He arrived home just fine this afternoon.  He looks good and is hungry after all that hiking.  The bus ride went fine this year - nothing like the adventure he had last year with a crabby driver who didn't allow cell phones, shoe removal, or talking!

View from Devil's Slide Trail coming up from Idyllwild, following  a snow storm

After hiking all morning in the rain and cold Bob was greeted by the following beautiful sight.  Can you see the snow?  No wonder he has been cold!  He arrived in Cabazon, CA in time to catch the 7AM local bus to Banning, CA where he got on a 9:45AM bus to Los Angeles. Then he will board a Greyhound bus to Seattle.  His bus will arrive in Seattle around 3:30 tomorrow afternoon. No telling what adventures he will encounter on the bus from LA to Seattle!

Bob had to hike through a whole lot of rain and cold the last couple of days.  He is now in Idyllwild with a couple of other hikers drying out in a motel.  He has a trail name now - Two Track.  The other hikers named him that because of the odometer he made to measure the trail.  They say they always know where he is on the trail because of the two small tracks it leaves in the trail - and they have been looking out for him.  That's good news! 

There is a big snow storm coming in so he plans to hike two more days to Cabazon and then come home before he hits higher elevations where the snow is.  He has been having a lot of fun meeting the other hikers and really hasn't had any problems other than rain and cold.  He has had enough of the rain and cold, however.  And it is 86 degrees in Seattle!!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

At 8AM this morning Bob was at Highway 74, Pine to Palms Highway, milepost 151.9.  His next stop will be Idyllwild (mile 179) for food and a motel room to sit out a one day rain/snow storm that is coming through.  There were trail angels at Highway 74 serving a pancake breakfast for the hikers.  Also, a doctor checking peoples blistery feet.  Bob has no blisters, but wishes the doctor had been there last year when he came through.  It was Idyllwild where he had to finally go to the doctor and sit out for five days to heal his feet.  I guess blisters like he had last year are very common at this point on the trail for through hikers.  There was a line waiting for the doctor!

Bob called at 9:00 this morning to say he was in Warner Springs, where there is a post office and community center.  The community center does laundry for hikers for a small fee.  While he was talking to me someone came and said they had no water and didn't know why - this happened in the middle of his laundry cycle. He decided he didn't want to wait all day for the repairman, so he was in the process of wringing out soaked clothes, when the water came back on.  He finished his load and then was off to the post office to pick up his food package. He's been making good time and has no blisters - hope that continues. 

We stayed at Warner Springs resort when we did this section, which is closed now.

Warner Springs

Bob just called and said he was at Barrel Springs at mile 101.4.  There is a group of trail angels there that are cooking up a barbecue for all the hikers coming through.  They also have ice cream and lots of other good food.  He was going to eat and then take a nap during the heat of the day before starting again later this afternoon.  He has been hiking with a group that started at the same time as him.

There is poison oak all over this area.  Another hiker pointed out that he had propped his hiking stick up on a poison oak bush.  He immediately washed it with soap and water, as well as his hands.  He does not want to get poison oak like he did a few years ago when we hiked this section.  He is now on the alert for poison oak and staying far away from it.

Barrel Springs Water Tank

Poison Oak

 

This is what I did today while Bob was hiking in the heat - went over and played with Langston while Tarah packed boxes for their move this weekend.

Bob called around 4PM today to say he was at Scissors Crossing, milepost 78. The trail crosses Highway S2 here and trail angels provide the hikers with fresh oranges, apples and cold drinks.  He was enjoying his snack, sitting under the cool highway bridge while he talked to me.

 

 

and I am watching Dexter for a few days so I don't get lonely!  Thanks Tricia and Andrew for letting me borrow him!!

Bob called early this morning to say he was at the Rodriguez Water Tank, which is at mile 68 on the trail. He said he had lots of water, which if good for this section.   The trail angels try and keep water caches full for hikers coming through.  Here are some pictures:

 

 

 

 

Bob called this evening to say he is at Boulder Oaks Campground, which is at mile 26 on the PCT.  He met a bunch of PCT through hikers on the bus and also as he hiked the trail this afternoon.  There are also some camped at Boulder Oaks Campground.  More later....

Pictures of Boulder Oaks Campground

Bob just called.  He is at the El Cajun Transit Center in a San Diego suburb waiting for the bus to the trail.  The transportation has worked out perfectly so far, both here in Seattle and in San Diego.  Security at the airport asked him if he had a helmet in his backpack.  He told them it was his trail food - I guess that means his trail food is as hard as a helmet!  I will enjoy my stirfry tonight.

Bob left at 2:40 this morning to catch the Rapid Ride and then the lightrail out to the airport for a 7AM flight to San Diego. I offered to give him a ride but he wanted to do it all on public transportation. Probably good since I am NOT an early morning (middle of the night) person. He designed a new backpack for this hike which is super light weight and comfortable.  Here are some pictures - I was half asleep when I took them and didn't realize the flash didn't work - sorry.  I miss him already. Mary

 

Bob is leaving April 29, 2013 to do a 450 mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail from Lake Morena (near San Diego, CA) to Akton, CA.  He did this section last year, but wants to do some measuring of the trail since he suspects the data books are not accurate.  He has made his own odometer to make the measurements.  Also, he wants to try and do the section taking precautions to not encounter some of the problems he had last year - blisters, wrong turns, trying to do too many miles a day, etc.

If you want to follow his trek, I will be providing updates here on his blog. 
Mary