, I slept in until 6, and didn’t get on trail until about 7:30 to conquer the 20 stream crossings and insane elevation gain over 14.5 miles. The water crossings were great, because we could drench our clothes every hour or so. This day was also a rough one (but way less tears and cursing), butttt thankfully I had Cajun to keep me company and rock out to bluegrass with!

With all the up, up, up I didn’t take too many photos! everyone collapsed on the ground when we all got to camp- quite the sight. One European said he was “so freakin hungry I’m going to snort the mashed potato flakes”- I laughed for about 2 minutes straight.

Day 8: Coon Creek area to Onyx

Rise and shine at 3:30 am, drink coffee, put everything away, & bundle up for a snowy hike up to Onyx Summit.

Keys, Cajun, and I made our way through the snow the 12.2 miles to the summit. I was real glad to have them wait for me, cause by this point I could barely bend my ankle & walking (much less snow hiking) hurt like the devil. I was in a good bit of pain, but enjoyed the stars over the snow… and lots of sleep deprived chuckles!

We made it to the summit by 11:30ish, and were graced by trail angels who had gallons of cold SunnyD for us! Trail angels are my favorite. I laid on the ground, drinking sunny D , until Kenny (trail angel, whose house we are crashing at) picked us up!

Day 9: Zero in Big Bear

As planned (very convenient timing) , it was time for a ZERO in Big Bear Lake. Y’all can see the photos of my leg… big ouch! Taking today to relax, do laundry, eat hot food, and maybe go line dancing tonight!

Staying at Kenny’s place is a blast. He can fit up to 28 hikers (“kids” he calls us) and just treats us like his own. He only charges $45 and has alll the extras for free. A hot shower, home cooked breaky, and a couch is real nice. Swelling is going down, headed back on trail tomorrow morning at 6:30am. happy trails!