priorities

Day 35 ~ miles 592.9 - 616.6

Overnight, a dense layer of fog known as the marine layer rolled in.  We awoke to gray skies and cold winds, but we didn't let that steal our motivation.  We began hiking, and felt as if we had woken up somewhere different than where we'd fallen asleep.  Yesterday, we strolled through arid, desert-like terrain, and today we woke up to moist air and walked through lush, green forests.  The dense, moist air was really chilly, and we wore our jackets for the entire day (it's pretty rare for us to wear jackets while hiking).  We were sleeted on intermittently  throughout the day, with the sun showing its face in between, for only a couple of minutes at a time.  We had been thinking that we had finally left the desert behind, when near the end of the day, we made our way into a scrubby, sandy section of trail. 

Since leaving Tehachapi, we've found ourselves slipping into an undesirable cycle: hike late, stay up late, sleep late.  Today, I made it a priority to stop hiking by 6:30.  The later we get into camp, the more things that fall by the wayside (brushing hair and teeth, blogging, etc.) , because sleep is always priority!  Well 6:30 rolled around, and of course we were on a mountainside with no even remotely reasonable campsites.  We hiked for about 45 minutes longer, until we found a suitable spot, where we're camping with Midway.  I made it a priority to brush and floss!

wind farm blues

Day 34 ~ miles 570 - 592.9

We woke up late after staying up way past our bedtime last night.  Fortunately, it was cool out and the wind had died down overnight.  We hiked away from Tehachapi and the desert landscape and into a glorious pine forest; we thought we were leaving the desert behind.  Oh no, we would experience more desert terrain and many more wind turbines today.  I'm all for renewable energy, but I have tired of hiking around wind turbines so frequently!  We hiked with Midway for much of the uneventful day.  We saw a really beautiful King Snake.  Our camp is by a big grassy meadow, where we're nestled in the trees with a nice canopy above, and a perfect view of the plentiful stars.

out of Tehachapi and into the night

Day 33 ~ miles 558.5 - 570

We had a restful and productive visit in Tehachapi.  The bed was one of the most comfortable I've ever slept in (I'm sure that has nothing to do with the circumstances).  We accomplished all of our chores and ate some delicious pork barbecue.  One hundred and forty miles stand between Tehachapi and our next stop, Kennedy Meadows; that's about 7 days of food that we overloaded our packs with --  that's a lot of food to carry!  Additionally, upon hitting the trail, the next nearly 45 miles are waterless, so we needed to carry a lot of water!  We got a ride back to the trail at around 5pm, carrying our heaviest loads to date. 

We strategized to leave in the evening to minimize water consumption.   We hiked out and through thousands more turbines and blasting wind.  As the sky begin to darken, we met up with Midway.  We ate a snack, donned our headlamps, and headed up the mountain into the darkening night and brutal wind. 

We hiked well past our bedtime, past 10:00, and finally decided to call it a night.  We did our best to tuck ourselves away from the wind, nestled in the trees and shrubs of the mountain side.  Morning will come soon!

lotta wind, little water

Day 32 ~ miles 535 - 558.5

We awoke early looking forward to a fresh start, but it was already hot.  We traveled through lots of wind turbines, and the wind was blasting.  Not only was it loud, but the wind gusts blew against us,  making it more difficult to walk, and from our sides, blowing us off the trail at times.  The wind was taking over my body with its force and consumed my mind as it noisily howled in my ears; I couldn't talk or think.  I cussed at the wind and slammed my trekking poles into the ground...all I want is a good day!

We eventually hiked up and over the Tehachapi mountains, and away from the windmills.  With little to no wind, the real air temperature made itself known, it was blazing hot with no shade in sight, as we climbed up and up an exposed mountain.  We didn't bring enough water from the cache, as we were trying to excercise proper water cache etiquette by taking 2L of water each (at most).  I started feeling really crummy...dizzy, weak, nauseaus.  I knew I needed water fast.  We checked our maps and figured we were less than mile from the next water source.  I made it and we sat in the shade by the stream and ate and drank A LOT.  After we hydrated, the miles rolled away much more easily, and the possibility of getting into town tonight loomed.  After the past couple of days, we decided our bodies would benefit from showers and a real bed, so we cranked it up a notch and cruised on to the road that would take us into Tehachapi.  At the road was a familiar camper; it belonged to Coppertone, a trail angel who we'd only heard about, and finally got to meet.  Coppertone is a self-proclaimed nudist (he was partially clothed at the time) who is traveling up the trail in his camper, hiking and biking and making hikers root beer floats.

