Day 44 - Mile 558.3 - Mel

May 28

I have a phone again. Yay!

Since my Wrightwood post we have climbed Baden Powell. We had actually planned on detouring around that section so we wouldn't have to do all that climbing, but we missed the detour. I'm glad we did it but it was one heck of a climb. Greg said we did 3000 feet in 3 hours. Pretty darn good for a couple mature women!

We also got lost a couple of times in one day. The second time was trying follow an alternate route to protect an endangered frog. I can always find a bright side. We were lost with a very nice British couple we met the night before and ended up camping with them the next two nights. 

We spent a couple of days playing dodge the Poodle Dog Bush. Not a game I enjoyed. Especially when it was growing on both sides of the trail.

Then there was our unplanned stay at the Acton KOA!  Laundry and showers. Who could ask for more. Trail angel Mary got us to town for shopping and dinner and then back to the KOA. Turns out she's been following our blog and wanted to takes us out to lunch when we got to Agua Dulce. It was a wonderful lunch. Thank you Mary. 

We also spent a night at Casa Luna in Green Valley. The Anderson's open their home, actually yard, to hikers. They also fix a taco salad for dinner and coffee and pancakes for breakfast. Caught up with some hikers that we haven't seen for awhile and made some new friends. Terry  Anderson drove us back to the trail where we faced a fire detour. This included a 12 mile road walk before we got back on the trail. Another option was a 21 mile road walk to Hikertown near Lancaster. Liz and I opted for this. About two miles out of Lake Hughes someone pulled over to see if we wanted a ride. We weren't even hitching at this point. Linda already had a hiker in the car and I think he knew we were planning on going directly to Hikertown. Found out when she dropped us off that she has also been following our blog. 

We stayed at Hikertown until 6pm and then started our trek across the Mojave. The moon was out and we were following the California aqueduct on a dirt road so it was a very pleasant walk and beautiful sunset. We cowboy camped beside the aqueduct. I really wanted to set up my tent, but the ground was too hard. I know snakes don't come out at night, but everyone keeps warning us about the Mojave Green Rattlesnake and then there are the scorpions. Liz had a scorpion crawling next to her sleeping bag right after she crawled in. Needless to say I didn't sleep well. 

Yesterday we had our earliest start yet, 5:30am. We hiked until we got to the next water source around 11am and then hung out in the shade until 4pm. The next part of the trail climbed about 1200 feet with no shade. We wanted to get to the top before we quit so that we wouldn't have to face the climb today and so we would have a shorter hike to the road to Tehachipi. 

We are now in a Best Western. I picked up the package Greg sent me. I rode the BW's bike to the post office. I've hiked over 550 miles and I thought I wasn't going to make it over the freeway on this bike! We will be zeroing tomorrow. Resting up for more hot, waterless days ahead. 

Day 39-Liz 415.1-444

The ranger stations have been a welcome respite from the trail camps. It's nice to use a bathroom, even a smelly pit toilet, and have tables. We left north fork and headed down the mountain through the maze of poodle dog brush. How we haven't gotten a rash I don't know, the trail Gods are watching over us. We got some trail magic from Coopertone when we reached the bottom the mountain, he had root beer floats, donuts, bananas, and wet wipes. A true friend indeed. We decided to try the KOA and resupply in Acton instead of heading to Agua Dulce because we really needed a shower and to wash clothes. I'd never been to a KOA before, they pack them in like sardines. They put us PCT folks in a special area, I don't blame them, we smell terrible. We lucked out and got a space in the gazebo  with 10 other hikers. Joe was there and we hadn't seen him since day two. He flew home to take care of knee issues and had just gotten back on the trail. We had a great time just talking with everyone and sharing stories. I called a trail angel to get a ride into Acton to resupply and it turned out she reads our blog. Trail angel Mary does an incredible job helping hikers. The day before she took a couple to the justice of the peace to get married and before picking us up she had to take a hiker to urgent care. She's awesome. We had such a get time we agreed to have lunch together tomorrow. Thank you Mary. 

Day 38-Liz 395.3-415.1

Beware of poodle dog brush, it's much worse than poison oak, ands it's everywhere today. It drains us mentally and makes the hike stressful as we dance around the trail to avoid it. 

