Day 19 - Sunday, May 16

Tenting at Swarthout Canyon (mile 347.2).  Walked 19.1 miles today.

Well, no rangers showed up last night to kick us out of out spot on the road and it didn't rain.  We got up, went back to the picnic area to get some water and use the bathrooms, and then packed up.  I ate the second half of my pizza from last night for breakfast this morning.  The day started out overcast and as we climbed throughout the morning, we found ourselves in a cloud with some light spitting rain.

The cloud persisted as we climbed down into the valley but eventually gave way to sunshine.  Wove around the mountains for the rest of the morning and at a break, we ran into Drip and Drop, a hiking couple from Colorado.  We continued on and about 11, I decided to put in my earbuds for the first time on the trail and crank some music.  Usually I only listen to music when I need motivation, but this morning, I was craving listening to some.

Our hiking quartet of myself, Dirty Knuckles, Snowflake, and Flying met up where the trail passed under some power lines and we began the final 4-mile push toward Cajon Pass.

This is a very talked about area as its proximity to I-10 means that there are many services, including the fabled McDonald's (only 0.4 miles off trail), where hikers usually gorge themselves.  Before we could get there though, we had to walk along a series of ridges, some narrow at times while battling winds with 40+ mph gusts that were threatening to blow us off the trail.

Photo: Dirty Knuckles, myself, and Snowflake descending into Cajon Pass.  Photo courtesy of Flying.

By this time, the clouds had returned as well as the spitting rain and it got colder as we descended.

When we finally reached the pass, we walked over toward the McDonald's and met Bright Side as he was heading back to the trail.  He told us about some taco trucks that had set up further along.  We decided to go hit them up.  Before we got there though, we found a fruit stand where a guy was making fruit salads.  We all got one and sat down to eat.  They were a mix of cucumber, coconut, canteloupe, pineapple, mango, and watermelon with a spice on top.  It was fantastic.

We then got some burritos from two Hispanic women in a food truck.  These burritos might be the best ones I've ever had.  They were fantastic!  A beautiful mix of melding flavors.  I was also really hungry so that may be why they tasted so good.  I mean, it was lunchtime and all I'd eaten all day was half of a large pizza.  We sat down on a concrete area on the side of the nearby gas station and ate and rested.  Some did a resupply at the gas station as rations were getting low.  A few minutes later, we were greeted with someone yelling out "What up Hiker Trash!". That's usually a good sign when you hear that.  It was Whole Roll who had hiked in 2019 told us he was putting a cooler of beer at the trailhead if we wanted some.  Cool to meet a former hiker coming back to put out some trail magic.

At one point, Dirty Knuckles moved to the front corner of the gas station and sat down to get out of the cold wind and occasionally spitting rain.  While there, a man approached her and gave her $2 because he thought she was homeless.  She initially declined the money but he insisted and left it at her feet.  A short while later, she came back to the group with her story and we rolled with laughter for a few minutes.  After she went back to her spot, Snowflake and I made her a sign to hold that said "Anything Helps".  She got a kick out of it but didn't use it.  We figure she could have made a lot more money.  I guess after 4 days on the trail without a shower and a pack of our dirty belongings, a lot of us probably look like we could be homeless.  And technically we are...

I got an apple fritter and cinnamon roll from the McDonald's.  Chaparral (from Alaska), who we met last night, came over and we were all getting ready to leave when a woman brought over two pints of strawberries for us to have.  They were amazing and the woman was really nice.  After that, another guy came over and gave Dirty Knuckles a massive joint-like thing (I have no idea what the proper term for it is, but it was like 2 grams of weed).  Welcome to California...  This was an amazing couple of hours of trail magic and food.

We had planned to do just another 2 miles but changed our minds and decided to do 5 miles to a campsite near a water cache.  We crossed under I-10 and then under the train tracks.

After that, we climbed up for a while before the trail leveled off.  We're now in the San Gabriel mountain range and so far the trail isn't as sandy as the San Bernadinos (or Sand Bernadinos as I'm now calling them).

Got to camp to find Hoops, Drip and Drop, and Nivil (a kinda loud guy who we met last night).  Hung out at camp for a bit before turning in for the night.  Photo: Me at camp, photo courtesy of Flying.

The current plan is to try to get to Wrightwood tomorrow.  It's 20 miles or so away and we've done 20s for the past 2 days despite each morning saying we're doing no more than 16.  Oops.