DAY 8
Day 8 was a resupply in Warner Springs! Today was a fantastic day. We were pretty much the first ones up at camp and quickly hiked to the Warner Springs Community Resource Center. The alarm was set for 5 but we didn’t get up until 6 as it was still dark outside. Upon leaving the tent we realized we were in the clouds! We packed up and wore our puffys to start the hike. It was super misty and foggy the entire way, and we crossed some meadows, walked along some babbling brooks and had a lovely chat with the cows (they are super vocal in the morning). We had 8 miles total to the center, but 5 miles in there was a stop called Eagle Rock so we took a small rest there. Eagle Rock holds great value to the indigenous people of the area- the Kupa tribe once lived here until they were forcibly removed in 1903. Eagle Rock is sacred to them, as it is an important place for a multitude of gatherings. It was so beautiful, I could feel its importance and I felt so grateful to see it next to Noah in the misty morning.
The next three miles passed quickly. We were SO READY for a shower and laundry! When we got to the center we both went to the bathroom (A TOILET!! hehe), then we each had an incredible hot shower. I scrubbed my entire body it felt AMAZING. I did all my laundry (which took up many buckets of water because of how dirty everything was) and charged my devices. We donated to the center and each had a cup of ramen, which was incredible because it was hot!! (Cold soak for the win though I do not regret that decision so far). We had a lot of time to kill because it took so long to charge our phones but I hopped in a car to get our resupply package from my bestie Sar and when I got back we threw our clothes in the dryer and opened up the package. SO MANY GOODIES!! I cannot believe they sent nutella I am SO EXCITED for peanut butter nutella granola tortillas! They also sent my fav candy, sour patch watermelon. THANK YOU SAR YOU’RE AMAZING!
We aired out our tent, refilled water, packed up, chatted with some super nice folks, waited until 230 for our stuff to be charged and finally called it. We didn’t get everything charged to full capacity but the next crew of hikers were coming in so we wanted to hit the road. We did another 5 miles today and the clouds had cleared so we had a beautiful view of some new mountains. We hiked through a field, alongside a brook, and up and over a hill before coming to camp. Tonight we spent time with some friends, including Sam (who I have a mutual friend with in Bellingham!), Quarters, Vivian, Piegeon, Ben and George. It was nice to eat some snacks, stretch and sit in a circle gabbing. I love the community that the PCT provides!
All in all, a great day. And I’m the cleanest I’ve been in a week!
Songs at the forefront of my mind: “Birds of a Feather”-Billie Eilish and “Flightless Bird, American Mouth”-Iron and Wine
Day 9
Today was an alright day. We chose to do 16ish miles. I didn’t sleep the best because I was cold so I woke up a few times and instead of throwing layers on I just endured it? Silly goose. We got up around 630 and headed out by 7. The first 12 miles were basically all uphill with a bit of evening out and a small amount of downhill. Today was the first day I kinda felt bored! Womp. The landscape was super green with a smattering of rocks, one of which looked like a whale.
Alas, a saving grace! We stopped and ate tortillas with nutella, nuts and peanut butter and then Sam joined us for our last 5ish miles to mile 12 of the day, Mikes Place. Mike is a trail angel who supplies water from a tank. We didn’t get to see him but we wrote our names on the 2025 hiker wall and ate some lunch.
Sam really turned my day around. It was so nice spending 5 miles together chatting about our past adventures. We had another 4.5ish to our campsite for the night, so the three of us set off. It snowed at the top of the mountain we were on! It was light and kinda hail-like but I was happy to see it. The last two miles were steep downhill and my feet and knees were aching. I came in last, thankful to be done for the day. We stretched and ate and chatted and Vivian joined us, nervous about the guys she left behind because she told them she’d stay at Mikes Place but waited over an hour and wanted to keep moving. They eventually caught up with us and the four of them moved on to find a spot to camp. Sam, Noah and I said goodnight and here we are!
