(Rob)

We started again in the burn area with more of Lacy’s variegated Lily flowers everywhere and climbed up to the rim of Silverlake Reservoir. What a different perspective that topping a crest makes. We had about 4-5 miles of a beautiful lake by our side for the day. After lunch we climbed more up for 3 miles and found the cutest, smallest, tightest, tiniest flat spot for the tent 1 inch off the trail and on the side of the mountain. We fixed some hot apple cider, a terrible freeze dried dinner, read some and were out early. There are some big freight trains that cross through the valley below and beyond us that let us listen to the distant horns every few minutes through the night. Maybe I missed some of the white noise of the city because it was great to hear as I woke up a time or two in the night because it put me right back to sleep.

Rob
19.5 for the day (3rd time but still haven’t done 20 yet)
Followed the Mojave River all day from 200 ft above all through the canyon it created a long time ago. We had a very cold river crossing up over Lacy’s knees and hiking skirt as we crossed the river for the last time of the day. We also passed by our first Naturalist (naked) hiker and met Coppertone who was working hard in the sun on trail maintenance with nothing but a flat shovel and hedge trimmers. True PCT’er from 06 who personally had adopted a few miles of trail as his to keep safe for the rest of us. Ended a long day in Grassy Canyon near a stream but it was in a burn area and nothing like we hiked in all day. Lacy nick named these flowers that come up in previous burn areas Lily Flowers. They are variegated from green to yellow, red, pink and orange leaves with tiny white flowers in the middle of their little Lilly Pad leaf. So odd that they are the first flowers to spread into such a desolate area of burned trees and they look like they should be in a Monet painting vs the desert.

Obstacle course

Daddie Gizmo crossing creek on log

We camped on sandy patch on left

Someone left a heart💜

Another GORGEOUS day of hiking. Not too hot and  bit of cloud cover. We seem to be in a logging area which is creating an obstacle course over the trail – climbing over fallen trees and getting a few scratches. We met a very long winded veteran of desert hiking who gave us more than 2 scoops of advice.  Nice hike and we ended up camping on some flat sand under the bridge over the river.  The sound of the water was nice for the second evening in a row.

Papa left a few goodies behind

Baldwin Lake, where we camped

Daddie Gizmo is happy to be back in the 4SR

Lunch with Papa

Lacy

We are back in the 4SR under the stars. All is good in the world. Last night, after our movie and dinner in the cabin, we met Canary, B and The Ghost at Chad’s Place in town for a pitcher of beer that led to drinks at their cabin. We stayed up late and the morning came a little faster than expected, but we still had plenty of time to pack up and meet Papa for lunch. It was a nice big group since Mellow, his stepmom and her friend joined as well as the rest of the trail family. Papa got to meet everyone and get a flavor for our trail life. We only hiked in on the trail a couple miles so we could set up camp, get a good nights sleep and start the 100 mile journey to Wrightwood tomorrow. We have less than 3 weeks before we take the coastal train up to Seattle for a little break and let the snow in the Sierras melt. That time will go by fast. Unfortunately, I left my pajama pants in the cabin which means I won’t have any clean pants to sleep in this week :(. Trail family is going to get them for me and carry them until we meet again sometime in the next week. Very helpful, but I’ll really miss my snuggly, warm, clean pants to sleep in. While laying in my sleeping bag I was looking up details on the Te Aroroa trail in New Zealand. It’s 1,864 miles and goes between the north and south islands. Supposedly, the best time to begin that trail is Sep – Dec which would give us time to rest after this trail before starting that one. It’s just one of many ideas we have for what to do when we finish here. The task at hand though is still another 2,400 miles 😉‼
Rob

