Day 10

PCT Miles: 0

Total Miles: 179.4 (287km)

My first Zero! (a day where you hike zero miles)

It’s funny because you would think that on a zero you will rest. But in reality, a zero day is used to do all the city chores you can’t while your in the wild.

I woke up early as usual, but I was still very tired and very sleepy. My body was stiff from both the intensity of yesterday and the lack of stretching (usually I stretch before and after hiking and yesterday I skipped the latter). When I got up to use the bathroom, I realized that my socks and shoes were wet. And it was 4 degrees outside! Wet socks on, wet shoes on and here we go to start our zero day!

Idyllwild is such a cute town. There are plenty of places to have breakfast (by plenty I mean like five) and I decided to have a breakfast burrito 🌯! Oh breakfast burrito! An old favorite of mine! I decided to go to Mama’s Egg House 🤱🥚🏠!

And who do I meet there? Clara!! It was so so good to see a familiar face and catch up about the last days. She’s having a good time so far and also taking a zero. She actually hitched from PVC to resupply and buy micro spikes (good idea!) and is coming back there tomorrow to continue her hike. And we had the conversation over a proper freshly brewed coffee. Life is already getting better!

From there I came back to the campground to call Maike 💜, pack and go to the Ranger’s office to ask for a permit to enter and camp the San Jacinto Wilderness Area (I’ll explain why when I get at Big Bear Lake at mile 266). Mary, the ranger that signed my permit was the most adorable person and so enthusiastic about her job. It’s so good to be treated with so much care and attention. Thank you, Mary! You definitely made my day better!

From there I went to the gear shop to resupply and buy some additional equipment. I upgraded my water bladder (that I I use for filtering water) and added a nice elastic chord outside my backpack so I can hang things a little bit easier. Other than that, just the usual food/gas/electrolytes/snacks shopping. And I got a whole celery stalk as a gift!

Finished with that, I went to a café to have another coffee and rest a bit before I could check-in into my room. There I run into Clara again, which was awesome to kill time. From there I checked in and got my room!

It seems that as soon as I entered my room, my backpack exploded everywhere! I went immediately to shower and wore my rain pants and jacket, so I could do laundry. The rest of my day was divided between laundry, cleaning my equipment (sleeping bag and tent), going to the supermarket, ordering a pizza (I ate it with a full bag of salad, I’m calling this pizzalata) and repacking everything again. All of a sudden it’s already 8 in the eventing and I’m almost ready to sleep. I lighted up the fireplace and before I could even enjoy it I was already dreaming 😴.