Zero Day - Friday, May 23

I studied geology in college. In fact my major was Earth Science/Physical Science, a focus on geology with physics and chemistry. I am glad to have studied geology because it makes the outdoor adventures I love that much more interesting, the way a chef enhances his love of cooking by studying heat transfer and thermodynamics. The more you know, the more interesting your passion is.

Yosemite is so interesting due to its history of granitic uplift and glacially eroded landscape. The U-shaped valleys, Roche Montanes, tarns, cirques, arettes and hanging valleys are dynamic and interesting.

The Grand Canyon has horizontal sedimentary beds deeply eroded, exposing a rich history of the earth as well as a demonstration of a water erosional landscape.

Mt. Rainier is the quintessential extrusive volcanic peak complete with layers of ash and andesite and crumbly, ice eroded rock.

So when we entered the Cajon Pass area I was looking for familiar landforms and geologic formations. It looked a mess. No structure. No pattern. Just a jumble of dirt and rock as if a giant had vomited oatmeal into the area where it all froze in place as it landed. What are the forces involved in the formation of this area? Erosional? Depositional?The only organized landforms were sandstone looking plates jutting at about a 45° angle from the base of the valley. Lots of them all in a line. Hmmmmm…. As if it had been thrust up into position all along a line … a FAULT LINE! The San Andreas fault! Oh! That's what's going on. This is the thrust zone of the San Andreas. This is all recently contorted rock formed as the fault moves and grinds. And those up thrust beds are the latest addition to the jumble. And the trail winds and contorts as it wiggles through the mess, giving an excellent tour of the area.

Today was a zero day at the Best Western of Cajon Pass. You would think and hope that a zero day means sleeping in, relaxing, in short, doing nothing. But there are so any details that must be taken care of. Today is Friday before the Memorial Day weekend. The post offices will be closed until Tuesday, but we have a food drop in the Wrightwood post office we would like to get on Sunday night or Monday morning. So we hitched a ride this morning to Wrightwood to get our food out of the post office and move it next door to the hardware store that is open both days.

We came back to the hotel and did laundry. Sweating in the same clothes day after day takes its toll, and although once we start hiking again we will stink them up in the first few hours it is nice to start out fresh.

We are following our plan to skip the Tehachapi to Kennedy Meadows leg of the trail to get us to the Sierra before we fly home for weddings July 8 from Reno. This means finding rides from Tehachapi to Kennedy Meadows. A few hours of research on the Internet and we found bus service from Tehachapi to Mojave and Mojave to 9 Mile Canyon Rd where we can hitch up to Kennedy Meadows. and the start of the Sierra Mtn portion of the trail.

While figuring out our transportation option Trail Saint Dave called from Wrightwood where he had been day hiking. We invited him to stop by the hotel and we would take him to Taco Del Mar adjacent to the hotel. Dave said he knew of an amazing Sushi place 10 minutes out he would like to treat us to that was exquisite. He would pick us up as he passed through.

A few minutes later there was a knock on our door and we were on our way. Neither Sally nor I had ever eaten sushi, so Dave ordered and showed us how to eat it. We had tuna, salmon, mackerel and eel, all amazing both in taste and presentation, little pieces of edible art. An amazing meal. Thank you again Saint Dave!

When we were dropped off at the hotel we donned our suits and headed for the hot tub. Sally does not have a suit with her, so with assurances from the owner that most people at the hotel are PCT hikers this time of the year and most go to the hot tub in their underwear, Sally followed "suit" and spent an hour in the tub in her Fruit of the Looms.

We met Keith and Leslie from Banff while soaking. Leslie hiked the PCT two summers ago, going southbound. Keith works at a backwoods heli ski lodge during the winter and plays summers. With us in the tub also were Mark and ??? both from the Phoenix area in Arizona. The four of them had been hiking together almost since the border where they met on the trail (Keith and Leslie are married).

After our soak we had a calorie boosting trip to Taco Del Mar, a packing session and lights out. We hope to arise early tomorrow and get some miles under us before the heat of the day (highs predicted of 90°) sends us scurrying for the shade.