Karaoke on VHS – The Journey

Today was a new day. I was very happy to wake up safely on the road. Yesterday was difficult, but since the city was almost here, I was eager to get going.

I packed up my tent while sipping a cup of coffee and began the descent over rockfalls and steep cliffs, chatting with Straight Up to distract myself from any fear that was trying to overwhelm me.

I arrived at Saddle Junction quite early in the morning. Being in Idyllwild felt like home. Having lived in Los Angeles for the past 12 years, Idyllwild has long been my little mountain escape. I have camped many times in the area and have hiked many of these trails. My dog ​​was even sworn in as Deputy Mayor alongside the infamous Mayor Max! Going down the Devil’s Slide trail was like coming home. I know many of these steps like the back of my hand, I was flying down the trail.

My goal was to get to the parking lot by noon and I met up with Straight Up, Cool Beans, and Bug at 11:57 a.m. Three minutes to spare.

We were hoping to accompany someone finishing their hike on their way back to town. From the trailhead came Dirt Nap and a local hiker who offered to give her a ride. When she saw us, he very kindly extended the offer to us. So we all piled into the back of his truck and they dropped us off in town.

As we were getting out of the truck, we heard «well, look who it is» from across the street. Floki and Penguin were having lunch at the Japanese restaurant! Floki had what turned out to be an acute case of tendinitis and got a ride from Mike’s Place to Idyllwild a few days ago. He asked me to keep it a secret to surprise the boys and I tried hard not to say anything, convincing them that he was slowly following our path behind us. Penguin had a bad case of heat exhaustion and was still recovering from his blisters. We saw him at Paradise Valley Cafe, where he got a trip to Idyllwild to rest for the last two days. Finally our entire group from day 1 was back together!

Being in the city is a lot of fun. We can’t walk anywhere without stopping to talk to hikers and locals who ask us what we’re doing. Floki, Straight Up, Bug, Cool Beans, Penguin and I shared an Airbnb. Fortunately, we thought of booking it a few days ago because all the campgrounds and lodges in the city are full due to the festivities this weekend. It’s so much fun having us all under one roof. And the best part is that the house has a hot tub, hot showers, and laundry facilities. I got into the jacuzzi and showered twice to feel clean. Darling.

We met up with a great group of familiar faces at the brewery for dinner before heading back to the house. At home we were all sitting in front of a small television watching The Lion King on VHS. This has to be a central memory of this path. I’m so happy here.

I hate to end this on a sour note, but there was bad news that demolished the Friday night karaoke we’d been promoting since Julian. Despite online reports, the Lumber Mill Bar stopped doing karaoke a long time ago. We may be hosting a small group dinner tomorrow and we’ve already proven that the TV can stream an impromptu karaoke session on YouTube to delay us until Big Bear. Karaoke will happen one way or another.

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