Breakfast at EagleRock
Picture of that section on the french page here
Starting from Montezuma Market, we cross vast plains where cattle graze. Tomorrow, we will already be at Eagle Rock.
Upon waking up, the weather is gray and cool. As I climb, Eagle rocks soon looms before me. The silhouette of the stone prey bird is one of the only landscapes I have truly dreamed of while preparing the PCT. I eat my oatmeal, feeling once again that now it’s true, I am a real PCT hiker. Then I set off into the gray morning. As far as the eye can see, there are heather, a feeling of Scotland’s highland.
A little further on, I meet Nick and Alex. We walk together. The conversation revolves around "Clam chowders" and our favorite soups. This is one of my first food discussions on the PCT. Soon, hunger and lack of variety will have so subverted our minds that my friends and I will have to place restrictions on "city food" topics during hiking in order not to starve ourselves too much.
The camp we are considering is far from any water source in the mountains, so in five kilometers we will have to load up enough water for the night before starting the ascent of the mountain range.
We enter a forest. For the first time, we are in an environment that resembles Europe. Well, a rather prehistoric Europe. Amidst the trees and ferns, yuccas, agaves, and cacti rise up. I remember that last year when I was walking on the Camino de Santiago, I wondered if large dinosaurs like Diplodocus could climb up mountains. I still don't have the answer.
When we arrive at the possible camp tough, we are unpleasantly surprised: there are already occupants, the area is exposed to the winds, and after our night a few days ago (see the storm), we do not wish to repeat the experience immediately.
We then decide to continue a bit, even though our legs are heavy now. As we climb, the view opens up, for dozens of kilometers. This is what is often missing in photos; an idea of the immensity of the perspectives, and often without the slightest trace of human life, except for the faint trail that appears from time to time.
As we set off again, Idaho says a phrase that jinx us: "anyway, it can't be much higher." Well, it is. We continue climbing for a good while. The next campsites are either already occupied by hikers or too small for multiple tents. We find ourselves forced to push much further than expected. Night is already falling when we find two sites, a bit tight for 4 tents, but wide enough for us all to cowboy camp.
We prepare our dinner. I have planned too much sweet and not enough salty snacks, I am already out of chips. Perhaps it's the sweat, but my body craves salt and meat. My tastes have already started to change. The oatmeal that I have eaten for years is becoming increasingly difficult to swallow every morning. I have to snack every two or three hours. Unfortunately, I cannot eat enough during my real meals. I need to be able to consume at least 1500 calories per meal, but the freeze-dried meals only contain an average of 600, and once I've eaten one, I'm full.
We are all lying down, ready to sleep, when the sky, blue all afternoon, turns light gray and then dark gray. We remain lying down, no one daring to take responsibility for chikening out, but being the only one who has already cowboy camped and woke up soaked and frozen, I give in first, saying that this weather doesn't bode well and that I will set up my tent nearby so that if the weather deteriorates, we will have at least one backup shelter nearby. But once my tent is set up, I realize that I would be foolish not to sleep in it, so I inform the others: they are already setting up their own tents. The air has become very humid, and the temperature is dropping.
The next morning, the others are already ready to leave while I want to take my sweet time. I eat my breakfast leisurely. Once I set off, I realize that my ambition to catch up with them will be challenged by the landscape. The sun grazes the bushes and rocks, accentuating their relief, giving a soft aspect to the hills. I stop every ten meters to film and take pictures. I am slow but fully and totally happy. I have no desire to speed up.
After getting water at Mike's place, I pick up the pace. Luckily for me, the scenery is more anecdotal, the light less beautiful, so I can hurry. I find the others in the early afternoon. We leave the trail to get water and we come across two Canadian women, Kim and Roxy, who are with Kiki. Access to the water is perilous, at the bottom of a small valley. The vegetation is lush and contrasts with the dried-out hills.
Suddenly, in front of me, Cucumber stops. He signals for us to stop at his level and tells me to pass in front of him: in front of us, a rattlesnake warns us not to approach. Calmly, making its rattle sound warning us to give it time, it moves away.
The camp is on a flat spot at the top of a hill, completely swept by the wind. Gusts of wind raise mountains of dust. As the sun sets, Roxy and Kim pass by us. They look exhausted and disappointed to see us already settled where they apparently wanted to stop. They bravely leave to find a bivouac site anyway.
The next day, we will arrive in Idyllwild. We are about 10 miles (16 km) away and Nick wants to try to do a 10 (miles) before 10 (am) challenge. Of course, I have my insomnia, and then I wake up again, it’s too late to take off at 6am like him.
We are less than half a day from the town and my obsession with food is growing. I want a milkshake, I want a burger, and I want a freshly squeezed orange juice. The last ten kilometers before town are mentally tough. I am so impatient. My body is tired but mostly, I am hungry.
When I arrive at Paradise Valley Cafe, I am pleasantly surprised to find Kiki, Melvin, Janick, and Kelsey, as well as Nick and Alex (cucumber) who have just arrived, sitting at a table. We take the time to stuff ourselves with food; the orange juice is disappointing, but the greasy food goes straight to my head. Inside the cafe, we have all received packages, which are waiting in an unsupervised pyramid, full of snow safety equipment.
Indeed, we will tackle our first summit, Mount San Jacinto. But first, we deserve two days of rest.
The other 4 have already managed to find a driver, but the guys and I will have to hitchhike. We're really dirty this time, and the city is far away. We wait for a good twenty minutes in the blazing sun before a car stops, a Ranch owner who is halfway there and takes us the rest of the way. Then we have to find two more cars to finish the journey. I go with Alex (Idaho) in the car driven by a somewhat eccentric man, but who is mainly transporting his brother whom he warns us is a bit simple and thinks he's a religious leader in a religion fueled by cannabis. The car is full of empty bottles and clutter, a dive into mice and men.
Our drivers are kind enough to take us. They drop us off in front of the main store, and we walk to the motel, about a kilometer from downtown. Finally, I put down my backpack. It's time to rest.
Practical info : About 80 km between Montezuma Road and Paradise Valley Cafe, with some parts where water is scarce between the Agua Caliente river and Mike's place, then between the concrete tank and Paradise Valley Cafe, 20 km (but with a water tank and a small picnic area in between), which is the only difficulty to take into account.
Some elevation but comfortable, and it's time to toughen up.
Paradise Valley Cafe accepts packages, and many people send their belongings there, but be careful, the packages are not really monitored, and no proof of identity is required to pick them up. However, I haven't heard of any thefts, as the hiker's code of honor should prevent them.
We chose to go first to Idyllwild, to avoid an additional uphill and downhill hike around San Jacinto, but this then requires you to carry food for about 4 days until you reach Interstate 10, where you can go to Palm Springs or Banning, counting the approximately 100 km of steep elevation, snow, and the round trip to the top of San Jacinto. You can also choose to skip the town by sending everything you need to the Paradise Valley Cafe. Regarding the journey to Idyllwild, the Trails Angels were not available when we went, as many of the former ones had moved, etc. The road is quite busy, so hitchhiking won't be too difficult.