Tomorrow’s gonna be a tough one. We’re aiming for our first 20 miler, but if we succeed it ends with a BURGER at Paradise Valley Cafe! God I hope I make it and have a lovely day to write about tomorrow 🙂
Songs at the forefront of my mind: “Eyes Open”-Hunger Games Soundtrack!, “Hey Catalonia”-Vance Joy and “Hooked on a Feeling”-Blue Suede
Day 10
Today was such a hard but rewarding day, truly. We did 22.1 miles. Our first 20+ day!! Gotta admit, I don’t remember much from the mileage, just that it was super super long. We woke up at 530 but didn’t get up til 615, packed up and left by 640. We ate breakfast in the tent and moved as quick as we could because it was COLD!! We hiked 8 miles to the concrete cistern – the water looked pretty gross but Noah filtered some of it and said it wasn’t bad! Luckily I had enough to get me by so I didn’t filter. We hiked 7/10 of a mile off trail to Mike DeBenetti’s, a trail angel nearby. I was hesitant because in addition to the mileage off trail, we had another 12+ miles to go and I knew it was going to be tough. But Noah said we should go and as we started walking up I knew I wasn’t going to regret the decision. AND BOY DID I NOT! We had wifi, a can of coke, blueberries, instant coffee and a toilet!
We stayed an hour and Mike was so kind to us I felt so grateful for everything he provided. We also met another hiker named Wolverine! He was so cool and quirky I loved chatting with him. I got to talk to my dad a bit which was nice too, as he finally learned how to use instagram and spent almost 2 hours looking at our page!
The next 12 miles were good, and then really bad. We did 4 miles, took a lunch break and then kept on trekking. We saw our friends Vivi, Ben and Pidgeon and they said they were attempting to make it to Paradise Valley Cafe too! The next 8 miles were TOUGH. I remember checking and seeing we were 6.2 out, then checking again what felt like an hour later and we had only gone .7 🙁 My ankles and knees started hurting so I tried to muscle it out and then gave up and got pretty sad. But I knew a burger was at the end of it! Once we hit under 3 miles things got better because we were being silly with each other, and by the time we got to the road a trail angel named Grumpy came and saved us! He gave us a ride to the cafe and it was EVERYTHING!
Once we got to the cafe, the beers started FLOWING. We got burgers, met up with Sam and George, and the rest of the squad came in shortly after (Viv, Ben and Pidgeon). We all sat in the cafe, drank beers and socialized for HOURS. It was truly a wonderful end to a hard day.
And now, here we all are, (with Lone Pine, an older guy from Idaho) cowboy camping on the porch of PVC. I feel so glad to have met such an incredible group of people so early in our hike. It’s been a hard but super rewarding day. We’re going through 3 grateful each and then heading to bed! Noah and I are going another 30 miles and most of the group is taking a zero in Idyllwild but we’re meeting back up to tackle San Jacinto together. Another day in the books!
Songs at the forefront of my mind: “Under the Sea”-Little Mermaid Soundtrack, “Canyon Moon”-Harry Styles and “So It Goes”-Taylor Swift. Honorable Mention: Cheeseburger in Paradise bc I legit had that
Day 11
Well, cowboy camping was exactly what I expected it to be. Cars passing by on the road all night and people snoring. Safe to say I didn’t get much sleep!
We hit the trail at 8ish after walking a mile back from PVC. I felt the beers from last night, I felt the lack of sleep and all I knew was I had to get through these 15 miles.
It was a tough day. We hiked a lot of elevation today, going up to over 7000 for the first time! The views were beautiful but I was so tired I feel like I didn’t appreciate it in the way I should have.
By the time we hit the halfway mark, I was losing steam. We took an hour and a half nap in the sun and it was much needed. We kept going, slow and steady. We had beautiful views of San Jacinto for the second half of the day and even stumbled on our first real trail snow! We packed it in our CNOCs so it could melt and we could filter it. The trees at the top of the mountains we climbed were blown sideways with snow. It was truly beautiful, seeing the clash of seasons like that. So much green dotted with white!
We finally made it to camp by 530 and I took care of some blisters, then we stretched and ate mashed potatoes on tortillas with tuna. I can’t wait to go to sleep tonight, truly. So grateful for Noah constantly pushing me to be the best I can be and for always reminding me how strong I am.
Songs at the forefront of my mind: “I Can Fix Him(No Really I Can)”-Taylor Swift and “Circles”-Post Malone and “Chapel of Love”-The Dixie Cups
Day 12
Gotta be honest, we didn’t journal at the end of Day 12. Instead it’s Day 13 and we’re laying in our hotel in Idyllwild, recapping yesterday.
