Day 18: A Sad Zoo & 10% Finished
Date: Sat 5/5
PCT Start Mile: 246.5
PCT End Mile: 266.1
PCT Mileage for Day: 19.6
Off-Trail Hike Mileage: .25
Total Mileage for Day: 19.85
Total PCT Mileage: 266.1
Total Overall Mileage: 279.39
The Highlights:a sad zoo, the 10% finished marker, trail magic, and early arrival in Big Bear
Today started crisp and cold high up in the mountains and I think at least 20 different birds started chirping around 5:30am as the sun began to light the sky. Ah, nature’s alarm clock. Some chirps more pleasant than others. Some like actual alarm clocks… But I was so comfy in my sleeping bag…
We hit the trail a little after 7am, with plans to hike about 16 miles and then camp for the night and hike the last few miles into Big Bear in the morning. This plan had some mission creep as the day progressed.
After an initial mile or two of ascent, the trail began to descend gradually through the mountains. The pines towered high above us and the trail was carpeted in pine needles. When it wasn’t carpeted in pine needles it was carpeted in rocks. Lots and lots of crushed rocks that feel amazing on the feet.
Less than two hours into our hike, we passed by an animal facility that we’ve read about in books about the PCT. From what I’ve read, the animals kept here are used in Hollywood movies.
The living conditions are a sad sight. Small concrete cages with no natural elements. While supposedly there are several types of big animals kept here, including bears and several kinds of big cats, the only animals I could see from the fence line near the trail were two grizzly bears, each in separate cages. One of the bears was sleeping, a hump of fur in the middle of the cage. The other was pacing back and forth in its cage, a common ailment of a caged animal that needs large spaces to roam.
I have read about this place in PCT books going back at least a decade, so it’s sad that it still exists. Fortunately there was a sign on the fence that said the animals were soon being moved to a new location, with much larger enclosures. There was a smiley face at the end of the note. I found it strange that the sign was basically there just for PCT hikers to see. Don’t worry worried hikers, gawking at the abysmal living conditions of these animals, we are moving them to a happier place. Please stop blogging about this.
Continuing on through pine forest, we eventually came across… a couch.
Unfortunately there was no trail magic left at the sight, but the couch itself was pretty spectacular. I sat for a minute before we moved on.
Our next piece of luxurious furniture was a picnic table. This seemed like a good place to take our lunch break. By this point, we’d hiked around 10 miles and it was still before noon. What were we going to do all day if we only hiked 6 more miles? There weren’t really any good camping locations in the last few miles of trail anyway… I mean, I guess we could just go into Big Bear Lake early. Mission creep... It would be nice to have a real dinner…
With this, we were off, hiking at a good pace to get into town. The trail gradually morphed from forest to desert, with areas where the two environments mingled in a confused state where cactus thrived under the shade of evergreens. Adaptation.
Only about 1 mile until the end of the hike, we came across the “265” mile and “10%” signs. Ten percent of the trail complete! Only 90% to go. Let’s not think about it…
Our happy 10% faces:
Soon after, the parking lot at mile 266.1 was in view. This is where we would hitch from. But first… some trail magic. First, as we neared the end of the trail, there was a large tub of pop. Woohoo! I helped myself to a Sunkist Strawberry while Shawn grabbed a root beer. Thank you trail angels!!
But, there was more in store. Once we reached the parking lot, another set of trail angels were all set up cooking hot dogs. They did have a bit of an ulterior motive, as one was a grad student hoping to get hikers to fill our her survey about smart phone use on the PCT. Yes, absolutely, I’ll fill out anything you want for a hot dog. And some of those M&Ms, and baby carrots. I’ll eat whatever you have. I can do more surveys.
After a hot dog or two (for Shawn) and fully completed surveys, it was time to start the dispiriting work of hitching into Big Bear Lake. We stood on the side of the road with our thumbs up, smiles and waves. Rejected… rejected… rejected x 10. One woman who clearly had no room in her car mouthed “SORRY” as she passed. Finally, using the thumb-for-no-more-than-10-seconds-then-wave-and-smile technique, a guy pulled over. He was headed to Big Bear Lake and could certainly give us a ride.
It’s interesting how the people we get hitches from very rarely have room for us. They are nice enough to pull over and clear things out of the way just so we can get in. This guy had mountains of crap in his backseat, but he threw it all into the back just so we could get in. His name was Michael and he was on his way into town anyway to pick up his brother from work. He picked us up because “there are plenty of times I’ve sure needed a ride”. He was born and raised in the area, right down in Apple Valley. He told us a bit about the area and his opinions of California in general – mostly good – and wished us a safe journey when he dropped us in Big Bear Lake.
We walked to our hotel down the street where Shawn managed to finagle two nights in a king spa room at a queen room rate by dropping the fact that it was my birthday into the conversation. Nice…
The first thing I did in the fancy room was take a shower. A few pieces of tree floated down the drain. I’m becoming actual granola.
All cleaned up, we hit up the Big Bear Lake Brewing Company just a block away from the hotel so Shawn could continue his PCT brewery tour 😂
Though we were already tired when we got into town, now that we were clean and well fed we were very tired. Turns out “trail midnight” is the same time in town for us as it is on the trail. Once the sun goes down my eyelids do too.
