Snow?

Day 14

Today marks the second week we have been out here. On one hand, it feels liked we have been living this way since the Appalachian Trail, and on the other hand, it feels like I was snuggled in bed with my girlfriend and dog just last night. As Stephen King's characters have been saying in the book we have been listening to, "time is funny out here".

We had a long, long, rest last night. After feasting like kings (see part of it on the food blog) and watching Dances With Wolves, we passed out at a mischievously late 9:30. We slept in, what was planned to be an 8am alarm, but woke up at 7:39, still sleeping in for us. We took our sweet time getting ready and packing up, and were ready to go by 9:30. We said goodbye to the inn owner, and were on our way.

On the way to the road we planned to hitch on, we started talking about hats. We both wanted nice leather cowboy hats to keep the sun off our burnt ears and worn faces. We happened to pass in front of a store with a GIANT hat on top of it, and stepped inside. We started talking to the lady who worked there, and turns out she is the wife of the man who runs the inn. Her son also owns another inn in town, so they are doing business in Idyllwild!

Before we knew it, much time had passed. We got our hats (mine is the black one, Andys is the brown) and walked on. As we were about to start hitching, a nice guy asked us if we needed a ride. We said yes, and told him it was bout 3 miles up the road. He set his odometer to 3 miles and we were off. It was a nice ride, and we were happy not to be walking. When he dropped us off, we said thank you and hiked up a little... then a little more... and more still. After nearly 2 more miles of hiking, we got to the road where the trail up to the PCT was. We began up the trail (which was only 1.5 miles) and found out very quickly it was going to be steep. We climbed about 1500 feet in that little mile and a half. We were EXHAUSTED by the time we got to the trail. Not only that, but it was already 2pm! We were way behind schedule, especially since we had planned to hike over 20 miles today.

We finally began hiking on the trail, and it was covered. Covered in snow. Not soft crunchy snow, but deep, icy, stiff, slippery snow. Anywhere from a few inches to a few feet deep, it made for slow going, and precarious footing. We saw a butt slide on the side of one small (luckily) slope, and were extra careful from that point on.

In the past few entries, I have told about the dominating power which is mother nature. First, the crisping effect of the sun, then the ground rumbling power of the wind, and today I will tell you about the fear-inducing ominous clouds. We saw the dark sky covering clouds from a far, and watched them roll through the mountain in front of us, and quivered as we began to walk into it.

The fog rolled through the trees, over the rocks, and the wind blew shivering gusts in our faces, and soon it even began to snow a little. With visibility down, temperatures dropping, and snow covering the trail in front of us, we realized there is no way we could do over 20 miles today. With carefully placed steps, and chattering teeth, we pushed to Fuller Ridge Campground. Not nearly the miles we wanted, and it puts us a day behind schedule, but luckily we were carrying extra food. An angel food cake and a bag of sour gummy worms. So our food situation is krone, and we didn't drink much water today because it was cold, and we were worried about water sources.

Now we have set up camp, zipped up in our sleeping bags with all our clothes on, and preparing for a very, very cold night. This also marks the highest altitude the two of us have ever camped together! 7,700 feet.

Looking forward to warming up. Which is hysterical considering not only two days ago were we literally dying of heat.

--Ian