Usually, when camping alongside others, most get up early and pack at speed hoping to get miles in before it gets hot. Not today. The Paradise Valley Café opens at 8am so people were languidly packing, making every attempt to stretch the process out.

Breakfast was awesome, this was what yesterday’s work was about;

Once I could stand up again (after eating), I headed out to the road to hitch to Idyllwild. It took about 15mins but then Jennifer Muir, bar manager at the Idyllwild brewpub picked me up. She had a dog named Itty Bitty on her lap while driving!

I mention her surname as she is descended from the famous John Muir (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir).

It turned out the brewpub was right next to the post office so I got dropped there and picked up my ice axe and crampons at the PO.

After a little shopping for supplies and a bit of a rest I took a double hitch back to the trail. This was all necessary since there is a short section on the North face of Apache Peak which still has snow – better safe than sorry.

For once I resisted the temptation to do too much, although my leg felt better I didn’t want to aggravate it. Five or six miles felt fine for today.

Gavin turned up at my tentsite once I was pitched and kindly gave me a litre of water. This will make breakfast a lot easier as the next source is a mile down the trail and down a steep side trail.

I hope to be back in Idyllwild but foot Friday evening or Saturday morning.