It was clearly time to replace the ancient (technically, seven-year old) handmade box that houses the hiker register after a hiker lifted the top and it fell off. So, out with the old and in with the new.

At Celebrate Anza, 2022, I gathered 19 postcards from hikers to their mothers for Mother’s Day — 13 within the US and six international.

It was a warm, sunny day on April 30 … a perfect day for a trailside lunch barbecue. The menu featured grilled burger, teriyaki chicken and rice, and four kinds of pie. Several hikers posed to show their preference for root beer over the other sodas on offer.

The puppies were also a hit, especially with some of the local 4-H kids invited to the event.

I’ve been fostering two litter mate puppies since March 22. I got them from Riverside County Department of Animal Services as seven week olds and they have turned into wonderful little pups.

The pups have been incredibly popular with hikers, and it appears word of their existence has been widely published in hiker Facebook, to the point that some hikers ask, when they see me, whether the puppies are around. If I have them with me, much snuggling ensues.

Gillian Larson was the first PCT thru rider to pass by my place in 2022. She stopped by during the Easter Monday event to water her horse. Gillian successfully thru rode the PCT in 2014 and 2016, then thru rode the Continental Divide Trail in 2018. She’s doing the PCT again in 2022, this time with new horses. Good luck, Gillian!

This year, I decided to resurrect a tradition from pre-Covid years: providing hikers with breakfast and lunch on Easter Sunday. The weather cooperated, and I served 18 breakfasts and 19 lunches on Sunday. I had a bit more food leftover of the lunch variety, so I repeated the lunch on Easter Monday, serving another 10 hikers. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food, and the pups were quite the hit with hikers.

With the continuing drought, 2022 has not been a very good year for local wildflowers; however, one can fine a splash of color now and again.

In addition, perhaps because of the drought, 2022 has been a spectacular year for blooming of the Mojave yucca.

While I held “subdued” events in 2020 (remember the PCT thru hiker year that wasn’t due to Covid?) and 2021, I’m doing a more typical Celebrate Anza event in 2022. The date is Saturday, April 30. Thru hikers need not rsvp. … Just show up. For everyone else, if you plan on attending, please rsvp at pct145trailangelmary@gmail.com by April 28 for driving and parking directions. Food service will run 11-2pm.