2.5 something of a nearo (near zero)
Since we are growing up from being rookies hikers quickly, I wanted to give you a little insight on our gear and how we are evolving into a more efficient little team every day. We talk with locals, other rookies and veteran hikers to help adjust our gear constantly. We had a good idea of what we needed to begin with from previous long weekend trips but some doesn’t translate into long term thru hiking. Backpacks are today’s chat. Packs have a lot to do with personal preference but a few must haves, no matter the brand, is that they are ultralight with internal frames. Fit is a huge part too. The packs we are using come in 3 different torso lengths for the exact same size and model. Get the right fit so you can balance and rebalance the weight of the pack from your hips to your shoulders. I keep mine pretty light on my shoulders with most of the weight on my hips. One exception is when we have really long steep uphill sections, I’ll tighten the shoulder straps to pull some weight off my waist. It still carries the bulk of the mass but it lets my hips n butt muscles have a little more room to do the hard work of bigger climbs. Lacy is also a big proponent of balancing weight to the best spots in the pack for your style. She also learned to NOT roll up or compress our down sleeping bags anymore. They get shoved down to the bottom of our packs everyday to use every open space and air pocket that happens when you load your pack. Then heavier things like tent n gear next near the back of the pack. Then light again to top it off like extra clothes and our down jackets. Your bag is also so much fluffier when you pull it out at the end of the day. Another must have which is showing up on a lot of packs this year is a “trampoline” that separates the back of the pack to your own back. Mine let’s 2″ of air circulate where you would normally have sweaty full contact between you and your gear. It’s saving me in the desert sections so far. These are just some things we’ve found to be a big help for us. The less you are dealing with gear issues, the more you can enjoy your hike. You find yourself looking up at where you are going vs down at where you are walking.

Well….this is the first time in 3 weeks that I really needed a zero day.  When we took one in Julian, Rob really needed it for his ankle and in Idyllwild we needed a day to figure out how to pick up the trail. My body started to feel the 3 weeks of hiking right before we got here and as I write this, both our feet feel less sore. We had a really nice day in Big Bear grabbing some local organic coffee from this little coffee hut in town.

Rob says my hair is getting so long and beautiful..aw🤗

After some much desired caffeine (we both really enjoy coffee but rarely drink it anymore because it’s one more thing to carry and prepare on trail plus it dehydrates you. Just makes it better when you’re in town😊) we headed to Big 5 – sporting goods store- to look for a few things. They didn’t really have what we needed but picked up a few more dehydrated meals for this week. We are doing a mix of those and sausage, jerky, and other snacks. I’m eating for 5.  I swear, I’m so hungry all the time. Hiker hunger! We checked out the lake, hung out with the family and enjoyed a beautiful day here.  We also met backup with John here (aka The Ghost) who we had met back in Idyllwild. He is a nice guy and hope we have more time today with him tomorrow. He is writing a book and we would love to learn more about it.  Met a lot of really nice people we chatted with. Now we are sitting in our cabin, making dinner and watching a couple $3 dvds we got in town. A very nice evening. And we are excited to see Papa Romero tomorrow who is driving 2+ hours from LA to have brunch with us and take us back to trail. It’ll be great to be back in the 4SR and nature.

PS- I love having so few clothes and wearing the same thing all the time. It takes all the questioning out of getting dressed. We had our weekly shower and laundry and we are feeling fresh. Honestly, we don’t even crave anything more than that.

Rob

Woke up this am in not too much of a hurry since we were still recovering from the flash storm and trail demands of yesterday evening. We also knew we had a lighter day of only 10 miles. It wouldn’t have been a chore except that we were both fatigued and depleted today. The gain was was a gradual 3000 ft and the sun blazed again but the air n breeze were cooler because of the altitude gain. Camped at a nice shaded spot by the headwaters of the creek we’ve been following all day. Altitude was also fatiguing both of us a little after such a physical few days. We are entering previous fire zone in a mile but were already in an area with total burn scars everywhere away from the creek. 😦 Hope I don’t get too misty tomorrow when we are in the burn zone for the first time in 6 years after hikers started a fire. Don’t know the whole story.  Today was also a reminder that we are early on in this part of the trail as it was difficult to follow sometimes. Especially because the creek has gone through some swollen and then retraction times since last season that had wiped the trail clean or off the map in several places.

We cooked a hearty dinner tonight and are in our sleeping bags by 6. Tomorrow is a big day. 20-21 miles that we have to do in one shot. Water to water but also traveling through the fire zone where there is no camping allowed. Onyx Peak at 9100 ft is also on the aggenda tomorrow so time to rest up.

Rob making dinner 💞