A Prescribed Easy Day and Victory Beers

The Day’s Stats

Miles walked: 10.6

Cumulative Miles: 52.6

Gross Elevation Gained: 1,055 ft.

Cumulative Gross Elevation: 8,606 ft.

Keith decided to hike out with me from Mt. Laguna, partly to get his daily dose of adventure but I suspect also to make sure I didn’t over-do it again.

Keith had prescribed a hiking plan for me the night before. “We’ll wake up late, drink plenty of coffee and relax, and hit the trail around 10 or 11am. We’ll walk slow, take lots of breaks, and make sure you dont do more than a half day of walking.” He had decided to come along since Leslie was off having her own adventure with Angela that day. I was supah stoked to have him along; all the advice the Canadian adventure-lords had given me seemed promising and executable in the safety and warmth of their Mt. Laguna cabin…. but the truth was I was more than glad to have a safety net as I embarked once more on the trail. Plus, Keith is great company! As we hiked, our topics of conversation ranged from the history of the Ashkenazi Jews to stories of our own travels and adventures to healthcare to gun violence to Zoolander. It was a nice change of pace to have someone to talk to on the trail; as you come to discover when you travel alone, happiness is most real when shared. Sure I had hiked with some people on Day 1, the Underdawg Crew, but the people you start with aren’t necessarily going to be the people you hike with for your entire journey; I think everyone understands that the nebulous social bonds formed on the first day, before the pack has thinned out and you begin to only run into people who keep your same schedule and pace, may not last and are therefore a little less inclined to dive into friendship headfirst. It’s a little bit like the friends you make in the dorm your first week of freshman year at college. Except replace the questions “What’s your major?” and “Do you say soda or pop? How weeeeird!” with “What’s your base weight?” and “How many liters of water are you gonna carry today?”. Not to say the Underdawg Crew wasn’t fun to hang with, but I’d broken off from them on my crazy 22 mile death march to Mt. Laguna, and it was likely I would not see them again after my Zero there. In any case, it was very comforting to have Keith there, especially since we only ran into 1 or 2 people the entire 6 hours we hiked that day.

Incredible high desert scenery after you get a mile or two out of Mt. Laguna. You could see all the way to the Salton Sea to the right, and down to Scissors Crossing 35 miles away on the left, where I’d be able to hitch a ride into the next town, Julian.

Keith gave me advice as we hiked, too. Like make sure to drink every 30 minutes, and eat every hour. Or make sure you take your shoes off once in awhile to dry out your feet and shake the sand out, 2 main causes of the dreaded blisties. Keith had gifted me with a fat sack of pop tarts before we left Mt. Laguna, and I gotta say it was a thing of wonder to me that I could mash one into my pie hole every hour on the hour in the name of fueling my body. Keith assured me that everyone loses weight on the trail, even eating as much as you can every day, and that the main thing is to never let your energy dip below 90%. Shweeeet, I thought, and tortured him the rest of the hike with beaver faces full of crumbs every time we stopped to eat.

Yayyy when you hike with other bbn peops you can get pensive, candid, mountainside shots of yoself!

Break time!

Seriously love the desert.

Still a long way away. Stop smiling, you fool. Jk, smiles before miles has come to be my mantra.

We cruised into the Pioneer Mail campground around 5 pm, named for being a main stopping point in this area on the pioneer mail trail that ran from Texas to San Diego back in the 1800’s. Keith created a lifelong friend in me when he went to his truck(he’d driven to our destination that morning and biked back) and pulled out about 5 frosty ass coors to celebrate the short day with.

Eeeee so happy.

Soon a few other hikers filtered into the campground, either to stop for the night or to fill up on water from the concrete horse basin the that housed a few inches of very murky, slimy, brown-orange h2o. We of course shared the beers with them (sharing the wealth is such an easy thing to do on trail since it never goes unappreciated) and I was able to meet some new people. Keith took his leave, proud that his awkward, home-schooled, trail protegé had made some friends and could now walk on her own two feet, unassisted. This guy AJ camped next to me, and told me how he had been going southbound for a couple of weeks from Idyllwild, since he hadn’t been able to get a permit from the Mexican border. When he reached the wall, he told me, he’d get a ride back up to Idyllwild and start northbound there, since that far north there had still been some spots available. Hiking southbound was probably a lonely experience at this time of year, I imagined, since southbounders don’t start their journey until July usually, and far fewer people go that direction at all. If you want to follow AJ’s journey his instagram is @moon_meister. His wife maintains it for him with all the pictures he takes and stories he tells her. Gerd I wish someone would write this here blerg for me!

We shared some easy mac and traded stories as we set up camp. I asked him what was in store for me on the trail ahead in terms of water sources and things to do in upcoming towns. There would be some long dry stretches that required some heavy water carries, but free pie for hikers in Julian and the best burgers evah at Paradise Cafe near Idyllwild. Food motivation yess! I couldn’t wait to get going the next day, although I knew I’d have to take it easy on my feet and knees for the time being and throw away the notion that getting there fast was of utmost importance. It had been a short day, but at least my feet weren’t cramping up, my spirits were high, and I’d be ready for more tomorrow.

Campground gourmet!