The PCT is often an experience of extremes. During the past week, we went from maximum relaxation mode at the homes of the most legendary Trail Angels on the PCT to hiking through some of the most severe landscapes/weather yet. Leaving the Saufleys was harder than I thought it was going to be. Hikers call these places (towns, and Angels) “Vortexes” because they suck you in with creature comforts. Like showers. And chairs. Only 24 miles beyond the Saufleys, you reach the Andersons, yet another family of amazing Angels who open their home to hikers.

The Andersons are famous on the trail for their laidback atmosphere. They provide small campsites (just big enough for one or two people) cut into spaces throughout a seemingly endless Manzanita forest in their backyard. They make taco salad for the hikers every night and pancakes and coffee every morning. When we were there, we counted around 60 hikers – some of whom had been there for days, unable to pull themselves away. Terri Anderson, one of the hosts, says (not so jokingly) that she has a two-night minimum. We stayed for taco salad, then pancakes, then one more round of taco salad before mustering up the motivation to hike out that night under a full moon. It was nice to have a day of lounging without running around and doing errands as we usually do on our days off.

We hiked on, passing the landmark of 500 miles the next day, and soon pulled into “Hiker Town.” Hiker Town is not a town, but rather a private home with tiny buildings made up to look like some sort of old western town. You can sleep there for a small donation.

After Hiker Town, we hiked on into the Mojave Desert and then up into the Tehachapi Mountains. We were feeling extremely grateful (almost guilty) for the unseasonably cool temperature as we entered the desert (hovering around 80 degrees instead of the 100-110 most hikers face during this stretch). Little did we know, however, that we were about to face a challenge of a different kind, as there was a high wind advisory in place.

Walking into the mountains, we came across hundreds of wind turbines. It was exciting at first – something to look at that wasn’t brown desert! But as we walked on, the wind began to pick up, and soon the gusts reached 65+ miles per hour. It was like backpacking in a hurricane. The wind knocked our legs out from under us as we stumbled down the trail. All of our muscles tensed as we walked, and occasionally we had to just stop and brace ourselves against the strong gusts because we literally could not take a step forward. There was no vegetation, therefore no shelter from the wind; you just had to hike on. We couldn’t even talk to each other as the wind screamed in our ears – we just occasionally looked at each other with tired expressions of desperation. It was exhausting. The wind lasted all night, as we “slept,” and into the next day as we hiked 25 miles to the town of Tehachapi.

We have now made it to the base of the Sierra Mountains. Next week we will hit Kennedy Meadows and the true beginning of the High Sierras, and we will finally say goodbye to the Southern California desert.

After a wonderful stay in Wrightwood last week, we hiked out on Friday and climbed to the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell, a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains. Named after the founder of the Boy Scouts, it’s a 9,400 ft. mountain and the highest point on the PCT in Southern California. It was a hard hike but very beautiful, with clouds lining the south side of the mountain ridge and a clear view of pines laid out before us to the north. We hiked down the San Gabriel Mountains in the afternoon and camped among some weekenders.

The next day was hot and involved a three-mile detour on the highway to avoid an endangered species habitat (that of the Mountain Yellow-legged Frog). Our spirits were not very high. But suddenly, Ashleigh stopped me and pointed, exclaiming, “There’s a bear in that tree!!!” I stopped in my tracks, quickly backtracked to Ashleigh, and looked in the direction she was frantically pointing her trekking pole. There, high in a tree about 20 yards from us, was a baby bear poking his head around the tree’s trunk to look at us!! It was amazing. Neither Ashleigh nor I had ever seen a wild bear, and here, only 400 miles into our hike, we were watching one climb a tree. Nervous and excited, we searched around for the mother, knowing you should never get between a mama bear and her cubs. We started shouting and throwing rocks in the direction of where we thought the mother was (to make ourselves known). We could hear something large in the undergrowth below the tree the cub was in, but we never actually saw the mother. As the trail wound past the tree, we saw a second cub in the underbrush just 30 feet from us. It was super adorable and exciting to be so close, but since we never located the mother, we quickly walked past.

The next few days were not very fun. After passing mile 400, we moved into a burn area and encountered long stretches of trail that were overgrown with Poodle Dog Bush. Poodle Dog Bush seed lay dormant along the mountain sides until wildfires, after which they sprout. It is a known skin irritant like poison oak, and in this section of the trail, it is everywhere. There were numerous detours around it (including an 11-mile uphill road walk, which was loads of fun), but it was still hard to avoid. It was exhausting – hiking through Poodle Dog territory requires constant focus on the ground (carefully identifying the plants in front of you before taking each step), and it slowed us down quite a bit.

Finally, we made it to Agua Dulce and the Saufleys, who are probably the most legendary of all the PCT Trail Angels. They offer laundry, shelter, cots, showers, mail (both sending and receiving), hiker boxes, loaner clothes, kitchen, computers (what I’m on right now) and almost everything a hiker could want. Their backyard is filled with large tents with cots in them. Other Angels come from all over to help them with their operation, which is insanely efficient. We are taking a much-needed “Zero Day” here and will be back on the trail on Thursday. There is a long stretch of very hot desert in front of us to Tehachapi and then on to Kennedy Meadows and the start of the Sierra. We hope to night hike a lot of it to beat the heat!

