Well, I am going to attempt to get an entry in before passing out from a "food coma" in Big Bear Lake. I pulled into the Big Bear Hostel early this morning after catching a ride with another hiker from State Highway 18 (PCT Mile 265), and just finished a "Hiker Feast" cooked by a trail angel that has been moving from one town to the next.
I was surprised that I needed two days off at Warner Springs after just four days on the trail, but the break ended up doing wonders. Instead of leaving (or should I say "limping"?) Warner Springs in the pouring rain, I was able to head out in just a moderate drizzle feeling so much stronger than the day before. The extra day off also put me a day behind a nasty weather system that sweeped through the San Jacinctos Mountains. Rather than being caught up at 8,000 feet with a fresh dusting of snow, I was able to walk through the "Mini Sierras" in sunshine and mostly clear trail. What little snow I did hit was left-over snowpack from the winter on the north-facing slopes. There wasn't anything seriously dangerous (i.e., snow on exposed slopes/cliffs where you'd fall off the mountain if you fell), but there were definitely a few spots on Fuller Ridge where I had to kick steps going downhill to keep from slipping (a twisted ankle still wouldn't bode well for the rest of my trip).
So far, the section through the San Jacinctos has been my favorite of the whole trip. To start with, I lucked out by coming across a water cache left by some unnamed trail angels where the PCT crosses the Palms-to-Pines Highway; this saved me making a two-mile detour before starting the initial climb up into the mountains. Once making it to the ridgeline, I was treated to terrain and scenery that really was reminiscent of the Sierras (I haven’t braved them with a pack and ice-axe yet, but I’ve done plenty of trail running there over the years). I also lucked out with running into a great string of hikers to talk with. The first one was an engineering consultant from the Bay Area who had done the AT last year and was full of good advice with regards to gear and managing unusual trail conditions. With respect to gear, he seconded the recommendation for an MSR Hubba tent that a number of hikers seem to revere. For what my Tarptent Contrail is (1.5 lb, single-wall, non-freestanding tent that is pitched with one trekking pole), it’s great. However, I have not been entirely happy with the trade-off that one makes when one gives up a proper double-walled tent for a lightweight tarp shelter. Although Southern California is generally dry, I’ve had a number of mornings where my shelter AND sleeping bag were wet with condensation – making me question why I was carrying a shelter to begin with. After the San Jacinctos, I set the shelter up next to Mesa Windfarm (which is situated appropriately) to test its wind resistance – and it performed about as expected. That is to say, it blew over and had to be re-pitched during the night. Had it been raining, I would have been soaked. So I broke-down and ordered an MSR Hubba as soon as I got to Idyllwild. Anyhow, back to the hikers…
After the first few days of hiking through the San Jacinctos, I encountered an older couple (active, but in their 60s) who had already found a ride into Idyllwild from a pair of day-hikers. Since I needed to resupply anyway, I joined with them down a side-trail and caught an immediate ride into town. Although Idyllwild is a nice, touristy, mountain town, it is also known for being a bit of a hiker trap. It’s the first full-service town that one comes upon on the PCT, and many hikers end up losing several days after getting sucked into all the amenities. Fortunately I was able to rest-up, refuel, and make it back to the trail in exactly 23 hours. Before leaving town, I joined the older hikers for dinner where I really began to appreciate the amount of traveling that I’ve done the past few years for various internships and races. I’m not trying to say that being well-traveled makes one a better person, but I do think that it makes it easier to connect with strangers – as if sharing some common ground (e.g., working last summer in the town where someone is going to college) makes it easier to break the ice. It was fascinating to hear about the types of adventures that they’ve done over the years, and more importantly inspiring to know that you can still attempt challenges such as the PCT when you’re grey in the hair. I also ran into Damien again, a 25 year old from Utah who was in my four-person room at Warner Springs. True to his trail name of “Detour”, he had caught up to me after hitching around another section of trail (something to do with the weather I believe, but I forget the exact story). He would have been a good person to hike with, but he’s been averaging about 5-10 miles/day less than me – and he was heading backwards on the trail to catch a section that he missed when we last spoke. Last but not least, there was “Zee” (or at least, that’s what he called himself when he was absolutely stoned off his ass). Zee wandered into my state park campground at 9pm just as I was planning for the next leg of my trip. I haven’t exactly spent a lot of time around drugs, but I’m pretty sure this guy could’ve been a poster-boy for one of those “This Is Your Brain On Drugs!” advertisements. I couldn’t quite understand everything he was saying, but I remember him talking about how the world was going to end the next day (I later found out that the following morning was in fact a predicted “Day of Rapture”). He also recommend that I “Buy some of that… GREEN POWDER… from Nature’s Wisdom [one of the health food stores in town]… tell ‘em that ZEE sent you... oh, and by the way, keep an eye on the sky tonight – there’s going to be some crazy shit going down tonight.” In hindsight it was a pretty comical encounter, although it kinda creeped me out at the time. He didn’t seem like the type who would hurt anyone, but I definitely slept with all of my gear inside of my shelter that night.