We took him up on a float and quickly hitched a ride into town where we're sharing a hotel room with Berkley Bill, who we just met.  I know our bodies will much appreciate the offerings of food, hot showers, and bed. 
 

walking on water

Day 31 ~ miles 517.6 - 535

After our super long day yesterday and our way late bedtime last night, we slept in until about 7 this morning.  We didn't give it much consideration, but now realize that this was probably the worst possible day to sleep in.   We took our time getting ready, did a few chores (washed our dishes and handwashed some clothes), and headed onto the trail around 8:30.

  It was already hot, and quickly got hotter. Today, we would travel through the Mojave desert, across the Antelope Valley.  We walked along/on top of the California and Los Angeles aqueducts for the entire day, which was almost torturous.  We were rationing our water to make it through the day as huge pipes carried water beneath us to the big city.  The desert floor's intense heat sapped our energy as we moved at a crawling pace.  We took a lengthy break in the middle of the day under a Joshua Tree's tiny and constantly shifting shade.

Today was one of the most difficult days on the trail yet, despite the completely flat terrain.  We finally made it to the water source, a cache (which we were depending on to be stocked, and it was), and  decided to call it quits.  We were so exhausted and dehydrated.  Oh, remember that time we said we'd never camp by a wind farm again?  Yea, well, we're doing it again.  This time no tent, and conveniently there's a tiny lean-to here to shield the wind.  Hoping for a better and cooler day tomorrow.

pounding pavement

Day 30 ~ [PCT] miles 478.2 - 517.6

We woke up surprisingly early, had a couple of pancakes and got a ride back to the trail, courtesy of the Andersons.  We arrived at the trailhead around 7:30, ready for the big detour -- an approximately 21 mile ROAD WALK [groan].  Most of the characters at Casa de Luna planned to hitchhike the road walk, but since the detour cut off several miles of the trail, we figured the least we could do was to take the detour. 

About 5 or 6 of us headed out.  At first it was fun, we were all walking together, it was cool out, and I think we all felt good about our decision to walk rather than catch a ride.  We stopped at a convenience store pretty early, bought some cold drinks, filled up our water and took a lengthy break.  We all parted ways and met up again for lunch at a shady roadside pulloff, where we found a dead pig in a ditch.

It was a nice change of scenery for a while, scoping out rural California and all of the dwellings with their eccentric lawn ornaments. As the day went on, the miles came slower as the temperature grew hotter.  We rationed our water as to not run out.  Luckily some sweet family had put a sign out in their front yard inviting hikers to use their hose.  They came outside and visited for awhile, really nice people! 

We finally arrived at the open portion of the trail, and had to travel 6 miles through private property where camping was not permitted.  We arrived to Hikertown, a hostel right on the trail, around 9pm, hungry, thirsty, and tired.  Hikertown was an interesting place, a compound of various outbuildings for hikers built around the owners' home.  We had dinner, took a cold outdoor shower (in the cold), and now we're lying under the stars with the sounds of the highway to lull us to sleep.  It's ok, I shouldn't have any problem sleeping after the longest hiking day in history (nearly 28 miles)!

miraculous recovery and another unexpected stop

Day 29 ~ miles 468.2 - 478.2

We awoke at our usual time, just after 5am.  I was terrified to get out of the tent, to stand up, to put my pack on and hike.  I completed my usual morning routine slowly, and surprisingly pain free.  Now the real test, I hoisted my backpack up and onto my shoulders, heavy with 5 days of food.  Alright, that went well, so we set out for the day.  My pain was gone!  It was unreal; every change in slope and grade I was prepared for pain, but it never showed up.  I could feel a very slight discomfort, but it somehow never worsened.

We knew that we would encounter a closed section of trail today (due to past fire), but we didn't know the details of the detour route.  We  arrived to the burn closure hoping that detour info would be posted, but it wasn't...and no cell service.  Our only option was to head to Casa de Luna to find out about the official detour.

