4.18.2018 Wednesday Day 25

Miles 328-347

It was another frosty wake up. The temperature and moisture from the Silverwood Lake did us no favors last night. We all had some degree of frozen condensation on our tents. Drags and Wiley who had cowboy camped near us, were up just as early as I was. They started a fire in one of the barbecue pits. I joined them with my quilt in hand. It needed some heat to dry up before it was stuffed for the day. I chatted with Drags and Wiley for a bit and found out that they were acquaintances in high school. But a mutual friend had told them about the PCT so here they are together. They had camped with us at Splinters Cabin a few night ago but I didn’t get a chance to talk with them then.

Laura and Justin weren’t far behind to join us at the fire. Lauras hiking shorts were frozen as were my extra pair of socks. We each have tried to stay as clean as possible. She was the one who told me about hanging a clothesline in my tent.

The only plan we had for the day was to make it to Mcdonalds which was about 13 miles. After that, I was hoping to just get out of the huge group of hikers we’d been lingering around. With most of our gear frozen, we didn’t leave Silverwood until 9am. The next time I looked at the time it was 1145 and we still had almost 8 miles to get to McDonalds. Once we started back up I just put my head down and let my legs do the work. I pushed as hard as I could and cranked out those miles by 230pm I think. Of course the last 2 miles dropping down into the I-15 corridor were super awesome but also windy. A little treacherous as we walked a ridge and had a terrible crosswind. It was pretty exhilarating though!!!!

Once at the bottom of Crowder Canyon, we walked the .4 miles up to the restaurant. Of course the band of hikers were all there, prob 10 others not including us 3. To our liking every one of them were headed to a hotel there. Evidently they give PCT rates at the Best Western. So we were happy to find out we’d be the only ones continuing on for the day.

We ordered a few more items to take with. I grabbed 2 cheeseburgers–which I just ate at 8pm, Laura grabbed some hashbrowns and a apple pie, and Justin ordered a chicken sandwich but he just realized he forgot to ask for no mayo, so now he’s slightly disappointed. It was a nice place to chill out but I think I’ve had enough McDs for a while. Wait, I did have some ice cream and I’ll always go back for that!

Anyway, the rest of the evenings walk was filled with laughter and stunning views. And wind. There’s always wind. More ridge walks with wind, more climbing with wind. One more setting up of the tent in wind hoping it doesn’t come crashing down. It’s supposed to be at least in the 30s again. I’m bundled as best as possible and ready to hunker down for the night.

On a side note, just as we dropped into Swarthout Canyon where we are camping, I stopped to chat with 2 hikers who were setting up. For any of you who follow PCT or AT hikers, I met Darwin today. Super nice guy. Super fast as well, he started the PCT on April 3, and he’s done 347 miles already. His buddy Fastpack start 2 days after Darwin. I heard Darwin was out here but had no intention of even crossing paths with him, but it happened so I thought it was worth sharing. And of course I had to ask for a groupie photo.

We get pretty accomplished today. 19 miles in total. Plan for tomorrow is to get as close to Wrightwood as possible but it looks like a long grind in there. Justin and Laura are on the hunt for new shoes once we get to Wrightwood so these past few days for them have been a chore to say the least. Kelly is meeting us there on Friday so it should be a fun day for sure!

I’m still feeling really good. My knee does better with a brace so I’ll keep that up. I carried 5 liters of water from McDonalds as we don’t have reliable water until Wrightwood. Considering my pack isn’t full of food too, the balance seems to be working. My body holding up was my biggest worry when I started this endeavor. Evaluating how I feel almost 4 weeks in, I’m still pretty damn pleased.

Have a great day guys! Miss you all.