Day 20: Back on Trail

Date: Mon 5/7

PCT Start Mile: 266.1

PCT End Mile: 280.0

PCT Mileage for Day: 13.9

Off-Trail Hike Mileage: .5

Total Mileage for Day: 14.4

Total PCT Mileage: 280.0

Total Overall Mileage: 295.79

The Highlights:a package from home, poke bowl, beautiful lake views, and trail lizards.

After another comfy night sleep in a bed, my first order of business this morning was the post office. My mom had sent a package for us to a local hostel to pick up when we arrived to Big Bear Lake on Saturday, but an address snafu meant that it was stuck at the post office and I wouldn’t be able to pick it up until this morning. I was there right when they opened. Among a few other things, the box contained the original insoles to my shoes, which I’m hoping will help with my foot issue. Fingers crossed. Being the awesome mom that she is, the box also had a birthday card and some delicious dark chocolate pecan turtles. These will be amazing on the trail. Thanks, mom!

My second trip to the post office was about 45 minutes later when I realized I’d left my trekking pole there. 🙄 Trail brain. Luckily they had it for me behind the desk.

Around 11:00am, we checked out of the hotel and went down the street to grab some grub before heading back to the trail. We had seen a small poke bowl hut along the highway when we walked to breakfast yesterday and decided to give it a try because we love poke bowls.

The folks running this place were awesome, totally hyped on life. They immediately asked us our trail names, and were ecstatic to hear Shawn’s (Hot Mess) and even more ecstatic to figure out one for me when they learned I didn’t have one.

When my poke bowl arrived, I put it up to my nose to smell the sauce, so one of the guys suggested the name “Sense”, for using my senses? I was grateful for his enthusiasm, but probably not going to use this name. The poke bowl was delicious though… I mean, it was no Kailua Hibachi poke bowl, but still top notch, especially for a small mountain town.

Full bellies, we continued down the road a couple blocks to begin our hitching attempt. Luckily, we got a hitch within the first 5 minutes from a mother-daughter duo (Spring Chicken and Dinner Party) from Minnesota and Oregon, respectively, who were in the area for a couple of weeks doing some hiking of their own. The mother was from near Brainerd, MN, an area my family vacationed every summer when I was younger. It’s crazy the connections you make out on the trail. They had started a PCT thru-hike in 2014, though had to end their journey due to a knee issue the mother had. “My trail name is Spring Chicken”, she said, “because at 67 I am obviously anything but that”. She chuckled. Now they stick mostly to day hikes and were helping out PCT hikers when they could, giving rides and such. Very kind ladies.

Back on the trail, we hiked along for a couple miles before coming to a closed section of the trail. We weren’t aware there was a section closed until we saw the signs and a giant “NO” message written in rocks near the trail entrance, along with an arrow made of rocks pointing down the road to the alternate path.

The alternate route around the fire closure was a 2-mile gravel road walk that traveled up through the burn area.

There were several very steep and rocky sections and we were happy when the alternate ended and we were finally back to the trail.

Back on the trail, the remainder of our hike was really pleasant. The trail in this section was relatively easy and we could keep a good pace.

Around 9 miles into the hike, we stopped to collect and filter some water at Caribou Creek, which was much drier than the previous year, according to some other folks we talked to there. One of the guys, from Colorado, had done the full trail the previous year, and was now back doing a section hike with his sister and her husband. We also met “Uncle Jed” while filtering water, who would camp near us later. His name came from some hat that he wore that was like Jed Clampett’s from the Beverly Hillbillies.

Having filtered our water, we hiked on for another five miles. This section of trail ran above the north side of Big Bear Lake, with great views of the lake, which we had just stayed on the other side of the previous two nights.

Hiking in the late afternoon/early evening is the best time of the day. The temps are good and the sun seems to glow, rather than beat down on you, splashing across the trail and mingling with the shade. It’s a beautiful time of day. Small lizards scampered everywhere as we walked down the trail, darting from bush to bush as we interrupted their trail sun bathing.

After 14 miles, we called it a day and found a nice flat camping spot in an area covered with pine needles. After relaxing for a little while in the evening sun, we went to work on camp chores: setting up the tent, blowing up air mattresses, cooking our dinners, filtering water, etc.

During this time, Uncle Jed showed up and asked if we minded if he camped in the same area, which of course we didn’t. “The tents these days sure are a lot different than when I was a kid,” he said, setting up his ultralight tent and retiring for the night.