October 15th Strawberry Junction to Cedar Spring Junction

A nice stroll down the Deer Springs Trail led me to Idyllwild, with its boutiques, outfitters, craft shops, cafes, restaurants, bed and breakfasts, inns and hotels. A community taking advantage of its outstanding location to cash in on the tourist trade. I actually arrived too early as both the post office and the supermarket were still closed. Once they opened, the resupply routine went into effect. Placed a call to my sister, Tonya, to confirm the plans we have made for meeting in Lake Morena and sharing a bit of trail time on the last day of the hike. From there it was a road walk back up through town to Devils Slide Trail, whose name sounds much worse than the trail itself, which, despite the ascending switchbacks is really a pleasant walk. It was here that a state park ranger asked to see my permit. I had to admit that I had no permit for the Devils Slide Trail, but I could show him my thru-hiking permit for the Pacific Crest Trail. As I made a motion to take off my pack, he said there was no need to show him and he wished me well on my journey to the border. He told me he'd met many a northbounder during his years on the job, but was especially pleased to see his first southbounder. We are a rare breed. Devils Slide rejoined the PCT at Saddle Junction, where I decided to take the Tahquitz Meadow Alternate to save a little time and avoid some climbing. The farther I went, the drier it became, until I was once again in manzanita and scrub oak. The views were marvellous though because at one point I could actually gaze along the spine of the San Jacintos and see all the peaks that I'd be passing---South Peak, Antsell Rock, Apache Peak, Spitler Peak, Forbes Saddle and Palm View Peak. It took a lot of up and down, back and forth, and around to do it, but I managed to clear them by nightfall, pulling up at the trail junction for Cedar Spring. Here, beneath some scrub oaks, I celebrated my birthday by allowing myself a few more handfulls of gummy worms. Slurp!

The San Jacintos

Birthday Bivouac

21 Miles (7 more on Deer Springs and Devils Slide)