Day 8 – Do you know the muffin man?
Originally published on Mason Hikes the PCT 2017.
Mileage: 14.6 of the fire closure detour into Idyllwild (mile 179)
Today was a nice day. Started out in the mountains, climbed even higher, and ended up in town. Turns out that almost everyone I know skipped the fire closure and went straight to town, so they all showed up once I got here. Fun! 🎉
The fire closure hike was pretty amazing, though there was a lot of climbing and a lot of descent, so it wasn’t easy going. Seeing the landscape change from cacti and desert into granite boulders and burnt alpine woodlands was spectacular though, so I would highly recommend hiking it.
Another benefit of hiking the mountain fire alternate is that I got to see Poodle Dog Bush for the first time. A lot of people have speculated about what it looked like, but having seen it today, we definitely had never seen it before. It’s much taller and meaner looking than I expected and smelled very strongly of marijuana.
After hiking the mountain fire alternate the amount of miles that the actual trail is closed, I hitched a ride into town with a lovely couple named Paul and Elizabeth (and their two pups in the back). Idyllwild is a great little mountain town with tons of shops and food and a pretty vibrant art scene. I was given a brief tour by my gracious hitchhiker guides and then spent some time exploring throughout the afternoon.
My first stop was the campground where everyone was staying, followed shortly by the grocery store. I looked around the store for a while to get a feel for what they had, but the only thing I ended up buying was a tray of muffins. As I left the store, I ran into some friends from earlier on the trail (Hooker, 9, and Simple) who were walking back to the campsite. When they realized that I had made it to town and all I had bought was muffins, Simple decided to start calling me Muffin Man. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if that’s my name from now on.
I did some laundry, took a shower (oh boy!), and lounged about for a while. We finished the night with a group dinner and a campfire, brightening everyone’s spirits before the soul-crushing climb of tomorrow. 🤗
Pre-shower (yes I wear pants all day):
Post-shower:
