Here comes the sun

Ryan's perspective of the last four days (5/5 - 5/8):

Leaving Warner Springs was tough, not because we didn't want to get back on the trail (we did), but because of the genuine passion, care, and hospitality of the people running the store to support hikers and simultaneously raise funds for their school. Warner Springs sort of has a bad reputation according to past hikers online for being a dying ghost town with nothing but a post office to resupply from. Last year was the first year the community started the hiker stop and shop, and this year, it has grown much bigger. The Stop and Shop has been one of my favorite rest stops. I had such a blast talking to and getting to know all of our fellow hikers, ravenously eating some extremely delicious food, and sitting around a camp fire with new friends watching and waiting intently as the flames and coals baked backcountry peach cobbler. Absolutely amazing! I think I fell in love with the cook Sherry because of that food. Thank you thank you thank you!

The hike out was very pleasant...even though we didn't leave until about 2:30pm. The weather was warm/cool. The trail didn't climb too high. We walked though trees and shade. It was just nice. That's probably also because we only hiked 6 miles from town. At mile 115, it started to lightly rain so we decided to pitch our tents for the night and just relax. As the rain slowed, Kristi lit a fire and we all played a round of Euchre. Brice and Hannah, a pair of hikers we've been playing tag with, joined us at the fire to eat and share stories. It was another great night.

The second day was Hell. Well I shouldn't say that. We woke up to rain and the rain never stopped. We tore down camp in the rain. We stuffed our packs with gear that was soaked by the rain. Our bodies went numb from the cold and the rain. And so we hiked out of camp. Early in the day, I really wasn't too phased from having to hike in the rain. I had warmed as I moved. The weather turned to a light drizzle. And I knew that I would have to get used to this kind of weather because conditions would only get worse at some point on this journey. Plus it made me happy that Lindsay slipped off a stone and stepped into the water during a creek crossing; I wasn't the first one! Goal accomplished. It wasn't long before the skies opened up and the rain beat down relentlessly. With each step, i could feel the water squish between my toes. We were soaked under our rain gear. We were cold and miserable. But we had an approximate mileage goal, so we pressed on. Those were some long miles. No one was happy. We were just grumpy and pissed at the world. We've heard it again and again, though, out here on the trail; if you want something bad enough, the trail will provide. After maybe 13 miles of hell, trail magic came from a small sign post on the side of the muddy trail that read, "Trail Angel Mike's, water shade shelter". It was better than water, shade, and shelter. It was a sanctuary. Although not actually present, Trail Angel Mike opened his garage and RV to thru hikers. His crew of angels fed us chicken for lunch, sloppy joes and Mac and cheese for dinner, and pancakes for breakfast!..all for free! We left a donation of course. We were able to get out of the cold and rain, change into dry clothes, hang our wet gear to dry, and chill with fellow hikers. Trail Angel Mike and crew sheltered 35 thru hikers that night! Truly incredible people. We slept in the RV with "The Lion's of Zion", 6 guys from Utah passionate about outdoor adventuring, like hiking, climbing, and snowboarding. They have hilariously great personalities and spark the best, most random conversations. They even accepted us into their pride haha but that could just be because Kristi let them use her guitar. I think I love them haha. They played music, we sang, and we crowded for warmth. That shitty day turned into a fantastic night! In the words of Dirtbag, as we cacooned ourselves in blankets and bullshitted the evening away, "this is perfect. This is what the trail is all about."

We woke up, ate pancakes, and got another late start out of Mike's. We expected it to be another crappy, rainy day. We suited up in our rain gear and hit the trail. A few miles in, we hit the silver lining of the rain cloud. With blue skies above us, we raced to stay ahead of the slowly moving storm cloud. It only ever caught us enough to mist us and cool us down. I thought it was an amazing day. We did 17 miles and camped among boulders high on a ridge line...although tensions rose and we had a dispute over disagreements in where to make camp. All worked out.

The next morning, we all just were not feeling the trail. We were slow, just lacking the energy and motivation to keep a steady pace. Getting to Paradise Valley Cafe was our only purpose. It is said they have the best burgers on the entire trail. We hiked 7 miles from camp to the highway. We decided to try our hand, or should I say thumb at hitch hiking. As we walked down the highway toward Paradise Valley Cafe, Lindsay's thumb standing proud, car after car sped by. Just when we thought it was pointless to keep trying because we were half-way there, a trail angle in a red SUV pulls to the side of the road! She had done it. Her thumb had done its job. The driver, a friendly woman, was enthusiastic to give us a ride. We chatted about the trail and our plans until our short ride was over. She seemed slightly disappointed that we only wanted a half-mile ride to the cafe rather than a ride into her hometown of Idyllwild (our next and highly anticipated trail town stop). Paradise Cafe lived up to its strong recommendations. The burger was excellent! I ordered the Jose Burger which had mushrooms, jalapeño, guacamole, bacon, and BBQ. To. Die. For. As if our bellies weren't full enough, we all ordered milkshakes for dessert. I'm pretty sure we consumed our entire day's 5000 calorie quota in one sitting. All we wanted was a nap on our full stomachs but we knew that daylight wouldn't last long, so we caught a ride back to the trail from one of the cafe employees.

Side note: the toilet was backed up, so when I flushed, the water rose and rose until it poured, and I mean POURED, over the edge and onto the floor, under the door, and out to the waiting area. If you've never had this kind of experience before, it was petrifying! The water just wouldn't stop! Horrible.

Anyway, Paradise Valley really lives up to its name. After hiking for days and seeing nothing but the same kind of mountains, you get bored. The mountains surrounding Paradise Valley are incredibly beautiful. White stone and giant pine trees accent the mountains. This area has been one of my favorites to hike thus far.