Snowed In

April 14
It snowed all day on Saturday. Still having problems with my phone so picture quality is poor but you can still get an idea of the weather conditions.

A snow storm on the desert



6 inches of snow accumulation




The shack at Mikes



Hiker Snowman

Forecast for Sunday looks good we are planning an early start so we can get to the Paradise Cafe before it closes.
Heart

A Zero at Mike's

Hiked 17.7 miles today to Mike's place. Walked the first 7 miles through spring -wildflower meadows and several creek-beds all flowing. After climbing a few miles, mostly uphill, I met up with Jeremy, who was taking a break. I told him of my plan to hike to Mike's place and he decided to join me. We reached Mike's and met up with The Orange Ranger, Seth, Twist, Jeremy, LeeAnn and Niko, but no Mike. Weather forecast was nasty for Friday the 13th (go figure). I stayed the night and we all took a zero on the 14th due to the weather forecast. The weather turned bad in the afternoon - at first it rained then got colder and very windy.
Everyone hopes to leave in the morning. It is very cold and damp here. Mike is not here but allows hikers to stay in the RV and shack. The shack is riddled with cracks where wind, cold ,and rain seep in so all 7 of us piled in the trailer. One hiker slept on the couch, 2 in beds, 3 on the floor, and one in the passenger seat of the RV. Slept in hall on floor. Today just hung out cleaned trailer, repacked pack, cooked, took pictures, talked, played cards all before noon. Did not have phone service but worked on blog. hope to make it 25 miles to the Paradise Cafe tomorrow. No sign of Maria. She was seen ahead by Jeremy 2 days ago. So she may already be at the Paradise Cafe. Problem with camera on my phone. Condensation got into camera and can only take pics with camera facing me.



Hopefully it will eventually dry out. I took Pics with my other camera which I will load later. Another couple of hikers arrived- Pockets, Bird and Free Bird. They are staying in shack.


Heart

Day 6 Bad Weather But Kind People

On Tuesday I hiked 10 hours to mile 94.5. It was hot but there was a breeze most of the day. Snake charmer was ahead of me all day so I hiked alone. I met up with 2 other hikers from Las Vegas - Free Bird and Bird and we shared some shade and some stories under a tree. I finally caught up to Snake Charmer at 4pm and we decided to get in a couple more miles before quitting for the day. The wind had picked up and by the time we we found a good campsite it was cold and getting dark. The strong winds kept both of us up most of the night but I put heavy rocks on my tent stakes so the tent stayed up. (Monday night the stakes pulled out with the winds and the tent collapsed on me in the middle of the night). At 5am it started raining and it didn't let up all day. I left ahead of Snake Charmer. It was very cold, windy and blowing rain. With the help of my rain gear and umbrella I managed to keep my upper body fairly dry but my feet, hands and legs got soaked. The trail was very narrow with bushes blocking most of it. Taking pictures was a challenge but I had to get this pick at mile 100.




The umbrella sheltered me from the wind but twice turned inside out from the force of the wind gusts. The trail wound down into a gorgeous meadow. All you cold see in every direction was wild flowers and rolling hills.
Unfortunately my phone was fogged up on the inside and I couldn't get a good picture. I did get a lot of great pics with my Sony camera which Mark will post when he gets the memory card.
Here is an interesting pic of rocks in the shape of an eagle-- cool.




Well I didn't see Snake Charmer all day. Usually she catches up to me. She may have reached Warner Springs while I detoured to get my mail. So she is now ahead of me. A nice man at the post office gave me a ride back to the trail and thanks to Alex and Steve I have a great site for my tent, food in my belly, plenty of fresh water and they even provided a place for me to wash up. I hope my gear dries out a bit tonight. Thanks trail angels Alex and Steve!
Soggy Heart

Day 5 Off Trail, Fire and Trail Magic

Mile 61.5 to 77 Scissors Crossing
We were hot, tired and thirsty when we got to the water cache at Scissors Crossing. Thank you trail angels for keeping this stocked for us!
Now with just 2 Miles to our campsite we started toward the bridge at the road crossing. We saw flames under the bridge right at our destination and minutes later fire trucks showed up to put out the fire.




With the wind kicking up they had a hard time putting it out and 5 more fire trucks showed up. They closed the road and would not let us continue to cross to the other side to pick up the trail. They told us we would have to walk to the nearest camp ground (4 miles away). That's when the trail magic happened. Jennifer, who was headed home was forced to turn around and take a 90 minute detour and she offered to give us a ride. Long story short, she'd ended up inviting us to camp out in her back yard. We had dinner with Jennifer, Dennis and Larrynn.




They opened their home to us and let us shower, wash our clothes, and even use their computer. The next morning Jennifer made us breakfast and supplied us with food for lunch, then drove us to the trail. The fire burned over 10 acres before firefighters could put it out and they were still on site when we got there this morning.












Today we hiked 17.6 miles. The terrain was much more like a desert.








And we even saw our first rattler.




I hope this pick comes out. It is actually a picture of a picture I took with my other camera. For some reason the pic I took with my iPhone didn't come out.
Well hope you had time to read all of this. Sorry it's so long but I wanted to get caught up. There is a big storm headed this way tomorrow and again on Friday so not sure when I will be able to post again .
Heart

First Oops, Fire, and Trail Magic

Mile 61.5 to 77 Scissors Crossing
Well the day began with an early start- 6am and we traveled the first 6 miles fast. I was in the lead and came to a cross road in the trail and decided to follow the white arrows to the left. In about a quarter mile I decided it just did not look right so I would back track and wait for Snake Charmer to catch up. When she didn't show up after 5 minutes I thought maybe she had gone the other way but I didn't see her footprints. The only other possibility was I had bypassed a turn and was now off trail which I confirmed with my GPS. In the meantime Snake Charmer thought I was ahead so spread up in an effort to catch up. Later she told me she didn't know what I had for breakfast but she wanted some of it! Well I finally caught up with her at the water tank and we had a good laugh.
The rest of the day was very hot with no shade and no breeze. I used my umbrella to shade us during a well deserved break.




Our feet are taking a beating!




But none of this stopped Snake Charmer from having fun with the snakes. She can charm them even with her eyes closed!




I am having trouble posting this message since it is so long. I will continue it with my next post.

Day 4 Happy Easter

Dinner was great in Mt Laguna. We did get a strange look from our waitress when Snake Charmer said she was looking forward to eating a lot of flesh for dinner. I quickly suggested she order a meat dish, and saw a look of relief on surrounding faces. Although we planned a 5 am wake up my watch alarm seems to have a different plan and went
off at 4, so we got an early start on Easter morning. The trail tread and weather were perfect all day. Views were fantastic see pics below.












Overlooking views from Mt Luguna



A welcomed site! Our first water cache. Thank you trail angles!



Views like this one all day.











And glorious wild flowers everywhere!

Day 3 Snake Charmer

Todays cool temperatures quickly warmed up to a comfortable 50 degrees as we climbed our way up toward Mt Laguna. Marie was excited because as temperatures rose and the going became more rocky we would be sure to see more beasts, hopefully a rattler. I gladly let Marie lead. And then the familiar sight-- Maria swatting position, camera in hand.




A juvenile rattler. Being young in no way lessens the danger of a poisonous bite and although the beast was in a striking position Maria was hoping for a picture of it rattling so she waited patiently. I reviewed my first aid knowledge of snake bites and prayed she did not attempt to pick this one up too. She seemed to have a soothing effect and the snake just lay motionless as She snapped away. And that is how I came up with Maria's trail name. At the Laguna Store she proudly signed the register Maria..Snake Charmer.
Heart