We walked 2 miles off trail to get to the Andersons' place.  We arrived to a driveway full of chairs and couches, where plenty (10-15ish) of hikers were lounging, all of them in Hawaaian shirts, most of them with.  beers in hand (it was 11am or 12pm).  And we were so excited to see the entire cabin crew there, we thought they wiuld've been long gone!  Looks like we're staying at Casa de Luna, how could we resist?  After all, I should rest my injury, right?

We quickly got into uniform, (Hawaaian shirts) and joined everyone hanging out in the shaded driveway.  Casa de Luna featured a 3 hole disc golf course (which we played around on) and an enchanting Manzanita forest where we will be sleeping.  We enjoyed Joe and Terry's incredible hospitality, as they prepared a delicious meal of taco salad with all the fixin's. 

Now to not get sucked into this vortex of a place...

nursing an injury

Day 28 ~ miles 454.5 - 468.2

We reluctantly pulled ourselves away from Hiker Heaven around 9:30am.  It was hot already, and the road walk out of Agua Dulce wasn't too pleasant.  All of the cabin crew had headed out much earlier than us to be sure to make it to Casa de Luna, 24 miles up the trail, for dinner (the Andersons host hikers at their home, Casa de Luna).  We weren't sure that we would make it to the Anderson's, but we would at least attempt to.

As we hiked, a familiar discomfort appeared above my right inner knee.  I suddenly remembered all of the pain I experienced walking into Agua Dulce, which didn't make a peep on my day off.  The pain got progressively worse and it became much more  difficult to hike.  The pain brought me to tears and nearly to my knees as I hobbled along.  I was terrified as so many thoughts raced through my head; will this be a hike ending injury?  what if I can't walk tomorrow?   How will I get to a doctor?

We decided a long break would be good, I took some vitamin I and elevated my legs.  After a long rest, my leg showed promise, but upon hiking, the pain returned and increased in intensity.  We took frequent breaks in between my bouts of hobbling at a snail's pace, and called it a day sooner than we had anticipated.

Hopefully more Vitamin I, massage, and elevating the leg during the night will improve the situation.  Guess we won't be making it to the Anderson's.

trail names

Day 27 ~ zero in Agua Dulce

I won't bore you with the details of our day off, but it fully met our expectations.  We did the typical zero day things: town chores, rested and relaxed, and ATE!

And a few words about trail names...

Those of you reading who may be unfamiliar with long-distance hiking may have wondered why everyone has such funny names.  I'm not sure when or where trail names originated, but I would venture to guess that it was on the Appalachian Trail, at the time when the trail began to gain popularity and there were more than just a handful of hikers on the trail each year.  A trail name is an alias that one goes by on the trail.  A trail name is usually much more memorable than "Bob from New York" or "Suzy from Tennessee".  Some people make up their own trail names, but many people are named by others on the trail, based on a unique characteristic or funny incident (remember Half & Half's story?). 

So here are the stories of how we came to be Moonshine and Sideways D, if you were wondering.  We were both named on the Appalachian Trail.

I was named Sideways D by a dear friend, Bryan, because I smile A LOT, and my smile looks like a  big ole' sideways D (like this emoticon :D).  I usually just go by Sideways.

There are a few different theories as to how Moonshine got his name. 
~Moonshine has been known to have an affinity for bootleg corn liquor.
~Moonshine likes to hike at night, by the light of the moon.
~His favorite soda is Mountain Dew (which is how some old timers refer to moonshine).
You can subscribe to whichever you please :D. Back to the trail tomorrow!

heading to Hiker Heaven

Day 26 ~ miles 440 - 454.5

We awoke on the canyon floor, unscathed by the bats, and found our bodies without signs of poodle dog bush contact.

We put on our "going to town legs", those are the ones that carry us really quickly.  We walked 14 miles into town, headed for Hiker Heaven.  It was extremely windy, which wasn't too pleasant, but lessened the heat from the sun.  To note, we got an awesome trail magic goody bag (thanks, Sina!), and we walked through a really neat county park, Vasquez Rocks, where the feature was quintessential desert rock formations.

