October 28

This morning the four of us woke up to fast moving clouds and wind. Bobcat left early in order to stay warm by hiking and Nat, Jane and I left not long after for the same reason. The wind picked up as dawn broke and we all knew we were in for a day of rough weather. We climbed in elevation all day and, as expected, the weather didn't improve much. It would be hard to complain about the weather at this point given what we've been through and how soon we will be back to low elevation. Nevertheless, it is an annoyance even though it cuts way down on water consumption and the amount we have to carry in these high desert dry stretches. 

Today went without a hitch except for one little oops. Bobcat had gone ahead because that's what ultralight hikers do when they are trying to stay warm, and really just in general they hike quick. Jane was ahead of me and Nat behind, when she took a trail that started getting really steep with gnarly switchbacks. I couldn't remember seeing tight switchbacks when I glanced at the map Nat had just an hour before, so I got out the GPS app on my phone to check. We were 400 ft. off trail and climbing hard. Luckily, Jane was within verbal yelling distance even though hidden by the fog. We turned around and headed down on the PCT, grateful we didn't go too far. At the parking lot by the road, Ryan and Marie were taking shelter from the wind in one of the privies. They were supposed to be over Mt. Baden Powell and in Wrightwood so it was a shock to see them. Apparently, they did the same thing Jane did, but kept going and got lost on the other side. They ended up doing over 3 hours of bonus mile hiking to get back and were getting a ride from Marie's mom to Wrightwood from their current location. Bobcat, Nat and Jane all decided to take the ride into town and I hiked on into the storm. Two miles in, I am at a campsite with a spring nearby and ready to weather the snow that is starting to fall. I was surprised again when Louis "Sugar Side Down" and Forest "Tittycakes" showed up just as the light of day was fading away. We shared our stories and laughed about the craziness and are currently being snowed on as we turn in for the night.