Day 21 – 12 Apr 19. Rushing to Town

Today 15.9 km (9.9 mi), Total Distance 482.2 km (266.1 mi). 3 hours 50 minutes (0715-1105)

During the night I thought I heard light rain. I turned on my torch and double checked the tent was good for rain and went back to sleep. When I woke up just after 0630 I could see white on the ground outside my tent. The rain was actually snow.

I got ready and as I left my tent I saw it also had some snow on it. I gave it a shake to et rid of most of the snow and then a quick wipe down.

Most of the other tents had gone. The one morning I would have liked to have got up early I slept in. I was on my way just after 7 and there were only two tents remaining.

Today was a rush to get to town as soon as possible. It was also cold and moving fast was a way to warm up.

The trail continued following down the valley.

Still a few stream crossings to negotiate

At one road crossing I continued down the trail on the other side, crossed a snow covered bridge with some footprints on it and 5 minutes later the trail ended.

I checked my location and saw I should have walked down the road, not this trail. It took 10 minutes to return to the road and I put a big cross over the trail so hopefully someone else did not make the same mistake. I wish the people who had done the same thing as me earlier that morning had done the same.

I followed the road downhill until the trail began again.

It went on the side of the hill before dropping to a stream where a hiker was packing up. I was a little confused as I thought this was one of the hikers that had been in camp yesterday. He knew me but I could not remember his name.

Now the trail climbed for a while before starting along the tops and sides of various hills. I could see a small settlement below and later on another but they were not what I wanted.

Coming up one hill I could see a couple of animals but could not make out what they were. I was told later they were wild donkeys.

There was a hiker coming towards me so I pulled off the track to let him by. He looked like a thru hiker by his gear. As he approached I said “Good Morning” in my normal cheerful voice and he just glared at me before continuing on. No acknowledgement of me or that I let him past. Very unusual and strange.

The red circle and cross is too faded

At around the 6 mile mark I saw my first people of the day. It was Smalls and her friend, Mary, who had walked in from the carpark to meet here and walk back to the car. I had heard about her during our Zero in Idyllwild so I was nice to meet her.

I continued ahead of them and the hills got bigger and steeper. The views of the desert had opened up on the right. The trail headed up the side of one hill and it was like being back in the desert again with familiar vegetation, until turning a corner and now being in a forest.

The trail stayed in the forest, passing a neat homestead with lots of old things like carts around the property.
From there it was one final hill to go around and then the wonderful sight of the carpark and highway came into view. I really had gone fast covering the whole 10 miles in just under 4 hours.

Just as I turned up two hikers were getting into a car and they asked if I wanted to join them. They had used Uber to get a ride. They were heading for Mountain Munchies Restaurant for a late breakfast and as this was next to the supermarket I joined them.

We filled two tables as the remainder of the hikers turned up not long after me. I ordered breakfast then looked for accommodation. I had been told that Big Bear was fully booked but found there were heaps of rooms available. I found a good deal at Black Forest Lodge, even cheaper than advertised so booked this. The two guys were staying with someone else at a place booked through Air BnB but after talking to the person there they decided it would not work and on my recommendation got a room at the same place as me.

After a huge breakfast, orange juice and coffee I went next door to the large supermarket. I put my pack in the trolley and took my time wandering the aisles seeing what tempted me. I ended up with a wide range of snacks to have for lunch, some high energy instant noodles from the Japanese Section of the International Aisle. These noodles had 460 calories compared too the less than 100 calories of the normal noodles. My other great find was some little bars of fruit leather. They were 50 calories each and only 49 cents. I told the other hikers I had met in the store and they all rushed to grab some.

It is funny shopping while on a Thru Hike. The aim is to find items with the highest calorie per gram. It is a struggle to get enough calories each day and as we have to carry all the food we need the highest energy content food we can find, while still trying to have a balanced diet.

As I finished I ended up a the checkout behind the hikers from before and they told me they were getting an Uber to the hotel and I could join them. This was great, saving me a 1.5 mile walk with two bags of shopping. While we were waiting for the car we got two offers of a ride from the locals. They are definitely friendly to hikers here.

The Motel was a German themed place, with the “black Forest” now making sense. I was quickly checked in and headed to my room. The place was old but the sheets were clean, the shower was hot and had good pressure and the heater worked great.

Before settling in I headed 400 m up the street to the sports store. They did not have any wide brim hats in my size, they were all huge. The kids hats only had really floppy brims. They also did not have chafe stick, electrolytes with Magnesium or the CNOC Bladder I wanted to use as my dirty water bag. I did by a freeze dry meal and the only electrolytes they had.

Next was the 7Eleven for a drink and some snacks before back to my room.

I had a long shower and then spend a long time hand washing my clothes. You don’t realise how dirty they are until you start washing them. The dirt just kept coming out of them and they needed at least 6 rinses after being scrubbed. I used my string to rig up a washing line. Also all my electronics were charging.

Now I relaxed and ate my snacks before working on my videos and blogs. Later I walked to the nearby chicken restaurant and ordered a burrito and coleslaw. I struggled to eat it but it was nice.

That night I enjoyed being able to spread out on the bed and slept well.

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