Fire closures

Walking by 7 this morning. Food motivates. 9 miles down the trail was the Paradise Valley Cafe. Everyone was making a beeline. 

We got there by 10. So when we got there, I was

1. Thirsty.  2. Cold.  3. Craving a Diet Coke. So...

This happened. Water, Diet Coke and hot chocolate. Then I had a great big omelette. And then we had to deal with the fire closure issue. There are several along the way. Some have alternate routes and some do not , and in that case, you're only option is to hitch a ride ahead. We are hiking with a guy, trail name Venture. Former Boy Scout leader and accountant, and He's a planner. So, we figured (and by 'we' I mean 'he') if we did an eight mile road walk to a campground down the way, spend the night there and then hike into Idyllwild tomorrow, we would be doing the same mileage. I would guess that probably 70% of the hikers hitched from the cafe straight to Idyllwild. Which is fine. Everyone has to hike their own hike. There is more flexibility on this trail than the AT, but if there is an alternate route , we plan to walk it. The road walk was flat, a little boring, but we did it.

We got to the Lake Hemet Campground by mid afternoon and we SHOWERED AND DID LAUNDRY. It may not seem like a big deal, but that hasn't happened for almost 100 miles. Last Saturday. And this is Thursday. And that is ....too long. I could barely go to sleep last night because I felt ....bleh! 

Camping tonight with Murphy, Movin On, Gato and Venture. 

Tomorrow we hike in to Idyllwild, which is supposed to be a cool little town and we are spending the night. Nero (reminder: that means near zero miles) in to Idyllwild and Nero out on Saturday. Towns are few and far between, so it's nice to soak 'em up while we're there and resupply and relax. And get warm. It's cold here tonight! Going to bed with gloves and a hat on.