I’ll try and do my best! Here we go…
Yesterday we woke up to frost under our tarp on the ground. It was super chilly outside but we packed up quickly and headed out for a 16 mile day, ending with a trail angel meeting us at 4pm at Humber Park Trailhead. We thought we’d have more than enough time to get there by 4, but boy were we offffff!
I’m getting ahead of myself. We had three summits to climb, each 1000ft elevation gain higher than the last. We did over 7000, then over 8000, then over 9000! The first one was the longest and we were wiped. Luckily we ran into Lone Pine at the top of that one! He gave us some lovely parting words, as he was headed to conquer Jacinto the next day. We continued on, snow covering the trees but not the ground yet.
The next summit was also pretty tough, and from what I remember was mostly along a cliff with some sketchy snow sections. We had our microspikes and used them, but there were also MANY fallen logs and super prickly thorn bushes – woo! More obstacles. I remember getting fed up and feeling anxious about the snow, especially so close to the cliffs. I tried to calm myself down by repeating “everything is okay” but I think it worried Noah a lot. The second summit was definitely the hardest, and it was around here that we realized we might not make it to 4pm in time. I found some service, texted the angel, and she was truly an angel, telling me safety first and she would wait for us. Go Lori!!
The final stretch was completely covered in snow. We didn’t realize it was all snow at first, so during the first bit I didn’t have my spikes and I slipped a bit but Noah safely guided me and I took care of myself, putting them on and focusing on safety first. PHEW. Then we realized that Noah completely bent his trekking pole :/ We hit the side of the mountain that rarely got sun and had over a foot of snow, so we had our microspikes on and kept trekking. We met a guy named Squirrel who didn’t have spikes and followed us for a bit until we pulled ahead, trying to make it down by 4.
We were miserable, I gotta be honest. It was a long, hard day and the snow slowed us down a lot. By the time we reached Saddle Junction we were at around 14 miles and we still had 2.6 to go down Devils Slide and get to Humber Park. We were no longer in the cliffs but basically running down the trail in our spikes, trying to make it as close to 4 as we could. 15 min past, we were at the trailhead and Lori was waiting for us! She was THE BEST. She gave us cheese sticks and oranges and seltzers and we had a wonderful drive chatting about the trip so far and where she’s from. We showed her pictures, took a selfie, and she even offered us a ride back to the trailhead!
After Lori literally magicked us out of our long day of a slump, we headed to the Brewpub where we had margaritas, cheese curds and sandwiches. We even met some lovely folks on their 22nd anniversary trip and chatted for a long time. They bought our first round! INCREDIBLE!
After that we had to find a spot to camp. We made it to the campground and a woman pulled up beside us telling us to head to the campground host and there was room for a few more PCT hikers. Hallelujah!
We waited for the host for over 30 min then gave up and went to the hiker camp, setting up and chatting with a few folks, one of whom was Wolverine, the guy we met at Debenettis! He’s so awesome. We called it a night early and passed the heck out, ready for our zero!!
Songs at the forefront of my mind: “Jolene”-Beyoncé feat. Dolly Parton and “Hush Hush” AND “Buttons” by the Pussycat Dolls
Day 13
Today was such a lovely lovely LOVELY day. I woke up at 230 this morning and was so excited about having a zero that I couldn’t sleep, so I read until 430ish and went back to bed. We woke up around 7 with the sun, went to the bathroom at the site (running water!!!) and got back into our tent. We hung out for a bit, as our hotel check in wasn’t until 2. I was pretty antsy, so we finally got up around 9 and started packing up our stuff, having picked out a spot for breakfast. We hung out with a few folks from the PCT hiker site, but the only guy who stands out (and literally always will) is Wolverine. His energy is so radiant and wonderful, I hope that we’ll see him again on trail.
We headed out to breakfast at the Red Kettle, and ran into some hikers there! I talked to Tom and his family for a bit, giving them the scoop on the 30 miles we had just done the past two days. Breakfast was INCREDIBLE! Their coffee was absolutely delicious and I got french toast with two eggs and bacon. YUM.
On our way out we ran into more hikers! #2 Pencil (who I accidentally called Big Dill, my bad!) and Quarters were there. We chatted for a sec then headed out to grab our resupply. It was fun going through the grocery store, picking out our food to last us until Big Bear. Up until now we’ve been getting surprise resupplys from our family and friends (yall rule!).
