Pacific Crest Trail (Desert Section) - Leg 4 Big Bear to Wrightwood

I really needed a full zero in Big Bear!! It was heavenly. There was still stuff to do like going to the post office, groceries, laundry, etc but much less than before. Our first night there, the hostel was almost full, so the owner treated everyone to yet another free BBQ and beer for just that night only!! We are scoring on the free food!! Free Range and I are hiking off and on with Balls and Sunshine, and now we are starting to almost catch the 20something crowd. No wonder I was so tired!! The post office in Big Bear also took photos of the hikers and posted them up on their wall with your trail name. Lots of support and fun for us hikers!!

There was a fellow, Sherman, who helped out at the hostel and also gave a few of us a ride to where the shops and post office were. When we hitched back, we happened to be picked up by Sherman's girlfriend of all people. We noticed that she had a massage table in the back of her truck and we booked for a massage later that afternoon. It was amazing!!!

I did treat a couple of people that night as I had done so previously on the hike. Lots of ankle sprains and a couple of knees too. Most hikers wear lower cut, lighter hikers for the weight, but also because it was really hot in the desert. I didn't want to see anyone's dream come to an end over a simple injury so did my good deeds and put my skills to use when needed. One guy named "Sourdough" that I treated got his name because he has a 30 year old sourdough starter!

I had tried my new Esbit stove which was great for it being very light and small, but it took forever to boil water and was very stinky. There was another guy who was finished hiking at this point and he gave me his popcan alcohol stove. Still small, but you needed to carry alcohol so slightly heavier. Turned out to be a good, happy medium between the Esbit and my gas stove so I sent my gas stove home. At least I got that figured out finally.

Got a ride from Sherman back to the trailhead. The weather wasn't supposed to be that good, but it turned out OK. The day before a few people came back to the hostel as the weather was miserable. The elevation was so easy compared to what we just had done, we did our biggest mileage up to that point, 27 miles, but it didn't seem that hard. At one point, there was a turnoff point at the Cougar Crest Trail. Free Range and I were calling ourselves the Cougar team as we were the only gals of cougar age that were on our own. We had to get a pic by the trail sign. In being so close to this sign we saw engraved in it that we were to go back up the hill to the PCT where there is an easy-to-miss hairpin turn. A lot of people did extra miles here, but we didn't because of our "cougarness":).



The next day, we were supposed to do a detour around an area where there had been rock slides. We had spoken with a couple of people at the Kick Off who had started really early and had already been through that section and said it was fine. The biggest reason for wanting to go through the normal trail was that it had amazing hot springs at Deep Creek. Most of us went for it. They were probably the best natural hot springs I have found so far in my travels. Many different pools that were right beside a cool river with a rock to jump into the cold water and rope to climb back up. the campsite was right there nestled amongst the mountains. We "nero-ed" that day to spend time here.





I was being told by Sunshine everytime I said the Canadian "eh". She found it quite funny and I didn't realize how often I said it. Now that I'm home, I'm noticing when others say it. Weird that I've not noticed it before. There were definitely a few other Canadian words that I used that kept others entertained a little. Not as well as the Aussie gal, but a little. Even "toque" - no one knew what that was!

The next day was a steady day with one big river crossing, but it was shallow, just very wide. It was a hot day and for lunch the only shade we could find was under a bridge so we officially became hiker trash:).



Hiked to Silverwood Lake where we camped. Toilets and running water here!! Balls knew a trail angel who was happy to come a take a couple of guys to REI and back. We also ordered pizza and this fellow also brought us back pizza!! What a surprise!! We even had picnic tables to eat it from. How cultured!!

The next day was a mixed day. Late in the morning we came to an interstate where there wasn't much there except a McDonald's which was even on the PCT sign. Very sad that we were all excited about the McD's. There was about 20 of us stinky hikers there. A couple of the young guys did the dollar menu challenge and one couldn't keep it all down. The level of entertainment is certainly deteriorating as the hike is going on. Called my brother and niece/nephews from there and they weren't really getting their aunt's excitement over McD's. My brother asked where I was and I told him somewhere NE of LA. He said so was he which was a classic line:). We hung out there for a couple of hours before we had a long, steady climb ahead of us for the rest of the day.

The next day we had a half a day hike to nero in Wrightwood. We came to the highway, which was closed in one direction, but the direction to get to town so no cars were driving that way very much. There was a ranger who gave us a bag of fresh cherries. He was off for a hike so couldn't give us a ride. Luckily, there was a gal there that I had camped with her and her husband at the Kick Off. She couldn't continue because of a sore foot so was supporting her husband. She had a motor home so gave us a lift to town. Fellow hiker turned trail angel. You never know what can happen. It was a good afternoon. Not a lot for me to do beyond the usual as, finally, all my gear was organized. Actually watched some TV which seemed weird after none for weeks.