Mile 162 to 162 3.5 non-PCT miles

Three trucks drove by during the night, but luckily none pulled into the turn out or gave us any trouble. First(?) night as a hobo completed successfully!

We packed up a little slower than usual, but were still walking by 5:45. We needed to walk the rest of the road on the unofficial alternative to get to Highway 74.

The road walking was pretty hellish. It was all downhill and somewhat windy. It hurt the knees more to walk 3 miles on asphalt than 20 miles on trail.

We got to the road and tried to hitch unsuccessfully so we started walking towards Idyllwild. We threw our thumbs out when cars passed. It is funny how some people react to us trying to hitch. There is the confused face, the eye contact avoidance, the move to the other side of the road to get away, and the I’m sorry face.

We heard the soft crunch of tire on gravel and turned to see a van slowly pulling up. “You guys need a ride?” It was a trail angel with two other hikers, Christine and Claire,  the three of us jumped in and we were off to Idyllwind.

We rolled up and walked into Higher Grounds Coffee House, the only place open at 7 am. Got some drinks and chilled. Christine and Claire were nice gals who were living in San Francisco before this. They backpacked a similar route in the Grand Canyon as my sister as me earlier this year. I hope we run into them again. On the trail, every goodbye could be forever so you never know. It does force you to focus on the present interaction because there may never be another so that is good.

We called around and found a room at the Silver Lakes Village with a hiker rate! While we waited for check-in, we went to the Red Kettle for breakfast. We meet a couple at the next table that had met online and moved across the country to be with each other. Now they are full-time RVing in the area. It is pretty easy to meet people because people are always curious about what you are doing. A nice perk.

I saw someone walking out of the Red Kettle and realized it was Carla, the German girl who painted my pinkies. I called out to her and she came over. She looked in bad shape, like she had been crying and said that with the 9 hour time difference she hadn’t been able to talk to her family since being on trail.

It reminded me of when my family hosted a German high school exchange student and she came down crying the first night because she was homesick and we were all horrified that we had done something wrong.

She stayed in the campground last night and was planning to hike out today, but didn’t. I offered her a spot in our hotel room so she could recoup until she was ready to get going again.

Town visits are all about getting chores done. We did laundry, bought the food we would need for the next 90 miles, charged our electronics and updated our friends, family and social media.

B&B were meeting up with some relatives so Carla and I got some milkshakes and walked around town.

When B&B got back, we hungout on our rooms porch and made coke floats and ate bags of Doritos.

Wildlife: hikers