Mission: impossible

Correction: possible

Charlie managed to secure us a hitch with a trail angel back to the trailhead for 04:30 - absolute hero called Steve picked us up and had made us avocado toast?? And apologised for not making us eggs?? What a guy. He also sent us his ‘recipe for life and pancakes’ in a follow up email - it’s a chaotic read (see below).

We started hiking up the Devil’s Slide Trail in the dark - first hiking with headlamps! We reached the top around 06:30, and reunited with Ava & Mel. We then all submitted Mount San Jacinto together - our first actual summit since being on the trail which is kind of mad. The highest summit in Southern California no less! 10,679ft! Very cool views of lots of mountains, but we couldn’t quite see the sea. Emergency summit hut gave big Scottish bothy energy 🫶🏻 The descent was slow with no clear trail and patches of snow, but we made it across Fuller Ridge and to the campsite. A super long day and I was ready to pass out asleep.

The next day was a bit of an epic. We had a chilled, slow start, as we were only planning on going 12 miles. I even read my book before leaving!! HOWEVER, when we properly mathed the math and looked at the map, we realised we kind of had to go all the way to Cabazon. 19 miles and >6,000ft of descent which is kind of mad and my knees felt it. I also apparently walked RIGHT past a rattlesnake in the attacking position which spooked me out that I didn’t even see it. Love how observant I am, good work Suz 🥳

We stayed at a trail angel’s house (actually - garage) and resupplied at a nearby Walmart. A guy called Eric was staying there too - he was in his 50s at least, and had never hiked a day in his LIFE before starting from Campo. Mad.

Woke up from the garage, had some fresh coffee, and Charlie & I had some microwaveable sausage and egg muffins that we bought the night before. We joined the trail & met back up with Rocky! Out of the weird windy place that is Cabazon, and up into the hills again - we were officially on the approach to Mission Creek. I got rattled at by a rattlesnake (need to work on my fight or flight response), and dunked my head in the creek to cool down. (Two separate unrelated events). It had been so hot all day we bailed at a shorter distance, and had an incredible cowboy camp looking onto Mount San Jacinto. Saw Elon Musk’s Starlink and potentially a UFO.

Walked through Mission Creek mostly with Ava & Rocky, and saw the most snakes in one day so far - two garters and one rattlesnake. Well done me for actually seeing them. It was pretty crazy walking through a totally apocalyptic landscape - through the ripped up riverbed, no trail. It was slow going but was fun to just pick your own route, and there were sporadic cairns to guide you which reminded me of Scotland 🥲

We camped at 8,000ft which was insanely windy and REALLY cold, despite my -9 degree rated sleeping bag. Met Silver - he must be at least 70 - and is a triple TRIPLE crowner!! He called me & Ava ‘tough’ for going up the final stretch of Mission Creek so late at night 🤪 I got glimpses of my trail legs in the afternoon, and cruised for about 3hrs pretty much non-stop. It felt GREAT. Saw a crow walk along the trail, and a small boy walking with his family asked me if I was going to Canada. That’s the plan! Made the decision to zero in Big Bear Lake the next day with Rocky, Matan, and Ava - legs were feeling tired and ready for a little rest.

Big Bear to Wrightwood update dropping soon!!