We arrived to Agua Dulce around 1; the trail travels right through the town.  It was so difficult to resist stopping into a restaurant, but we wanted to get to Hiker Heaven to reserve our spot.

The Saufleys open up their home as Hiker Heaven for a couple of months during hiking season, the place is unreal!  Hikers have access to a mobile home with kitchen, TV, shower, etc., the entire shaded lawn, bikes to ride around town, laundry, rides into a bigger town, and the list goes on.  We plan to take a day off here tomorrow.  The cabin crew was all there when we arrived.

We got all spiffied up and headed into town on bike, ate pizza and got some groceries, and headed back to settle in for the evening. 

Just when we thought that we didn't have to worry about where the next water source was, the Saufleys ran out of water!  It seems that many people in the area have their own water tank.  Really makes you think about water conservation, especially in a drought.  Water should be delivered tomorrow, and plenty of bottled water was provided.

Looking forward to a zero, our bodies are tired!

attack of the poodle dog

Day 25 ~ miles 418.8 to 440ish

The day started with a possible detour to avoid Poodle Dog Bush (or Turricula).  It's a plant that causes skin irritation, similar to Poison Oak or Ivy, but apparently 10x worse.  The detour was a 9 mile road walk that we were not thrilled about.  We decided to take the PCT rather than the detour....we figured the PDB couldn't be that bad, especially since we're wearing long sleeves and pants.

Not taking the detour was a bad decision.  We felt like we were trapped in a video game with so many obstacles.  Poodle dog was not the only thing we had to avoid, but Poison Oak also, and so many huge downed trees that we had to maneuver over and around, and the trail was conpletely overgrown in places.  It was so difficult and exhausting having to concentrate on the trail every second, as to not brush by a Poodle Dog Bush.

The route took FOREVER.  By the time we arrived to where the detour linked back up to the trail, everyone from camp last night (they all took the detour) had passed us.  We're usually the first out of camp, and tend to think that the early bird gets the worm, not today though. 

It was a really hot day.  We've been so fortunate, as we've had mostly pleasant and unseasonably cool days on the trail.  We made it 17 miles to our next water source and hiked on a little further to an unestablished campsite in the bottom of a dry canyon.  We are cowboy camping (sleeping out in the open, not in a tent), as we have been doing the past few nights.  Bats are going nuts and swooping REALLY close to us, yikes.  Tent may have been a good call. 

Town tomorrow, to Hiker Heaven in Agua Dulce.

fun by the fire station

Day 24 ~ miles 395.5 to 418.8

Well my first dose of Vitamin I served me well, as I woke up feeling much less stiff and achy than I had been in the past few days.  I had a much stronger hiking day overall, though the more gentle terrain probably had something to do with it.

No one arrived at the Cooper Canyon Camp last night, so we had the place to ourselves, and we didn't see a single hiker until this afternoon.  We walked through an old burn area, where each side of the trail was blanketed with vibrant yellow, purple, and white wildflowers. 

Later in the afternoon, Midway caught up to us.  We had briefly met him right outside of Big Bear.  We hiked and chatted with him for a while, and found out that he went to college with me and Moonshine and graduated the same year, and we had a couple of mutual friends.  We reminisced about Knoxville for awhile until he hiked ahead.  Small world, huh folks?

After 18+ waterless miles, and my first fall on the trail, we arrived at the fire station where we would get more water.  My tumble left me a little bruised up, but probably more scared than anything.  Just a simple reminder that your hike can change in just an instant.  We weren't aware, but there was a camping area right by the fire station as well.  Many hikers trickled in, including the 4 guys (who we hadn't seen in a couple of days).  Some section hikers also planned to camp there; they had left a cooler with cold beverages there, and they generously shared them with us.  We had a fun evening chatting, laughing, and listening to music with hiker friends, old and new.

where are my trail legs?

Day 23 ~ miles 376.5 - 395.5

Shew, today was a really difficult hiking day (for me, anyway...Moonshine was fine).  We started off with a pretty steep climb up to the peak of Mt. Baden-Powell, which stands at 9,399 feet.  My legs were so tight and I was breathing so heavy.  I blamed it on the altitude.  We took the short side trail to the summit, where finally after 2 days of walking in the clouds, we were bathed in sunshine with a clear view to one side of the mountain and overlooking the clouds on the other.