Southern California’s climate has been much more diverse than we thought it would be. We always heard “the first 700 miles are in the desert.” Though we knew it wouldn’t be rolling sand dunes for miles off to the horizon (the stereotypical image the word “desert” often conjures), we also didn’t expect to encounter some of the coldest nights we’ve ever camped in (not to mention snow and hail on San Jacinto). From Campo to Big Bear Lake, we did encounter a few hot days, but they didn’t last long, and we were usually able to hike through them. But this last section of trail from Big Bear to Wrightwood gave us a little taste of what the dessert is really like.

Shortly after hiking out of Big Bear, we passed the 300-mile mark (yay!!), but things soon got difficult as we descended in elevation and the weather heated up. On our second day out of town, we walked for miles and miles along a shade-less ridge above Deep Creek – a gorgeous creek that wound through the canyon, always at least 50 feet below us, taunting us with its cool pools. Finally, after 20 LONG miles, we arrived at Deep Creek Hot Springs (apparently reputed to be one of the finest hot springs in the world, and it happens to be directly on the trail!), and we immediately jumped in the creek to cool off. Later we would tour the many small hot springs pools that lined the creek. It felt amazing – like a hot tub, warming our sore muscles.

The next day, we made it only six miles before we had to sit down and rest under a lone cedar tree with a group of other hikers. We stayed for four hours, waiting out the oppressively hot sun. My watch told me it was 95 degrees in the shade. It was extremely hard to leave that tree.

Hiking on, we met Interstate 15 and a sign pointing us to a McDonald’s. Now, we’ve heard about this particular McDonald’s for some time now – it’s kind of a hiker tradition. It comes within half a mile of the trail, and most hikers are drawn in by air conditioning and Big Macs. We were no exception. We were dreaming of ice and the burst of cold air when you open the doors. Even though it’s been probably 10 years since either Ashleigh or myself has been to a McDonald’s, we couldn’t help but be drawn in.

Hiking on from Interstate 15, we embarked on the longest (not necessarily the most difficult, but the longest) uninterrupted climb on the trail (20 miles of UP!) to the small ski town of Wrightwood, CA. After hitching a ride to town with some generous mountain bikers, we stayed with an amazing Trail Angel named Jeff – a 5th Grade school teacher who has no personal connection to the trail but began hosting hikers several years ago after noticing them in town. We are treating ourselves to a true “Zero” here in town and will head onward on Friday.

We’ve now completed just over 50 percent of the desert! Though it’s been tough, and hot, we are doing our best to embrace it as part of the trail experience. Tomorrow, we head out for an 85-mile section that will bring us to Agua Dulce.

We’re officially past the 10% mark!! Hiking quickly over Mt. San Jacinto from Idyllwild, we out ran a storm on Fuller Ridge where it briefly snowed (!) on us. Hikers behind us were caught in the storm and told stories of extreme wind and ice.

It took us five days to get to the ski town of Big Bear Lake from Idyllwild. At mile 252, we caught a hitch into Big Bear from Jan and Roger, an amazing couple who had three Great Danes with them (Hi Ginger!). Though we’ve hitch hiked several times already (sorry, Mom – it’s pretty much a mandatory aspect of thru hiking), Jan and Roger provided the best ride by far! They generously drove PAST their own home to shuttle us into Big Bear City, waited patiently while we collected our resupply box from the post office, and then gave us a tour of Big Bear Lake before dropping us off at our hostel! Despite hitch hiking’s bad rep, the folks who have picked us up have been the kindest, most generous people ever, and we are SO grateful for their support. THANK YOU, Jan and Roger!!!

We stayed in a hostel on Thursday night, and the next day, Papa Smurf and Mountain Mama (local trail angels) gave us a lift back to mile 252. We “slack-packed” 23 miles to mile 275, where we caught a ride back to the hostel. Slack-packing is when hikers carry day packs (only what they need for the day – usually just food and water), so instead of a 30 lb. pack you carry a 5 lb. pack. It’s amazing. You feel like you can run the trail.

Today we head out toward the town of Wrightwood!!

A few days ago, we reached the 100-mile mark (wooooo!!!!!!) and have now come nearly 200 miles through the heat of the Southern California desert. It has been surprisingly beautiful country – not what you think of when someone says “desert.” But it has been extremely hot during the day (95+ degrees) and cold at night (in the 30s). We’ve had some hard days and some long 20-mile stretches without water sources on the trail. Climbing into the San Jancinto Wilderness was especially difficult (but stunningly beautiful), as we reached 8,000 feet altitude with steep climbs and descents along cliffs with 100+ foot drops.

On Day 12, we made it to mile 179.4 and the wonderful mountain town of Idyllwild and are taking a much needed “Zero Day” here (a day when you don’t hike at all). Thank you SO much to Reina, who opened her beautiful home to us dirty hikers for a bed and a shower. On Sunday, we’ll hike on toward Big Bear City.