Month: May 2015

May 10th
Total mileage: 308
Today’s mileage: 20

Today was our first siesta around an actual body of water. Hendrix and Six-2 can be seen in the photo below. This was the beginning of Deep Creek, a creek which the trail would follow for the rest of the day. Six-2 said, “This is as good as it gets! It doesn’t get any better than this!” It was nice to see him filled with such euphoria. Warm temperatures, cold water, feeling that you’ve pushed yourself physically and sharing it all with new friends.

I actually got in trouble with the above photo, hehe. Some other industrious hiker had designed this lovely piece in tribute to Mother’s Day. Well, everyone was taking photos in front of it and sending it to their mothers. I followed suit. Days later, when I finally spoke with my own mother, she told me how proud she was of it…that she had printed copies at Costco, had sent it to her siblings, had made it her wallpaper on her PC. I think I blew it when I told her I actually just stumbled upon it ready-made. 🙂 I guess I gotta step up on future Mother’s Days.

 

The afternoon was hot. We reached the famous Deep Creek Hot Springs with about 20 minutes of daylight to spare. Six-2, Honeybadger and I camped along the water’s edge. We were warned not to drink water near the warm springs, as there was a dangerous bacteria in the region. This area was all around quite dirty, with visible toilet paper strewn about here and there along the rocky shore. There was also a professional sign that said something to the effect, “No Garage Collection here, Please pack your garbage out!” etc. And immediately beneath this sign were two garbage bags filled to the brim with empty alcohol containers and other refuse. People had even left cardboard wine boxes tied to tree branches. Especially sad because this garbage was clearly from city folk who had road access to this place, and it would have been so easy for them to have packed it out.

Six-2 insisted we had to take a dip in the warm springs. So the three of us dared the pools in the cold dark night. The light from my headlamp glistened off small shiny flecks of metallic flakes in the water, presumably from its geothermal source.

Warning from the official Deep Creek Hot Springs site, gulp:

“Do not drink the water!
The Hot Springs pools of Deep Creek contain a rare and sometimes fatal disease called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. The disease is apparently contained in contaminated soil and transmitted to the Hot Springs pools as the warm water flows through and over the soil. It is advisable not to submerse your head.
Due to the large number of visitors to the Hot Springs, human and organic pollution are increasing in the Deep Creek drainage. The highest Fecal Coliform counts are found in the Hot Springs area.”

May 9th
Total mileage: 286
Today’s mileage: 20

Us being goofballs. Sometimes it’s the silliest things. 🙂

We met two hikers in our hostel, Amy from Michigan and her French boyfriend, Fabien. They went down to the main drag in town to try and get a hitch. While walking en route to them, Six-2 and I passed a small antique shop, where a woman was standing on the porch. Six-2 began chatting her up, and I could tell he was in the early stages of attempting to Yogi a ride for us (planting the idea for her to offer a ride for us, don’t ask!) She soon offered to give us a ride. But she was playing a better game, hehe.

She asked first if we’d help move a dining room table to the porch. Of course, we were glad to. And then she asked if we would move a large dresser, which again, we were glad to. Then we squeezed into her car, and she was kind enough to let us scoop up our friends as well. She didn’t have a trunk, so we were filled to the brim, and to be honest, I had the best seat in the house as shotgun. But then the plan went awry. Just after she started driving, she said, “I’ll take you to Vons, that’s where all the rich people go and I’m sure one of them will get you to the trail. But first, let’s go see some birds.”

This was a bit of a headscratcher. But she immediately headed toward the lake, now taking us a couple miles off-course. All of us were thinking at this point we’d just have been better walking on our own to Vons if we’d known how involved this was going to become. She took us to a lakeside pier, and said the town had a couple of albatross(?) that we should go take photos of. I could sense the disbelief from the backseat, and I think Six-2 went so far as vocalize that, in essence, “he doesn’t need any photos of birds, he’s good”. I offered to jump out quickly, run to the edge of the water, and snap a couple of photos with my phone. I ran back and found our driver now on the phone, talking antique business for 10 minutes or so. Finally, she delivered us to Vons.

Six-2 and I let Amy & Fabien try to hitch, while we stood in the background. We figured it would be easier for the couple to get a ride, and if they had room, we could join. Well, we waited 20 or 30 minutes with no luck. Six-2 told them to stand aside and then he, with his desert hat and his mismatched racecar gaiters, stood on the edge of the sidewalk, and leaned his entire frame outward a good half-meter over the edge, hitching thumb extended. The very next car stopped.

You’ve heard of Trail Magic before. Well, this was my first case of…Trail TRAGIC. It was devastating. There was simply nothing here, save for this titillating sign.

