Bushcamp to Bushcamp

18 miles

Mile 164.9

Dreamed all night of the epic breakfast we’d score just a few miles down the trail. We were up and hauling ass by 7.

The 4 mile trek to highway 74 flew by, and within minutes I had scored us a hitch.

Although the cafe was only a mile down the road, I prefer to save my legs for trail miles. The dude who picked us up was named Bear. When we arrived at the proverbial Paradise Cafe, we thanked him profusely as we scrambled from his car.

We grabbed a table on the patio and began scanning the menu as the waitress came out to greet us. I put in my order of a side salad, bacon breakfast burrito with extra salsa, coffee and a grapefruit IPA (didn’t catch the brewery).

Having arrived around 10, we were the first hikers there so the food came out quick.

In addition to KP and Stretch, a hiker who we’d been leap frogging with named Amrit Shiva joined us for the feast.

Food consumed, we began discussing our options for dealing with the section of trail ahead that was closed due to a fire a few years back. Most the hikers we spoke to were simply skipping the section, opting to grab a hitch from the cafe up to Idyllwild. We agreed that we wanted to hike every foot of trail possible. No exceptions.

The plan we established was to make the 14 mile 2000 ft climb to Spitler Junction, where the closure began, and take a mountain bike trail down the backside of the mountain where we’d road walk the remaining miles into town.

Feeling refreshed from the meal and solid on our route, we walked the road back to the trailhead and were trotting along again by noon.

Within minutes of being back on trail I looked down to see a baby rattler directly between my feet!

Rather than rattle or slither away, the small guy just sat there staring at us. After moving him off trail with the help of my trekking poles, we got back on our way.

The climb was no joke. I was glad I had eaten a burrito the size of a small child for breakfast, as the calories were dearly needed. As we went up and up the views only gained in their awesomeness.

Around 6 we posted up at a high point for a bit to soak up the views before making our final push to camp.

We stumbled upon a perfect spot to pitch three tents overlooking a green valley with a lake. At about 7000 feet, we were in prime real estate to watch the sunset.

Once the sun was out of sight, I called the Silver Pine Lodge in Idyllwild to book a room for the next two nights. Chores done, we feasted and went to bed excited for the chance to recharge in town the next day.

P.s. KP caught a little tick crawling up my calve while resting on some rocks earlier today. Thanks for saving my blood man!

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