Day 15, Shake It Out

Part 1, The Desert, Day 15

Shake It Out

Miles: 19

PCT Mile: 266

Today was a roller coaster ride of emotions for me. I slept weird again, which I blame on the bright moon, and I woke up at 5 am, indecisive about what my plan was. It was 19 miles to Big Bear where I will take a zero and resupply, but I didn't know if I should go there today or camp near the highway tonight and hitch in tomorrow. I've had no cell service here in the mountains, so getting my blog out has been a chore, and it annoyed me. I was very low on food, water, battery power on all my electronics, morale, and energy, but I have nowhere to go but North, so I hiked at 6:30 am.

The trail was beautiful and the weather ideal, but I couldn't shake my low feeling. I finally had a sliver of cell service so I frantically tried to upload my blog post, and then I lost the signal. I thought I'd deleted the whole blog post and I welcomed the morning with some choice expletives. (I was very happy hours later to find out that the post was fine) I took off down the trail, which became a network of dirt roads for awhile, and got lost a few times, having to check my maps and retrace my steps.

I couldn't find a water pump listed in the water report, then I found a note on he ground someone left:

It seemed confusing and, in an extremely poor decision, I chose to forget the pump and go on with only one liter of water. Decisions like these involving water should not be made emotionally. At this time, I realized that I left my bandana on the trail a few miles back. I needed that. How could I be that stupid? I slumped down the trail another 3 miles until I saw this beautiful bear:

It was pacing back and forth in a tiny cage with nothing but dirt inside and no shelter from the sun. I'd heard about this place, where exotic animals used in movies and Hollywood stunts lived out the rest of their days. The trail went right by this cage, I didn't have the heart to look for any other animals.

It was one of the saddest things I've ever seen. It filled me with rage and sadness. The people responsible for this seemed real charming, based on their signs:

I didn't even want to take a picture, but people should know how wrong it is to reduce these majestic creatures to this. I found the company, www.predatorsinaction.com, and I know it won't do anything, but I'm gonna write them an email telling them to go fuck themselves. I left and was hiking mad by this point. It wasn't fun.

All this anger and I was only 5 miles into a 20 mile day. After some time, I turned a corner and saw.....trail magic? 

A cache with water, which I desperately needed, and soda. I needed the calories so I tried an orange soda and it was damn good! The cache was provided by two trail Angels in Big Bear, Papa Smurf and Mountain Mama:

They left there numbers and offered a place to stay, and I'm calling them to stay  at their place, Grizzly Manor, on Friday night. I thought this was pretty cool, especially the water, and I began to cheer up.

I was still hungry from no breakfast and I was deciding what to do. I did have one ramen pack that I was looking forward too, something I had not thought possible on this earth, then I rounded a corner and saw a dumpster and a couch... In the middle of the woods. I opened the dumpster and found.....the JACKPOT!!

It was trail magic at its finest!

There was water, soda, trail food, soaps, chocolate, cookies, fresh carrots, and...holy shit, fresh bananas! I ate 3 bananas while sitting on the plush couch. 

And some of these bad boys.

This trail magic completely changed my attitude, and took care of my breakfast problem. I signed their register and thanked these mysterious helpers and started down the trail with renewed vigor. It's amazing how this kindness helped me out. I started to think that hiking angry wasn't worth my time, and that if I'm lucky enough to be out in this beauty, I should love every second, especially the difficult ones.

After 9 miles it was noon, and I stopped at Arreste Trail Camp to charge my phone with my solar panel. Three older hikers, Doug, Paparazzi, and Señor Whiskers showed up and we sat at the picnic table and talked for about an hour. It was great to talk about hiking and relax with these guys. 

I left, deciding to hike ten miles straight to highway 18 where I could hitch to Big Bear, and I filtered water from this puddle.

Had I known this pretty little spring was only half a mile down the trail I would have gotten water here:

Spring water tastes delicious. My day had turned around by now and with my headphones in I charged down the trail at high speed.

I found more sage brush, my favorite plant on the trail. I crush it and smell it in my hands and it reminds me of home.

I was listening to NWA Straight Outta Compton and was belting out the lyrics loud and was caught by a two horseback riders. I laughed, they didn't. 

It was very hot out and I had a view of the massive desert thousands of feet below to my right, which made me nervous since I knew I'd soon be down in that desert roasting.

Running on empty and hungry and thirsty, I was finally approaching the highway. There were a bunch of posters taped to trees from inns trying to compete for hikers' business.

The last mile, as always, was taking forever and my body was done. My feet felt like stumps, and when I got to the highway, there was very little traffic. I put on a smile and stuck out my thumb.

After about ten minutes, a man drove by me an turned around and came back to get me. His name was Jack, a very kind man who told me I'm hitchhiking wrong, that I need to give cars more space to stop. Noted. Along the 10 mile drive, Jack told me about the town and its history and dropped me at the post office in Big Bear Lake. It was very generous of him to give me a ride and I'm surprised at strangers showing me kindness. The town is big and my feet were so done, so I hobbled to the first inn I saw, the very strange Black Forest Lodge.