Late in the day, Honeybadger caught up to Six-2 and I, and soon after, we came upon a curious creature, named Hendrix…who was carrying 3 containers of peanut butter and actively working on devouring his calories. He had a system down whereby he took a spoonful of peanut butter, and then washed it down with a gulp of water. Rinse and repeat. The four of us enjoyed hiking the rest of the day together, singing countless songs that mostly revolved around us knowing a single verse and the chorus. We would often begin a second verse…only to bail and return to the chorus for one final resounding time. We had another cold night in a valley with six or so other hikers.

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EXTRA: Joe Brewer has an excellent video showing this stretch of trail from Big Bear Lake (Mile 266) To Cajon Pass (Mile 342). I highly recommend subscribing to his channel:

May 8th
PCT mile 266
Today’s mileage: 0

Big Bear Lake got roughly 3 inches of snow last night. We’re glad we’re in town. We intend to buy food today for 5.5 days to Wrightwood.

We enjoyed a Mexican restaurant for lunch, and then meandered over to a Walgreens and a Vons. We both bought $5 blankets to help augment our sleeping bags for the next several nights. We briefly stopped in to the main backpacker’s hostel. The guy running it definitely had a grudge against the hostel we were staying in. We both felt that our hostel was much better value for the same price. We returned again to Murray’s for another hilarious final night of karaoke. Being that it was Friday night, the place was slammed and it brought out all kinds of talent. One girl sang her signature song, Redneck Girl, twice…including with a wardrobe change. Another local sang his signature Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and Lil Jon’s Get Low, much to the delight of the entire room.

I asked the barkeep if she could tell me what the question mark tap handle was. That was only $1.50, while the rest were typical $5 range. She said, “Why no…that’s the mystery beer. I can tell you, though, that it won a blue ribbon…”

 

May 7th
Total mileage: 266
Today’s mileage: 0

I’ve returned to the International Traveler’s Hostel in Big Bear Lake. This place is a great value for only $20. I’m the only one on a bunk in the bunk room, and the price includes two meals, laundry, showers, and a pickup from the trailhead.

I think I’m going to take another zero day today. That wasn’t my intention, but this last stretch really sapped my strength, and there is a cold front that has arrived, with snow expected tomorrow (Friday). It sounds like three nights should be in the mid- to high-20s, so it’s pretty tempting to try and wait it out, especially when this hostel is so cheap. And warm. Did I mention it’s warm in here?

I met a doctor on the trail two days ago, whose trailname is…wait for it..Doc. And I told him about how my legs have been super sore every night, waking me up a dozen times. He said it’s from overuse. That the muscles haven’t had time to repair and get stronger, that I need to really drastically reduce my mileage. I’m also a bit concerned about my right acchilles tendon, as it continues to be sore. It doesn’t look swollen, which is a good sign. But he highly advised me to take some time off.

BTW, 10% of the trail is done! hehe

I met Six-2, and hikers Honeybadger and Stretch at a Himalayan restaurant in town for lunch. We then returned to Murray’s again that evening for Round 3 vs. the Ironburger, and some truly terrible but awesome karaoke. Fellow hikers Fifty, Sweetums, Six-2 and Skyline are treating the saloon to their rendition of “Pony”. Somehow, I missed this song when it had airplay….

 

 

 

May 6th
Total mileage: 266
Today’s mileage: 13

Nearly froze last night. this quilt is not hacking it. Boiled water and drank Starbucks Via at 4 am. Snow is coming on Friday. I hope my friends get done before then. I’m 13 miles away from my first hitch and then a burger and beer. Can’t wait. This last stretch was my hardest yet. I think the lack of sleep is taking its toll.

Some of the first Joshua Trees of the trail.

I ran into Illegal and his hiking companion, who were happily slackpacking (hiking without packs) the stretch between the two trail access points to Big Bear Lake. They had stayed in town last night at trail angel Papa Smurf’s house, and Papa Smurf had kindly offered to drop them off this morning at Access Point A, so that they could hike to Access Point B, while keeping their heavy gear at his house. Such generous hospitality. They sang high praises about Papa Smurf’s house and said I could join them in the hitch down from the trailhead to Big Bear Lake.

 

 

 

 

 

Papa Smurf was very kind, calling his wife and telling her that he had the two previous hikers and also a new one (me), and to please put chicken and fries from the freezer into the oven. When I arrived there, it was clear that he had really opened his home up to the hiking community. There were probably 15 hikers milling about. He had coolers and fridges with soda and beer. I really appreciated his kindness. I also felt bad leaving, but there were only 3 bunks in the garage, so most hikers would be sleeping outside beneath a canvas awning. I really felt the need to get into a hostel or hotel room for the night, as I just didn’t want to be cold. So I troubleshot the host’s broken inkjet printer as a gesture of gratitude, made a $20 donation, and then politely left.

