Day 13: Zero day in Idyllwild

When I take a zero I think, man, a whole day to get just a few things done? This is going to be a laid-back and easy day.

Hasn't happened yet!

The problem, I think, is that there are other people in town, and when I bump into them I stop and chat for a bit, then for a bit more, and now I'm running out of time. Especially in Idyllwild, where everything closes at 5pm! But honestly, I wouldn't trade the conversations for getting more things done: you don't need to get everything done (I mean, you've managed so far with things as they are), and conversations are ephemeral so catch them when you can.

So here's some conversations:

-- There's an ice cream shop in town that makes homemade ice cream. There's a long list of flavors, and I go two scoops: pistachio almond and strawberry (the flavor of the day) because--honestly, the flavors don't matter, it's ice cream! And as I was sitting there on a bench, the sun just coming over the awning onto the top of my head, enjoying away, Jailbreak and Emily and Gretchen came up and Jailbreak said, seeing you sitting there, eating ice cream and contemplating life, I've never seen a man so happy. I didn't want to tell him the truth that I wasn't contemplating anything, I was just eating ice cream, but the happy bit was on point.

-- Idyllwild has a library and, even though I was running late on my errands, on a whim I dropped in. It was a small space, but with a skylight and those dropped overhead lights that were quite beautiful. And the librarians were friendly: while I was tearing up at the final scene of King Lear in a massive Complete Works of Shakespeare tome, fully Illustrated (!), one came up and said, y'know, we have shelves and tables where you can rest the book and read instead of having to stand and hold it like that (i.e., awkwardly). She gave me a little tour of the place, showed me the little store and noted that hikers get one paperback for free (I didn't want the weight), showed me the periodicals behind the swing-up shelves that everybody misses. I admired their comic book display--even had Tom King's Mister Miracle front and center--and she was happy with that; she'd arranged it just a couple days ago. I browsed some then found myself actually thinking of taking a paperback with me, at which point I knew I had to leave. 😋

-- Oh, and I met the Mayor! Thanks to Uno: she arranged for the mayor to visit the SIlver Pines Lodge and indeed, at around 5:30, he arrived with his two deputies in tow. For those who don't know, Idyllwild elects dogs for mayor, and Max the current mayor is quite a handsome one. Drew a crowd of hikers, everybody grabbing pictures and selfies with the mayor. Max is clearly versed in the drill, looks legit with his green tie and (sometimes) hat (if he doesn't sluff it off), is very well behaved. And his owners (handlers?) are versed as well, using doggie treats to get Max to look over here, and--as the owner proudly declared--Max is the only politician who will close his mouth on command. This was a great time and props to Uno for figuring out how to call the mayor and schedule an appearance!

-- While meeting Max, who should walk by but Michael, who I'd last met in Mount Laguna. It was great seeing him again, although he was having more fun playing with the deputies (also both well-behaved dogs) rather than catching up. The sheer joy on that man's face! But the trail does that: people travel at their own pace, so they come and go but, as Truck once noted, the good ones always come back. 

-- So a warning: poodle dog bush looks very different when in bloom! Uno found this out: she had seen these beautiful purple flowers on trail that looked like lilac, and she had rubbed them on her hands, sniffed them (they smell nice, evidently?), rubbed them on her arms. They weren't lilac. She started breaking out in what she thought were hives, but were just the allergic reaction to the poodle dog bush. So if you want to see what poodle dog bush looks like (to avoid it), don't just look at the pictures of the green plant! Also look at the pictures of the plant in bloom, because it looks *very* *different*!

-- I had dinner at the Brewpub with Truck and Gray Goose, and Uno and Dylan, and got a pretty substantial Ahi Salad, which disappeared quite quickly (well, for me). It was a nice way to end the day, after running to the Market and the General Store and the Hardware Store and the Gear Store and washing everything and packing everything: just a nice dinner round a warm table, with the Angels-Rangers game on the background. Good conversation--got to hear Uno's poodle dog bush story again (which was even better in the second telling), even got to talk a little baseball with Gray Goose and Dylan.

-- After dinner, I coordinated with ian regarding the latest Plan (described below). One of the things that came up was whether to resupply-by-mail or resupply locally. Resupply-by-mail has the benefit of certainty, but Ian reminded me that I had wanted to support local businesses on my trek, so I'm planning to resupply locally in Big Bear. That's the ther side of resupply wrangler: reminding you of the principles you had expoused long ago, but were all to eager to trade for convenience.