The hiking continued to be pretty slow, especially going uphill, as the morning dragged by for me.  We took a late morning break with Joker and Kelsey at Little Jimmy spring, the best water we've seen on the trail thus far.  We watched birds and bees drinking from the spring while we sat on nature's furniture, sawed logs, and listened to the soothing sounds of the trickling water.

A portion of the trail is closed due to an endangered species of frog (Yellow Legged Mountain frog, I think?), so we had to do a bit of road walking. We had more really steep, slow, and difficult ascents, and I could no longer blame my poor performance on the altitude.   Just as I was beginning to think that I had my "trail legs," the past 2 days have proven otherwise!  Oh well, not much else I can do but keep on putting one foot in front of the other.  Oh, speaking of feet, I am pretty much blister free (1 tiny exception) with all old blisters healed up, and Moonshine continues to have problems with minor blisters, but they are improving.  Lots of trial and error blister care!

We are camping at Cooper Canyon trail camp, where we have the whole place to ourselves.  We haven't camped alone since probably the 3rd night of the trail.  I'm going to take my first dose of "Vitamin I" (ibuprofen to hikers) of the entire trail.  I can't believe that neither of us have required it before now, but my body hurts!

leaving wrightwood

Day 22 ~ miles 369.5 - 376.5

We "slept in" until around 7 (this whole living by the sun thing has made our sleep schedule so nice!).  We were craving coffee so headed out to the Grizzly Cafe where we attempted to eat the most massive breakfast platters ever.  We had to each get a to-go box, which is nearly unheard of for a long distance hiker!   We did our [really expensive] grocery shopping and organized all of our food and backpacks and headed out to catch a ride back to the trail.  We got a ride really quickly, and arrived at the trailhead around 1.  We ate our leftovers and hit the trail. When we left town it was moderately warm and sunny, but up by the trail it was cold, windy, and foggy with a little precipitation; similar conditions to yesterday.

We were given trail magic sodas, they were good but it was really cold out to be drinking ice cold sodas.  We were hoping the caffeine would help us up the hill.

We hiked a short distance out of town to a campsite at a pretty high elevation.  Joker and Kelsey joined.  It is sooo cold up here, but the clouds cleared out, so we have a site with a view.  Early to the tents tonight (7:00), when it's this cold there's nothing to do but get into your sleeping bag to get warm!

neverending ascent

Day 21~ miles 347 - 369

We woke up to no precipitation overnight, and our tent didn't blow down or anything crazy.  It was actually sunny when we were heading out onto the trail, but we could see the clouds rolling in.  We were within a day's hiking of our next town stop, but weren't sure if we would be able to make it to the highway by a reasonable time.

Our climb up from the valley was seemingly neverending.  We walked uphill for about 17 MILES STRAIGHT!  I think we gained about 5,500 feet in elevation, so the climb was pretty gradual, but mentally challenging.  I think that if we didn't have our minds set on going into town, it may have been a little more relaxed.  The higher we climbed, the worse the weather got.  We were in the clouds for most of the day.  As altitude increased, so did the wind speeds, and the temperature decreased.  With probably around 7 miles left, it began to precipitate.  We walked in freezing cold sleet and snow , across a ski resort, and finally after a really long 22 miles, we arrived at the highway around 4pm. The 4 guys were right behind us.

We caught a ride into the town of Wrightwood in about 30 minutes.  First order of business, find an indoor place to sleep! We got room at a really dumpy motel with the 4 guys.  Second, shower.  Third, FOOD!  Not McDonald's this time, but Mexican.  We each got a 5 cent margarita...Quinoa and Half & half (the Europeans) had never had one.  We headed back to the room and stayed up chatting and listening to music for a short while until we gave in to our exhaustion.

neverending ascent

Day 21~ miles 347 - 369

We woke up to no precipitation overnight, and our tent didn't blow down or anything crazy.  It was actually sunny when we were heading out onto the trail, but we could see the clouds rolling in.  We were within a day's hiking of our next town stop, but weren't sure if we would be able to make it to the highway by a reasonable time.

