Idyllwild Trail Festival celebrates PCT hikers and the community
The 2nd annual Idyllwild Trail Festival will be held on Saturday, April 26, at Idyllwild Town Hall, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will be a celebration both Pacific Crest Trail hikers that pass through Idyllwild, and of the town itself. The festival will feature demos of the latest outdoor products, representatives from manufacturers, , and a silent auction. Admission is free, with food and drink available for sale.
The festival is hosted by Nomad Ventures, a family-owned chain of three stores, with one in Idyllwild. Proceeds will go to benefit two nonprofit organizations, Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit (RMRU) and the Fowler O’Sullivan Foundation. RMRU is an all-volunteer search and rescue team that is often the first to hit local trails when hikers encounter trouble in our mountains. The Fowler O’Sullivan Foundation organizes searches for missing hikers and provides a support network for their families.
The foundation is also a partner in the Trevor Spikes project, along with Nomad Ventures and the equipment manufacturer, Kahtoola. Fletcher Damon, whose family owns Nomad Ventures, explained that the Trevor Spikes project helps hikers “get the right gear before that climb into Idyllwild.” The program is named after Trevor Lehar, who died on Apache Peak in 2020. He had ordered spikes and an ice axe, and they were waiting for him at the Idyllwild Post Office, but he never made it that far. The San Jacinto mountains are the first encounter northbound PCT hikers have with ice and snow, and the program allows PCT through-hikers to order spikes and ice axes online, receive a 20% discount, and have them delivered to the Paradise Valley Cafe at the intersection of Highways 74 and 371.
Fletcher said that last year’s inaugural event “was a strong start, getting a good amount of traction with the PCT crowd. We hope to build on that to celebrate both PCT hikers and the town of Idyllwild.”
Idyllwild Trail Festival, Idyllwild Town Hall, 25925 Cedar Street, Saturday April 26, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. To find out more about the Trevor Spikes project or make an order, visit nomadventures.com, email [email protected], or call (951) 659-4853.
