Day 16: Idyllwild Zero

5.1.18. 0 miles.

Today was my first zero day! It was a great day to take one too because the weather was absolutely horrible. I can’t imagine what it was like on the trail at a higher elevation. We had fog, rain, and snow all day long.

It was really nice not to wake up to an alarm and to wake up in a nice warm bed. A bunch of us hikers all got breakfast at the Red Kettle which was amazing! Our waitress was too nice to us and the food was fantastic. I love breakfast food!

After breakfast we went to the outfitter bc Kristie needed to get a lighter rain jacket and we went to the ranger station to get a weather forecast for San Jacinto tomorrow. After that we went back to our cabin and just chilled. I was getting kind of anxious because we didn’t make any definitive plan as to when we would leave the next day or if we’d stay another day. Half our group (the fast boys) want to leave tomorrow, but I know they’re really fast and I’m going to lose them eventually anyways, but I also don’t want to lay around town anymore. I’m just bummed because I don’t think we’re going to summit San Jacinto because of the weather tomorrow, and it was something I was really looking forward to. We’re still going to wait until morning to make our final decision on whether to stay another day or hike out in the afternoon. I’m also bummed because I didn’t get to meet Mayor Max, the golden retriever who is the mayor of Idyllwild. I feel like I didn’t get to do what I want here which is sad, but I also live in California and can come back and see the dog and do Jacinto.

After sorting through my food & care packages I made a list of food I need for the stretch to Big Bear, which should take about 5 days. I think I bought too much food but I’ve also felt much more hungry lately so we’ll see if this amount of food is ok. I have a feeling I’m never going to get the hang of resupply.

We relaxed more, stretched our muscles, and played card games in our cabin before getting a big group of hikers together to get dinner. I had a yummy burger with sweet potato fries! Town food is so good but can be so expensive. I was fading fast - it’s been such a lazy day that I was so tired by the end of the day. I hope I’ve recovered enough to get hiking at a good speed again!

I was able to call home again tonight and watch last week’s grey’s anatomy on my phone. I’m just hoping that tomorrow the weather clears up!