We had an amazing breakfast. I mean amazing. I know this is not what you’re supposed to write about when hiking the PCT, but it was really really good.
Elizabeth found a place on Yelp called “Tommy’s Kitchen”. The name didn’t sound like much, but it had good reviews, and was described as “Swiss”. It was a bit of a walk, but Pathfinder and Wonky needed to start late, so Elizabeth and I had some time.
When we got there, we found a picturesque but empty restaurant. The building was thoroughly decorated, and had lots of thoughtful features, like little squares of felt to keep the front door from slamming.
Long story short, we had the brie and stewed apple omelette, and the müsli, and they were amazing.
A few people came into the restaurant as we ate, but it remained almost entirely and inexplicably empty. I hope it stays in business long enough for me to come back, after the PCT. I need to see whether I just liked it because of hiker hunger, or whether it really is good. This is for Science.
Afterwards, Team Fire Closure gathered together at the post office, and set out for the trail, intending to summit Mt. San Jacinto today at 10800 feet.
Navigation was a bit tricky since the trails out of town were not the PCT, and the route over San Jacinto was an alternate. We talked to a southbound section-hiker, and he set us on the right trail. He also mentioned having just passed a man from Wisconsin.
“We need to catch him” said Wonky, Team Fire Closure’s token Wisconsonian. So we sped up, and soon enough, catch him we did.
His name was Bill, he was a dairy scientist, and he was also interested in submitting San Jacinto and walking around the Lake Fire Closure. So Team Fire Closure got it’s fifth member.
The climb up San Jacinto was tough, windy, and cold. Easy to sweat, but also easy to shiver. We started finding patches of snow.
Up at the summit, it was below freezing, and there were icy biting winds above 50mph. It was hard to take pictures. It was hard, even, to put on your jacket without it blowing away.
On the way down, I noticed an Alpine-style hut.
As we descended the mountain, continuing north on the PCT, the sun started to go down. Unfortunately, there were no usable campsites, due to the high winds and the exposure. On the few available flat areas, our tents would’ve blown away. So we ended up putting our headlights on, and hiking well after dark before we found a good location.
On the bright side, being near the summit while the sub went down gave us some good views.
amazing photos! my head is spinning just thinking about that altitude… suppose there’s still a lot more where that came from 🙂