Anyhow, I restocked on food, ordered some new gear from REI (shipped to a P.O. in Big Bear Lake), and picked up a few odds-and-ends at the local outfitter before hitting the trail for another 3.5 days. I bought a pair of gaitors that turned out to be a blessing in terms of keeping rocks, sand, and cheat-grass out of my shoes. I also picked up a waterproof stuff sack to store my down sleeping bag and jacket. I wasn’t comfortable with the fact that the two warmest items in my arsenal would be next-to-useless if I didn’t protect them from getting wet (down loses its loft when it’s soaked). As for REI, I got an MSR Hubba tent and short-length Thermarest Neo-Air mattress (blow-up sleeping pad) sent to my next town stop. I feel like a wimp for giving up on my Z-Lite foam pad, but I just wasn’t sleeping well on it. The Neo-Air also packs down to the size of a burrito, so I won’t have this obnoxious yellow pad catching on branches when I have to crawl through trees that have fallen across the trail. As for shelter, I’ll probably bounce back and forth between the “real” tent and the tarp tent depending on climate - but I’ll be happy to have something bombproof for the Sierras and Washington.
The three days (plus one easy evening at the start) between Idyllwild and Big Bear flew by pretty quick. After finishing another day through the San Jacinctos that topped out at 9,000 feet, I descending down endless switchbacks on San Gorgonio Pass to what I believe is the PCT’s lowest point (about 1,800 feet). Going downhill is usually fun, but I can guarantee that it gets tiring after the fourth hour or so. At the bottom, I crossed under I-10 to encounter a hiker named “Kitchen Sink” (apparently named for carrying a ridiculous amount of gear her first couple of days) and a cache of water, soda, and beer. I ended up cooking dinner there underneath I-10, but skipped the beer on account of already being dehydrated. From there, it was a 6,000 foot climb the next day followed by a moderate trek into Big Bear.
Big Bear is not a terribly interesting place (akin to a small-scale South Lake Tahoe), but the hostel has been great. I’ve showered, WASHED ALL MY CLOTHES!, restocked on food, picked-up new gear from REI, and arranged a ride for tomorrow morning to get back to the trail.
Slowly but surely, I think I am getting the hang of this whole thru-hiking business. Everyone has their own style, and mine seems to be one of hard pushes on the trail (25-30 miles/day) with relaxing breaks in town. I’ll make small talk with other people on the trail, but the towns seem to be where everyone gathers to really talk about gear, trail conditions, and anything else that crosses our minds. I was worried about feeling isolated on the trail, but it really hasn’t been so bad. There’s enough contact on the trail where you don’t feel out of touch (it’s really no different from a typical school day where you make small-talk with other students, but you don’t actually do anything social). Once in town, everyone (myself included) seems to be eager to catch-up with one another; and you do tend to run into the same hikers time and time again. Speaking of which, I would rather catch up with a few people than sit in front of this computer all night - so that’s all for Big Bear Lake.
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