Rudy, one of the two excellent managers of the International Hostel drove over for free and picked me up. I got a bunk in a 4-bunk room by myself for only $20, which included a shower, laundry and two meals. There was even a little space heater just for me. I was never so thankful to be inside; dry, clean, warm and alone. I don’t think I even left the hostel for dinner. It was clear snow was coming, and I just hoped that my friends were doing ok out there.

May 5th
Total mileage: 253
Today’s mileage: 22

It was another challenging day. The wind last night was insufferable, and both Skyline and I tried in vain to get our tents up. After 10 minutes of futility, we both gave up and did our best to get our pads and quilts out without losing posessions to the wind.

Today required multiple water filtering stops. The creek looked bad but the water seemed fine. I carried 3L most of the time. It was a long climb up out of the canyon in the unrelenting sun. To top it off, the water report had a big warning about Poodle-Dog Bush being rampant in this stretch. It is akin to poison oak, and seems to prosper in places where recent fires have cleared the land. It looks and smells a bit like marijuana, and the surface of its leaf is kinda rippled and fuzzy like the outside of a pod of peas. No doubt the strong odor is to warn off other organisms.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poodle_dog_bush

At the end of the day, I met another hiker (who shall remain anonymous), and when I talked about my paranoia with the poodle-dog bush, he said, “Oh, that must be what I have on my ass.” Lol. Sure enough. Nearby hiker, Doc, confirmed that he had poodle-dog bush rash all over his butt and gave him some cordozone. Poor guy.

Finally got one bar of coverage at the end of the day, after being offline for the last couple of days. We knew it was going to be a cold night. I wore two hats, and my rain coat over my down coat, but it still was a miserable night. I sat up at 4 am and boiled water for Starbuck Via, just to warm myself up a bit.

The dreaded poodle dog bush. It tends to grow where wildfires have recently been:

I found my first soda cache of the trail at the first trail access to Big Bear Lake! Thank you Papa Smurf and Mountain Mama! I was quite surprised to find full-leaded Mountain Dew there. Rather than getting off-trail at this access point, I decided to push on to reach the main trailhead the following day, roughly 13 miles away.

One of the oddest moments of the trail. The PCT passes maybe 25 meters away from these large cages holding bears and other large mammals (I think lions and tigers too). They are used for the film industry. It seemed pretty sad. They didn’t even turn to watch me hike past.

 

 

 

May 4th
Total mileage: 232
Today’s mileage: 22 + 1 for water

Everyone had a rough night at Ziggy’s. The wind was so strong, it was scary. I kept expecting the canopy that was adjacent to me to collapse. I left before 7am and headed out into the tough climb. I guess moments after I left, there was a big brouhaha about a camel spider that was found in someone’s backpack. Ewwwww!

This stretch is notoriously hard due to weather…sometimes reaching 110 degrees at Ziggy’s. I got lucky and had reasonable heat the entire morning. 8 miles in, the trail reaches this beautiful canyon with radically different looking geological striations and a healthy creek. There is a ranger station located half a mile off trail, called Whitewater Preserve. I checked it out. It was a great little oasis with a nice restroom, potable water, and even a wading pool/pond for hikers to soak their feet. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the right time for a siesta, so I headed back out to the trail.

The second part of the day was pretty challenging, as there were several box canyons where the trail slowly worked its way out of seemingly impossible places. An older guy behind me called out, “Where have you gotten us trapped, Butch?”

We had to be on our water game today. I met up with a friend from Paradise Valley Cafe, Skyline. When we reached one of the last water sources for the hot afternoon, we found a nice piece of shade, took off our shoes and socks, and took a one hour nap that just passed in no time. We had intel that said there was decent camping at mile 232. We hammered out the final miles of the day and made it, but sadly found only exposed ground. The wind was unrelenting and we both had to abort on setting our tents up and settle for cowboy camping. There was very little sleep to be had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 3rd
Total mileage: 210
Today’s mileage: 5

Today kind of vanished in a haze. We drove to Big Bear City (different than Big Bear Lake), then on to Palm Desert (Palm Springs), where it was 88 degrees. Six-2 was kind enough to take me to Costco, where the optometrist department bent the frame of my glasses back into place (yay!). We then hit a terrific Mexican place for lunch, and then a Walmart where I managed to get my entire resupply done for $10.

We drove to Ziggy and the Bear’s house, which is about 5 miles from where we had gotten off-trail. They are a famous trail angel couple who allegedly purchased the house purely to support hikers during hiker season. Very organized, very kind. Felt like staying at a grandparents house. I think it is common for them to host over 1,100 hikers per season. Anyhow, once we got there, Six-2 began walking south on the trail. I drove the car back to the bottom of Mt. Jacinto, to the exact spot where we had gotten off-trail several days prior, locked my set of keys in the trunk, and began walking north. We passed each other a bit later, hehe, which was weird. This allowed me to reach Ziggy’s, where I stayed the night, and allowed Six-2 to take his rental car back out to the city, where he needed to work another day. By having walked the 5 miles today, he wouldn’t need to make them up on the morrow, when he hitched back to Ziggy’s.

