Tales of the wonders of the food at the Paradise Valley Cafe, just a mile off the trail on Hwy 74 had started clear back at Warner Springs. Phrases like "best burger on the trail" and a "breakfast to die for" floated by trail veterans gave us all an incentive to cover the 43 miles from Warner to Hwy 74.
In normal years the cafe is a quick side trip, then back on the trail. But a huge wild fire last year closed most of the 35 miles of trail north of Hwy 74 to the mountain town of Idyllwild, so most PCTers were hitch hiking up the road from the cafe to Idyllwild. Two hikers are rumored to have tried hiking the closed section and were fined $2500 each, so the incentive to skip the burned section of trail is large.
We hiked the 7 miles to the highway from our bouldery campsite by 9:30 in the morning. A sign at the trail head placed by the cafe owners said to call for a free ride, so we did and a few minutes later a white SUV picked us up and drove us to the cafe.
Sally's sister Sue, who lives in Palm Spring was going to pick us up at 2 after she got off work, so we had 4 hours to kill. Far Out and Crotalus soon joined us and large quantities of food were consumed.
Sally and I then moved to an outside table to plan the next leg of the hike, from Palm Springs to Big Bear, about 63 miles. We won't start on it until Sally's foot heals, so we may be at her sisters for a while, although we hope to be out on Sunday. Stay tuned.
Sue arrived at 2, and lunch at the cafe ensued. By 3:30 we were loaded in her car and heading down to Palm Springs. Crotalus and Far Out joined us, Sue and Bill graciously opening their house for our two new friends. Rest and conversation on the covered patio, a wonderful dinner of soup and salad and this day was over.
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