May 4 - Anza Campground

   We slack packed 10 miles today from Terwilliger Road to Highway 74.  Paul and Terry (from Camp Anza) had picked us up at Terwilliger Road last night and we camped in their front yard.  We ordered pizza last night.  It was incredible how wonderful pizza and a hot shower can be.  Today Paul drove us to Terwilliger Road.  We left our packs and hiked 10 miles today.  I actually pushed hard today to see if it would pick up my normal walking speed which I am not satisfied with.  Most of the time was spent looking out over Terwilliger.  We did the 10 miles in four hours and I stayed out in front most of the time.  When we got to Highway 74, we were met by John, a trail angel who Cody met at Barrel Springs,  He drove us down to the restaurant where we had lunch.  Mine was a wonderful mushroom burger.  Everyone was very interested in the thought of hiking the PCT.  Paul met us and took us back to camp where we made a quick trip to the post office before he went to Warner Springs to pick up some injured hikers.  Dinner was provided by Pat and Paul - hamburgers and hotdogs.  These people are truly wonderful.  Pat sewed some shorts for a couple of hikers who had rips in their shorts.  About 7:00, Paul showed up with Ray, Beth and Ron.  Ray had really bad blisters.  Then about 9:30, Peter Haskell walked into camp to a round of applause.  Peter is an absolutely phenomenal man.  He is somewhere in his late 60s to early 70s and has Parkinson's disease.  He is hiking as far as he can this year.  Check out his website at PTCA.org.  He does about 8 to 10 miles a day, but his will is incredible.

May 5 - Highway 74 to Cedar Creek

    We bid a fond farewell to Camp Anza and Pat and Paul and the rest of the hikers.  Paul drove us to the trailhead on Highway 74 and we set off for Cedar Creek - out goal for today.  The plan right now is to make Cedar Creek today, camp there tonight and get to Devils Slide tomorrow, then descend to Idlewyld on Sunday.  There are five of us hiking together today.  Merlin from New York.  He is one of three men who seems to be able to converse about everything.  "Blisterfoot" - a 50 year old Phillipino nurse from Los Angeles.  Cricket, Terry and myself.  Today was a beautiful day, not too hot and a little bit of cloud cover.  We were actually a little concerned that there might be a storm coming in.  We reached Cedar Creek at about 3:30 and decided to stay there.  The wind has gotten very strong and if we continued on we would end up camping on a ridge exposed to a very strong wind.  Cedar Creek is a beautiful place with pines and very large cedar trees.  This afternoon we could see Palm Desert and Palm Springs with the desert stretched out in front of us.  I was hoping to see the lights tonight but they are not quite visible.

May 8

In the Movie "Dances With Wolves" Kevin Costner says that every day has it's miracle. That is plainly true on this trek. Every day I see a miracle of Gods creation and every so after the miracle that lives inside us, when I see the courage of people like Peter Haskell.  We left Idyllwild this afternoon at about 2 planning to hike to the top of Devils Slide. Terry and I were talking about what an ordeal Devils Slide was going to be. I had tried to make it to the top a few years ago when I was in Idyllwild with the lady I was engaged to at the time. I was unable to make and had to turn back. Based on out experience we expected it to take three to four hours. We left without Merlin who was waiting for his new camera to arrive.  

May 12