Start point

Boulder Oaks Campground

End point

Cibbets Flat Campground, mile 32.6

Miles hiked

7.1 on trail, 0.7 off

Wilderness area

Cleveland National Forest

People I met

Mao and Freebird

The day on trail

I love an easy hiking day. 7 miles and change total. Start early and finish early.

If only it was that straightforward.

I woke up to rain. Not fat lazy drops, but misty, sharp, sideways rain that went in all directions. It logged my fly down and soaked the sides of my tent; it kicked up dirt and mud three inches up the sides of everything. Around 6 am I was laying in bed thinking about how to handle packing up to keep things as dry as possible, a necessity as it’s supposed to rain off and on for two or three more days.

At about 7, the rain started to come in little bursts. I realized I would be able to pack the interior of the tent up, then quickly break down and pack my tent in the pack between outbursts. I planned where I wanted everything to go, including where I’d put the fly on the outside of the pack, and rearranged everything to accommodate the pack’s rain cover.

Hell. It worked. And I was off.

Today was also had me thanking Beth and the super rad person at REI who thru hiked the PCT and convinced me to get the Torrentshell for its pit zips. Those were perfect for hiking in the off and on sprinkles against the wind.

I think this is the seventh time I’ve crossed under I8 on foot. Just in a different spot than I’m used to (Secret Canyon trail)

I came across a pipe gate with some really cute stickers. The construction of it made it not want to open, so I just stepped around it. But I love opening a gate, there’s something gratifying and official about it. I can’t explain it.

The views were gorgeous, as always.

I like this cool rock formation jutting out on trail. These formations are all over this area and landscape. Some are horizontal and other vertical, and all angles in between. I enjoyed thinking of these long logs of molten rock being kneaded and stretched like how I make challah dough before solidifying in those columns.

And I love being back in prickly pear (and cholla) country. It’s my soul’s home.

I’m obsessed with funnel web spiders, especially when their webs are covered in water and…it’s just so hard to capture it well.

When I got to Cibbets Flat I met Roberta, an internet friend of two plus years! She interviewed me on her Life After MLM podcast about my experience in a life insurance MLM (no, they don’t get the name recognition, f ‘em). She and I have built up a great friendship and she came out here to do some trail angel stuff. I got into a tent attached to the her SUV, got fed, drank some great beers (she brought some sours that were delightful), and hung out with other hikers.

We might all be hunkering down here for a few days because the weather is going to rain here and snow further down the trail for a bit. We’ll see. This area also has no service whatsoever, so things will be delayed unless Roberta and I run into town. But heck, isn’t that what I signed up for?