I can’t seem to leave Wrightwood. 

My hike on Wednesday started great until I took the reroute trails. It turns out they were poorly maintained, and I had another clue: I was alone. 

I am hiking the PCT by myself, but I always see other hikers throughout the day as they pass me, I pass them, etc. however I saw no one for two days. I missed the company.

Wednesday was 16 miles, which considering the trail was pretty good. The reroute trail took me east of the mountains, and I camped close to where I would head back west. 

Today, Thursday I started with sunny sky’s that quickly turned grey the further west I went. I gained enough elevation to go over a small pass and it started to snow.  As I dropped elevation it turned to hail, then rain. I have a rain coat, but my pants and shoes were wet. It was another 10 miles to Hwy-2, so I trudged on. 

Then it started to snow again. When I finally hit the highway around 4pm there was 4-6″ of snow on the ground and it was still coming down. And the wind picked up just to make my life interesting. My pants and shoes were still soaked, I was shivering and decided to take the first hitch I could get. This nice guy, Bret came by and said he was looking expressly for hikers in this weather. He already had one person: Sara. Bret lives in Wrightwood, so we came back here. 

Everything cheap was booked, so I ended up with a more expensive motel, but right now I’m in a warm bed with my clothes drying by the heater. SO worth it. 

This storm will continue through Friday evening, so I’ll be here until Saturday. Damn, I arrived in Wrightwood LAST Saturday.  Worst unplanned week ever.  

At least I can get a ride back to where I left off. 

The desert view: 

 
Poor selfie with soggy lens: