Warner Springs to Idyllwild

Miles: 110-180

I've been hiking the past few days with some pretty great characters; Magic Mullet, Fire Squirrel, Mishap, and Jake the Snipe Hunter.  I met Magic Mullet under a tarp on a hot afternoon, and we've been hiking a lot together since then. It's been good company having someone who is on the same page as me as far as hiking schedule, pace, personality, and beliefs. I'm actually fortunate enough to be taking my first rest day (aka "zero") at Mullet's grandparents house in Idyllwild right now. Such nice people and such amazing hospitality to me, a perfect stranger.

A lot of laughs hiking with this group. Some of which were from the unfortunate events that seemed to plague Mishap. She is a young woman from Washington who hasn't caught much of a break. She has blisters everywhere, sunburned and peeling skin, and the heaviest pack I've seen yet. In one day her water filter stopped working, her bottle and iPod fell down the mountain on separate occasions, and her water bladder stopped working. But with all those and more, she's been a trooper, still getting the miles covered.

It's also been good to hike with Appalachian Trail thru-hike veteran Fire Squirrel. I learned that I need to air out my feet several times a day or else I could get trench foot, which makes every step painful.

It seems like we're catching up with more people everyday, but I'm still happy to not being hiking with the masses were you can see 40-50 people a day.

I'm getting more and more comfortable with the daily routine. Each day we hike feels like three normal days, so really this week has felt like almost a month. I'm still trying to not look at the big picture, because even though I'm currently on trail, the feat of finishing seems impossible. But that's part of what I'm doing here, proving to myself (and hopefully others) that anything is possible.

This is feeling more and more like a pilgrimage every day, but it's not like Manning Park, Canada is equivalent to Mecca. It seems like the journey is just as long internally as externally. Thru-hiking is a mental game, that is both very  taxing and rewarding. I feel like I've already grown as a person, and I'm only 6.7% done. I can only imagine what lies ahead. All the more reason to keep moving forward!

My goal is to make it to Big Bear Thursday evening and Deep Creek Hot Springs next Saturday evening. Then I'll take  next Sunday off, and take a nice long soak in the hot springs!