PCT #6: Big Bear, Miles 235.4-257 (Days 19-20)
Our hike out of the valley with the river. As we gain elevation, the landscape changes from desert to dry forest.
Each morning is a competition to see how fast we can get ready for the day. Every minute counts. Every task can be optimized, perfected and reduced to its bare essentials. Those that know me, know I love sleep. I’m not a morning person and can snooze my alarm clock for hours. The desert requires an early start, so I compromise by crafting a morning routine that maximizes efficiency and sleep. Both Syd and I are constantly mixing things up - reordering our morning tasks, rearranging how we pack our bag, juggling multiple tasks at once - trying to shave precious minutes off of our morning to hike longer and farther. So far, I am winning, beating Syd by a couple minutes each morning, but I’ve been training for quick mornings for years. Syd, on the other hand is a morning person, so rushing in the morning is foreign.
We each have a unique style. Syd’s typically mid-way through breakfast by the time I’m outside my tent. Syd has two cups of coffee, I have one. Syd eats breakfast in her PJs and I in my hiking gear. I often poke my head out my tent and then gauge whether I need to be speedy or like a lightening bolt based on how much breakfast Syd has left. This morning I try something new. I boil my breakfast water while I pack up my tent and everything inside. It saves me a couple minutes and now, after breakfast, my bag is completely packed and I only have to put my food bag on top before I am ready to hike. The last piece of my perfect morning routine is in place.
Today we are aiming to do another 20 mile day to camp with water. From this point forward, we would plan our days around water sources, aiming to always camp with water even if it meant a hard day. Our theory was a lighter, longer walk was better than a heavier, shorter walk, as a dry camp (no water) meant carrying an extra two litres of water or about 4.5 pounds. We had made a rough plan for our first month on the trail and we were a day ahead of schedule. We had planned to do 10-12 miles in the first week and 12-16 in the second. We were almost injury free and feeling strong enough to start doing bigger mile days.
We said goodbye to the river who had been a wonderful companion the past few days and started climbing. We were cruising, passing people as we trucked up hill. The first water source was off trail, a tiny trough. As usual, the water source was a bottleneck for hikers so we took our time filling up from an algae filled trough, snacking and chatting. One more night on trail and we would be in Big Bear, a ski resort in Southern California.
The view on our way to lunch.
As usual, it was a sunny, hot day and I was heating up fast. By about 10am, the umbrellas came out so we could hike with mobile shade. The sun didn’t phase our companions. They chose to eat on picnic tables in direct sunlight, while Syd and I sat in the dirt under a big tree. My mood was off. I liked to save my audio books for the afternoon, when I needed entertaining. Today, I had started listening to Harry Potter before lunch and was trailing Syd by a large margin. At lunch, I realized it was my time of the month, a whole week early. Sh!t. And I wasn’t prepared. Double Sh!t.
A gourmet trail lunch. See that avocado?!
Our lunches mostly consisted of a carb, wraps when we got bored of bagels and bagels when we got bored of wraps. We’d then stuff them with whatever would last and still be appetizing. This mainly consisted of cheese and meat, which both could survive the desert heat (surprising, eh?). I might pack out an avocado if I was feeling fancy. I also tried nuts, dried fruit and peanut butter, but almost always regretted that choice on trail.
Our plans changed and the new plan was to take the first side trail to Onyx summit and then hitch into Big Bear. Remember Syd’s shoe saga? Those shoes that had bounced around Idyllwild were supposedly sitting in the living room of our trail angle’s house, but we weren’t supposed to arrive until tomorrow, not today. We would tackle one problem at a time - first we would need to catch a hitch in an unusual spot.
An unusual spot would require unusual creativity. We crafted a sign using Syd’s ground tarp, a white piece of Tyvek that is used to protect the bottom of her tent, and a sharpie. We decided on “PCT Hiker” since we figured the biggest barrier to picking us up was not knowing why we needed a ride in the first place. We are hikers, we have purpose, we are on an adventure, let us tell you about it!
The sign! This photo was taken many months later in Oregon and with version 2 or 3 of the sign, but it gives an accurate depiction of the hand-crafted quality.