We left Cooper Cyn Campground and vowed not to get lost, and we didn't. The weather is so strange lately, the fog rushes in then disappears just as fast. We never know what to expect. 

We stopped for the night on an extremely windy ridge, not by choice but by necessity. The next campsite would have been 3 miles down the mountain and it was getting late. We weren't sure if it might rain so we decided to set up the tents and that was quite entertaining. I was able to get mine set up after some struggling and I was able to help Melinda before her tent blew away. Steve and Mandy showed up as well as three other hikers within an hour. The wind was fierce and cold so Melinda an I retired to our tents and made our dinners and went to sleep. 

Everyday we see incredible views and natural beauty, how lucky are we?

Subway and Sugar High off-trail soon - Greg

Melinda and Liz spent last night at mile 463.97 after spending the previous afternoon and evening getting refreshed at the Acton KOA.

The trail is closed between mile 478.2 (San Francisqito Creek Road) to about mile 493, so our dynamic duo will have to find a way around the closure.

The most popular alternate route involves about 13 miles of mostly road walking on Elizabeth Lake Rd. (or "CR N2" on the tracker map) before rejoining the trail.

Day 37-Liz 384-395.3

I would prefer to forget this day. It started out fine but then we got off our trail and was climbing over rocks for awhile before I mentioned it was getting awfully dangerous. Sure enough we were off our trail and I had to bushwhack with the gps to try and find it. We wasted a lot of energy.

Up until this day we were never off trail, and proud of it. Unfortunately our woes didn't end there. Because of an endangered frog species there's a detour we have to take. There's the old detour, new detour, or closed trail. We opted for the old detour, sounded simple enough to follow. If you track us you saw us take one trail about 1/2 mile before we realized we were on the closed portion, a big no-no and a large fine. We hiked back to the junction and tried the other trail, with Mandy and Steve, for about two miles before we realized AGAIN we were on the wrong trail. We had to hike back and find the correct junction to start the detour. By then we were so tired we  camped at Cooper Cyn campground. We did have a very nice campfire and traded stories with Mandy and Steve. I got them to cowboy camp for the first time. Way to go Brits!  

Day 36-Liz 369-384

We met Reuben at the local coffee shop at 7:45am an got a free cup of coffee for being PCT hikers, awesome. All along the trail many business's give us a discount and seem very happy to have us spend money. The trail Angels are great people that volunteer their time.  

Our morning hike was one long steep climb and my lungs were burning. The absolute best part of the day was reaching Baden-Powell Summit 9366ft. Baden-Powell was the founder of Boy Scouts and I'm proud I made it there. I took a picture of Griffens Eagle mentor pin next to the monument, very special.

The afternoon hike was up and down but the fog was incredible. I felt as if I was in a Grimms fairy tale and the wolf was going to appear and ask me the way to Granny's.

We stopped at Little Jimmys campground since neither one of us wanted to hike off the mountain in the fog. We met a couple from England, Mandy and Steve. Their idea of visiting America for the first time was to do the PCT, crazy. 

Day 35 - Wrightwood - Mel

May 18


You may have noticed that I have not posted for awhile.  My phone got wet going into Lake Silverwood and died.  I am so bummed.


It's been exciting though.  You've probably already read Liz's updates.  Our unplanned zero day at Lake Silverwood was great.  We got a tour of the area from the volunteer at the Nature Center.  And then to come out of the shower and see Gene and Elaine Hill standing there.  I was elated!  It was so wonderful to see a familiar face from home.  And even better to spend the afternoon with them.


I am now developing some new blisters.  Only a couple hurt, the old ones are just ugly.  We're taking another zero day in Wrightwood.  It will give my feet an extra day of rest and Liz had to make hiking pole repairs.  We're at the library using the internet.  This will be my last post until I get my replacement phone in Tehachapi (thank you Greg).  I also have a couple of posts that I couldn't send due to no service.  If I can find those I will send them too.


This is such an amazing journey.  It's so much more than just the hiking, although that is a big part of it.  To be able to hike through such beautiful country, it sometimes takes your breath away. We have met amazing people along the way too, hikers and in the towns where we stop.  Everyone is so friendly.


