Hot then cold, yes and then no…

The story begins just four miles south of heaven. Roei was lying on the path, exhausted, and I sat next to him.

«So what do you want to do?» I asked.

«I don’t know. I’m exhausted.» Roei is never shy with his emotions; exposes the ups and downs with equal enthusiasm.

«We could flip a coin,» I suggested.

«Yes, let’s do it.»

I searched my wallet until I found my trusty coin.

«Tails is the cowboy, so that’s the fun option. Hot springs. Heads is boring; we camped within two miles.»

«Where did you get a coin with a cowboy?» —the Irishman intervened, joining us just in time.

Of course, he landed crosswise.

«Nooooo! That means we have to walk four more miles!» Roei lamented.

«We don’t have to listen to the coin,» said the Irishman.

«Yes, sometimes currency is just a tool to tell us what we really want,» I added.

“No, we have to go to the hot springs,” Roei insisted.

Everyone who had arrived before us was setting up their tents and preparing to prepare dinner. The sun was setting, but the kids and I didn’t hesitate, dropped our backpacks and jumped right into the steaming pool. The moment our feet hit the water, we were ecstatic about the coin’s decision, as all the pain of those 22 miles disappeared. We soaked until the stars appeared in the sky, and only once we were warm to the core did we do our camp chores.

Just the day before, I had spent the entire night shivering, waking up to frost in my tent. Getting out of bed has never been easier in Deep Creek, with the hot springs just ten steps from my hallway. I cycled hot and cold for the next three hours, delightfully at ease.

The day I became a disgusting Blueblazer

«Would you believe we had a McDonald’s full of hikers panicking about the winter storm today? I can’t imagine a more perfect day for a hike!»

He was chatting with some hikers, admiring a sunny view of the mountain. We said goodbye and, I kid you not, just five minutes later, I got snowed in.

At first it was so ridiculous that all I could do was laugh as I put on my raincoat. Although the first snowfall only lasted a moment, when I looked at the horizon I could see what awaited me. The wind picked up and my vision disappeared as I was enveloped by clouds. When I could see in front of me, it was a sea of ​​freshly fallen wood.

The day’s hikers had warned me of this, advising me to take the forest path, but I thoughtYes of course. I’m not that kind of hiker. What I had not anticipated was that the registration had been done without any concern for PCT purists.

The trail had disappeared.

At first, I tried to make my way through the logs, with FarOut in hand to guide me. But the wind was blowing so hard I could barely see and the temperature had dropped so drastically that I legitimately felt like I was in danger. I realized that my sense of ethics didn’t mean shit: I had to get off the mountain! As soon as possible! And that meant taking the path.

When I saw the road to Wrightwood in the distance, I started running. The only thing that saved me from this nightmare was a walk to the city. There, in the parking lot, I saw a man getting into his truck.

«AID!» I yelled, «WAIT! I NEED HELP!»

Before I realized what was happening, I had two beers and a full chimichanga, dressed in a fuzzy pink mumu at Mama J’s cabin. I was expecting nothing but the jacuzzi. I was safe.

I’m not walking in that

I woke up to a beautiful sunny day in the city, ready to walk. I did all my chores and met up with the guys to resupply. I drank my jug of orange juice in the parking lot and then got a car back to continue with Roei.

As we left Wrightwood and gained altitude, we were able to see the magnitude of the snowstorm for the first time. And we were faced with the reality that it wasn’t exactly over.

When we got out of the truck, Roei immediately started shaking. It was gray and the wind hit us from all directions.

“This is as bad as yesterday,” I said.

“Yes, but once we get going everything will be fine,” Roei replied.

«No, it won’t. It’s only going to get worse as we go up. Roei, I’m not walking in this.»

«But the Irishman is already on an excursion.»

«Any reasonable person would take one look at this and turn around.»

And so our hitch took us back to where we had come from.

That night, Roei and I slept next to each other like two kids at a sleepover, me in a single bed and him on the rug below.

«That was a good section of the road,» Roei recalled sleepily. It was just after eight at night.

“What do you mean by hot springs?”

«Yes, but there was also that day where we followed the stream all day.»

«And you have to go swimming! Twice!»

«And the canyon was really pretty.»

“And we got to sleep by the lake!”

«Yeah, with the raccoons and the screaming duck.»

«And we had those fruit cups!»

“Yes, this PCT is a good path,” concluded Roei.