Day 17 - More Snow on the PCT 292.4 (17.8)

Mileage breakdown: Cougar Crest Trail 2.1 mi to meet PCT Mile 177.4, then continue on PCT. Last night was the first time sleeping on a mattress in over 2 weeks, and it was way too warm. A heated room and a heavy comforter had me waking up at 3 am to throw all of the blankets off. 

Woke up to a couple of inches of snow outside the hostel. 32 degrees and calm wind. The radar showed a lot more on the way. It was obvious all 11 of us heading out to the trail this morning were questioning our decision to do so. But the trail calls even though it began to snow harder as we loaded our bags in top of Gracen's car. We fit all 9 of us (including the driver) in a classic 1980's wagon. We all had our jokes about the snow. Gracen continued to tell us, "you're more than welcome to stay another day and night at the hostel."A weird thing after taking a zero day, is that it's tough to get back in a hiking rhythm. Especially with a lot of weight from food in my pack. 

I jumped ahead of the group and around mile 5, for the day, the snow on the ground was beginning to melt. I decided to make Eggs with Ham and Bell Peppers. I could have eaten 3 of them easy. I believe my hiker hunger has kicked in. 

Hiker Hunger - After eating, the feeling of being hungry doesn't go away. Is common after week 2-3. Can lead to upset stomachs. 

My legs and feet were really tired for the entire day. It could be from not moving to much yesterday or the fact that we walked downhill for 16 miles a couple days ago. 

Skinny Thor and I met up with Leah in the early afternoon and the three of us walked together till we got to the campsite. Because it wasn't very warm today, I never took a very long break. The benefit of this is we got to camp around 3:30pm. This gave us plenty of time to chill by the river (largest on the trail to this point). Soaking our feet in the ice cold water was quite rejuvenating. Ate dinner then worked on getting a fire going. Relaxed till dark, then everyone was off to bed. Of course I didn't get a picture of the fire... Or camp because I'm pretty bad at remembering to do so once I'm in camp. All I want to do is relax. I'll take a picture in the morning. 

Day 16 - Travel to Big Bear Lake. 2.1 mile road walk.

Everyone was up by 6:00am. There were 5 of us that took a ride from Ziggy's to San Bernardino. We were dropped off at the bus station and awaited our 8:20 departure to Big Bear. After a couple stops in town, we had a full bus of hikers. The road to Big Bear gave us a little taste of what we're missing by having to bypass this section. It was very weird traveling at 60+ mph when I'm so use to traveling at 2-4mph.  Also, the driver was pretty aggressive for how windy the road was. Some of the people toward the end we're getting a little car sick.  The bus dropped us off near the Vons grocery store. Almost everyone went in to buy food for the next section. I already had 3 resupply boxes with me (way too much) so I continued on to the Big Bear Hostel, which was a 2.1 mile road walk. 

When I reached the hostel, Sarg greeted me and gave me the rundown on how everything works and where everything is. Unpacked all my gear and dried out my tent. I relaxed though the early afternoon then went to the post office to ship the extra food I had Ali with maps/paperwork home. I figure I had enough snack food for 12 days when the next section was only 6 days.

Around 3:30, a group of us (Anna, Leah, Viet, Riley, Skinny Thor and Me) decide to go to the Big Bear Brewing Company which sat only a block away from the hostel. I had a really good Chocolate Porter and Honey Blonde.Later, after hanging around the hostel for a bit, the owner Greg, took us to the best Mexican restaurant in the area. He even ate with us. All good company. 

Packed the last few things before the early departure tomorrow morning. My pack is huge and pretty heavy. 6 days of food is a lot. Luckily I only need to carry around 2 liters of water to start the day off. 

Day 15 - Downhill to Ziggy and the Bear's. 210.8 (20.3)

Was surprisingly warm throughout the night. I had every piece of dry clothing I could find on. Chatting with the group, we conclude it was in the mid 20's last night. The wind/storm passed some time before midnight. When I got out of the tent, I was presented one of the coolest views of the trip. What made it all the more special was what we had to go through to have that view. It made yesterday's hike totally worth it! 

