4.21.2018 Saturday Day 28

Mile 369-383

Well, today we checked out of another cute town. The airBnB that Kelly had arrange for us was perfectly cozy. I was up at 630 to shower one last time and we were leaving the homeaway by 9am. Laura and Justin had a few items to drop in the hiker box so we rolled by Mountain Hardware before heading to breakfast. We all signed the PCT logbook there and the owner gave us a cool PCT pin. I forgot to take a photo. We ran into a couple of hikers at the store and Kelly made a reconnection with one of the hikers that she had given a ride into Idyllwild (2 weeks ago). After that we all went to breakfast together at the Evergreen Cafe. They seriously have the best food there.

Breakfast done and we headed back down highway 2 where Kelly had picked us up days ago. We took a few minutes to gather our packs and get going. We each take turns trying to find a way to not go hiking… do we really have to go??? But it’s warm here…. I don’t wanna!! All is good fun we put on our packs and headed off. I think we were on trail by 11. We did this nice man today. He was doing trail maintenance. What a little cutie!

We knew Mt. Baden-Powell would be tough, as it did not let us down. Four miles to the summit with an elevation gain of at least 3,000ft. We arrived at the top by 4pm. It was pretty up there and luckily the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. We also had a glider plane fly over us when we were there. The pilots were so close we could see them waving at us.

It was a beautiful day to be out. I think the worst part of the day was how heavy our packs were again with all of our resupply foods and treats. Speaking of heavy packs, mine proved itself today. As we were nearing camp this evening I was looking down the side of the trail to where some hikers had setup. What I was thinking was, damn… that should have been our spot! And then WHAM! In 2 seconds flat, I was laying sideways on the trail. In my haste, I hadn’t noticed the large hole in the trail. My right foot in and my left knee went down FAST. So there I was laying in the middle of the trail, laughing so hard I was crying. I couldn’t get up cause my pack was too heavy. I had to unbuckle just to pick myself up. Pure comedy as I had to dust myself off. Laura pretty much saw the whole things happen and Justin had no clue as he was walking in front of me. I’m totally fine though, altho as I write this I still continue to giggle. And I totally told Laura to get a photo!!!

We are currently camped at Little Jimmy Campgound and so is every Boy Scout troop in LA county. It was a tough pick of a campsite since arrived here kinda late, pretty much right at sunset. Not the most delightful place as the port-a-potty seems smelly from 25 feet away. My tent isn’t perfectly pitch (really, it never is) but tonight I was being super careful to put all my food in a proper location as there has been bear activity here. So I started my cooking my ramen in a ziplock, changed into my sleeping clothes, and then I’m not sure what happened but before I knew it I had ramen soup all over my sleeping bag. So, moral to this story, even though every morsel of food that I’m carrying is outside my tent, if I get eaten by a bear tonight it’s cause they like ramen noodles with cholula!!!!

No need to worry, there’s plenty of people camping here. Plenty of food for the bears to pick from!!!

Anyway, all in all, a good day. I’m so thankful Kelly came to hang out with us. She truly is a wonderful trail angel!

I haven’t even looked at the hike for tomorrow. I just know we have to back track to get water in the morning. It was too late to get down to the creek this evening. Until tomorrow. Goodnight.