May 5th: Up & Down & Up

Sweet As and I woke up at quarter to five with the intention of making it into Idyllwild by 8:30. That meant hammering out 6 PCT miles to Saddle Junction and a further 2.5 down the Devils Slide Trail. The sun wasn't yet active and the cool temperature helped my brisk pace remain comfortable. The sunrise was absolutely amazing (see photo below) and as if we had planned it, the two of us stood at the trailhead exactly on time. Dave, a local trail angel, was kind enough to give us a tour of the town and following a massive breakfast, I resupplied, laundered my clothes and washed a solid coating of dirt off of my legs. Following our town duties the two of us, now hardly recognizable as hikers, made our way back up the trail. One of the beauties of the PCT is that it never summits mountains, the terrain is generally even and moderately sloped. That is, however, also it's greatest flaw and today was my opportunity to summit Mt San Jacinto. For a mere 2 extra miles, a hiker can exit the PCT, summit the 10,800ft giant and rejoin the PCT up trail. The trail down the back side of Jacinto was covered in snow and very difficult to follow and after a very long three miles we rejoined the PCT. I was tired, hungry and my feet were all hit happy with me but the ultra-bright moon meant that some night hiking was in order. I donned my headlamp and, along with Sweet As, crossed fuller ridge. When my feet finally decided that they didn't want to walk anymore, I dropped my backpack and set up camp directly on the trail.