              Today was downhill... The entire time. Steep downhill for the first 15 miles and then a gentle slope for the last 5. The trail was littered with breathtaking views. All enhanced by yesterday's snowfall.  

                   

     Didn't stop to much until mile 205.7 where the next water source was. Hung out there for a while with Skinny Thor and Leah. The wind was really picking up as the afternoon continued.  

      Arrived at Ziggy's around 6:00pm and from that point on it was go go go. Signed in, got my resupply packages, sorted through the resupply packages, clean up, setup bed, take a breath, and figure out how to get to Big Bear Lake tomorrow.   

       

            There is another fire closure between miles 236 and 252 that does not have a hiking alternate. So I will be taking public transit to Big Bear Lake tomorrow. At some later point I will return and hike Mt San Jacinto and this section to truly complete the hike. This section is suppose to open up in a month or so for all the hikers starting early May. 

Day 14 - It Does Rain on the PCT. 190.5 (17.2)

Mileage breakdown: Road walk out of town 1 mi + Ernie Maxwell Scenic Trail 2.5 mi + Devil's Slide Trail 2.6 mi + PCT miles 179.4 thru 190.5 = 17.2 miles. Throughout the night I could hear rain. When I woke up it wasn't as bad as I thought. 35 degrees and foggy.   

    Did my best to pack as much as I could before leaving my sleeping, but eventually I had to pack it as well. I didn't really know what to expect, weather wise, for the day so I prepared for the worst. With everything packed up I went to the restroom to let my phone charge. With no sun, my solar panel and it's empty battery are dead weight. 

        Before leaving town, I stopped by the store one last time to see if they had any hand warmers... They did not. 

I was off. Walked the roads to the Earnie Maxwell Scenic Trail which would take me to the Devils Slide Trail. After a combine walking distance of 6.1 miles, I was back on the official PCT. 

                               By the time I hit the PCT I was in the cold wind and there was snow on the ground. This continued for the rest of the day.  

           At mile 186ish there was a strong flowing stream which I used to fill up 5 liters of water which needed to last the next 20 miles which wouldn't have any.  

 While at the water source I met up with Alex, Anna, Leah, Riley and Alyssa. I hiked with them for the rest of the day as the conditions were pretty intense and I thought it was better to hike with others. 

It was long, windy and cold, but we all took our time and made it to Mile 190.5. We all made some type of comment when something good happened, such as the sun poking out for 5 seconds (which felt amazing) or the wind calming down. That helped make this section better. 

Not 5 minutes after arriving, the now started to come down much much harder and the lightning and thunder were right over top of us. It was tough putting up a tent in those conditions, but I managed to do so without getting snow all over my gear. Took some pictures then hopped in my tent for the night.  

 

  It was around 6:00pm so we all are dinner in our own tents and had some funny comments, which we yelled to the group, about our current predicament. I think I was asleep by 8:00.   This picture was inspired by what my dad used to do on all of our backpacking trips when I was a kid. 

 

Day 13 : Idyllwild & My First Zero. 162.6 + Alt mile 15.4 (0.0)

I slept in. Woke up at like 7:00. Hung around camp figuring out how I was going to organize my day. First, shower. It was the greatest shower of my life.    Second, laundry. I decided while I wait for it to wash, I could buy my resupply food and be back right as it was finishing up. Put the clothes in the drier and went back to camp.  

       

        I bought so much food that I almost continuously ate for the rest of the day.  Wondered the town then went to the library to use their wifi and upload pictures to Dropbox. Only got about 150 of 480 uploaded before I decided to head back to camp. Not too many people where there, so I took a nap while the rest of the pictures uploaded using my cell data.  Took some time to organize my food. Had to figure out what needed to be eaten before I hit the trail tomorrow. In the end gave 2 of 4 pudding cups to Bacon, who had his tent next to me, in exchange for a cookie and a bunch of alcohol swabs (I was almost out of them after cleaning some small blisters during the first few days on the trail). Threw some food in the hiker box and took a couple Tuna packets.

As the evening rolled in, I took my second shower of the day. Relaxed around the camp till I was cold, then bed.