PCT miles 178.6 to 190.4 – Idyllwild, CA to Black Mountain Road – Total PCT miles 190.4
Good morning! Marmot here, bright eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to return to the trail! I’m sure Gabriel will be too, once be wakes up. Today we regain the approximately 2,000 feet of elevation we dropped going down the Devils Slide Trail to get into Idyllwild. We’ll head back into the Mt. San Jacinto Wilderness of San Bernardino National Forest. Back to the land of sugar pine, white fir and some freshly fallen snow!
We may hike up Mt. San Jacinto (10,834 feet) today if the conditions look good at the top of the pass. If we do go up San Jacinto, it would be the first peak we’ve been up in almost 200 miles of walking. Given our usual endeavors, this is an unusual ratio of trail miles to summits.
This next 80-some mile leg will take us from 10,000 feet down to I-10 (1,500 feet in elevation and ~12 miles from Palm Springs) back up to 9,000 feet and then into Big Bear City next weekend. We could have snow, 30 mile winds, and temps ranging from freezing to the 80’s.
Hopefully I will find a cafe or library in Big Bear to fully update our journal as thoughts and stories get lost in translation when trying to peck at this Droid keyboard. Take care, thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers and happy trails!
marmot's adventures 