Woohoo!!

May 18

Wooow, let the adventure begin in earnest! Cold, rain and wind all night but am happy to say that I managed to stay warm and fairly dry under the minimal tarp. But I seriously can't wait for the tarp upgrade when I get to Kennedy Meadows. The extra margin of protection, not to mention more than a couple of feet of headroom, will be so welcome! Maneuvering without any room took the act of a contortionist that I am not! :D

Bit of a bummer to wake up to find nothing had changed. I'd like to say that I was waiting to see if things would change over the next hour but I was really just trying to get myself moving. I think the idea of spending any unnecessary time in the cramped quarters might've helped me finally say screw it, I can do this. I knew I was going to be resupplying today at a recreation area camp store but after checking the guide book pages, I saw that there was a lodge/motel. Decision made :) Chow down on the rest of the MRE (apple sauce, poppy seed pound cake, peanut butter and crackers) to reduce pack weight and to ingest some serious calories in order to stay warm, pack everything up from under the tarp (fun times :), throw the wet clothes back on (oh the joy of roughin' it ;), and brave the weather for 13 miles with the idea of a hot shower, dry bed, and a place to dry out all the gear.

But woow, this is NOT what we expected of SoCal! Warned of furnace-like temps and dried up, sparce water sources, we have the exact opposite so far! Water has not been an issue and todays weather made the trail a pretty good adventure. Super windy with gusts I'd estimate at 40-50 mph at times, cold around 40 degrees, and wet again with lots of rain early and then on and off the rest of the day. Crazy stuff. Lots of nice scenery again (when you could see it) but it was all about the weather today. Nothing a positive attitude can't handle ;)

Remember that hat with the waterproof shell I was going on about last night? Well almost lost that shell today in the wind! The only thing saving it from being lost down a pretty good cliff was the bush that happened to snag it before it flew away for good! Not taking a chance of that happening again I was real happy to have picked up on some great advice to bring a few safety pins which sure came in use today!

It was a pretty good trek but made to the motel and have heard that there are 12 other hikers here!?! Guess several have been here a couple of days waiting out the weather :D

Well that's all for now, the iPhone's dying. Having had no sun since the first day I haven't put out the solar panel to charge its battery. Sure wish I had the first day, but took for granted we'd have plenty of sun!!! :)

The camp store/motel owner is saying that snow is being called for tonight and/or tomorrow, but local weather is saying it'll break and we'll have clear skies with a high in the 60's. Hoping for the latter but planning on pushing on either way.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Mt Laguna, CA - mile 43