I'm also amazed at how my attitude changes.  The other day hiking up out of El Cajon Pass my feet were killing me, as were the hills.  Once again I wondered what the heck I was doing.  Then we found just enough space to put our sleeping bags head to toe, had some dinner and I lay there reading the Jack Higgins book I bought at the thrift store in Crestline (thanks Gene for loaning me the 27 cents).  There I was laying under the wide open sky, reading my book.  I was so happy. 


I am enjoying all of our experiences, good and bad.  You have to roll with what life gives you and make the best of it. 

Day 35-Liz Wrightwood

I thought California was in a drought, why are we always threatened with rain? One of the reasons we stayed put today was the forecast called for 70% chance of thunderstorms. We walked around Wrightwood a couple of times and met the local therapist, Reuben, at the coffee shop while we sat sipping our lattes. I know I need therapy but how did he know? People always want to talk to us about the PCT and somehow they know just by looking at us that we're PCT hikers.

Reuben will be taking us to the trailhead tomorrow morning so we can continue our journey. 

One of my hiking poles cracked a couple of weeks ago and duct tape isn't holding it together anymore, so I had to use epoxy to fix it. I seem to place my poles between rocks all the time, I'm not surprised this happened, I'm such a klutz. 

Our packs are heavy with all the resupply gear we got but it only gets lighter each day. 

Day 34-Liz 352.66-369 Wrightwood

We were fueled up from McDonald's and had a long climb in front of us so we kept going until we found a campsite that we could cowboy camp. We always find great sites during the day but when we need them at night they seem to be few and far between. We ended up setting up camp parallel to the trail across from Pilgrim( a hiker from Canada). 

That left us 17 miles for today to get into Wrightwood and pick up our supplies and find the house that we were staying in. Luckily at lunch I got cell reception and found out my cousin John was our angel and was driving from LA with our boxes and picking us up from the trailhead. Melinda's met my entire LA family now and she's been adopted into it. 

The hike had its tough moments with high altitude climbs and hiking through patches of snow and fog. We actually hiked next to the ski slopes for awhile . We've been dreaming of pizza and beer for the last few days and we were rewarded with a delicious meal of pizza and salad. We're fortunate to be staying at a cabin through a friend of Queen Kena and King Paella. Thanks Guys!  

This is a snow angel I made, without taking my pack off. I couldn't get up without Melinda's help. I felt like a turtle. 

Day 33-Liz 328.5-352.66

We woke to perfect weather and couldn't wait to hit the trail. Our lunch plan was to get to the McDonalds that's .4 miles off the trail at El Cajon Pass, it's a hiker mecca. I must be getting my hiker hunger because I ate a Big Mac, large fries, side salad, apple pie, ice cream cone, and a large iced tea. And it was good! The place was full of stinky hikers all trying to charge their phones and stuff their faces with as much calories as they could. Our miles are improving as our bodies are getting in better shape. We're not having to take as many breaks to catch our breath during steep inclines, and we don't need to carry as much water. It all just takes time to adjust. 

The miles roll by - Greg

May 16

L&M are too modest to point it out, but they have been killing it mileage-wise.

In both of their last 2 outings, they stopped right at around 24 miles completed each day. I'd say they are hitting their stride. :-)

Tonight they stopped at 352.6 and Wrightwood is just 17 miles ahead. They stop in Wrightwood to pick up their next resupply boxes.

You won't be hearing much from Melinda for a while unless it's with a borrowed phone. Hers bit the big one during the soggy walk on day 31. I'm trying to figure out how to get her a replacement.

Day 32- Liz 328.5

Woke up to mist and overcast. The weather report shows us heading into rain so guess what? Zero day, and it turned out to be an incredible for us. We're at the Silverlake campground and this morning we headed to the nature center to get warm and get out of the miserable weather. The docent David Perez couldn't have been nicer. Not only did he make coffee for us he had numerous stories he told us about this area and he took us to an area to watch Ospreys nest. He's quite the photographer. If your ever in this park please stop by and say to David.

The good luck continued, as we sat at our campsite acouple of park maintenance people came over and asked if we wanted a FREE shower. Had someone complained of our smell? Of course we took them up on the offer and they gave us small towels and body soap. The only problem with the shower was that my had only cold water while Melinda's had only hot. I was shivering and she was scalded. What happened next only proves that God works in mysterious ways. We came out of the showers and was greeted by friends of Melinda's from home who tracked us down. Had we left this morning they would never have found us. They took us to a laundromat to dry our clothes then to a cafe for lunch. I've been craving BLTs and the one I had today was awesome. Gene and Elaine then drove us up to Crestline to see their rustic cabin. Elaine's grandfather built it in three days in 1921. What a great day we had making new friends and the kindness that has been bestowed on us. 

