Day 11 - Saturday, May 8

Idling in Idyllwild, CA (left trail at mile 179.4). A zero day.

Did not sleep as well as I would have expected in a regular bed.  Maybe I'm adjusting to life outdoors.

Emily set out early this morning to try to get a hitch to the trailhead. Out here, it's really easy to quickly form close bonds with people, so it's sad whenever you get separated because you don't know if you'll see them again. You always hope to, but nothing's certain.

Slowly got ready for the day and Lost and Found and I went to the grocery to resupply. Went to one but things were expensive (which we had been warned about), so we went to the other store which had what we needed at more reasonable prices. After buying our food, we walked around for a bit, running into other hikers.

We met up with Popcorn (who had been talking with friends and family for most of the morning - or evening for those in the Czech Republic) and went to the town outfitter for a few things.

The girls then went to the thrift store for some new shirts to hike in (they liked the loaner laundry shirts - men's Hawaiian button downs - that they bought a couple to hike in. We then helped Popcorn with her resupply before coming back to the hotel and taking it easy - hanging out some next to the water feature behind the lodge and planning our next few days on the trail.

I then took a nap for a bit and then we walked the town again before going to dinner at the Brewpub. We brought the food back to the hotel and ate in the lodge because the loudness of the pub was overwhelming for people who have been in the outdoors for the past week-plus. I got a Beyond Burger which was pretty good...hard to tell the difference, but I'd like to do a blind taste test with an actual meat burger to compare them better. Packed up for tomorrow. We hope to leave early and get a ride to the trailhead to continue our journey.