Month: May 2019

Rooster (Tim): So, SoCal is experiencing an exceptionally cold and rainy May this year. Luckily, we’ve got all of our rain gear, and have mostly managed to stay warm and dry. The last few days have been in the desert. Everyone had expected sunny skies in the 90’s, and instead we’ve gotten clouds and rain in the 50’s.

And of course, lots of wind! Some nights, it’s almost flattened the tent. But the wind farms have been fun to walk through. They go on for miles.

We’ve hiked as far as Tehachapi, and are currently taking some downtime in Ridgecrest. We were stationed here ten years ago, and some of our friends are still here. The Tidballs had kids the same age as ours, and we all had lots of adventures together. Camping, 4x4ing, snowboarding, etc., we always seemed to be hanging together. And it’s been great to see them and catch up.

To celebrate walking 500 miles, we’ve made a silly little music video, enjoy!

Tim: It’s been awhile since we’ve updated, so let’s get up to speed!

Wrightwood was a great little town with beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. It also might have some of the friendliest residents we’ve ever met. We got a hitch into town in the rain, with no solid plans for a place to stay. We immediately had the pleasure of meeting Leslie. She pointed us toward a great bar and grille, and started calling all the local trail angels she knew. Everybody was already booked up, so she offered up her place! We got a shower and met her three adorable dogs. She took us all over town to get our chores done, and we had fun with her at karaoke. She was so kind and extremely generous in ways big and small, and we feel like we quickly developed a lifelong friend. We love you Leslie!

After leaving town, we set our sights on Mt. Baden-Powell. Named after the founder of the Boy Scouts, it was a tough climb through soft snow. Beautiful views at the top. Since then we’ve had heat, cold, wind, and rain. And every morning we still have a huge smile, and say “It’s a beautiful day!”

One new development: we both have our trail names! Charisse is “Maverick”, like in Top Gun. She’s definitely the pilot in our little duo, setting the pace and lighting off the afterburner from time to time. I have been dubbed “Rooster”. As a gag, I put a surgical glove over my head and nose, and blew it up. The fingers inflated like on a chicken’s head. Funny stuff, I think there’s a video of it a couple weeks ago.

We are currently at “Hiker Heaven” in Agua Dulce. It’s a great little compound of sorts, with everything a filthy hiker needs: showers, laundry, charging station, mail, tent space, and the smiling faces of all our trail friends. The trail angels here have been running it for years, and we are all so grateful for their generosity.

Charisse: The morning we left Big Bear, we had a fantastic brunch with friends and then lazily hit the trail early afternoon. And it has been a great week since then! Big mile days, fairly easy trail/terrain, and gorgeous views!

We had our biggest day yet on Monday at 23.5 miles, with stellar views all day. The next day allowed us a long lunch at a beautiful spot on the river, and a campsite next to a waterfall and river that night.

Yesterday, we were walking up a hill, and I heard quite a bit of buzzing around me. We hear bees and other bugs all the time, with lots of flowers along the trail, so I didn’t think much of it. I looked up and realized I was in a swarm of bees! I turned around quickly and said to Tim, “bees…lots of bees”. We started walking back down the hill away from them, and my quick-thinking hubby said, “It looks like they’re coming this way. Let’s lie down on the side of the hill and see if they move right past us.” Which they totally did. They were just moving down the hill on a breeze. My hero. 😍🥰

Later that day, it was getting hot as we were going by a gorgeous lake, and we were planning a lunch stop and maybe a swim at a picnic area coming up. Then we saw signs for…TRAIL MAGIC!! Fish Tank and his wife had an awesome set up in a pavilion with burgers, hot dogs, fruit, cold soda, and lots of snacks. We stayed for way too long enjoying good conversation and food with these awesome people.

Today we’re in Cajon Pass doing a small resupply and then hitting the trail in a couple of hours. Next stop: Wrightwood.

Trail magic!

5/4 Mile 266 (10% done!)

Charisse: Most days on the trail are awesome. Like when we stopped for water at the Mesa Wind Farm office, and they had fresh-cut fruit, Klondike bars, and cold water for hikers. Yum! And, we got our dog fix by loving up their resident golden retriever, Nala. The day ended with a gorgeous camp spot right next to a river. We were able to dunk ourselves and feel marginally clean. It was glorious.

Other days are soul crushing. Like when we thought we had a challenging, but doable 20-mile day with 6000 feet of elevation gain. But nothing could’ve prepared us for THE GORGE. We were in this river canyon nearly the whole day. We crossed the river dozens of times, lost the trail multiple times, marched around in wet, heavy shoes, scrambled up dirt and gravel hills, and walked through fields of ankle-twisting river rocks. We thought it would never end. To add insult to injury, after we were out of the gorge, there were multiple deadfalls over the trail…too many to count. Each of them requiring a scramble up or down the hill to get around them. We were at the very end of our exhausted rope. And then…we saw camp! We plodded through our nightly routine, ate some garlic mashed potatoes, didn’t care about brushing our teeth, and conked out. But we got our 20 miles, hard won as they were. We didn’t quit.

Today is a zero day in beautiful Big Bear Lake. We caught a big, hearty breakfast and are running around doing our “town chores”…laundry, shopping, picking up mail. Rest days are awesome, but we’re excited to get back on the trail tomorrow. 😁

Tim: We had so much fun in Idyllwild! I met the mayor of Idyllwild, who is a dog named Max. We wound up staying for two zeros; partially to heal up, mostly to enjoy this cute mountain town. We ran into most of our trail friends, and made sure to enjoy a lot of town food.

Part of this experience is just chatting with people in town. We met a really nice couple who had driven up for the weekend. They live down in the desert and run a newspaper called the Desert Review. I took a pic of their dogs Asher and Baxter, and promised they’d be featured in the blog.

We got back on the trail yesterday, and the San Jacinto Wilderness is proving to be beautiful, but very challenging. We had fog, cold mist, and slushy snow for a slow 8 miles before calling it a day when it started to sleet. Then we got to Fuller Ridge! It lived up to its snow filled, can’t find the trail, wish it was over, reputation. But we made it through; on to the next leg!

Our room in Idyllwild

Hoops