Day 31-Liz 304.80-328.5

Ugh!! The day started with such beauty and warm and ended with us shivering, cold, and wet. It started drizzling about 1pm and then rained constant thru the early morning. Luckily we knew a campground was close and we ended up in a site next to a group of twenty something men that regaled us with their singalongs and loud banter that no animals would dare come near us. We put up our tents and headed to the bathroom to change into dry clothes. I was so cold I put on almost all my dry clothes to stay warm. Amazingly neither one of us had water in our tents when we  woke up. Sadly, my sleeping pad deflated during the night so I was on the cold wet ground with rain pounding my tent and I'm thinking to myself "I wanted to do this?". 

Day 30-Liz 285.57-304.80

We reached another milestone today, 300 miles on 5/13 at 3pm. Pretty darn cool! We're still hiking high on the mountain ledges with deep canyons below with roaring water. We've crossed a couple of bridges over gorges, beautiful views. 

We wanted to hike more but there aren't any campsites for another 14 miles because of the mountains, and we're lucky we found a gully we could sleep in. Tomorrows weather is rain or snow, should be interesting. 

Day 29-Liz 266-285.57

I can't believe I forgot to mention this yesterday, Maureen our trail angel mentioned she was from north San Diego  and I asked her what town since I also lived in north San Diego. She was from Encinitas and I lived in Rancho Santa Fe for a few years. Maureen's next response blew me away. Her husband grew up in Rancho also and is only two years older than me, which means we went to the same elementary school at the same time. I can't wait to get back home and look at my old yearbooks and see if I remember him. It truly is a small world. 

As for today's hike, the first mile or two was up but after that we gently hiked the mountain ranges around Big Bear. The mountains still bear the scars of two forest fires in the last five years. We also hiked across a few rock slides, which can be dangerous if you're not watching your step. Considering we got a late start due to carpooling, we got a lot of miles in and practiced setting up our tents. 

Each day we learn or do something new, what more could we ask for. I'm humbled  to be on this adventure. 

Big rock slide. 

Like hikers, trail angels get nicknames and we're proud to bestow on two very important angels the name of Queen Kena and King Paella. They drove 2 hours to bring us lunch on the trail, which every hiker was madly jealous of, then they housed us, feed us, and entertained us while I was laid up with feet problems. We're still working on a nick name for our other angel, stay tuned. 

Stretching it out on the descent - Greg

May 12

Melinda and Liz returned to the trail at Big Bear (6,750 feet) and put in an impressive 19.45 miles before calling it a day.

For 2 days in a row they stopped just shy of the 20 mile mark, their best days yet. Based on this, Liz's feet must be back in fine form.

May 13

Today "Subway" and "Sugar High" left at 7:14 and put in 19.23 miles before knocking off for the day, crossing the 300 mile mark and ending at 304.80. They are camped in a gully, so hopefully the rain that's coming will hold off until they are up and out of there.

They must have been tuckered out today; they stopped 3 miles shy of a nice hot spring, which I'm sure would have felt great at the end of a long day. 

About that rain; at Arrowhead Lake (5,000 feet) the chances go over 50% starting at about 2:00 PM Thursday and peak at 95% at about 9:00 AM Friday. For the 5 hours prior to 9:00 it could be snow instead of rain at the lake. But Mel and Liz are at 4000 feet now and will be descending further, so it would have to be a really cold storm to snow on them.

Per the forecast, the storm is pretty much gone by 9:00 PM Friday night.

Try to stay warm and dry guys!

Day 28 - Mile 251.35 to 266 - Mel

May 11

It was 41 degrees this morning. Didn't want to get out of my sleeping bag!

Even though it was cold it was a beautiful day for hiking. We had a little climb just over Onyx Summit and then started down hill. The trail was in great condition and we were continuing through a beautiful forest. A couple miles down the trail we came upon a couch, water and dumpster of supplies left by trail angels from Big Bear Lake. 