Our climb up from the valley was seemingly neverending.  We walked uphill for about 17 MILES STRAIGHT!  I think we gained about 5,500 feet in elevation, so the climb was pretty gradual, but mentally challenging.  I think that if we didn't have our minds set on going into town, it may have been a little more relaxed.  The higher we climbed, the worse the weather got.  We were in the clouds for most of the day.  As altitude increased, so did the wind speeds, and the temperature decreased.  With probably around 7 miles left, it began to precipitate.  We walked in freezing cold sleet and snow , across a ski resort, and finally after a really long 22 miles, we arrived at the highway around 4pm. The 4 guys were right behind us.

We caught a ride into the town of Wrightwood in about 30 minutes.  First order of business, find an indoor place to sleep! We got room at a really dumpy motel with the 4 guys.  Second, shower.  Third, FOOD!  Not McDonald's this time, but Mexican.  We each got a 5 cent margarita...Quinoa and Half & half (the Europeans) had never had one.  We headed back to the room and stayed up chatting and listening to music for a short while until we gave in to our exhaustion.

regrettin' it

Day 20  ~ miles 329 - 347

So it's the big day!  We did it, we traveled to the Golden Arches in search of hot, fatty, greasy goodness, and boy did we get it. 

I drank a Starbucks Via instant iced coffee first thing this morning - my first coffee on the trail (now accepting donations of Via instant coffee and iced coffee :D).  The caffeine helped me power up the trail to the destination. 

We arrived to the McDonald's around 11am, and hikers had already partially filled the place.  During our extended dining experience, many more hikers trickled in, taking over almost the entire restaurant.

Here's the lowdown on food ingested:

Sideways D:
Big Mac
2 medium french fries
Grilled onion and cheddar burger
Large chocolate shake
2 cups of Coke

(Ugh, before the trail I wasn't really even eating meat at all.  Now my body screams protein, so I have caved to my carnivorous cravings...but never again at McD's.)

Moonshine:
3 McDoubles
Large french fry
Medium iced coffee
Large chocolate shake

(We also each carried out a quarter pounder to eat for dinner)

Why?!?!?!  After all of that food...we felt HORRIBLE.  We ended up hanging around in McD's until around 2:00.  It was so difficult to hike, feeling so disgustingly overstuffed.  Iur pqxks were also ridiculously heavy, with the next water source not for 22 miles. We hiked off with Joker and Kelsey and made a new slogan....ba da ba ba baaa, regrettin' it ( instead of "I'm lovin it", get it?)

Luckily Joker thought to check the weather, and informed us that on the ridge where we were headed, the forecast called for potential rain/snow/high winds.  We decided to play it safe and stay the night down in the valley, so we only did about 5 miles after leaving McD's and got to camp really early, with lots of time to relax.  The entire cabin crew camped there also.  We basically had to force the quarter pounders down.  May have been my first and last McDonald's experience on the trail.

And a couple of fun facts: 
We walked along the San Andreas fault today.
(For Jimmy and Le) We walked along a section of historic Route 66!

whatcha gettin' at McDonald's?

Day 19 ~ miles 309 to 329ish

Food is a frequent topic of coversation on the trail, and today was definitely no exception.  Tomorrow, the trail will pass within less than half a mile of a McDonald's.  We don't really eat Mickey D's in normal life, but on the trail, we can make an exception.

All of the hikers that we encountered all day long were talking about the Golden Arches:  are you going? (what kind of question is that?), do you think we can make it in time for breakfast?  dude, we can get breakfast AND lunch!  whatcha gonna order? 

Amidst all the McD's excitement, there was little mention of the lake that we would walk around today.  Our day was about 3/4 of the way done mileage-wise, when we arrived at Silverwood Lake, which we would walk nearly all the way around.  The water was crystal clear and oh-so inviting on this pretty warm day.  Every potential swimming area we passed was occupied, until finally we rounded the bend to see Joker swimming and Kelsey pondering doing the same.  Without hesitation, we threw our packs down to prepare for a swim. The rest of the cabin crew joined us quickly, and we all got in.   Moonshine wore all of his clothes in so he could rinse them out a little.  He was easing in to the super chilly water when he slipped on a rock and fell in.  He looked hilarious, like a (fully clothed) wet dog treading water to pull himself back up onto the rocks.  I eased in much more gracefully.  We guessed that the water was about 60 degrees.  It was cold, but mighty invigorating and refreshing after hiking all day under the desert sun.

