`PCT 2026 DAY 14 – CA Section B – Trying to outrun bad weather

Saturday, April 11th, 2026

So the primary goal of this day once they get to Paradise Valley Cafe (PVC) and IDYLLWILD. It was a good stopping off point, there was a big storm coming on Sunday and Monday that I’d rather not be out on the trail for.

I enjoyed the Sunrise while having breakfast and packing up my gear.

I made a quick stop to top off my water at Tule Springs before heading North.

Debennedetti’s Place is a well-known rest stop off the PCT in this area. But being 3/4 of a mile off the PCT unless you need water, a rest, or to jump in a cool pool because the weather was very hot there was no particular reason to go. The temperature being mild with a cool wind, made this an easy skip for me.

BUT at mile 143.1 I encountered my first on trail ‘Trail Magic’ (besides the water caches and rides to/from trail heads that were also most welcome)!!

In addition to water, there was a chest of cold Diet Coke and snacks!

Heaven on Earth!

The host also made an appearance and tried to tempt me to come down the hill to get a hot burger, but not wanting to take an extended break here (see day 11 when my 2-3 hour stop at Warner Springs turned into an afternoon and night), I declined.

But she was insistent, and after she went back for some more drinks and snacks for the cooler, she brought a hot burger back up for me. What an angel!

As the day wore on, I started to think that I might not make it all the way to PVC. Also, l was unable to get a hotel for that night (Saturday). There WAS an hotel available for Sunday and Monday night. Apparently, some ‘little’ 😀 music gathering called Coachella was going on nearby so that explained why hotel rooms were in short supply that weekend.

I decided to go all the way to PVC and camp in their backyard (and get a real dinner at the cafe as a bonus). Or I could stay on the trail for another night. In the end, I found a nice campsite about 2 miles from PVC, so I decided to camp there for the night. It would be an easy hike to the highway and PVC the next morning.

So, 13.3 miles on the PCT today.

Sunday, April 12th, 2026

The next morning, I woke up to clouds everywhere.

I didn’t have to cook breakfast, so I quickly packed up and finished the 2 miles to highway 74. Since it was such a short hike this morning, I’m going to call this day a ‘Zero Day’. I will also take a second Zero Day to avoid the bad weather that’s in the forecast.

The skies really showed that bad weather was coming. Hopefully not until I had a roof over my head.

PCT mile 151.8 completed!

I had thought that this was the end of PCT California section “A”, but discovered the day before that Warner Springs was actually the end of section A and that I had been hiking the first part of section B since leaving Warner Springs. So, I didn’t celebrate finishing section A then.

Ah well, that just meant I was further along than I had thought! 😊

After hiking along the highway to Paradise Valley Cafe and getting breakfast, I hitched a ride into IDYLLWILD to start my much needed Zero Day.

The rain started a half hour after I checked into my hotel room and was in the shower. Guess I choose a good time to get a Zero Day.

In addition to snowfall in the mountains that I *WOULD* have been hiking up if I had continued North instead of taking the Zero Days, there was rain and HAIL over the two days in Idyllwild. I think I choose wisely.