Day 25, Mile Marker 207-211, Ziggy & The Bear’s (Trail Angels)

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Elevation pretty much flat
Distance Hiked: 4 miles (NERO day; nearly a zero day)

Post By Melissa:
Nick and I awoke at Casa Rustad refreshed and feeling good.  We spent the day washing our clothing, washing our dishes, and making a trip to buy some supplies.  We both bought some new shirts.  The green Patagonia long sleeve shirt I picked up in Idyllwild was just too hot and Nick wanted a second shirt to supplement his wardrobe.  We both bought the typical hiker button up shirts with the bug repellent on them to scare away mosquitos and ticks (haven’t seen many yet). I couldn't believe these shirts are nearly $100!! That seems like robbery…but thank goodness we each were able to use our 20% REI discounts to make it easier to stomach.  We also made a stop at the store and bought a few of our favorite food items to supplement what we already had in our resupply stash.

Nick’s father cooked us an amazing dinner of bacon wrapped filet mignon, mash potatoes, and some other yummy fixings. It was going to be hard to get back on the trail after this but we had to do it.

After dinner wrapped up we finished backing up our backpacks and getting on our hiking gear.  We jumped in the car with Nick’s parents and headed back to where we left the trail (Snow Canyon Road).  By the time we got there and saddled up to hike it was 8:20pm.  We needed to hike the 4 flat miles to Ziggy and The Bear’s house so we were not too worried.  We put on our headlamps and set off into the darkness.



It was very dark out in the dessert and super windy.  We passed through a construction area where huge power lines were being put up.  We could hear the thick metal power lines smacking against each other making an eerie noise. Nick asked me to hurry through this area as he was concerned the high winds might make a power cable come down.

About a mile into our hike I see a garter snake on the trail.  Nick grabs it and we both play with it a bit and take pictures.  He tells me he is going to walk it off the trail as we thought we saw another hiker off in the distance behind us.  He took a few steps into the brush and let out a “Whoa!”.  He had just stumbled onto a rattle snake!!  2 snakes only feet apart.  Nick grabbed a hiking stick and moved the rattler further away from the trail.  We were both pretty excited about seeing both snakes so close together but were now thinking we need to be more careful about where we step next.




Rattle Snake!!


We finally reach the I-10 freeway and as we are following the trail under the freeway overpass we are ecstatic to see there is a cache there.  Ice chests full of ice and bottled water, soda, and beer!  Whoo freakin’ hooo!  Granted we had only walked about 3 miles at night in the desert, it was still an awesome surprise.  I gulped down a cream soda and Nick enjoyed a cold can of PBR…gotta love those trail angels!!  It really makes our journey extra special.  It’s the small things that really mean so much when you are out there in the dry, hot terrain.








Cheers!!


Around 11pm we finally find our way to Ziggy and The Bear’s house.  We know it’s well past hiker’s midnight (10pm) so we proceed up to the house with caution.  We are not sure what to expect.  We approach the house from the rear following a well marked trail with encouraging signs with smiley faces.  When we reach the front of the house we see 2 porta potties in the front yard and a sign on the side gate to the backyard instructing us to pull the lever to let ourselves into the backyard.  We turn our headlamps down low and enter.  When we reach the back of the house we noticed a nice covered patio and then the ground of the backyard is covered in cushy outdoor carpet.  SCORE!  We get to set up our sleeping area on carpet versus dirt…a very nice treat.  We see a few hikers near the back of the yard but set up closer to the entrance.  (The next day we’d learn those other 4 hikers were Mike, Va-Jazzle, Scrub, and a woman who hiked PCT in 1976). We then decide to throw our sleeping pads and bags right on the carpet and settle in quickly. No one is moving or talking and we see a TV on in the house but no movement.  There is an outdoor sink on the side of the house where we entered so we hit up the porta potties, brush our teeth at the outdoor sink and go to bed. It’s warm and windy outside and the fences are high protecting us from the gusts of wind but it was noisy.  I slept pretty good but Nick tossed and turned all night…

There are pictures of the backyard on tomorrow's blog in the morning daylight :)