The highway was busy, with multiple cars driving by every minute, so we figured it wouldn’t be hard. We started with taking 5 minute turns hitching, then we tried hitching in different spots, then we took a break. Car after car drove by. At last we both started hitching at once, Syd up front with her thumb out, myself a bit behind with the sign and the pull out a bit behind us both. To our delight, an Audi eventually pulled over. However, this Audi would represent our weekend to come - something beautiful at first glance but actually in disrepair. Regardless, we were very grateful to have a ride even if the stereo was missing, the middle of the steering wheel gone and Syd in the only backseat with a seatbelt. We made easy conversation and thankfully, the driver didn’t speed. I figured the most dangerous part of the PCT wasn’t the hiking, but being driven by complete strangers along highways.
In town, we had service and contacted our trail angles. They agreed to host us a day early, a very generous offer. I’m an introvert and as a break from trail, I like to be freshly showered, sitting on a bed with my phone in one hand and a beer in the other. When I’m staying as a guest in someone’s home, I try to follow their rules and be respectful of their space. Our hosts wanted to grocery shop and go to the ATM before returning to their home, so Syd and I played along as we visited two grocery stores and two ATMs. At this point, I was so hungry. I sat in the back seat madly trying to chew and consume hard-as-rock salted caramel candies as we shuttled around to placate my inner hangry voice. I still remember the pain as each candy was impossible to eat and I could only peak at my grocery bags in the trunk. I was so stinky and dirty and I desperately wanted a shower, but I needed to be patient and grateful - we were staying in their house!
However, like the Audi, things weren’t as lovely as they appeared. Eventually they drove us to their place in Big Bear, and among the overflowing junk in the front yard was a sign on the post that read: “We believe in God & Guns. Trespass and you will meet both“. The state of the front yard reflected the house, trinkets everywhere, dust, dirt and a slight smell. We met their five furry friends, three dogs and two cats, adorable companions and someone I could happily distract myself with.
One thing I crave in towns in music, live music. We managed to find a place with a live band and after showering, happily spent the evening outside, drinking beer and listening to an older local band dish out the golden oldies. Our hosts were upset we weren’t spending dinner with them and then visibly upset when we ubered home rather than calling them for a ride. Syd and I struggled with the idea of calling our hosts to pick us up - it seemed rude to intrude on their evening, but they found it rude we didn’t. So far, this trail angel thing wasn’t working out.
The local band in Big Bear!
We slept hovering above their living room floor on lawn chairs brought in from outside. We had a wonderful sleep and awoke to one of the dogs peeing on the floor next to us. I couldn’t help but turn to Syd and laugh. Not wanting to upset our hosts further and seem ungrateful, we made the decision to stay for breakfast, rather than go to one of the best breakfast spots along the PCT. In the kitchen, a vast collection of bobble heads sat in the window, each one unique, covered in dust and bobbing in the sunlight. I sipped coffee from a styrofoam cup and helped as I could with breakfast. Another hiker staying with our hosts made us all many delicious crepes and our hosts brought out all the toppings: syrup, berries, nutella. In a pause in conversation, I watched an ant ran across my finger and down my fork.
Town days are packed with ticking off todos, so the next morning our hosts drove us to the center of town so we could start tackling our list. She put on bumping techno music with the words “all you freaks get on the floor” repeated over and over. Our first stop was to pick up gas for our stove, then we went to a cafe for wifi and bad coffee, so we could plan and call our significant others and family. We ate lunch, explored and lastly we each had a double scoop Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. Now we were ready to head back to trail. We called our hosts for a ride (at their request) and they dropped us off back on trail, with Syd’s shiny new shoes on her feet.
Looking back I’m drawn to remember the kindness of our hosts. The other hiker was lactose intolerant, so our hosts drove to the grocery store first thing in the morning to pick up almond milk. These were frugal folks and they just spent goodness knows how much on a litre of almond milk for one hiker’s breakfast. They drove us everywhere and that crazy, techno music we listened to? I think she put that on for us. How else could I explain the same song being on when we left the car and then a couple hours later when she picked us up.
Regardless, I’ve always needed my space and I cherish it. From then on, we would stay in motels when we were in town, so we could control our day and spend the evening eating ramen in bed with a beer while watching Martha Stewart declutter her home.
Section Stats
Day 19 (May 13th): 235.4-252.1, 16.7 miles
Day 20 (May 14th): 252.1-257, 4.9 miles