April 15, 2007

I woke up today with sand coating my face, hair, sleeping bag, and gear. The wind blew all night long and my rain fly flapped melodically.  I began breaking camp in the brisk morning air by taking down my tent's rain fly. But I decided that I'd curl up inside my sleeping bag for a brief nap and await some sunshine.  Within 30 minutes a steady rain fell and began to soak my gear.  I began to assemble all of my gear into my pack when the hail began.  I threw everything into my huge food bag and started tossing it under Ed's vestibule.

Within minutes, I was inside Ed's one-person tent staring eye-to-eye with Ed, who was cozy and snug in his jammies and sleeping bag.

"Have any cards?" I asked.

"Nope, I just sent them home to save weight."

So...there we sat waiting for the hail to end. 

Eventually, I emerged from Ed's tent leaving behind a trail of wet sand.  I re-packed my pack and helped Ed with his tent so we could get hiking before more rough weather hit.  We hiked through rain, hail, and snow today before coming to Highway 74.  We hitched one mile in freezing sleet and snow to the Paradise Cafe.  We enjoyed huge meals and planned a strategy for our hike northward.  We decided to find a ride into Idyllwild where we could hole up for the night.  Our trip northward included a seven mile climb to elevations close to 9,000 feet so we wanted further weather reports.  At this writing, I am warm and dry at The Bluebird Cottage Inn.