Trail Angels and the little wonders along the trail

First things first: what interests me the most about long-distance hiking is the culture that has evolved around the American trails.

Trail angels and their huge passion for helping us hikers are a big part of this culture if not the main part.
My favorite example is as follows.

“Worth it” and “Chef” walking through the plains after Eagle Rock

My broken backpack

When we had to do zeros in Mt. Laguna, I found out that the fabric on my shoulder strap was about to completely give up. Via Facebook, I could organize the help of trail angel MaryLou. She and her husband Lance picked us up in Julian and brought us to their home. Before Lance started stitching, he offered us a much-appreciated homebrew, then he repaired and improved our packs.
After this, they took us to their cozy kitchen and Lance showed us his pictures from his PCT in 1976. It was so interesting to soak in the spirit of the seventies.

A Trailmagic Party

The second example happened to me yesterday. While we were waiting for the heat to go down at Mike’s place, “Badass” (she also blogs here, check her out!) and her hubby came around and announced, that friends of hers would come by and do trail magic. As they arrived, the three ladies started a big hiker party. With tortillas, margaritas, beer, and snacks. One of the ladies suddenly looked up and asked “Where’s chef?”. I waved at her, already knowing her from another trail magic event. She then pulled out a small bottle of olive oil, that her son produces in Greece! She said, that a real chef should have some real olive oil. I had goosebumps.

A Hikerparty at Mike’s Place! ?

As I said. Next to nature, the other interesting thing is trail culture and these two stories made me immediately feel like being a part of it.

Now back to hiking

We hitched into Idyllwild today! It took us 6 days to get here. Friday and Saturday were the hardest days, as water becomes rare, but at least the cisterns are full. It also starts to become hot. I also somehow managed to get a cold and yesterday’s 17 miles felt double as hard with a running nose.

“The lucky Bunch” having a much needed break in the desert

We try to hike outside of the bubble and by doing this, we find the most beautiful camp spots. At the moment the desert is windy still, so even the top of a mountain can be a beautiful spot with early sunlight after starry nights with a bright full moon.
As we arrived at eagle rock, we met “Feathers” and her goat “little leaf” they are on a photo tour along the big 3 to take pictures of little leaf at significant places along the trail. Feathers documents her life via youtube. Check her out here!

From left to right: “Nasty Cheese”, “Chef”, “Little Leaf” and “Feathers”

We love the time outside, but could need a shower and a washing machine, both will happen in Idyllwild, also the preparation for the hike through San Jacinto. Ice Axes and Crampons need to get organized, we need good food on us (I will leave my fresh veggies in town).

Nasty Cheese in the Desert

We are excited about the big white monster, that we look at for one and a half weeks. I will tell you about our attempt to cross it next week!
Thank you for tuning in with the lucky bunch!

Edit: We made it through the mountains of San Jacinto all the way to Idyllwild. Insane, I know, but I will talk about that next week