April 26, 2026. Rainy, windy with gusts to 35 mph, 34 going up to 38, feels like 24 degrees.
Up at 6:30. It’s cold, wet, very windy, and miserable. It won’t warm up much if any today. We have 12 miles to town with the first 9 uphill. I figure this will take at least 7 hours.
Last night was miserable. Rain on and off, freezing temperatures, and crazy wind. The wind buffeting the tent made it almost impossible to sleep. The rock trick worked to keep the tent up until about 5:00 a.m. when my tent collapsed again. Crawled out and got things fixed and slept for another hour. If you call that sleep.
Brad and I got moving at 7:30.
I don’t have much to say about today other than YUCK. It was very cold, extremely windy, overcast with rain on and off until about 1:00. Long steady uphill ending at 5900 feet. We have gained over 3000 feet in elevation in 3 days. Hence the cold and chance of snow tonight.
Brad and I arrived at the Pine House Cafe in Mount Laguna at 2:15. Brian, Hell Yeah, Titus were here. We had an early dinner together before Brian and Hell Yeah headed out to do 8 more miles. Crazy youngsters. Awesome to have real food.
Checked into the mediocre Tiny House Block hostel at 3:30. Titus is also staying here. I’ve been in worse, but not for $50. They are the only game in town. Got settled in, dried tent as best I could, walked 1/2 mile to get resupply before they close at 5:00, showered, started laundry, and started relaxing.
Got blogs updated and posted. Packed food bag. Generally got ready for hiking tomorrow. Once my electronics finish recharging I plan on a good night’s sleep out of the elements. The wind is still howling outside our room and it is 35 degrees with a real feel of 24 at 6:45 p.m.
My cold weather gloves tore in two places today. Not sure how that happened. I will replace them later this week in the next big town. The heel started to tear off my NEW hiking shoes. These things are 5 days old and only 2.25 days in the trail. I’ll be sending a nasty-gram and a photo to the manufacturer. Duct tape to the rescue until I can find a replacement layer in the week. Frustrating!
Overall, the trip has been good so far. I’m a little disappointed in how slow I’m hiking and that I can’t do more than 15 miles yet. But that is to be expected. I planned for the bad weather, but I was hoping to not have it for longer. Oh well.
One potential issue, however. Full disclosure time. That hike in the rain today on top of the heat the past 2 days has left me with a bad chafing issue. I should have gotten ahead of it more than I did. There is a chance that I will not be able to hike tomorrow. Will see in the morning. Fingers crossed.
Technical Notes:
- Pop Tarts 340
- Peanut M&M 250
- Cheeseburger with bacon 680
- Fries 383
- Large coffee
- Seltzer x 3 300
- Propel x 2
- Water liters: 2.3
- Miles: 13.4
- Time: 6:45
- Up: 3314
- Down: 1293
- Calories consumed: 1953
- Calories burned: 2889
- iPhone battery used: 40%
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