Devil’s Slide into Idyllwild Reboot

It was a brief but restful sleep: there was no wind, the tent was dry, the ground was flat and the only sound was that of an owl, and below us, Palm Springs lit up like Clark Griswold’s house in Christmas Vacation.

Fueled by a coffee and a Lenny and Larry’s, we headed out of the Fobes junction at an average gradient of 16% (some sections 31%), where you are literally parallel to the trail. At 7,146′ we saw our first snowfall!

Just before Apache Peak, we took shelter from the wind among a patch of Manzanitas for a quick snack and rest, before continuing on to the most dangerous section of this stage so far. In 2020, a young hiker died after falling on a narrow section of trail with a 70% gradient. Then to several areas of rock slides with barely enough width to place your foot. A clear reminder that every step carries great risk.

Thereafter, for several miles, blowdowns occurred, creating an already incomplete path to an obstacle course; accelerating our pace.

We passed a hiker who was taking a break and he reminded us that “slow miles” are intentional – a chance to truly embrace the beauty the trail has to offer. Thanks for the insight, Giggles! Between the infectious smile and the bagel and cream cheese you were carrying, you were exactly the reminder we needed.

By noon, we were riding sections of snow-covered trail as we made our way toward Devil’s Slide. This road would eventually take us toward Idyllwild, where we planned to hitchhike into town.

Today brought us a challenge, a series of butt-squeezing moments and stunning views, the likes of which you only see in documentaries, but it’s city day! Our hiker brains are already feeding our stomachs with avocados, lettuce, greens, and, well, a vegan donut from Amelia’s Donuts. After all, we are humans!

We had 13 miles to go before we reached the saddle, where a sharp left turn would divert us toward Idyllwild via the Devil’s Slide trail. We fell asleep the night before fearing the trail just by its name: we have vivid memories of descending Katahdin down the Abol slide. It was literally a slide of sand and rocks: dangerous, unforgiving, and not without some bloodshed.

As it turned out, Devil’s Slide didn’t live up to its ominous title; instead, it was simply an endless 2.5 mile descent of switchbacks. Even as we headed downhill, we were already anticipating the return climb in 36 hours. It’s probably why most hikers opt for a shuttle from Paradise Valley Cafe to Idyllwild and back, effectively avoiding this section. In the end, however, we were glad to have left the most difficult kilometers behind us and to have the descent into the desert in sight.

On the way down, we ran into Cache22 again, a double “Triple Crown” from Northern California who we had been outpacing for the past few days. He maintains a water reservoir around mile 1,400 and is extremely knowledgeable about the trails; We chatted the entire way, making the time fly by.

Before reaching the bottom, we met a father and son team returning from an overnight stay near San Jacinto Peak. They kindly offered to take the three of us to Idyllwild. We are parting ways with Cache22 for the moment; We’ll definitely pass on that beer!

Our first order of business was a stop at the ‘Idy’ church thrift store to buy some new ‘city clothes’ and for 5 bucks we were mismatched and ready to head to this mountain town, but not before a preliminary rain shower, just to remove at least one layer of trail before we got to the laundromat. While our clothes were shuffled, we looked for fresh vegetables and some spicy snacks at the local markets, then returned to our cabin at the Fireside Inn to relax. It was the perfect place to kick back, cook, do some video editing, and catch up on the latest episode of Survivor.

The next day was supposed to be a “rest” day, but we still logged miles doing chores. We searched through hiker boxes for Band-Aids and zipper bags, picked up our food resupply and new sneakers, and finally ate that vegan donut (with chocolate sprinkles…amazing!). We also reconnected with Petrichor, who we called «Survivor» because he’s a fan and always uses a Survivor perk. It was so nice to relax and catch up with a familiar face from the start of our trip.

We now return to our cozy cabin to pack up and prepare for our morning departure. San Jacinto here we come!

TO BE CONTINUED…

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using links in articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!

For more information, visit the About page of this site.