May 4th: 8,000ft

Frost is not something that people often associate with the desert but managed to find its way onto my tarp this morning. I packed up lazily, knowing that I only had 20 miles on the schedule, and hit the trail around 7:00am. The morning walk was lovely, we slowly gained elevation and as we watched the desert floor disappear, alpine forrest and granite tool it's place. The views of the desert from 6,000+ feet were breathtaking (see photo below). A long siesta was in order and FallRisk, the newly named "Sweet As" (formerly Clint), and I dropped our sleeping mats in a shady spot, had some lunch and enjoyed a long nap. Feeling fresh, I sauntered on the last few miles and while it began getting dark I planted my tarp directly on the trail. Beautiful views of Palm Springs and Idyllwild on both sides of the 8,000 foot ridge I'm am camped upon. It was a good day to be a hiker on the PCT.