I filled up with water from a spring a little further down. Just enough to make some Gatorade. It's nice not having all the water weight. 

We soon left the trees and it was back to scrub brush, more cactus and no shade. And a little more climbing!

We got to highway 18 around 2 pm. That was 15 miles for us by early afternoon!  One of the local Hostels left two coolers. One with fresh fruit and the other with cold beer. Ahh, trail magic!

It was a day of firsts. The hostel we are staying at couldn't come pick us up so we had to hitchhike. We got a ride with Keith and he was a great tour guide. It's also our first stay in a hostel. 

Sarge got us settled in, we got showered and laundry started. Soon we were hitching a ride to the grocery store. Maureen picked us up. She was also heading for Vonns. We lucked out and Maureen was done shopping when we were. So we got a ride back. 

Had a Thai dinner and a beer at a local brewery. Then it was back to the hostel to pack our food. Quite a few of us doing the same thing. 

It's funny how people recognize the PCT hikers. Could it be the shorts, down jackets and crocs were all wearing?

Day 27 - Mile 235.4 to 251.35 - Mel

May 10

I was beat when we found a campsite last night (we shared it with eight other hikers). Basically I ate my dinner, rolled out my sleeping bag and went to bed. It was very nice though, laying under the stars and listening to Jack White. 

Took my eye patch off this morning and my eye felt fine. It's good to be hiking with two eyes again. 

We came across our first Poodle-Dog bush right before the campsite. This stuff is supposed to be way worse than poison oak. There was a lot more as we climbed up the canyon. 

Yesterday we climbed about 4000 feet in seventeen miles. Today we climbed about 2000 feet in the first five miles. We passed through some beautiful country  At least we had some shade for this climb, oaks and pine trees. 

After the climb it was very pleasant hiking. Reminded me of Northern California. Except for different pines and I'm embarrassed to say I don't know what they are. 

Saw our first bear today. It was in a cage. There is some type of zoo or animal rescue out here. I've read about it but don't remember what it is.

We found a nice little place to camp on a ridge. We're alone tonight which we haven't been since we started up again. Cowboy camping. Besides being nice (I now know why Greg's brother Rick always did it), we're hoping to get an early enough start to get to Big Bear Lake by early afternoon. One of these days I have to practice setting up my tent!

Day 28-Liz 241.35-266

We made it to Big Bear today, a scheduled self resupply for us. The hostel couldn't pick us up from the trail so we hitch hiked, a first. Keith gave us a ride all the the way to the hostel and was a great tour guide. We ended up hitching again to the supermarket and was picked up by Maureen, a very nice woman. She told us she doesn't pick up hitch hikers, except for PCT folks. We all have the same look, crocs, dirty clothes, and down jacket. As it turned out she was heading to the supermarket also, and our luck continued. She was checking out the same time we were and offered us a ride back to the hostel. Trail magic!!

We ate at a wonderful Thai restaurant, Royal Thai Cafe, two for one coupon, perfect. Things just got better, there's a microbrewery around the corner so we had to stop and check it out. Delicious chocolate porter. 

I should talk about the hike today. We climbed up to 8635ft, huffing and puffing but we also had some nice descents. 

Day 27-Liz 235.4-251.35

Happy Mothers  Day to all the mothers out there. Melinda and I spent today hiking through the beautiful mountains of San Bernadino national park. The pine trees are ancient and gnarled, like me. So far the only wildlife are the constant lizards that dart in front of us all the time. I did hear a woodpecker this morning, reminded me of the one that kept attacking our cedar siding of our house in Iowa. 

We seen to have a routine of getting up by 6am and on the trail by 7:15, we need to work on getting on the trail earlier.

We're hoping to get into Big Bear tomorrow and resupply our meals. I'm still not eating as much as I should, I don't have an appetite. I'll see what I can get at the supermarket that might appeal to me. I need to add protein, carbs, and fat. It would be great if I could bring ice cream and beer, that I know I could eat and drink.

Lost another toenail, go figure, it was one I didn't think I would lose. If your keeping score I've lost four now, and I know another one is about to come off. It doesn't hurt but my toenails will never be the same, that's for sure. 

I can't take credit for this trail work of art, but it did make us smile. 

