The Vortex – The Walk

Breakfast at De Benedettis was fantastic, as expected. They had a hot cup of coffee and boxes of my favorite brown sugar cinnamon pies for everyone. After a final charge of our battery banks, we gave all the pups a final pet and headed down the trail.

I spent the morning walking again with Straight Up. It’s great to have a walking buddy to pass the time with when needed and also have a mutual understanding when either of us needs time alone. What a gem. A few miles in we saw a magic sign on the trail and a man walking down the trail with a cold soda and a bag of chips promoting the place. It didn’t take much convincing to deviate from the path.

We walked to the place so aptly nicknamed The Vortex. This place was such a friendly and welcoming haven for hikers. The owners had written on a sign that they recently purchased the property, so the magic trail is new and not listed on the FarOut app. FarOut is an incredibly useful app that all hikers use to navigate and take note of camp, water, and more. It’s hard to tell from the photos, but this place had everything and more that a hiker could imagine.

There were inflatable couches, a variety of frozen drinks ranging from tequila to sparkling water, a variety of snacks, first aid and repair supplies, sunscreen, an iron, power banks and more. Drinking sparkling water, lathering on a few layers of sunscreen, and grabbing a Gatorade to go made the hot climb ahead that much more appealing. I am beyond baffled by the generosity of the path angels here.

At some point along the way we passed 150 miles! Feeling strong, I moved towards the path that led to paradise… that is, Paradise Valley Café. On the way we meet the trail angel Grumpy. I tried to activate the spell, but his trail name is moody for a reason. He’s notoriously a big character, but very kind to be here day after day ferrying hikers around town.

Speaking of trail angels, my dad’s friend Beyond generously sent some virtual trail magic to purchase our PVC lunch. My small table of hungry hikers was very grateful for this gesture. I ate my entire chicken sandwich and ordered a quesadilla to pack for a late night snack or breakfast. This was just the day of generosity.

At PVC we met and strategized about what the next few days would be like. We only have about 25 miles (or so) to Saddle Junction, which will take us to Idyllwild. The complicated thing about this stretch is not our aches and pains, nor the weather, nor worries about snow or landslides that have been a big concern in the past, but the water. This year has been particularly hot and dry. All the streams are dry and even if we feel well enough to move on, it may not be the best choice. Pushing yourself harder in the heat of the day means having to carry more water or, worse yet, running out of water.

Straight Up wrote the plan on the back of a napkin to map it all out. So our strategy was to push 4 more miles in the afternoon with 3-4 liters of water to dry out the camp. This water will help us during the afternoon/night and part of the morning until we reach Cedar Spring. FarOut reviews indicate that Cedar Spring is a reliable water source, although it is about a mile off the trail, adding 2 miles round trip to our day. In Cedar Spring we will again carry between 4 and 5 liters of water to travel another 7 miles to camp at Apache Creek Junction. There is also water available off trail from here as an emergency, but reviews say it is a steep climb so relying on this source is not preferable. Ideally, the water from Cedar Spring will keep us hydrated overnight and into the next day, where we will hike approximately 8 miles to Tahquitz Creek for more water, if needed, and finish the hike to Idyllwild.

Complicated. But that’s the kind of thinking we need to work on to ensure the safety of our group. Water is our guide when crossing the Desert.

Karaoke update. Word about karaoke is spreading like wildfire on the trails. We met Rolodex and another hiker at The Vortex who are excited about this. News travels quickly on the road.

It could also be named after a trail! We are testing it for now, more on that later.

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