The lady inside gave me a hiker discount and said I can check out any time tomorrow. She talked me into a jacuzzi suite for 60 bucks. She said a couple just spent 3 nights of ecstasy there. I know I should have been more worried about this last comment. I know this. But I was too tired to care.

There were SO many food options and I didn't have time to decide so I bought a large pizza from Dominos and laid waste to it in about ten minutes. Back in my room, I looked on the mirror and am both surprised and a bit worried about how much weight I've dropped. I'll work on getting calorie dense food tomorrow when I resupply at Von's. Anybody got any good ideas? I went across the street to this place:

I bought some beers and went back to my room and started that sweet jacuzzi action and watched the NFL Draft on this tiny television. 

This was absolute heaven people, but my stomach is killing me from devouring that pizza so fast. Hiker problems. Tomorrow I zero in Big Bear and do all my chores and then hopefully stay with trail angels. After 5 nights and 100 miles in the wilderness, this feels pretty damn good!

Day 14, Higher Ground

The Part 1, The Desert, Day 14

Higher Ground

Miles: 21.2

PCT Mile: 247.35
(Day 13 and 14 are now up.)

Today I got to see one of the great joys of hiking the PCT; experiencing the landscape drastically shift over the course of a day. It didn't start well though. I had only a few hours of weird sleep. I think it was from sleeping in a canyon and the moon was way too bright. I've read stuff about the psychological effects of being in canyons and I believe it affects me. I jolted up at 5:15 am and quickly started to pack up. I wanted to get out of there. 

The whole morning I was hiking through narrow canyons, and I crossed Mission Creek 26 times over 12 miles. The temps were cool, which was great, but I struggled mightily this morning. My lack of sleep combined with my too long exposure to the sun yesterday left me feeling sapped of energy and slightly sick. I needed energy so I stopped to eat something, also noticing that I barely have any food left, but hey, I have plenty of water, and I love water!

I drank some of this mega-coffee that this guy gave me and I powered on through the morning. Maybe it had steroids in it. The sun eventually joined the party and I was like bacon in a frying pan in that narrow canyon. one exciting thing about hiking up canyons for hours and hours is to see what's on the other side. 

Around mid-day I started to head uphill. Very much uphill. It was so exhausting, but then I began to see some changes. 

There were trees! I love trees. I'd spent the day gaining feet in elevation by the thousands, so I was happy to see this development. 

At this point I was so listless, and I was absolutely starving. I wanted to wait until I  got to a spring in 5 miles before I stopped, and it was probably a dumb decision, because I had real trouble going forward. I'm also getting nerve pain in my shoulder and a rash on my back from my pack. I know, it's gross, but how do you think I feel!? The scenery was so grand with birds chirping and the smell of pine cones and all that stuff, that I was able to push on. 

Here is a chair that someone fashioned out of a tree. I sat in it, but no picture. This was strictly Brett Time.

I finally made it to the spring. One thing I've learned on the PCT is that no matter the destination, the last mile is SO LONG. Every time. It's interminable. When I got there, other hikers were lounging in the sun, but I was so hungry that I got right down to business. I think my hunger has finally kicked in, and I need mucho calories, so I went straight to work in the food laboratory. I made mashed potatoes, and put some cheese and salami in there.

This was the last of my "not gross" food, so this was a one time deal, at least until I resupply. It was really good actually, and it hit the spot. Satisfied with my unholy concoction, I went to the spring, which was in a small cave. 

The spring water fell in tiny drops into that bucket. I filled 5 liters and treated it with bleach,and it tasted like a swimming pool. Better than Giardia. After this, I could barely keep my eyes open, so I laid  out my sleeping pad in front of two good looking Pines and just relaxed for about an hour, shoes and socks off. 

I almost dozed off, It was really nice in the sun, but I got up, packed up, and talked to a few other hikers for awhile. 

Here's a pole with bees on it. 

Feeling somewhat refreshed, I wanted to get about 6 more miles in to go over 20 for the day, so I took off, Guns N Roses blasting in my headphones. By this time the pine forest was in full effect and I was just cruising. 

This forest is so great, the smells, sounds, and it felt good to be up here and out of the desert for a bit. I was also back at 8,500 feet and this time I can feel the effects of the altitude. I was getting winded for the first time this hike. I FINALLY got cell service and was able to send out my blog. Sorry for the delay people, but I've been in the wilderness. It happens. 

It was late aternoon when I turned a corner and saw in the distance the desert I'd crossed a few days ago. It is such a cool feeling to see these great distances and know you just crossed them by foot. I felt like Kate Winslett in Titanic...Anyways, here is the view:

Here's something someone made on the trail. Where did they get the time?

I needed to camp and the sun was setting, so I saw a place on my map called Coon Creek Camp. 

Here is what I saw when I got there. 

Oh I've seen this place before! It was in the Blair Witch Project. 

No, this place isn't creepy at all! I actually walked around for too long deciding if I should camp out front on the flat ground, but let's be honest, this place felt a bit too "murdery," for my comforts. I quicky left and headed uphill for a few miles and found a great spot with an epic view. 

It's mighty cold, but I think I'll pass right out. Thanks for reading.