We were up early this morning. All the guys could think about was the Jose Burger at the Paradise Café 15 miles away. Phantom, in particular, had been obsessing about the burger for several days. 6:40am—Phantom leaves to hike…the earliest I’ve ever seen him leave camp. He’s got it bad. 7:08am—I start hiking. The short version of the story is we all pushed to get the miles done and by 1:45pm were sitting outside the patio of the Paradise Café ordering our Jose Burgers!
After the meal, it was time to try out thumbs out for the first hitch of the trek. Phantom and I teamed up, Mike and Good To Go stood nearby as a pair. We knew it would be easier to hitchhike in twos then as four. Phantom and I got a ride first…from a mid twenties gal who was….hmmm…well endowed. I could tell Phantom was enjoying talking with her from my vantage point in the back seat. I was hanging on for dear life. She drove 85mph down the curvy road! The 17 miles flew by to Idyllwild. 20 minutes later the rest of the guys showed up. We visited the ranger station, walked through town, and got a room at the Tahquite Inn. We missed getting dinner at 8pm because every restaurant was losed! Frozen pizza worked fine in our kitchenette.
Today’s mileage: 14.7, cumulative 151.2; weather: sunny, low 45, high 78.