Day 26 - Mile 218.6 to 235.4 - Mel

So I slept on the cement slab instead of the picnic tables thinking it would be warmer than the picnic table. Best nights sleep I've had on the trail, but.... The wind blew part of the night and it blew dirt into my left eye. Couldn't open it. Got the dirt out but I think it scratched my eye.

I hiked a couple of miles and decided to cover it with my bandana. I now understand what they meant in wilderness first aid about immobilizing the eye. At lunch Liz patched it for me. I probably hiked 12-13 miles with one eye. I wouldn't recommend it!

Fortunately the trail was in good shape.  Great views looking back towards San Jacinto and down into the Palm Desert area.   We passed through some beautiful country. Not that I saw much of it.

We followed Mission Creek up the canyon which was very pleasant. I was quite happy to get to a campsite. 

Day 25 - Mile 218.6 - Mel

May 8

It's a zero day today. 

The wind hammered my tent all night long. Around midnight the sides and foot of my tent collapsed. I got up to fix it and thought it was raining. Turned out that it was only raining at the foot of my tent. The sprinklers had come on. At least they were aiming away from the tent. I got back into the tent thinking "it could be worse, it could be raining."  So, the next time I woke up it was raining. 

Rain and wind the rest of the night. You could hear the wind coming down (up?) the canyon and you just braced yourself. When I woke up at 5am I found a lake in my tent. I grabbed my sleeping bag, stove and mug and headed for the covered picnic tables with the plan of making coffee. There were hikers asleep on the tables, so I threw my bag on a table and climbed in.

There is snow on the mountains, a 60% chance of rain and a wind advisory up the canyon. We are staying here and sleeping on the tables tonight. And we're not alone. Sitting here in the Ranger Station with other hikers staying out of the wind. 

The foot of my sleeping bag is soaked so it's  hanging over a beam, along with my tent, drying out. 

Saw some Big Horn Sheep on the east canyon wall around sunset.  

Day 26-Liz 218.6-235.4

I did something last night that I've never done before or thought I ever would, I slept on a table. Everyone was worried about rain and wind so most of us slept under the veranda, either on the ground or on the table. I must say I was very comfortable, I worried at first about rolling over and off the table but that didn't happen. 

Today's hike was the most beautiful and enjoyable so far. We hiked over mountains and through valleys following a river as it meandered along. Some of the trail tested us but overall it was perfect. Even better, today I had no foot pain! We're cowboy camping tonight because there isn't enough room to set up our tents. We saw a tent like ours perfectly set up last night and we grilled the woman who did it. Maybe tomorrow we can try. 

The mom report: if your a mom to Dragonfly, The Kid and Mush, Ostrich, Rolly Poly, Stephanie, Tanya, Radar, or Galaxy, your kids are fine and having a good time. 

Day 25-Liz Whitewater Preserve 218.6

The wind and rain was our constant tormentor last night. I thought for sure my tent would blow over but I lucked out and  it withstood the onslaught and I ended up with only alittle rain in my tent. The weather forecast is more rain and wind advisory and looking at the surrounding mountains covered in snow we decided to stay here and dry out. We're not alone, there's at least 9 other hikers and we're all going to sleep under the veranda tonight, forget the tents. 

One hikers tent was thrown into the trout pond by the wind as it was trying to dry out from the rain. He didn't catch any trout. 

Day 24- Liz 210-218.6

Thanks to trail angel Jane we were able to return to Ziggy and the Bear and not lose any miles. It was great to be on the trail again, but I did feel some trepidation knowing what we were hiking into again. We hiked through some beautiful mountains and canyons but the wind was incredibly strong and powerful. At times we had to kneel down or be tossed aside. Our trekking poles came in handy to steady us. This was truly the most powerful winds I've ever felt. Of course we had to put up our tents in it, comical. We would have cowboy camped except it's supposed to rain tonight and thunderstorms tomorrow. Hopefully it will only rain, I really don't want another zero day already.

My feet feel fine and no new blisters. Yippy. 

We're camped at white water preserve, it's beautiful and majestic. The cliffs and mountains surrounding us are indescribable, I feel so privileged to be here.

Day 24 Mile 210 to 218.6 - Mel

May 7

We're back!  Subway and Sugar High are on the trail. 

After a walk to Peets and a final latte this morning Aunt Jane picked us up at 9am and drove us to Whitewater. Dropped us off at Ziggy's so we could pick up where we left off. 

