I had just sat my bag down at a table on the far corner of the patio (so as to not stink up the regular customers) and was walking towards the front door when I heard “Hey dear.” I didn’t think it was meant for me, but when I heard “hey hiker,” I knew I had been clocked.
The waitress had brought me a menu and a glass of ice water in literally seconds. I asked if there was a spigot somewhere since I was about to be chugging water and she didn’t even pause before replying “I’ll bring you a pitcher.”
When she dropped off the pitcher 30 seconds later, I knew it was true when she said “welcome to Paradise.”
The Paradise Valley Cafe was nine hot, thirsty pct miles from my camp that morning, plus the one off trail to get there. I was low on water and majorly dehydrated by the time I arrived.
The PVC was exactly what I needed in that moment – an oasis of shade and liquids and a solid burger and fries. Things only turned better when a hiker who I thought had passed me by joined me for lunch, and right as I was leaving I met several hiker friends from earlier on the trail I figured I wasn’t close to catching up to! PVC took a very tough day and kept dishing out aces.
18 miles in total today, the vast majority hot and hilly. Body holding up okay, I think the combination of dehydration and booking it the ten miles to PVC didn’t help much with biomechanical integrity. Looking to do close to 18 again tomorrow to set up what is hopefully a one day zero night trip into idyllwild to resupply.
Oh yeah, and I saw another rattlesnake today on trail. They just seem to be freaking everywhere! I’m keeping a sharp eye out now.
Leave a Reply