October 31 🎃

Distance: 27.6 miles | Ascent: 3390′ | Descent: 3540′

Lunch: J – blueberry oatmeal and chicken (B), A – Shepherd’s pie (A-)

Dinner: J – orange chicken (C+), A – beef stew (B+)

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We’re really, really glad that we didn’t hike in costume today. Jason searched all over Wrightwood for anything, even just a white sheet, but to no avail. That failed mission ended up being a godsend.

We (i.e., Jason) thought it would be fun to hike in a costume and “trick-or-treat” any other people or hikers we came across. Our (i.e., Jason’s) hope was that our sheer audacity of asking for candy would cause such an uncomfortable situation that the strangers would feel obligated to comply. We (i.e., Jason) imagined a slew of day hikers that would be tickled at our (i.e., Jason’s) humor.

We saw maybe three people all day. One was a hiker going southbound who passed us as we packed up camp. The other two were walking their dogs, probably completely unaware they were on the PCT. 

Imagine if Jason’s plan hadn’t failed at step one. Imagine if he walked all day through the desert in a cheap pirate costume. Imagine his disappointment when he didn’t get any candy from strangers.

Fortunately, today was just a normal day and nobody wore anything weird or unusual, nor did anyone confront strangers in the woods begging for free food. Instead, we walked.

We walked a trail winding just above Silverwood Lake. It was pretty from a distance, but up close, we saw that most of the trails along the lake were lined with trash.

After bending away from the lake, the trail cut through a property with giant pipes sitting in the dirt. Maybe for a dam project? There are several nearby.

As the sun set, the air became pleasantly cool. We took advantage of this and breezed through the evening miles on easy, sandy desert terrain.

We continued for an hour after dark, using our headlamps to light our path along a Deep Creek in a black valley with scraggly trees and a bed of crunchy leaves. It felt appropriately spooky.