Day 14: gathering at Idyllwild

Weds 5/2/12
Miles 177-178 (about 5 miles total including the connector trail)
Elevation: too lazy to look sorry :) I know at one point I was around 8,600ft, and dropped *way the heck* down to get into Idyllwild

Today was a relatively easy hiking day. I still had to navigate through snow tho, but it's easier in the morning cuz its denser and so my foot doesn't fall through. Thats when my toes get super cold, when I posthole (thats when your foot sinks into the snow) because the snow gets all over my feet. As long as I can stay on top and walk in other peoples footsteps, I'm fine. I took some pics of the trail. The cone shaped metal thing with the bag of instant potatoes next to it is my cook system. It's called the Caldera Cone made by Trail Designs. It's pretty awesome. The little soda can alcohol stove is inside, the cone is my windscreen, and my pot sits right inside and is held up by the windscreen. I love it. But I just gotta make sure I don't set myself on fire when lighting the stove.

The pic of my foot next to the pct trail marker is the pair of flip flops I've been hiking in for the last 100+ miles. I took a connector trail to get into Idyllwild called Devils Slide Trail. Yeah, it was slippery. Miraculously I did not fall! In fact I didn't fall at all til I got past Humber State Park (pic of sign below) and walked the road toward town. I slipped on the gravel on the side of the road and skinned my knee. Go figure. Lol. Luckily a lady drove by and picked me up to take me into town so I didn't have to walk. Her name is Mo, she is so awesome. She was actually driving the opposite way, turned around, picked me up, drove me into and around town to show me where everything is, and dropped me off at my lodging. She is amazing. Thank you Mo!! <3

That is a pretty accurate foretale of how my whole Idyllwild experience was. This town is amazing. They are *so* hiker friendly. There's a pic below of a sign in front of the place I was staying welcoming PCT hikers. This town seriously makes me feel like a rock star!!

I stayed at the Idyllwild Inn. I found a hiker on the trail earlier who wanted to split a room so that was cool. The pic below of the little cabin is where we stayed. It is soooo nice for the price! It's bigger than a lot of one bedroom apartments in Hawaii. Lol. My roommate for the day is Snapper, a dude from Germany. He's pretty cool. He's the guy in front of the fireplace in the pic. Oh, there's a fireplace here!! And they give u a free bundle of wood!! I slept on the sofabed in the living room which was in front of the fireplace. It was an epically warm night! :D

I walked around town and took some pics, it's a really cute town! Funny thing I saw: a sign that said "Hawaiian ice" lol. So I roam around and guess what a see? A wine tasting place!! Of course I go in. :D It's such an awesome wine shop called Idyll Awhile, and they have epic beers too!! The guy that did the tastings is Simon, he's the guy in the pic holding a wine bottle. He also is really into mountain biking, and works at the bike shop! I'm stopping by there tomorrow on my way out. :)

While I was drinking wine, Simon told me they had live music there that evening, so I went back for that with Bobcat (she's the gal in the pic with me, she is so awesome) and Kristo (he's the guy in the green shirt sitting on the bed). Siting across from us were a group of ladies and they were really stoked to hear about my hike. They ended up paying for my tab!! Rock star status!! :D The musician there that night was awesome!! Great way to spend the evening.

Oh, prior to the live music I had dinner at one of the other cabins where a group of hikers were staying. It was Kristo and Opus (light colored shirt and beard), we all started the same day and I haven't seen them since, til today. There were a couple other guys there, I don't remember their names, but they're in some pics below. Snapper and I were both there and Bobcat wandered in a little later. It was an awesome little dinner we had.

There's an great little outdoor outfitter shop here called Nomad Ventures, and they had climbing gear. I asked how the climbing in the area was and the lady said there are some great climbs in the area. On my way down Devils Slide Trail I took a pic of this humongous slab of rock, which I later find out is some great climbing!

CJ sent me a box of goodies with some Chacos with a heel strap. Yay! I'm gonna try them out for a few days, I hope they work. Hopefully I can go faster in them. I'm doing fine in flip flops, but it's hard to move fast because I have to constantly watch out where I step. She also sent me a treat for Butterstuff!! I took a pic of him eating it. He was so stoked! Lol. Butterstuff got a bath today, so he's not brown anymore. Lol.

Anyhow, tomorrow I'm gonna try to take a Pilates mat class before I leave. I'm also gonna stop by Nomad Ventures and see if they can help adjust my pack straps to make it more comfy. Then I'll cruise to the bike shop and talk story for a while and hope one of the guys will drive me to the trailhead. Lol :) Ugh I'm not looking forward to going *up* Devils Slide Trail with a pack full of food and water. Bleh. Lol.

Oh my gosh Idyllwild is such a cool place! Love it love it love it! :D Goodnight everyone!! <3