On Sunday (5/11), as planned, we walked 9 miles into Warner Springs. The scenery was different. Many oaks, and grassland, much like Rancho San Antonio (Open Space Preserve). There were streams WITH water. It was still hot in the sun, perhaps 90 degrees. In Warner Springs, a resort town with only 200 permanent residents, we camped under a bridge. More precisely, we camped in a culvert like the transients we are. I now have a week of unshaved beard and look dirty. It was interesting to see the different reactions of the golfers in town. Some knew of the PCT and recognized me as a hiker. Others looked at me like I was from another planet.

Monday morning (5/12) when the Post Office opened, we got our resupply box. We added much of it to our packs, but also mailed much back home. We've not been eating all our food yet. We're still adjusting to the stresses of trail life and our appetites have only recently been picking up. Also, we didn't need the extra days' food we planned on the Campo - Warner Springs leg. We averaged 15 miles per day as hoped. Now we're ramping up to 20 per day and will not need all the dinners we planned. We asked Mom to please remove one dinner from each resupply box.

The 2 days hike from Warner Springs have been largely uneventful. It's been warm, but there has been clouds and some rain in the afternoons. Yesterday (5/12?), in fact, on one of the tough, hot uphill sections, we got rained on for an hour! It felt great. We were soaked to the skin. We've been soaking ourselves at each water spot to keep cool, so this was no hardship. We were completely dry, hot, and sweaty again later that evening.

Dad has been having some blister trouble. His heels are getting rubbed where the socks are worn from the old insole problem. Especially with his thin inner socks he has trouble. He's taping them up at night with antiseptic, and gritting out the uphill sections that use the heels. Hopefully he will get better with time. Also, some insoles and new socks in Idyllwild will help. That's only 2 days and 35 miles away.

Wednesday (5/14/97) (8:00 PM)
Today we learned that we have to eat if we want to walk. It sounds so simple, and we already knew this, but there's still room for error. The day before yesterday (5/12) we hiked 17 miles and had no dinner. Lunch was huge and late, so we didn't have our regular dinner. This is easier to understand when you consider that there are only so many good hours to hike. First light to noon is great. Its cool, and we're well rested. 3 PM to dark is when we try to get those "last few" miles in for the day. The heat of the day is best for eating, but we are often not near the water needed to cook. Also shade can be scarce and after 10 morning miles, we need to rest. So you see meals can be missed.

This morning we ate our bowl of granola and started hiking. We got 5 miles to a road and started uphill on the other side (the beginning of the San Jacinto Mtns). Well, I felt tired. It was hard to pinpoint. I could have been dehydrated, but I didn't think so. I just couldn't walk or think well. Fortunately I was thinking clearly enough to consider food. We had a big dinner at noon the day before and had eaten trail food in the afternoon and evening, but we had also finished 20 miles for the first time, and not refilled the tanks before going to sleep. It caught up to me. We stopped, had an early lunch and I felt much better. Still, the total mileage for the day is only 15. Yes it was very much uphill and dry so we carried water, but we should have been able to do more. Now we have a full 20 miles to Idyllwild tomorrow.

By the way, we're at about 7000 feet, looking down on Palm Springs. Lots of LA smog below. Even so, the view is great.

We met Don Valentine today at the start of the climb up the San Jacinto Mtns. He gave us all the we wanted, saving us a 2 mile round-trip detour. He also gave us a delicious fruit drink and took our picture. Many thanks Don!

Friday (5/16/97) (7:00 AM)
So this is what a relaxed morning feels like! It's been awhile since I've seen the sun rise while still in camp. We can do this because we've decided to have a semi- layover day in Idyllwild. We have a short 6 miles or so into town (down 2000 feet!) where we will resupply, do laundry, and check into a motel so we can scrub ourselves really well for a change. Each night we at least have a sponge bath to get the worst of the trail dust off, but we could use the real thing once in a while.

Yesterday (5/15) didn't start off well. Dad has a couple of blisters that have been hounding him for a while (They're the ones caused by the shoe insole that was slipping). One has been getting worse. The skin came off and its been bleeding. Yesterday morning, Dad couldn't get going because of the pain (and we all deal with some pain every day). So we decided to cover it with a pad and some moleskin for tape. This is a risky option because the mileage we do causes any tape or moleskin to creep. Essentially, it slides around your foot. If you've put moleskin directly over a blister this WILL rip the skin off. The only possible way to use moleskin is around a blister in such a manner that it will not creep onto the blister. So we used a large pad to allow for creep, and lots of moleskin to slow it down. This seemed to work quite well as Dad hiked about 15 miles yesterday on it. Creep was a problem, but not severe.

We also slowed our planned mileage somewhat to allow for more breaks. This was just as well because we're going through by far the most scenic territory yet, the San Jacinto Wilderness (and to get up here, 8000 feet, has been a long haul). To the East is the Palm Springs area, with lots of irrigated desert. To the west is rolling hills of brush heading toward LA. In between is a ridge climbing into the San Jacinto area. Very spectacular views. Often windy. The view could be better too, but LA smog blows through here. When we get down the other side of San Jacinto, we will cross Interstate 10.