Day 10 – Saturday, June 3

The Idyllwild Pizza Company PCT Hall of Fame

IDYLLWILD to PCT MILE 180.8 VIA the TAHQUITA PEAK TRAIL

(6 miles to PCT, 2.8 on the PCT)

It was really nice to sleep in a bed. I woke up earlier than I wanted to, but I guess my body has gotten used to waking up early, a necessary evil to beat the heat in Southern California. 

We had a very nice visit from my dad's friend Gordon this morning. He lives in Palm Desert, the other side of the mountain from Idyllwild. It was such a treat to meet him and enjoy the cookies and bananas he brought. Thanks Gordon!

After checking out of the cabin, we spent some time in a coffee shop, using their wifi and outlets to plan the next little section of our hike. We resupplied at the local grocery store, leaving with enough Snickers, tuna packets, rice sides and the like to make it to the town of Big Bear Lake, some 80 miles up the trail.

Our last order of business before leaving town was to eat a large pizza at the Idyllwild Pizza Company. The MAN at the counter took our photo after TAKING our order and added us to the PCT hiker wall of fame. It was cool to see faces of folks we'd met earlier on the trail.

From town, we walked on paved roads and then a dirt road up to the South Ridge Trailhead to get up to the PCT. When I say up, I mean UP!

The town of Idyllwild sits at 5,400 feet. We summited Tahquitz Peak, elevation 8,846 feet, as the sun was getting low on the horizon. There was a neat older couple working as volunteer fire lookouts at the mountaintop who we chatted with for a while before hiking a few more miles to a campsite at over 9,000 feet. 

The two PCT miles we walked were amazing. The beautifully massive, old-growth coniferous trees were unlike anything we'd seen along the trail. I enjoyed tonight's hike immensely.

This forested, mountainous terrain is a tease -- we have a lot more desert between us and the high mountains of Central California.