It was a pretty good day.

We slept well on our FLAT campsite last night. I had to adjust the poles a few times. The wind was wild but we stayed snug and the tent was pitched well.

We actually broke camp early. 745am and we were hiking. We usually break camp at 8:10am so this was special.

We honestly made great time on trail. We alternated kids. Toothless was in a pleasant mood. He hiked a good amount too (and by that I mean play on trail).

Today we were headed to Little Bear Hostel. Which is the home of a triple crowner who lets people camp on their property, or in a shelter, and buy snacks and hang out. So Toothless was motivated by snacks. We were motivated to get out of the wind. We were on it.

Natasha fetched water from the concrete cistern using some solid problem solving skills. An umbrella and a bottle of water. For some yellow nasty water which we really didn’t want to drink (and thankfully did not have to)

We got there after Toothless fell into a cactus earlier in the day. Thankfully that was the only setback. Also thankfully his mittens took the brunt of the spikes. One mitten is toast. Can’t get the spikes out. We have a spare pair in our bounce box in Idyllwild.

The family who owns the property has kids. One is around 5 years old and played with Toothless for a while. We had snacks. Sat inside. Got some clean water (to replace our sketchy yellow cistern water). There were toys for the kids. Hot dogs. Wifi. Charging. Bathroom. Outdoor shower which we didn’t take.

We bought a bunch of snacks to bring for our last half day. This helps compensate for our calorie deficit. We thought ahead and had pulled snacks ahead and banked on having something from the hostel that we could bring on our last day walking to PVC.

Little Bear was generous and let us stay in the garage/ utility area where their pantry is instead of in the barn with everyone else. It was more cozy and had a bathroom for the kids.

I slept alright. A little warm at first but eventually fell asleep when it cooled down.