Day 15, If It Was Meant To Be….

Day 15, 3/31/20, mile: 151.8

So here I am typing away a day later on the front porch of the still-closed Paradise Valley Cafe, sun at my back and still amazed at yesterday. Who would of thunk that after such a long day of hiking, and most of it kinda of dreary, actually, that I’d be blessed with such wonderful trail magic and acts of kindness?

I had set my alarm for 0500, hoping I could be up and past Cannonball and Pippi Longstocking before they awoke. When I was awake for hours in the middle of the night, I considered night hiking. How cool would it be to make it to the Paradise Valley Cafe for a late breakfast? Then I fell asleep…and woke up at 0600. So much for plans.

I was on the trail shortly after 0700 and pretty much just put my head down and walked. And ate. And drank. I took a long break once I got cell reception to post another blog and eat more heavily. And then along came Takoda (Loud Cloud). A young many who reminds me of myself at one time and maybe of a certain offspring I have at home. We talked about the trail and long stretches between water when he mentioned he was hiking “blind”. He left his battery bank at his last zero (Scissors Crossing) and now his phone has been dead for several days. He can’t use the navigation app (which has accurate water locations) nor contact his two friends somewhere behind him. I pulled out my fully charged battery pack and told him could use it…but he’d have to carry it. He said, “Dude, you’re my Savior.” So now I have a trail name. Whew, there’s 10 oz. or so I don’t have to carry for a couple of miles.

I had called the Idyllwild Inn while walking to see if they had openings for tonight, just in case I felt like pushing it all the way to the highway and getting a ride. They ‘yes’ put an extra hump in my step, but that didn’t last long. I couldn’t force this. If it’s meant to be, it will happen. I already knew I wouldn’t make it to the cafe in time for afternoon food, so why hurry now. I’ll just camp near the cafe, hopefully acquire water and wait for morning for breakfast.

Right at the highway, I ran into Pippi Longstocking and Doug (no trail name yet). They were just going to camp right there and wait for morning. When I pulled out a pen I had found on the trail and asked if it belonged to anyone, Pippi says, “You’re my Savior!” Well now. I still made her dance a little jig to get it back.

So here it was, getting close to 5 and I was walking the powerline trail to get to the cafe. A car driving towards Idyllwild is honking at me and pulls into the cafe parking lot. Out pops Loud Cloud running towards me. They have room for one more going to town, courtesy of Grumpy. A local well-known trail angel. Since I didn’t have a reservation, and I felt that I’d “waste” a night of lodging ($100-ish/night) so late in the day, I politely refused.

Gabby and Edica were just getting in their car after closing up the cafe as Grumpy drove off. They asked if I needed anything, I inquired about an outdoor water faucet. Gabby jumped out and took my water bottles inside to fill. Then Edica asked if I was hungry….. As gently and calmly as possible (unlike what I wanted to do was jump around like our dog at dinner time), I said sure. She gave me a boxed up meal of chicken wings and fries. Then Gabby asked if I wanted a beer..on the house. Oh, and a bag of chips, too! Then they told me I could camp on the front porch or the property and use the bathroom.

So, I’m sitting at a picnic table in bliss, still in shock when Marc (trailname Ash) gets dropped off. He sits down, bummed to discovery the cafe is closed as he was looking for food before hitting the trail tomorrow. So I shared. He was so excited. He’s from Switzerland and has been traveling the world for the last four years. As we’re chatting, a pickup shows up and the driver asks if we need anything. No we’re good. You all like wine? We look at each other, get big grins on our faces and he says he’ll be right back.

Turns out Jorge (trail name Tortuga) is a wine consultant and lives in the area. We sat drank the wine he brought, and he gave us a short course on wine. Jorge also gave us some local knowledge of the trails, especially the treacherous sections of Mt. San Jacinto. An hour or so later he leaves and we grab our gear and set up our camps. It was a noisy night next to the highways like this, but it’s worth it.

The trail provides.

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Takoda "Loud Cloud"

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Trail Magic

Marc "Ash" and Jorge "Tortuga" at our wine bar.

Try camping behind the Samoa Cookhiuse....