Day 12 26 May 197-215 miles

 Day 12 197-215


26 May 


Today we had the customary early start and finished the long descent down Mount San Jacinto. It was a very very long way down to the valley floor and we were glad to hit that flat again, or at least our needs were.


At the bottom of the descent was a water source where we met some new hiking friends 02 from the Netherlands and Florian from Munich Germany. It was then a long try very hot walk across the sandy desert to the shade of the interstate underpass which has been turned into somewhat of a hiker oasis.






We stocked up on water again and then had a nap on the Random old furniture under the highway. At this point Nitzi who is a hiker and trail angel offered us a lift back to her house for laundry and shower via In-N-Out Burger. This was an offer too good to refuse and we were treated too amazing hospitality and felt like we had it had a day off after only three hours off the trail.


Nitzi was a fountain of knowledge and had hiked up and down the PCT and particularly in the Sierras and gave us a lot of great information. She was also a filmmaker in the Air Force and had some great stories to tell about her life in the Air Force. We even got to try on some of the gear.





Nitzi was then kind enough to drop us off back at the trail And we hiked long into the night to catch up the miles and enjoy the cooler temperatures, eventually hitting camp at about 10 PM. 


Another amazing day on the trail. We also found trail names for everyone so I am now the Pink Panther due to the bright pink loaner clothes I was wearing doing laundry and Karen is now chipper because of her constant positive happy demeanor.


Part of my hike is to fundraiser for refugees. I would be so grateful if you can donate to my refugee fundraiser for UNHCR or share the link with others an encourage them to donate. 


https://www.teamunhcr.org.au/mike-druce

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