We hiked on to a group campsite, complete with a clean and stocked port-o-john, where we are camping with Joker and Kelsey.  Onward to McDonalds!

party at Deep Creek

Day 18 ~ miles 285 to 309ish

Our morning hike was pretty easy and pretty vista-less.  We put in the usual 10-12ish pre-lunch miles, until we arrived at the Deep Creek foot bridge.  The same 15 or so hikers that we had lunch with yesterday were there as well (lunch is usually planned at a water source if possible....this spot even had lots of shade, a real rarity!).

Apparently, there was a parking lot close to the foot bridge, and our lunch break was filled with excellent entertainment by way of people-watching.  We saw a large group of people all with red shirts and backpacks that we believed to be on hallucinogenic drugs (one was screaming in Spanish at the top of her lungs, repeating the same thing over and over, some looked to be playing hide and seek, one doing balancing excercises, and one tree hugger).  There were lots of people carrying various things into the woods (a smoker, stereo, duffel bags, huge full and heavy coolers, babies, dogs, other party supplies).  We ate and relaxed and rinsed some clothing items and body parts in the stream, and headed up the trail.

We walked along the inside of the canyon wall for the rest of the day.  As we hiked along, we could peer down into the canyon and see and hear several groups of people partying.  Guess that's where they were carrying all of that stuff, and it is a Saturday, after all.

We planned to camp at or near the Deep Creek Hot Spring, a natural hot spring right on the trail.  On the way, we passed by our 3rd rattlesnake, which was a few feet off of the trail; it rattled aggressively and seriously startled me. We arrived to the hot spring to lots of naked people (and a handful of clothed hikers) hanging out in and out of the water.  As much as I wanted to get in, it was late and we decided that it wasn't really our scene and thought it may get a little rowdy.  We hiked a short distance up onto a ridge to a [barely] campsite, where Joker and Kelsey joined us.  An entertaining day, for sure.

Oh, and how could I forget....we hit the 300 mile mark today!

hiker crowds

Day 17~ miles 266-285

Leaving Big Bear, we got to the trailhead around 9am.  We crammed 7 hikers into an old stationwagon with all of our packs piled on top.  The car was riding so low!  Moonshine, another hiker and I got the rear-facing seat...I thought i was going to vomit traveling up the windy mountainous road (but I didn't). 

When we arrived at the trailhead, we saw several other hikers getting back on the trail as well.  After 10ish miles, we stopped at a small stream to have lunch.  Including ourselves, there were about 15 hikers convened for lunch, the most hikers we've seen on the trail.  Hikers seem to clump up around trail towns, and further from town, the crowds usually thin out.  We'd prefer to avoid the large crowds.

We hiked through a large and desolate burn area, before arriving at Little Bear Spring Camp, where we are camping with the cabin crew.

an unplanned zero

Day 16 ~ zero day in Big Bear

Another day off!?!  It wasn't in the plan, but we love being able to just go with the flow.  We were supposed to have a day off in the next town, but realized there are really no inexpensive places to stay, and no laundry service either.  Plus, all of our friends are doing it too (the 4 guys  plus Joker and Kelsey...we'll call them the cabin crew).  We accomplished all of our normal town chores: shower, laundry, dishes, grocery shopping.  Other than that, we ate a lot of food, laughed a lot, and played a little ping pong. 'Twas a good day of rest.

birthday in big bear

Day 15 ~ miles 248ish - 266

It's my birthday and I don't feel like writing in paragraph form, so I'm not going to.

~ I'm 29 years young today :D
~A couple of well timed instances of trail magic today: a huge couch in the middle of the woods right next to a tool box full of sodas and cookies, and another trailside soda later. 
~Moonshine got me the best birthday gift ever!  A silver PCT pendant, handmade by a very talented and wonderful lady (love and miss you, Sara!)
~We hiked a pretty quick and easy 18 miles to the road, where we caught a ride with a crazy lady and her 2 young friends all smoking cigarettes in the car...I guess it was good entertainment? not really what we were looking for, but we made it safely into town.
~We spent the night in Big Bear Lake at the hostel, in a bunk room with the 4 guys.  We went out for pizza and beers and had a great time. 
~I randomly found this plastic "happy birthday" cupcake decoration in the mulch by the sidewalk in Big Bear Lake....weird!