We headed to the town square (or circle, as it’s literally a circle) and divvied up our food. Josh and Laura were also in town so we ran into them and talked for a while with their new pal Merlin, who’s going for his triple crown with his dog Wade (or Stinky!). We parted ways and got some ICE CREAMMM and then got a magnet and sticker to add to our collection while we waited to meet the mayor!
As everyone should know, the mayor is a dog named Max. He was the softest golden retriever I have ever pet. I loved him! And his companion Meadow 🙂
Some lovely angels (Scott and Melanie) gave us a ride to the Idyllwild bunkhouse, and we’ve been here ever since! We laid in bed all day, charged our phones, took showers and washed our clothes in the sink. Dinner was veggie alphabet soup from the hiker box, and we also got our little breakfast that they give out every morning since we’re leaving so early.
Tomorrow we summit Jacinto. I’m excited and nervous, but glad we’re meeting up with some friends to do it. Hope I’ve got another great day to write about tomorrow!
Day 14
Well WE DID IT! Made it all the way to the top! Our lovely incredible trail angel Lori picked us up at the Bunkhouse at 6am this morning and we hit the trail by 6:20. I also took a shower! I swear it’s doing nothing for my armpits now they’re just always stinky.
We hiked the 2.6 miles up to Devils Slide and it really wasn’t too bad! Coming down the other day was not fun, but this time around I had morning energy and a yummy breakfast in me.
We got up to Saddle Junction around 7:50 and waited for our Atlanta friends, Vivi, Ben and Pidgeon. They rolled in about a half hour later and we started the ascent!
That shit was HARD. I’m pretty sure Noah and I climbed over 4,000 for the whole day and boy did my quads feel it. The views were beautiful, the snow had a nice crust on it, and my crampons WORK.
We got to the last bit before the summit around 1, and that’s when I decided we should wait to tackle the last .3 miles to the summit together. Me, Noah, Ben and Pidgeon waited almost an hour for Vivi. Turns out she had somehow bypassed all of us on another trail and was waiting for us for 30 min at the top!! Losing an hour wasn’t fun but we had a good laugh about it.
Once we reached the summit, we all took fireball shots with another group that the Atlanta crew knew, and then Noah and I surprised everyone with SUMMIT BEERS! Yes, that is correct: we each carried three beers up as a surprise. It was PERFECT! Everyone was so happy, we hung out up there for over an hour.
Another pair came up around 315 as we were heading down, and the woman (Summer) was celebrating her birthday. She poured out an old fashioned and we all shared it and chatted.
The way down started so fun because we were all tipsy. We were running down the hill in the slush, sliding this way and that. After about 2 miles, we decided to try and make it to Fuller Ridge, a campground that had a picnic table and fire ring (!!!!). Those last five miles were TOUGH. So much downhill in the snow, which took more time than if we weren’t in snow. Noah and I pulled ahead, totally committed to a campfire at the end of the hike. The sun was setting and our last 2 mile push was straight downhill in snow. It was seriously not enjoyable, but we made it JUST before it got so dark we needed headlamps. Noah immediately got the fire going while I set up our tent and made dinner. The Atlanta crew rolled in 20 min later, and we were shocked. We thought they were gonna call it!
Everyone got situated and Noah managed to get the fire going after a long battle. We sat around the fire for an hour and a half, warming our soaking wet socks (RIP Vivi’s Darn Tough socks that burned a hole) and keeping warm. It was our first true campfire out in the wilderness, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Such a great day. It was so long – 530am wake up to 1030pm fall asleep, but it was totally worth it. So glad we got to do it with some great friends!
Songs at the forefront of my mind: “Gorgeous”-Taylor Swift “Over and Over”-Nelly “Hey Ya!”-Outkast and “Leave (Get Out)”-Jojo
Week 2 was super rewarding, if at times hard. I’m so glad we summited Jacinto! It felt like a weight off my shoulders, being the first big mountain pass. I can feel myself getting stronger, and I’m so grateful for having studied Dance in college. My beaten up feet feel right at home! I also catch myself using college lingo to propel myself forward (with my pelvis), wrap my transverse, and STRETCH each and every night! The nights I don’t – I truly regret.
Thanks for following along! Can’t wait for next week’s post!
