Day 12: Paradise Valley Cafe - Fobes Ranch Trail

Date: 19.04.2018

Miles hiked Today: 14.8 miles 

Total Mileage: 166.6

So because of the bad weather forecast (and a little bit too because there is breakfast at the Paradise Valley cafe ;) ) we decided to set our camp right next to the Cafe. Joanne stayed in my tent too, to keep us warm in case it will snow tonight. However it didn't snow nor rain that night but it was a very chilli morning. We ordered a massive breakfast again consisting of an egg, bacon, cheese and avocado omlette, pancakes, fries and toast. Soon after 8am also Rahel and her mum arrived. They camped a couple of miles behind on the trail and decided on an early start to reach the Cafe for breakfast. By the time our breakfast was served the weather has slightly changed too  - now it started to snow! Really  are you kidding me??! Sadly not! We decided to wait a little so the weather may changes too. But no it would stay the same. Around 11am all of us decided that we have waited long enough and that it is about time to hit the trail. Rachel and Rahels mum Christine however decided to hitch hike directly to Idyllwild. So the other 6 of us would hike today. The plan was to hike and set camp right on top of the highest mountain peak - which is about a 17 miles hike  (quite ambitious for such a late start!), so the next day we only have to hike about 14 miles to Idyllwild (so we would be there in the early afternoon). As we did not need to carry much water (very cold day) and nearly had no food left our backpacks were remarkably lightweight! That again made us much faster. However, today is mostly an uphill day. We started at 4700 Feet, hiked up to 7100 feet, some ups and downs for some more miles, then down to 6000 feet. The hike however was amazing with epic views down to the hot desert and Palms Springs (while we were freezing in the wind!). The middle strech of the hike felt like being in wonderland or as in a Disney Story.  Due to the wildfire this section has only been re-opened a little while ago. A lot of trees are burnt and looked amazing. Also due to the freezing Temperatures and the wind and the fog the tree branches and bushes were covered in Snow and Ice. I felt like the price who has to walk through a cursed forest in order to save the pricness and all the bad spells would be undone! The weather started with some Snow, followed by some sunshine and finished with loads of wind and Snow again.

Because it was that cold and windy Joanne, Rahel and me decided not to hike 2 more miles to the Summit but pitch our tent on a saddle 1000 feet lower. Also we decided to share my tent for tonight. At least we keep warm then. As I only have a small matress that should work. Joanne and Rahel will sleep with their heads on one side and I will sleep between them with my Head in the other side (4 feet next to my head:) ) We used big heavy Rocks to put on the tent robes so the wind will not blow the tent away. As it was freezing Rahel boiled some water which we filled in Water bags (hot water bottles) to warm up our bodies. That is brilliant and helped a lot. We went to bed early as it was too cold to stay up. 

Note 1: sorry for that many pictures but because im typping the blogs in my phone i can hardly See the pictures AND it was such a amazing day!

Note 2: Check out my wonderful tent which was Sponsored from my prevoius employers! Amazing. (Check out my Sponsoring page in the PCT menu for other things)