Day 15 (16 April) - Mile 136.96 - 152.86

Unpaved Tule Canyon Truck Trail to Paradise Cafe

The wind and gusts continued until 10:45 PM keeping Barbra and I awake. We finally slept and then the winds began again around 4:00 AM. Two hours later the alarm went off at 6:00 AM.

Today we had to set an alarm because sadly Barbra will be leaving the trail to catch a flight home today. But, before she leaves we must hike 3.5 miles to where the "Barbra Evacuation" will take place.

Somehow we were able to get on the trail at 7:30 AM. Of course we first had to take our last daily picture with Barbra:

Fifteen fingers for 15 days.

Even though Barbra didn't drink coffee she seemed to have zip in her step:

Barbra zipping up the trail.

Is it zip or is she nervous about meeting Tim and getting to the airport on time?

Barbra ahead on the trail

Just one hour after starting out, we made it 2.73 miles to Coyote Canyon Road. This is where Barbra took her last step at mile 139.69 on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Barbra's last step on the PCT.

We walked up the road for 1/2 mile where we met Tim at the "Barbra Evacuation Point." This was quite a sad moment since neither of us wanted this trip to end.

Very sad moment in time.

Barbra got in the car and Brad and I watched them disappear down the dirt road.

Bye Barbra :(

Brad and I couldn't sulk long since we had over 13 more miles to hike today. All I had to do was look around and a smile reappeared on my face.

Self-portrait "The Smile Returns"

We continued to walk as our stomachs began to growl. Since we woke up and started hiking early it was too early to eat lunch, but not too early for a snickers break. We found the most perfect rock to break on:

Break on a rock.

I know I haven't posted many flower picture this year compared to 2 years ago. However, I couldn't pass this cactus flower up growing between two rocks.

Cactus flower in crack.

Just 15 minutes later, the rock we took a break on was in view in the distance. NOTE: I am pointing to the wrong rock with the pole. The rock is to the right and up a little from the black pole lock in the middle of the pole.

Mis-pointing to our break rock.

At 11:15 AM we made it to the Anza Water Cache. Trail Angels keep this cache full of water on this 15 mile dry stretch of the trail.

Many diehard hikers believe these water caches should be disallowed since some hikers rely on them, but sometimes arrives at a cache with no water left. When we arrived the cache was full and we noticed a note in the logbook that it was empty yesterday and today a trail angel re-filled it. We didn't need and water since we filled up when we saw Tim, plus I know better than to rely on a cache. Two years ago this cache was empty when we arrived.

Anza Water Cache

The cool part of this cache is that they have a hiker register that is numbered. We signed in at hiker number 122 & 123. I'm guessing it might be close to truth, but many hikers don't stop and sign in.

I am the 122nd hiker to pass this point.

Onward we hiked through some beautiful landscape.

PCT sign of the day.

Beautiful PCT.

I knew from 2 years ago that a local that lives right off the trail has a picnic bench to sit at, so we walked on looking for this place to stop and eat. Unfortunately, my stomach had another idea and made us stop before making it.

We broke for about one hour before heading on and came across the picnic bench very soon after. To my surprise the picnic bench of 2 years ago turned into "Malibu East Rest Stop" furnished with a surfboard to sign, 3 picnic tables, ice water, bottles of water, first aid kit, a cooler filled with fruit and sodas, and most surprisingly, a free library.

Welcome to "Malibu East Rest Stop".

Free library on the trail.

Cooler filled with goodies.

Picnic tables with ice water and water jugs.

Even though we just broke for lunch, we hung out at this oasis for about 20 minutes. It was now almost 1:30 PM and had just under 7 miles to the highway and another mile to the cafe. Meaning we were a bit behind schedule. Schedule? Yes...today we are meeting Tim and Brad's family at Paradise Cafe for a late lunch. I told Tim we would be there at 3:00 PM, but Brad, being less ambitious told his family 4:00 - 4:30 PM. So in this case, I was way behind schedule and Brad was just a bit.

We decide to try pushing it a bit. Too bad Barbra wasn't here. She would have enjoyed the challenge. We had about 8 miles to go and 2 1/2 hours to get there. That's way above our 2.5 mph pace assuming flat to downward trails. However, the rest of the day features 1,400 feet of climbing.

Ready, set, go!

Two hours after leaving we can see where we were when we had almost 6 miles to go. We came a long way in a short amount of time.

We came from way over there in 1.5 hours

Awe inspiring view

Finally, after pushing hard for 3 hours we made it to the Paradise Valley Cafe where we enjoyed good beer, pretty good food, and lousy service....but the beer was really good.

Our goal.

After dinner Tim drove us to Hurkey Creek State Park where we will be spending the next two nights. This is because the PCT is closed for the next 20 miles, so we have to walk a detour route. Tomorrow Tim will drive us back to the cafe so we walk from the cafe back to the to the state park.

Until then I get to enjoy a nice big tent with Tim.

Tonight's castle.