Days 14-19, Miles 207-266: A Tale of Two Zeroes
Out of the frying pan, into the snowstorm. Southern California weather is ruining our momentum. On Day 14, we spent a lazy morning at Matt's Uncle Bill's place in Palm Springs. Shutter went to the clinic to get his throbbing foot looked at, but didn't get any conclusive answers. He decided to hike on. After restocking our food in the afternoon, we prepared to set out and put in some late afternoon miles. Except the thermometer was still stuck above 105. At 5 p.m. We decided to take our first "zero day." Instead of hiking the desert, we spent the afternoon splashing around in the pool. We were relieved to not be fighting the heat on the trail, but disappointed to not be making miles and concerned about losing motivation. We went out for a nice Mexican dinner with Bill and Phyllis to cap our first zero and thank them for their hospitality. Our plan was to hit the trail at 4 the next morning, when the heat would be somewhat less severe.
At 3 a.m., I was in the bathroom, barfing up most of the Mexican meal. Thirty minutes later, I deposited the rest of it on the shoulder of Highway 111. Food poisoning. Super. By 4, we were on the trail, night-hiking for the first time on our trip. Within 10 minutes, we had to step around a rattlesnake and scorpion on the trail, a reminder of the extra attentiveness required when hiking in the dark.
All I could see was the trail a few feet in front of me, along with the pale white dots of my fellow hikers' headlamps, bobbing in the dark. It was an eerie spectacle, especially as the wind filled my vision with streaks of sand. My stomach groaned for the rest of the day, but thankfully the rest of my food stayed down. After a few miles we'd spanned the valley and began our climb, one that would take us from the desert floor to 8,000 feet in just a couple days. The sun topped the horizon and the day began to heat up.
After hours of climbing and sweating, we came to a small river and took a long siesta, waiting out the heat from 10-6. We spent most of it under a boulder, constantly moving to stay in the the narrow slivers of shade as the sun moved across the sky. Gravy Train and I dunked into the water to cool off.
In the evening, we knocked out the last of the day's 20 miles, setting up camp in the dark alongside a stream, as frogs serenaded us. We spent much of Day 16 following that stream through the mountains, tracking uphill through gaps in the slopes, amid the shady groves of trees that lined its banks. We took a blissful siesta underneath a giant shade tree. I took a nap, finished a book and read 150 pages of another.
We climbed the rest of the afternoon, but thankfully our elevation had cleared us of the blistering temperatures at lower altitudes.
After we'd set up camp, a man staggered in, shivering and panting. He asked us to call for a rescue. Out of shape and 63, he was suffering from some combination of altitude sickness and exhaustion. Gravy Train, an EMT, took control of the situation and made sure he was stable and hydrated. Although he was probably not in life-threatening danger, he was not going to be able to hike out, and we used a GPS device to notify emergency services. After darkness fell, a rescue helicopter began circling. For more than 30 minutes, it flew around, looking in vain for a place to land in the thickly timbered forest. Occasionally, the chopper shone a spotlight on us and delivered garbled, unintelligible commands over a loudspeaker.
Thankfully, a dirt track ran up the mountain near our campsite, and the chopper was able to guide two sheriff's trucks up to carry the man off the mountain.
The next day, we were able to put in an easy 20 miles, as the trail wound around the mountainside with few climbs or descents. Several times, the trail opened up to gorgeous views of snow-capped San Gorgonio Mountain.
In the afternoon, we came across a couch in the middle of the trail, along with a dumpster stocked with cookies, pop and bananas. Legit trail magic!
We knocked out an easy seven miles the morning of Day 18, putting us at 266 so far—10 percent of the PCT. we hit the road and caught a ride into Big Bear, where we restocked our food at a grocery store.
We got a massive breakfast at a local diner, and I stuffed myself on something called an Avalanche. Matt, Piotr and I went to see Guardians of the Galaxy II, a fun diversion after long days of hiking. The other members of our group ran into a local at the Post Office who offered to let us crash at his cabin, as a snowstorm was rolling in. We gratefully accepted. We piled into the truck of David, our host, and headed his place, which was soon dubbed Camp David. We had a fun night of grilling, relaxing and swapping stories with David and his roommate Matt.
The next morning, we looked at the forecast and decided the snow would keep us off the trail for the day—our second zero in less than a week. We enjoyed a lazy morning of watching TV as flakes fell around the cabin.
Later today, we'll hit town and go bowling, and hopefully we'll be able to hit the trail in the morning. As long as it's not 100 degrees or pelting snow. You never know out here.
