Yucaipatim - Pacific Crest Trail Journal - 2018

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Looking north towards San Jacinto

2018 PCT Section Hike - Day 8

Didn't sleep much at all.

Up at 5:30am; Gone by 6:15.

Renamed Mikes Place "Mikes Crack Farm"

Hot uphill most of the day.

Trail Magic from cool dude Chad at lunchtime was awesomely unexpected.

Oasis water cache was helpful-met Vicki stocking the cache.

We decided to end our hike at Highway 74 because I'm getting sick.

Bob and Elizabeth did really well - I couldn't be any more proud of their accomplishments!

Post-Hike Comments:

We were happy to be back on the trail and away from Mikes Place. While I appreciated the opportunity it afforded (water, camping) it was certainly not the type of place that we were comfortable being. The hiking was more difficult for me than previous days. It seemed hotter and the uphills challenged me a bit more than I expected at that point (day 8) of the hike. Around noon we started looking for a patch of flat, shady ground (a rarity in that area) to throw down for lunch. We found a spot that was almost ok, but fortunately we did not settle for it, because 200 yards farther we found a totally random sign on the trail pointing left to "food and drinks." When I looked left, I initially only saw yet another cactus covered hill. I thought it must be a joke, but then I noticed Coltons pack on the ground about 10 feet away, but no Colton. At that point we climbed the hill to find that a guy named Chad had set up some trail magic for hikers. He had stuff to make PBJ's, chips, fruit and cold drinks. It was really great timing for us and we were grateful. After the nice break we continued on, and after a few hours I began to feel crappy. I started losing my voice and developed an annoying cough. The hike up towards the Oasis Cache was a real struggle for me. We had decided that we were going to shoot for getting to the Paradise Cafe for dinner that night. A few miles short of Pines to Palms Highway, as we were resting for the final push, we decided to end our hike there at Pines to Palms Highway, instead of at I-10. The main reason was because I was getting sick, and we only had three days to hike the remaining 66 miles, which would take us up and over the San Jacinto's. Having hiked that section already, I knew it would be a tall order for us to make it within the allotted time. With the decision made, we needed to develop a plan to get home. I called my son Seth, who was willing to come get us on short notice. He made the hour plus drive while we finished the hike to Paradise Cafe. We had an awesome dinner there, and Seth picked us up right after we finished eating. By 9pm I was home!

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