A most excellent birthday, indeed!

strugglin'

Day 14 ~ miles 228 - 248

We awoke from a wonderful slumber feeling sluggish.  The morning turned out to be our most mentally and physically challenging time on the trail thus far.  We were walking soo slow.  We were tired and just couldn't get into a good hiking groove.  We were breaking frequently, eating more and more, hoping that it would give us a burst of energy to carry us the 6,000 feet up and out of the canyon. It never worked, as we trudged uphill at a pace of less than 2 mph.   Most of the time on the trail, it's pretty easy to tune out aches and pains and other unpleasantries, but on this day, they consumed my mind.  (No tears shed, though!)

We stopped at out lunchspot, a creek 10 miles out.  We rested in the shade, filled our bellies, and hydrated our bodies.  We got back on trail feeling strong, and had a totally different outlook on the day..it also helped that the terrain got a bit easier, so the majority of the climb was behind us.  We hiked up and into a beautiful alpine forest, where the grassy mountaintops were covered with gigantic  pine trees.  We found a campsite on a ridge at around 8,500 feet, where we setup with the 3 guys. It was cold, but the scenery and company were  excellent.

Funny how your day can just turn around in an instant out here.

wind farms and water

day 13 ~ miles 206 ~ 228ish

The fact that we began setting up the tent in a valley by a wind farm should have been a huge red flag...but we were tired and we did it anyway.  It was soo windy, the stove was inefficient and our mac and cheese was undercooked...bummer.

I awoke in the night to a frantic Moonshine, or maybe he just seemed frantic beacuse he was yelling because I had earplugs in to quiet the noisy winds.  A couple of the tent stakes had come out of the ground, and our tent was bowing and flapping violently in the wind.  We took the pole out and collapsed the tent onto ourselves.  Never again will we setup the tent next to a wind farm.

Our guidebook pointed out that we could get water from the Mesa Wind Farm office.  We wandered up and the employees were standing ariund chatting.  They directed us inside the office, into the employee break room, where Quinoa, Half&half, and Soapbox sat in the dark...we were surprised and humored.  We sat and ate and laughed in the dark...there was a scheduled power outage, so none of the wind turbines were on either.

The rest of the day, we climbed around, above, up and into some beautiful canyons.  From the rim of one canyon, we could see the gray canyon floor, and were wondering if there was water down there. We descended into the canyon to find gray water, thick with silt.  There was a huge shade spot, where we had lunch with the 3 guys and soaked our feet in the silty stream....the first opportunity to do so.

We hiked out and down into another canyon, where we crossed Mission Creek several times (more running water!) until we found an excellent creekside campsite where we camped with the 3 guys.

the longest descent ever

Day 12 ~ miles 186 - 206

(OK my blogger application on my phone at this post and the following one, so my apologies for the delay.  this is probably a condensed and less eloquent version)

We awoke early in the freezing cold, and it took so much determination to get out of the cozy sleeping bags and step into the frigid morning air.  Our shoes were frozen solid, and nearly impossible to put on.  After several minutes of flexing and working and smashing our shoes, we were able to get them on - quite possibly one of the most uncomfortable things I have ever done! 

The snow had frozen into a sheet of solid ice, which made hiking a little more difficult.  AS we hiked along, the morning air warmed.  Ice from the trees began to rain down onto us as the snow turned to slush. 

As we slowly descended the mountain, the snow amount decreased, and we eventually began to smell some of the familiar desert aromas that we had become so acquainted with.  As if we had clicked our heels together, we were suddenly in our old familiar desert again.  We never thought we'd miss it so!

We walked downhill ALL DAY LONG...swtchbacks all the way down the 10,000+ foot mountain. It really took a toll on Moonshine, he was exhausted with sore feet.  At the end of the longest descent ever, we plopped down in the first semi-flat spot we could find.