Miles: 18
Adrian: This day started great and ended great, it was the middle I want to forget.
Jordan got some weird allergy and fell behind after a few hours. He caught up but took an extended break and fell behind again to allow his watering eyes to recover. We said goodbyes and hiked on.
We hiked to Hwy 74 and road walked to the next detour section which was a hot mountain bike trail through chamise scrub with no wind. We were way off the PCT and were forced to hike this crappy desert trail with the high, cool alpine original trail looming above in jest. Kirsten started breaking down in the heat and we made slow progress to a high meadow with cool breezes and shady pines. I was having a hard time as well and we were very relieved to have hit the alpine glen (planina in Slovenian). We convalesced after a tough few hours feeling good we only had a few miles to town.
We arrived tired, met a ton of nice people, found our hotel and ate a nice dinner. Tonight we sleep good...
Kirsten: It's amazing how quickly our attitudes or demeanor can change with a little too much sun or a long-awaited breeze. I was feeling pretty until the mountain bike trail cutoff, somewhere around mile 12. The sun intensified, the wind stopped and I was overcome with doubt, pain and plain old overheating. Later, after a break in the shade and a long traverse down the trail we hit the neighborhoods right above Idyllwild.
The first local we met, a lovely, bubbly woman in her 50s named Judy, immediately offered us watermelon and some shade. We only needed directions and after five minutes we were on our way.
As we hiked down into town we met four more people. Friendly doesn't adequately describe the people here. One guy commended our efforts, another offered us his phone, food anything we wanted or needed. Keep in mind these are regular folks.
That night when we stopped into buy a bottle of wine, I asked the owner/manager if he knew where a pay phone was in town. Without hesitation he grabbed his business phone and thrust it into my hand. "Call anywhere you want, anywhere." I used our MCI card and left a message with my mom. He persisted. "Please, cal her cell phone, come back later if you need to."
As I walked out the door I commented how nice everyone has been to us. He exclaimed with a slight accent, "It is because we love it here. We are very happy."
When was the last time the guy working the counter of a liquor store or convenience store pushed you to make a long distance call on his phone? Or even gave you a smile? Or looked you in the eye? Or didn't punch you in the mouth? Not that that has ever happened to me.
Anyway you get my point, these people are nice.
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