Paradise Cafe to Warner Springs
43.3 miles (1 off trail mile)
Sobo mile 2543.1
Total mileage 5195.7
I was more than ready to get moving when my alarm went off. Real estate near roads makes for brutal sleep conditions. After a mile road walk I was trucking my way up the PCT by 4am.
The first mile of trail was newly groomed and looked great. Paige had been out there a few weeks earlier with a group of trail maintenance volunteers smoothing things out. Their hard work made life easy for me as I hiked through the darkness.
The sun rose as I made my way through desert hills of sage brush and cacti.
A bit before 8am I reach Muir Woods, a neat rest stop and water cache maintained by a awesome local trail angel.
I filled up my bottle at the water tank there before pushing on into the desert. I had a few hours worth of climbing until I’d reach my next water source on a trail angels property called Mike’s Place.
The day ended up growing rather toasty, so the climb up was a bit rough.
I reached the water tanks above Mike’s Place around 2pm. Apparently he was hooking hikers up with some hot dogs, but I was in a hurry to get down to Warner Springs to meet a buddy, so didn’t have time to check it out.
I pushed on down the mountain feeling strong.
Just as I approached Warner Springs I was treated to a pretty sweet sunset. I haven’t been awake for one of those in a while…
Once I reached Highway 79 I spied this owl chilling out on a power line as I waited for my friend Jason to arrive. He was the buddy I’d missed yesterday in Idyllwild who was now driving down to hangout with me tonight!
When Jason picked me up we headed down the street to Santa Ysabel to grab some grub at Don’s Market.
We had a great time catching up at a picnic area near the market munching down dinner. I hadn’t expected any of this, so it was a great way to end one of my last nights on trail!
By 9pm I was fading fast, so Jason brought me back to Warner Springs where I bunked up at the community center. Thanks for the awesome night Jason! There two other hikers already there from Montreal who I chatted with for a bit before crashing.
Cheers!