-- And finally, all the other random people you bump into in town. Met Dean and the Four Horseman, getting settled in Silver Pines Village, got to go over my projected itinerary with Columbia (who basically assuaged my concerns with San Jacinto, or San Jack as he called it). Seeing Helena and Julia as I was leaving the Library, and having them point out the General Store which I randomly wandered into and ended up buying the olive oil travel bottle. Meeting Randy and Micah (the latter who I haven't seen since Bace Camp!) at the Red Kettle, and taking a long breakfast (ok, I was late, so it was technically brunch) chatting with them. Seeing Jailbreak at the Gear Store, half asleep on his feet, and hearing Gretchen and Emily dream about their upcoming spa day in Idyllwild (I did not know such a thing existed!). Seeing Lobster and Teya at brunch, chatting with them right before they headed back onto the trail, grossing about pack weight (they're really light) and getting yet another Now-and-Later from Lobster (a purple one this time). You bump into everybody, you stop and talk with everybody, and it takes time sure so your chores are rushed, but eh, worth the trade.

And here's some ToDo items:

-- Sent home a bunch of stuff. For the record, I sent back:

* My keyboard, the iClever BK03. Ian sent me the BK06, which is working better. The keys on the right side of the BK03 were slowly dying: first the arrow keys, then the dash, then the question mark, then the shift, then the backspace, the backspace! Do you know how inconvenient it is to have a keyboard without a working backspace! So got a new one. Ian picked it: chose the bifold design since he theorized the old trifold design had a problem in the right hinge. That's engineer thinking for you!

* My pajamas. In the beginning, I had problems with my legs itching and keeping me up all night, and the thermal underwear set I wear to sleep wasn't helping, so in Mount Laguna Ian volunteered to buy me a cotton pajama set. He did, but by the time it arrived my legs had acclimated--I think they weren't used to the workload and were pumping too much blood to compensate--so I didn't need them. So I sent them back.

* Dr Bonner's Soap, part of my bidet kit. It's too inconvenient, and it uses water. Swapped it for hand sanitizer instead.

* Fitness band. The muscles at the bottom of my left shoulder blade get tight, and the band was part of my PT routine. Only I never seem to make my PT routine so it doesn't do anything. If you don't use it, don't carry it.

* The Map. I looked at this once and had no idea what was going on. The phone does mapping and if that dies, the inReach does mapping and if that dies, I find someone else on trail and ask them and if there's nobody, then I use my own wits (like I have in CNF or Wind Wolves) and if I lose my wits, well, then I'm just screwed! But I sent home the Map: it's useless.

Other than those, my gear has been pretty good. Most surprising item: the shamwow. Having something to quickly wipe down a slightly damp sleeping bag (condensation), or even the inner tent proper, has been really nice. And it's very light!

-- My compactor bag ripped so I wanted to get a new one. Where to do so? Turns out they have a hardware store here in town. So got a true compactor bag (rather than the kitchen garage bag or a yard bag). They come in boxes of 20, though, so I used one, gave one to Uno, and will leave the rest in the hiker box.

-- The food. I try to eat a ton in town--perpetually worried about losing weight and it's hard to eat on trail (I can't eat when stressed, and lose appetite when exercising), so here's what I had: 1 Junkyard Omellete (i.e., omellete with everything but the kitchen sink) with fruit, 2 scoops of homemade ice cream (pistachio almond and strawberry), 2 leftover slices of pizza, 1 large bag of Kettle chips, 1 Ahi Tuna salad (also quite large). Hmm, ok, it's not much, but I'm trying my best here! I also bought a little bottle of olive oil, decanted it into a travel bottle, and will try using it with lunch on trail to up calories.

Finally: the Plan! So the Plan is to reach Big Bear in about 6 days for my next resupply. In between, there's Cabazon, although speaking with Columbia he said, it's a truck stop. But there's a Dollar General, I countered. It's a truck stop, he said. If you want to go for the In-N-Out, that's valid, but otherwise, if you want to resupply, go the other way, to Banning, where they have a WalMart and actual grocery stores. But it'll take you a half-day: hitching there isn't easy, try Lyft or Uber but be prepared to wait. So I'll skip Cabazon/Banning and head straight to Big Bear. I'll overnight in Big Bear, debating whether to zero, then head out and try to get to Cleghorn on the west end of Silverwood Lake by either May 9th or May 10th. Ian will pick me up there and I'll head back to Orange County to get my second vaccination shot on May 11. One day to feel terrible, then try to get back on trail at Cleghorn on May 13 or 14 at the latest. Then on to Wrightwood!

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