They had fresh oranges, and Little Caesar’s pizza and sodas for $1. Several times throughout the night, they brought out a 5-gallon barrel of rocky road ice cream that some local had donated to the house. In the front, they even had six outhouses against the curb. They asked every hiker to wash their hands, and had a long list of rules. They also did a good job collecting each hiker’s information and requesting future postcards. A nice couple.

UPDATE: I ran into Skyline and Claire here, saw Darko and Taters in passing, and was where I first met HoneyBadger (visible in pic above).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 2nd
Today’s location: A zero in the town of Big Bear Lake
Today’s mileage: 0!

Laundry and shower done. Feeling more human already.

We had a fun time in town, hitting Saucy Mama’s pizzeria and ending the night with another meal at Murphy’s Saloon, where we witnessed some truly awful karaoke. Here are two shots of Six-2, with a guy he kept calling Warren Buffet, hehe. Warren kept leaning over us and asking for coffee refills.

 

 

 

May 1st
PCT mile 206 (actual total mileage approx. 202)
Today’s mileage: 5

Mile 206. Finally reached the desert floor. Beastly hot. There was a water tank that we could see for miles and miles from above, but the trail just took its time meandering down, with switchbacks that barely gave up any elevation, and it was a bit of a slog. We were on trail around 6:30, I think, and even though we only had 5 miles to the desert floor and the revered faucet, it still got quite hot in that time. Here is a sunrise shot:

Interestingly, you can see a video camera mounted on the pipeline below. We heard a story that water was being stolen for some sort of narcotics. Hard to believe. Also, it’s hard to tell in the pick, but in the far background, you can just make out Fuller Ridge, where we were yesterday morning.

There is a 1/4 mile road walk through a housing development at the base of San Jacinto, and several of the very kind residents have PCT stickers such as this, with messages: “Help yourself to hose water,” etc.

The faucet was full of bees. A kind local, Scott, offered to drive us into neighboring Cabazon, a city where Six-2 had scheduled Enterprise to drop a car off for him. Scott took us to a local fresh market called Hadley’s, which is famous for their date-and-banana milkshakes. We enjoyed a round together and then headed over to the In-and-Out, where we both did some damage.

Six-2 needs to take a couple zeros to do work, hence the rental car, and he drove us back to Idyllwild to pick up his laptop that he had bounced forward (shipped) to himself. What I did not know prior to the drive is that: a) he really enjoys racecar video games, and b) he got a manual souped-up Jette. I think he enjoyed making my skin crawl as he aggressively took the winding mountain road. We then drove northward to Big Bear Lake and found a hostel. The plan is that I’ll take tomorrow off as a full zero to recover and then he’ll get me back to trail on Sunday. He’ll return to trail on Monday and do his best to catch up. (Fat chance!)

I’m now sitting in my rain coat and long johns, while the rest of my clothes are in a queue to go into the hostel’s laundry. I have just taken my first shower in 9 days. Lemme tell you…I was ripe.

Now is a good moment to share a few thoughts on the trail so far. Before starting the trail, The Breeze and I had been fortunate to sit down with two previous thru-hikers, Bacon-Bit and That Craig, to hear their wisdom. Bacon-Bit had said something to the affect that everyday has misery, everyday has beauty. I think that is absolutely right. There is definitely a lot of discomfort out there. That isn’t a surprise, but it still takes strength to deal with it.

My main discomforts still revolve around camp-life. I’m slow at setting up camp, I’m slow at tearing it down, I’m poor at picking a flat tent site, etc. I’m often too tired to even brush. Last night, as we descended most of that never-ending 8,000 feet to the desert floor, we struggled to even find a flat spot to sleep once it got dark. Once we finally did find a place, the wind was fierce and by the time I got my sleeping bag and pad set up for cowboy camping, I just went to sleep without even eating, despite hearing my stomach rumble. Obviously, that’s not healthy or even sustainable in any way, but I was just that exhausted.

There isn’t enough time in the day. One might think it is simply a matter of reducing the mileage for the day, but the problem is that water dictates everything. Our goal for the day is always decided by where the next water source is. Last night, Thursday, was unusual because we dry-camped…having carried liters for the day, we had saved 1 liter for camp.

In retrospect, we were very lucky that we didn’t see or step on any rattlesnakes. At times, the vegetation was so tightly pressing on the trail itself, we would have slowed our pace down to 1/2 or 1/3 what we were doing if we had seen even a single snake. Later, we heard most people saw their first rattlesnake on this descent, with one hiker even saying he saw three. Yikes.

We went to Murray’s saloon for burgers and beer. It was delicious.

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After having imbibed several beverages, it was during this time that Six-2 summed up the bout between Ironhusk vs. the Ironburger, hehe: