April 18th, 2022 by Jon
We woke up with one thought. Town day! And not just any town day, a scheduled ride to Palm Springs for pool time, jacuzzi, and relaxation. We had hiked extra yesterday in part so we had less to do today.
The morning was our first that wasn’t super cold, which was a bit scary to consider given the implications of that statement, but nonetheless, we appreciated being able to feel our fingers while packing our stuff up for once. During breakfast we ran out of cooking fuel so we will need to cold soak our food or borrow fuel for a few days until Idlewild. We were on the move by about 6:45 and had 15 miles to go today to get to the trailhead at Highway 79, where Cathy will pick us up.
We usually pick out break spots so we can meet there all together and although we all go different speeds, we usually actually get there within minutes of each other. The morning was some cool hiking. We were walking on one side of a very wide valley, and could see a different mountain range off to the east. We worked our way through gentle elevation gains and losses before entering a steep descent into the narrow Nance Canyon. Our friends who we saw at the spring last night who we had camped with the night before had pushed all the way here yesterday to make a 21 mile day or something. Just thinking about it made me feet hurt but props to them!
We took a break at the bottom of the canyon before climbing out. It’s sort of the opposite of the saying what goes up must go down… often when we go down, we have to get back up, and it’s not usually very easy.
From there we had 5.4 miles to Mary’s Hiker Oasis which is at the very edge of a property right against the PCT. She had picnic tables with shade cover, a small library, a hiker logbook, and a water tank. To get there, we did the same thing about 12 times. You know when there is a mountain and if you look at it from space or a plane or something you can see all the ridges spreading out like spider legs? Imagine hiking over each one of those ridges and doing it 12 times to get up around the whole mountain. That’s what we did for those miles. We were going north by traversing the western side of the mountain.
The wind was blowing from the north, so we only got the breeze while we were on one side of the ridge which happened to be the side that was mostly downhill. Then, we would climb the other side of the canyon so we could get into the next canyon, but we had to do it, usually going uphill, without any wind. It made for some tough hiking. But the views were beautiful and we could see many of the small towns spread out across the valleys that separated the mountain chains in the area.
We got to the oasis and enjoyed some lunch and new water that didn’t have that suspicious swamp tang taste. Lunch was tortillas with an even mix of peanut butter and Nutella, some trail mix that I added extra craisins to (because raisins are inferior), and a little jerky. We had 5 more miles to the highway and there was a very steep climb just after lunch that we knew we had to do. It was about 11:30 and we really weren’t looking forward to hiking in the middle of the day heat. But we wanted that Palm Springs ride so off we went.
We followed one last ridge into a wide open area and we had great views of Mt San Jacinto looming over us. It’s about double the height of anything we have been on so far with a summit of 10,834 feet. The PCT gets you up to 9,000 feet and with 3 miles of the summit, so it’s a pretty popular little add-on. We plan to do it unless we are totally wiped.
As we cruised down the ridge, we could see a massive canyon that lay in front of us in between where we were and where we needed to go. This, friends, will be what we call a P.U.D. a Pointless Up and Down. We dive headfirst down into a canyon, looked at a very dry riverbed, and then had a gnarly climb up out of it. I think I counted 11 switchbacks in about 0.8 miles. It was super steep and with the heat I was stopping every two switchbacks to catch my breath. It was a tough little section. Eventually, we climbed out and came into a meadow with lots of bushes, and there was Nicole straight up in one to get a little shade. We don’t blame her at all though, that’s what you do in the desert at midday so we got in one too. It’s kinda one the side of it in all fairness, but it’s RIGHT on the side/ sorta kinda in it.
After a 30-minute breather/ shade break, we decided we wanted to just get to the trailhead by the highway so we could be done for the day. We climbed over one last ridge before descending towards a very loud highway. We had to just wait for a gap in traffic and ran across when it was clear. We hung out in the shade (bushes), and enjoyed watching hikers get back to trail after going to Paradise Valley Cafe which is a popular restaurant only a mile off trail that people like to go to. It has the self-proclaimed best burger on the PCT, so it was fun to ask other hikers what they thought. The reviews were pretty positive so we look forward to checking it out tomorrow when we get back.
After a time, Cathy drove up, and she brought water and oranges with her! So kind! We hopped in the car and we were off to her house. Nicole came too, don’t worry, guys. We got there after an hour or so and she showed us where we could sleep, shower, do laundry, and had even grabbed a bunch of swimsuits for us so we could use the pool/jacuzzi while laundry was running. We were in absolute heaven. Shower first to remove a thick layer of sweat, dirt, and sunscreen that stuck to our skin like armor. It took real rubbing to get it all off. We chucked our nasty clothes in the wash while Phil made us greyhounds with fresh grapefruit from the tree right outside their door. They were very refreshing and very good. We chatted for a while before grabbing a second drink in plastic cups so we could take them to the pool.
The pool was the perfect temperature after baking in the sun all day. We swam for a few minutes and enjoyed just floating for a moment without the weight of our packs, but then the big treat. The moment we had been waiting for. That jacuzzi was absolutely A+. We ran every muscle under a jet and marveled that we had woken up in a very different place then the one we had been in.
We came back inside and the first words out of Cathy’s mouth were “we made extra food for dinner so you could take sandwiches with you and eat them for dinner tomorrow”. You guys. This. Is. Amazing. But I guess, how do you expect anything else from a professional Bed and Breakfast owner of many years? We had steak, salmon, salad, mashed potatoes, and carrots. Everything was absolutely delicious. For desert we had ice cream sundaes with chocolate sauce and raspberries and I’m pretty sure I died a little at that table from happiness. Most days I fantasize about different foods I really want and today it was raspberries. We are seriously lucky.
It’s been so great eating and talking with Cathy and Phil, they are kind people and wonderful hosts. Around 9:00 we were all starting to fade pretty hard. We all usually go to bed by 7:30 or 8:00, and given the added food coma, we stood no chance at staying up any later.
Tomorrow we will sleep in, maybe use the jacuzzi again, and then Cathy agreed to take us to Paradise Valley Cafe around noon so we can try that burger. We only plan to hike 5 or 6 miles out of town tomorrow to give us a break from the big days we have been doing recently.
I’ve been enjoying reading your blog, amazed you can write like you do after the very long and hot days on the trail! Of course I’m filled with admiration that you are doing this! Hopefully your blisters heal quickly! Sending cheers to you both! Sue and Carl Silvernail. We’ve met you at B&B meetings when you were new innkeepers! It’s been a while!
Thanks Susan! Glad you are enjoying it. It’s the comments like yours that make me want to keep writing these. They take a lot of brain power at the end of the day but I manage!