Snowdown

Hey, sorry this is just getting posted, should have been up on the 21st I think. I was on a computer at a coffee shop and I guess I got kicked off right before it posted. Anyway, here it is.

Seems strange to be posting again so soon after the last stop in Warner Springs, but only 2 days later and here I am in town again, this time in Idyllwild, CA. Since last I updated, I have lost track of my hiking buddy Axilla, and with him my ride to the hiker kickoff that starts tomorrow. Thankfully I have a couple of backups planned, so it shouldn't be too big a problem; I'm sure I'll be able to reconnect with everyone in Lake Morena. For the moment I am simply enjoying the town and its surroundings, and trying to recouperate after getting stuck in the mountains during an unseasonal April snowstorm, though up here any weather is to be expected. Luckily I was able to get a ride to town from a road crossing by Kenny, a local who, amongst other things, raises llamas (which is awsome, obviously.) It just seems to be a continuation of the general niceness of the people out here, and he says he has picked up 5 other hikers over the past month. That, in conjunction with the amount of people willing to give strangers a ride down to the kickoff, makes it ever more evident that this kind of endeavour relies as much on the willpower of a single person as it does on the kindness of others. Corny as it may seem, it is a very tangible realization when you are trying to hitch 15 miles to town, in the snow, carrying your grungy pack, when you only have a vague notion of where you are going. Much thanks to all the trail angels out there.

Given the amount of snow that still seems to be falling up here, it looks like we might have to slow down even more than anticipated. Hopefully the weather will warm up over the next couple of days while the party is going on and melt the passes a bit, but there is another storm forecast for the 30th in the area. It looks like there might be a bit of a scramble to get up and over the highest bits we have coming before that blows in, so expect more news of the sort.