Would you believe it was windy?  We had been watching the weather the last few days so it was no surprise. Wind gust in the low desert, rain and thunderstorms in the mountains. 

For the most part today's hike was pleasant. The sun was out, but not hot, and there was not too much climbing. Although barren the mountains are beautiful. 

We passed by Mesa Wind Farm upon entering section C. 

We climbed out of this canyon and over a pass that had beautiful views of two canyons. I wanted to take pictures but afraid to with the wind gusts. 

Soon we entered San Gorgonio Wilderness. Once again beautiful views. The canyon wall east of Whitewater Creek reminded  me of the Grand Canyon. 

We're camping  at Whitewater Preserve in the  picnic area. Figured 8 miles was a good distance for our first day back on the trail. 

The worst part of today was (is) the wind. At one point near the wind farm a gust came through while I was in an open area and I just had to kneel down and wait it out. I was beginning to think I might have to crawl. There were a few places along the way that Liz and I had to dig our poles in and wait for the wind to pass. Tonight will be interesting.

Wild night - zero at 218.41 - Greg

May 8

As expected, the ladies stopped at the trout farm so there would be some sign of civilization during an expected storm.

According to some very brief satellite texts from Melinda, the storm came about midnight with wind and rain that didn't let up.

One text captured it nicely. "OMG wind rain lake in tent". Luckily she also said they were fine and her sleeping bag was "almost dry".

They took a zero to ride out the storm.

May 9

No idea how last night was, but they were up and on the trail by 7:30 and still headed north. :-)

I look forward to getting their stories once they get cell service.

Back on the trail! - to mile 218.41 - Greg

May 7

Mel and Liz left Ziggy and the Bear's place at about noon and trekked the 8 miles to the Whitewater Preserve. (Whitewater Preserve is 2,851 acres surrounded by the Bureau of Land Management’s San Gorgonio Wilderness, and includes the year-round Whitewater River.) The preserve includes an old trout farm which has been converted to a ranger station and it's near here where L&M camped. Thunderstorms are expected on Friday so I think they wanted to overnight where they would be reasonably safe and comfortable if they need to take a zero.

Day 23-Liz LA

Finally, we're leaving LA tomorrow to get back on the trail!! Our time here has been cathartic for body and soul, but now it's time to return to the PCT and show her who the BOSS is. My aunt has graciously offered to take us back to Ziggy and the Bear so we won't lose any miles of the trail, incredible. Bad weather is coming in the form of thunderstorms so we want to try and be ahead of it or else be in our tents prepared to hunker down and not lose to much time. My feet are 80% healed and I plan to treat them with greater respect and I hope they will in return carry me another 2454 miles. 

Happy trails. 

Day 22-Liz LA

And then there was 7, toenails that is. I went to the podiatrist yesterday and she's very happy with my progress, me too. I did ask her to remove one toenail, since I was there, better her than me. My feet still have residual pain and the wounds haven't completely closed and healed but I'm estatic to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I bought a pair of trail shoes yesterday, in a larger size, and I'm breaking them in now. Melinda and I went for a long walk this morning and for the first time I wasn't limping or wincing. Life is Great!!  I believe we'll be on the trail in a few days. 

I can't thank my family and friends enough for all the support and love they've shown us during our time here in LA. 

Before and after feet pictures. 

Day 20 - Still in LA - Mel

May 2

Oh my goodness. Who knew that having to take time off could be so enjoyable!

Deciding we needed to take some time off to the heal the feet was a bummer (it puts us behind schedule and the friends we made), but it is also part of the overall journey and something to embrace, not regret. So sitting outside the Greyhound office in Banning waiting for the bus to come, and hoping we could  get on it, was part of the experience. 

Once in LA Liz's mom and aunt picked us up at the bus station and took us to Bill and Kena's where at 10 pm a delicious dinner was waiting for us. Liz's family has housed us, fed us, and taken us wherever we have needed to go. Their care and support is beyond words. I have felt like part of the family. 

Today we spent at the beach celebrating the birthdays of a couple of Bill and Kena's friends. Once again being welcomed in as if we are part of "the family."

I'm feeling guilty about how well I'm being treated and fed during our down time. I'm not complaining though!