If you have been following this blog, I mentioned yesterday that last night was "interesting".
Our group had decided to try to hike to the Paradise Cafe last night, but we ran out of energy and time. We camped on a ridge about 3 miles from the cafe.
Since there was a chance of rain, everyone set up their tents. I put rocks on my tent guy lines because there was a strong breeze due to the incoming storm.
The tent was noisy all night as the wind gusts hit it. Needless to say, it was difficult to get much sleep with all the noise.
Around 2 AM, the wind shifted direction and started blowing directly into the entrance of my tent. It was really chilly, so I buried deeper into my sleeping bag and pulled it over my head.
The gusts kept getting stronger and at 4 AM the front guy line snapped letting the tent collapse onto me. Now it was pitch dark and I had a flapping tent on me!
I spent the next hour getting out my spare line, splicing the guy line and re-pitching the tent. This is my campsite the next morning :
Our group broke camp at 6:30 and headed to the Paradise Cafe, which opened at 8. We got there early and had to wait. A number of other hikers showed up too.
We all had a wonderful breakfast and then found out that Casey, a young lady in our group, was having her father pick her up and offered all of us a ride into Idyllwild. We all crammed into the vehicle and were soon in town. "No Trace" and "Unbreakable" rode in back the whole way.
Once in Idyllwild, the problem was finding a place to stay. Everyone wanted a room, and most places had "no vacancy". One of the guys in the group, "T", found a cabin that sleeps 8! And to make it even better, we got a hiker discount: two nights for $60! This is the place where we're staying:
We get free laundry, showers, wifi, and I have a comfy double bed.
I am amazed at how great everything's turning out.
I walked into town and completed my resupply for the next 5 or 6 days. On the way back, Rasputin waved me over to the local bar and bought me a beer. I ended up staying for another hour as we talked and listened to music. It was wonderful!
On the way back, I passed this statue in town:
Tonight a storm is coming in, bringing rain or mixed rain and snow. We plan to stay another day tomorrow and return to the trail on Saturday when the weather is expected to improve.
When hikers only hike a few miles, we call it a "Nero" - near zero miles for the day. When we don't hike any miles, we call it a "Zero". I'm taking a Nero and a Zero.
It feels good to be clean, dry, and able to rest my feet and sleep in a soft bed. My laundry and resupply purchases are done. Tomorrow we all plan to meet for breakfast at the Red Kettle.
Idyllwild is a great place to rest. I love it!
I'm currently at mile 151.7.